CityLine: Boston’s environmental justice movement
Local activists use lessons from the civil rights movement to fight climate change.
Updated: 12:33 PM EST Jan 19, 2025
I’M KAREN HOLMES WARD. WELCOME TO CITYLINE. SO AS WE GRAPPLE WITH THE DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT CLIMATE CHANGE HAS ON PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, WE REFLECT ON THE LEGACY OF DOCTOR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT HE LED CONNECTED HOW LIVING CONDITIONS IN POVERTY STRICKEN RURAL AND URBAN AREAS, ACCESS TO CLEAN AIR AND WATER IMPACTED PUBLIC HEALTH IN THE DECADES SINCE, ISSUES LIKE THE FLINT WATER CRISIS, THE AREA OF THE BRONX KNOWN AS ASTHMA ALLEY FOR ITS POOR AIR QUALITY AND ELEVATED CASES OF CANCER IN DORCHESTER AND MATTAPAN, ILLUSTRATE DOCTOR KING’S EMPHASIS ON THE INTERCONNECTIVITY OF THE ENVIRONMENT ON PEOPLE OF COLOR. HIS WORK, THE FOUNDATION OF THE MODERN DAY ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE MOVEMENT. DOCTOR KING IS CREDITED WITH INSPIRING GENERATIONS OF ACTIVISTS TO USE THEIR VOICES TO ADVOCATE FOR CHANGE. AND JOINING US NOW IS HASSAN FAROOQI. HE’S THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE BOSTON CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK. HOW ARE YOU? THANKS FOR JOINING US TODAY. GOOD TO SEE YOU, KAREN. I’M DOING WELL. SUSAN, TELL US BOSTON’S BUILDINGS ACCOUNT FOR APPROXIMATELY 70% OF THE CITY’S EMISSIONS. TELL US ABOUT THAT. EXPLAIN THAT IF YOU WOULD, AND HOW YOUR COALITION HAS TACKLED THAT ISSUE. YEAH, THAT’S A GREAT QUESTION. SO AROUND THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS, IT’S ABOUT HALF THAT. SO WHY IS IT HIGHER IN BOSTON? WELL, BOSTON HAS REALLY BIG BUILDINGS AND OUR SHARE OF TRANSPORTATION EMISSIONS IS A LITTLE BIT LOWER BECAUSE PEOPLE GET TO DRIVE LESS IN THE CITY THAN THEY MAY HAVE TO IN SOME OF THE OTHER CITIES AND TOWNS ACROSS THE STATE. AND SO WHEN WE FOUND THIS OUT, THIS WAS A REALLY SHOCKING MOMENT, RIGHT? BECAUSE IT’S NOT ALWAYS THE THING YOU THINK OF AS THE THING THAT’S CAUSING POLLUTION. YOU KNOW, YOU THINK OF BIG SMOKESTACKS, YOU THINK OF CARS, BUT IT’S BUILDINGS IN BOSTON AND THESE ARE OLD BUILDINGS TOO, RIGHT? SO WE KNEW THIS IS THE PLACE TO FOCUS. AND SO WE’VE ENGAGED OUR MEMBERS AND HELPED WORK WITH THE CITY TO PASS POLICIES THAT REDUCE EMISSIONS FROM BUILDINGS. LIKE HOW AND. WELL, SO ONE OF THE BIGGEST ONES THAT I REALLY AM EXCITED ABOUT IS COMMUNITY CHOICE ELECTRICITY. RIGHT. THIS ALLOWS PEOPLE TO GET THEIR CITY OR THEIR ELECTRICITY BOUGHT BY THE CITY, AND SO THEY GET ACCESS TO MORE RENEWABLE ENERGY AT A LOWER PRICE. AND YOU CAN DO THIS IF YOU’RE A RENTER. YOU CAN DO THIS IF YOU’RE A HOMEOWNER. BUT THE BIGGEST ONE IS REALLY THE LAW, THE BUILDING EMISSIONS REDUCTION AND DISCLOSURE ORDINANCE. THIS REQUIRES THE LARGEST BUILDINGS TO PROGRESSIVELY REDUCE THEIR EMISSIONS TO NET ZERO BY 2050. AND IT’S THE LARGE BUILDINGS WHERE MOST OF THIS IS COMING FROM. ALL RIGHT. SO YOU KNOW, LET’S SWITCH GEARS HERE. TRANSPORTATION IS SOMETHING THAT IMPACTS ALL GREATER BOSTONIANS. WHERE DOES THAT ISSUE INTERSECT WITH ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY IN THE CITY? OH, I MEAN, TRANSPORTATION IS THE ULTIMATE CLIMATE ISSUE, RIGHT? AND YOU HAVE TRAFFIC. YOU HAVE AIR POLLUTION. WE’RE ALL BREATHING THAT IN. WHEN WE’RE SITTING ON THE HIGHWAY. WE’RE ALL BREATHING THAT IN, IN OUR HOMES. RIGHT. AND SO WE KNOW WE’VE GOT TO, YES, GET MORE PEOPLE TO USE ELECTRIC VEHICLES, BUT WE’VE ALSO GOT TO MAKE BIG INVESTMENTS IN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. THERE ARE A LOT OF CHALLENGES THERE. NO SECRET THERE WHEN IT COMES TO THE RELIABILITY OF THE MBTA WHEN IT COMES TO DIFFERENT AREAS THAT