“Resilient together” was the phrase of the day as community members and elected officials alike gathered in East Boston on Saturday for the Neighborhood of Affordable Housing’s first-ever East Boston Climate Summit.
The summit, which focused on developing climate resilience in East Boston, was headlined by speakers such as Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and the executive director of Alianza Americas, Oscar Chacon. Speeches from local representatives, and a series of workshops led by Chacon and a number of community leaders, filled the rest of the over five-hour program.
The day began with an address from Philip Giffee, executive director of NOAH. Giffee said since climate change is real and not going away, East Boston is at risk for future environmental disasters.
“To leave it to chance that Boston continue to luck out and evade storms like [Hurricane] Sandy in 2012 or the ‘Perfect Storm’ in ‘91 is beyond foolish,” Giffee said. “Ice caps are melting, seas are rising. East Boston is next to the sea — what could happen?”
Rep. Adrian Madaro of the Massachusetts Legislature spoke more about the environmental dangers East Boston faces. He said the area is essentially an island, making it very susceptible to sea level rise and extreme weather events.
East Boston faces additional challenges in implementing climate resiliency measures because it is both an immigrant and a moderate-to-low-income community, Madaro said.
“Just to bring the level of awareness to these folks, when you have language barriers and cultural barriers, presents additional challenges,” Madaro said.
After the morning’s addresses, participants broke out into one of five workshops covering specific aspects of East Boston’s climate resilience issues and plans, as well as how marginalized people can be part of the conversation.
Individuals reconvened after lunch for the speeches from Walsh and Markey.
In his address, Walsh announced two first-step projects to protect residents, businesses and infrastructure in East Boston and Charlestown. A deployable flood wall will be installed along the East Boston Greenway, he said, and a section of Main Street in Charlestown will be elevated to block a major potential floodway.
“We have to identify ways to try and stay ahead of these [environmental] challenges, and now we’re making them a reality, starting with neighborhoods that are most vulnerable,” Walsh said.
Walsh said the planning and design of these projects was a true community effort that he hopes can be implemented citywide in the future.
“For us, climate action is about social justice — it’s about the safety and wellbeing of our community,” Walsh said. “That’s why we’re leading the way despite what’s happening in Washington.”
After his address, Walsh told The Daily Free Press he felt it was important that he and Markey come to East Boston to announce plans for protecting the city’s coasts.
“NOAH is a very strong community advocate and partner with the City of Boston,” Walsh said. “Markey’s a champion … as well for the climate. To have him come out is a big win for the community.
Markey’s address praised the mayor’s announcements and leadership on climate change and resilience.
“[Walsh] has turned the City of Boston into one big green monster,” Markey said.
Markey said Boston is stepping up while the White House is falling short.
“[President] Donald Trump’s climate science is as bogus as a degree from Trump University,” Markey said. “No matter what lies and misinformation the climate deniers try to peddle, the facts are still with us. The economic opportunities are also with us. The moral authority is with us, and Mayor Walsh is with us.”
After his speech, Markey told The Daily Free Press he came to Saturday’s summit both because of East Boston’s vulnerability to extreme climate, and also its ability to provide vital climate leadership.
“This initiative is at the forefront of building a resilience for Boston that can be a model for the rest of the country and the rest of the world,” he said. “If we show we can do it on health care, on education and on climate, then the rest of the country — sooner or later — it follows us.”
As the event came to a close, NOAH’s leaders reflected on the day’s events. Giffee told The Daily Free Press the strong leadership that East Boston has on climate resilience at the local, city and national levels.
“I think that’s a very powerful team,” Giffee said. “You couple that with all the energy here, I think we are moving in the right direction to help address these issues.”
Several participants said they have confidence in the City’s plans and an interest in spreading awareness about climate resilience.
Jesse Borthwick, 66, of East Boston, said he attended the summit to find out what actions the City is planning to take on climate resilience.
“It’s a great, great effort on behalf of NOAH and of the Mayor’s Office and the community,” Borthwick said. “It’s really impressive that East Boston and Boston are moving out to deal with the issue of climate change as a model community.”
Caroline White-Nockleby, 24, of Somerville, said she was impressed by the amount of planning and coordination that went into the summit.
“[NOAH] just did a really, really amazing job of bringing together both political power players in the room, along with all different planning agencies, along with just people that live in the neighborhood,” White-Nockleby said.
Cate Maas, 70, of Chelsea, said she thought the summit was a great opportunity to start dialogues about protecting the environment.
“We need to do something with our population to make it more aware of [climate resilience] and to make it a more active conversation, which I don’t think it is at the moment,” Maas said.
Shaun was the Editor-in-Chief for the Spring 2019 semester. Before that, he was the Multimedia Editor, the Layout Editor and a News writer. He also sat on the Board of Directors. Follow him on Twitter @shaun_robs.
