Town of Acton to Implement Finalized Climate Action Plan

ACTON – The Town of Acton is pleased to announce that it has begun implementation of its finalized Climate Action Plan (CAP).

The town’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) process kicked off in June 2021, and the final plan was released in July. The plan builds a roadmap for Acton, featuring 22 strategies and more than 50 actions regarding where and how to achieve the largest and most cost-effective emissions reductions. The CAP will also guide Acton toward its goal of reducing emissions as quickly as possible with a target date of 2030, as defined in Acton’s 2020 Climate Emergency Declaration.

The CAP was developed through a year-long collaboration between municipal staff and the community. Funding was made possible by a grant from the Community Compact Program, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s (MAPC) Technical Assistance Program (TAP), and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs’ Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program.

In shifting from planning to implementation of the CAP, the town has set some strategies into motion:

• The town acquired its first fully electric vehicles (EVs) this year, including a new Police EV cruiser that replaced an internal combustion vehicle (with support from a MassEVIP Fleets incentive) and a Nissan Leaf that replaced two SUVs (with funding from Green Communities DOER program).
• Electric vehicle users in Acton can soon count on Veterans Field to be a new site for Acton’s first fast-charging station. The Town received a $43,000 grant from the MassEVIP DC Fast-Charging program.
• The town also recently opened the new North Acton fire station, which is heated and cooled with electric ground source heat pumps and powered by both solar panels on the roof as well as the 100 percent renewable clean energy option from the Acton Power Choice GREEN program.
• The town also partnered with the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District (ABRSD) to develop an Electrification Roadmap. The Roadmap outlines the capital, operational, and conversion costs for electrifying the top seven energy-consuming municipal and school buildings, which will help move ABRSD and the town towards carbon neutrality.

Community members have a critical role to play in achieving the town’s sustainability goals. Residents and businesses are encouraged to engage with the CAP and learn about ways to adopt clean energy solutions.

Those looking for ideas to be more sustainable can check out the list of actions found on Energize Acton, a resource developed in collaboration between the town and volunteers from the Acton Climate Coalition. The Sustainability and Economic Development offices also put together a recent video with tips for “Greening Your Biz” for businesses that want to take part the clean energy transition and also make a return on their green investments.

To view Acton’s Climate Action Plan, click here.  To sign up for Climate Action updates click here.