Boston Globe, April 2026
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on Monday unveiled a climate action plan for the city to curb planet-warming emissions while also combating heat, flooding, and other harmful effects of climate change. The plan charts a path for the city to slash emissions in half by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, including by exploring controversial new policies such as congestion pricing for car traffic. The plan maintains the same climate targets set by Wu’s predecessor, Mayor Martin J. Walsh, in 2017, and is more focused on implementing and growing existing initiatives than creating new ones. Many of the new programs cited in the report are presented as avenues to explore, not new policies to implement in the short term.
Wu, who ran as a champion for climate issues, faced criticism early in her tenure for not moving faster on climate policy, and did not release a climate plan until her second term. Wu allies said Monday the new plan delivers the comprehensive agenda they had been waiting for, and lays out a clear path to achieving the city’s long-held emissions targets. “We need to do more than just envision,” Wu said at a news conference, standing before a view of the city from the East Boston Waterfront. “We are taking action.”