AREN’T SERVED AS WELL. SO WE NEED TO HAVE REALLY GREAT PUBLIC TRANSIT SYSTEM SO THAT PEOPLE HAVE BETTER OPTIONS. AND WHEN WE THINK ABOUT SOME OF THE COMMUTER RAIL LINES, RIGHT, ALL OF THEM TODAY USE DIESEL. SO THAT’S ANOTHER PLACE WHERE YOU MENTIONED DORCHESTER AND MATTAPAN IS HAVING ELEVATED HEALTH ISSUES. PART OF THE REASON IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE DIESEL RUNNING TRAINS THAT RUN THROUGH THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS EVERY SINGLE DAY. THAT’S NOT TRUE FOR A LOT OF OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS IN THE CITY. SO IT’S IMPORTANT THAT WE’RE GETTING ALL OF THESE TRAINS TO BE ELECTRIC AS WELL. HOW DOES BOSTON STACK UP IN TERMS OF OTHER CITIES IN TERMS OF MOVING THIS FORWARD? I’D LIKE TO THINK WE’RE DOING A PRETTY GOOD JOB. I MEAN, CERTAINLY WHEN IT COMES TO SOME OF THOSE BUILDING LAWS, WE WERE ONE OF THE FIRST TO DO IT. NEW YORK CITY GOT AHEAD OF US BY A FEW YEARS, BUT SINCE THEN WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF OTHER BIG CITIES AND TOWNS DO A LOT OF THE SAME THINGS. I THINK THAT WHERE WE’RE BEING LAPPED IS ON THE PUBLIC TRANSIT FRONT. YOU KNOW, YOU CAN LOOK AT A CITY LIKE NEW YORK CITY, AND CERTAINLY YOU LOOK AT OTHER CITIES ACROSS THE WORLD. I MEAN, THEY ARE LEAPS AND BOUNDS AHEAD OF WHERE WE ARE. THAT’S WHERE WE’VE GOT TO MAKE A LOT OF STOW FAROOQ, YOU KNOW, YOU’RE A VOLUNTEER DRIVEN ORGANIZATION. MANY PEOPLE SAY THEY CARE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT, BUT MAKE A CASE FOR THE FOR SOMEONE WHO’S LISTENING ON THE IMPACT THAT THEY CAN HAVE BY GETTING INVOLVED IN THE CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK, THE IMPACT WHEN YOU GET INVOLVED WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS, WITH OTHER PEOPLE, HUGELY GREATER THAN WHEN YOU’RE JUST DOING THIS ALONE, AND ESPECIALLY WHEN WE’RE THINKING ABOUT THE CITY AND STATE LEVELS, RIGHT? SO MANY OF THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE THOSE DECISIONS ARE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN OUR CITY, TOO. RIGHT? AND IT IMPACTS US ALL. IT SEEMS LIKE IT’S A BIG, BIG ISSUE, BUT EVERYONE CAN MAKE AN INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTION IF THEY JUST GET INVOLVED. EXACTLY, EXACTLY. HASSAN FAROOQI, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. HE’
CityLine: Boston’s environmental justice movement
Local activists use lessons from the civil rights movement to fight climate change.
Updated: 12:33 PM EST Jan 19, 2025
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made the connection between living conditions in poverty-stricken rural and urban areas, and how lack of access to clean air and water can impact public health. His work provided the foundation for the modern-day environmental justice movement. This week on CityLine Hessann Farooqi, Executive Director of Boston Climate Action Network on what his volunteer-driven group is doing to improve air quality in the city of Boston by lowering emissions from downtown buildings and decreasing emissions released by buses and cars in communities of color.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made the connection between living conditions in poverty-stricken rural and urban areas, and how lack of access to clean air and water can impact public health. His work provided the foundation for the modern-day environmental justice movement. This week on CityLine Hessann Farooqi, Executive Director of Boston Climate Action Network on what his volunteer-driven group is doing to improve air quality in the city of Boston by lowering emissions from downtown buildings and decreasing emissions released by buses and cars in communities of color.