~ Guest Commentary ~   City Council Unanimously Sets Stage for Climate Conversation

By Councillor-at-Large Juan Pablo Jaramillo

At Monday’s council meeting, the Revere City Council set the stage to have more intentional conversations around climate and its effects on the residents of Revere by establishing a new sub-committee for the first time in at least a decade.

The motion presented by Councillor Juan Pablo Jaramillo established the “Climate, Sustainability, and Workforce” Sub-Committee. The purpose of this sub-committee will be to focus on any motion or ordinance change proposals relative to short- and long-term effects of climate change, the solutions needed to address climate change from a systemic approach, from climate resiliency to the energy transition, and the important role that workers play in the development and sustainability of our city as a whole and in the just transition toward a greener future.

Councillor-at-Large Juan Pablo Jaramillo, who is a labor and environmental advocate at the state level, remarked that “hundred-year storms are happening every twenty years, and that the climate crisis must be tackled at the city, state, and municipal” level, adding that we must create the space to have the conversations around climate and as we “we pride ourselves on being a working-class city, we must find the solutions needed from a worker centered approach.”

According to the U.S. EPA, the “climate of Massachusetts is changing. The Commonwealth has warmed by more than two degrees (F) in the last century. Throughout the northeastern United States, spring is arriving earlier and bringing more precipitation, heavy rainstorms are more frequent, and summers are hotter and drier. Sea level is rising, and severe storms increasingly cause floods that damage property and infrastructure. In the coming decades, the changing climate is likely to increase flooding, harm ecosystems, disrupt fishing and farming, and increase some risks to human health. Our climate is changing because the earth is warming. People have increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the air by 40 percent since the late 1700s.” Revere is no stranger to catastrophic climate events as we experienced in the wake of Hurricane Sandy where flooding was so bad that fish entered people’s basements. Jaramillo added that to curb the worst effects of climate change, we need to make the intentional decision to be part of the 351 city and town strategy needed to meet the state’s emission goals and sustainability standards that will protect our residents.

Councillor McKenna pointed to the situation at Pearl Avenue, where flooding is “destroying property and foundations” while adding her support for the motion. McKenna’s ward 1 sits mostly along Revere’s southern coast and inundation is habitual and aging coastal infrastructure is threatening the homes of thousands in the Beachmont Neighborhood.

Councillor Guarino-Sawaya, who represents the Point of Pines, Riverside, and Oak Island, also chimed in in support of the motion to create the sub-committee, advocating fiercely for those communities which are all adversely affected by coastal erosion and flooding. Guarino-Sawaya’s ward is also the most closely impacted by the trash incinerator in neighboring Saugus which has been a source of environmental and health concerns for decades.

The power to create sub-committees lies solely on the Council President but in a demonstration of collaborative leadership, President Cogliandro allowed this motion to come to the floor of the council session recognizing the importance of the climate conversation in public. “New blood on the council brings new ideas and new leadership. I’m excited to see Councillor Jaramillo tackling climate and coastal issues through a new city council sub-committee,” said President Cogliandro. Jaramillo thanked President Cogliandro for “his support in this endeavor and his recognition of the whole government approach needed to tackle such complex issues.”

Beachmont resident Ed Deveau spoke in support of the newly created sub-committee and expressed that he hoped that this committee would elevate the conversation around some of the sea wall infrastructure in Beachmont.

President Cogliandro named Councillor Jaramillo as Chair of the new sub-committee, adding Councillors Novoselsky, Guarino-Sawaya, and McKenna, who all represent coastal neighborhoods of Revere along with Councillor Silvestri.