Environmental Issues

On May 15, 2026, LWVN sent a letter to City Councilor David Kalis, Chair of the Public Facilities Committee, the rest of the Public Facilities Committee and the full City Council in support of the Newton Energy Commission’s request to adopt an ordinance that would require owners and managers of residential properties that are not owner-occupied and not already required to report under Newton’s Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO) or the Massachusetts Large Building Energy Reporting Program, to report annually metrics of energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions (Docket Item #115-26).

Read the entirety of the letter:

On November 12, 2025, LWVN submitted comments to Caroline Weiss, Climate Action Coordinator for the City of Newton, on the City’s draft 2026-2030 Climate Action Plan.

In general, LWVN called for more specificity in the plan, and supports including goals, outcomes, and metrics throughout the report.  In addition, LWVN supports identifying actors throughout the report whenever possible.  Further, given that the plan is a set of short-term goals toward a long-term outcome, LWVN noted that it is important how the City will measure progress, what progress will be satisfactory, and how we will know if the City has fallen short.

Read the complete letter:

On May 24, 2024, LWVN sent a letter to the City Council urging it to adopt measures recommended by the Newton Citizens Commission on Energy (NCCE) regarding a Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO) in the form of  two items docketed for the NCCE in your last session: BERDO for Large Buildings over 20,000 square feet (Docket Item #228-22) and BERDO for Smaller-Than-Large Buildings (Docket Item #128-22).  These items are in support of environmental positions advocated at the national, state and local level of the League.

You can read the entirety of LWVN’s letter Here.