December 28, 2018

Can David still beat Goliath, even in a day when Goliath has acquired wealth and power far beyond the imaginings of the Biblical villain? That question lies at the heart of the documentary film Unfractured, which will be shown at two Quincy libraries in January. The 2017 film, cosponsored by Quincy Climate Action Network, Fore River Residents Against Compressor Station (FRRACS), and the Thomas Crane Public Library, will screen at the Adams Shore library branch, 519 Sea Street, at 7 p.m. on Monday, January 7. It will also screen at the main branch, 40 Washington Street, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, January 16. Admission is free, and all are welcome.
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11/20/18

Dear Editor,

Quincy city government has substantially increased the energy efficiency of city buildings and operations and its use of renewable energy. Now, as the Sun reports (“City Eyes More Renewable Energy,” Oct. 25, 2018), the city is considering a move that would do even more to reduce the greenhouse gases that, by fueling increasingly violent weather and sea level rise, are threatening life and property here.
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About 120 skeptical citizens, including four QCAN members, packed the cafeteria of Quincy High School on the snowy night of November 15, 2018. They were there to hear officials from the state health and environmental protection departments and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council unveil the first results of a study predicting the effects of the proposed Fore River Compressor Station on public health in Quincy, Weymouth, Braintree, and beyond. The station is intended to increase the capacity of a system of natural-gas pipelines stretching from New Jersey to Nova Scotia. The station would be powered by a natural-gas fired engine that would produce exhaust.

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Huzzah! On November 13th, 2018, the Quincy City Council voted unanimously to create a task force to study curbside food waste pickup. The supportive letters that QCAN friends wrote to their ward councilors and the councilors-at-large no doubt made that happen, so thank you to all who made their opinions heard! Thank you also to Ward 6 Councilor William Harris, who introduced the resolution, and to Ian Cain, who amended it, suggesting the task force study the pros and cons of building a food-waste recycling facility right here in Quincy.

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Minimum parking requirements are rules set by the city spelling out the fewest off-street parking spaces that a new or rezoned property must have. They are designed to be very high – to guarantee plenty of parking even at the busiest times – meaning that most of the time, there is an overabundance of spaces.

These very specific requirements – Quincy requires a bowling alley to have four parking spaces per lane! – sound scientific, but they are rarely based on the needs of their communities. In Quincy Center, for example, 37% of households don’t even own a car, and the neighborhood averages 0.88 cars per household. But even the lowest parking minimums in this neighborhood specify at least one parking space per household in residential buildings, meaning that many families are forced to pay for parking spaces they don’t need.

PARK(ing) Day in Washington, DC, part of an open-source global event where citizens, artists, and activists temporarily transform metered parking spaces into public places. Credit: Edward Russell

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Governor Charlie Baker and Democratic challenger Jay Gonzalez were both invited to a town hall focused on environmental issues in Jamaica Plain on October 1. Gonzalez agreed to come, while Baker declined. Gonzalez used the opportunity to explain his energy platform, and QCAN was there to hear it.

Gonzalez:

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If you want to support green energy in Quincy, come to City Hall on Monday, October 15th at 6:30 p.m. That’s when the city’s finance committee will discuss green municipal aggregation.

Municipal aggregation (also known as community choice aggregation) allows a municipality to purchase electricity in bulk on behalf of its residents and businesses. If Quincy were to join other communities nearby such as Brookline and Somerville and adopt green municipal aggregation, the city would increase the percentage of its electricity sourced from renewable energy. Electricity rates would likely stay about the same, and customers could easily opt out if they so chose.

During the committee meeting, Shelly Dein, Quincy’s energy and sustainability director, and Larry Chretien, executive director of Green Energy Consumers Alliance, will provide brief presentations on GMA.

To show your support for greening Quincy’s electrical grid, please join members of QCAN at the city meeting and write to thank the councilors who support the initiative: Nina Liang, Anne Mahoney, Ian Cain and Noel DiBona. Please also encourage your ward councilor to consider the benefits of green municipal aggregation.