Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu issued a sweeping plan to revamp aspects of the city in response to climate change and economic inequality on Monday morning. In addition to outlining major investments in transportation, the plan includes calls for significant shifts in how commercial development takes place in the city.
Wu is widely considered to be a likely challenger to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh should he decide to run for a third term in 2021.
“Climate justice is racial and economic justice,” said Councilor Wu. “Cities have tremendous power to lead the charge, and we must recognize this moment as a call to action.”
Wu’s office described the 15-point plan focused on topics as diverse as anti-poverty programs and sea level rise as “bold, progressive action.” An announcement from her office contained praise from several local environmental leaders, including Sunrise Boston’s Yanisa Techagumthorn and Conservation Law Foundation President Bradley Campbell.
“Michelle Wu’s Green New Deal is the only city plan equal to both the scale and urgency of Boston’s challenge in leading the city and the world from climate crisis to sustainable prosperity in a just economy,” Campbell said in a statement. “CLF joins our community partners in leading the call for the city and commonwealth to take up this nation-leading call to action.”
The plan touches on commercial development in several ways: redesigning the city’s development approval process – something Wu has already issued a detailed proposal for – converting building heating and cooling systems to renewable energy, boosting housing cooperatives and community land trusts, establishing a renters’ right to counsel in eviction courts and dramatically improving mass transit to encourage more travelers to leave their cars at home in favor of bikes, buses, walking or trains.
Elements of her plan are likely to meet with pushback from the real estate industry should Wu make it a cornerstone of her campaign. Developers have argued that renewable and electrically-powered alternatives to natural gas-powered HVAC systems are not yet economically feasible in most projects. And real estate lobby groups on Beacon Hill are actively opposing efforts to pass a statewide renter’s right to counsel, claiming it chiefly serves to drag out eviction proceedings, not deter unjust or illegal eviction filings.