DALTON, Mass. — The Dalton Green Committee voted to take a step back from its efforts in reaching climate leader status. 

 

To reach this designation, the town would need to commit to eliminating on-site fossil fuel use by 2050, create a decarbonization roadmap, adopt Zero-Emission Vehicles policy, and adopt the Specialized Stretch code.

 

The changes to the climate leader status requirements and the unknowns surrounding the new designation has caused the committee to reconsider their stand. 

 

The state Department of Energy Resources (DOER) keeps changing the status requirements most notably the specialized stretch code, committee members said. 

 

DOER originally advocated for the stretch code, which the town already adopted and will automatically be updated by the state on July 1, 2024. 

 

Now the state is requiring a specialized stretch code to reach climate leader status, despite the fact that when the stretch code is updated it will include the requirements that are in specialized stretch code.

 

While on the hunt for answers surrounding the stretch code, Green Committee member Todd Logan started to notice more unknowns surrounding the other expectations the state is requiring. The more he picked apart the requirements, the more the costs added up. 

 

"It was like opening up a Pandora's box," Logan said. 

 

This search for answers eventually resulted in a nine-page document that demonstrated how, at this time, reaching climate leader status is not as fruitful as originally thought. 

 

It was previously noted that obtaining the status would open doors for the town to secure more grant funding for green initiatives, however the document demonstrates that it is unclear if these benefits outweigh the added costs. 

 

Based on previous interactions the town and Green Committee members had with DOER, the benefits the designation would provide and the department's process is unclear. 

 

"The information that is available is nebulous, conditional, speculative and proposed," Logan said. 

 

Although waiting until the department has clear standards, metrics, and data to support the benefits of the designation will make it more competitive it may be more cost effective and beneficial for the town, committee members said 

 

For example, early color televisions were low quality, so it was more beneficial to wait for second or third generations that resolved issues from the first generation, Green Committee member Thomas Irwin said. Early customers paid the same amount for lower quality products and were used as guinea pigs to help the company resolve the kinks.

 

Waiting for guaranteed benefits will allow the town to focus on green initiatives that are better related to the town's needs.

 

Initially, obtaining climate leader status required the creation of a climate action plan, but this was later removed and replaced with a decarbonization plan. 

 

During a town meeting in May, the town voted to transfer $60,000 from free cash to fund developing a "Climate Change Roadmap." 

 

When the state revised its requirements the committee considered utilizing these funds to complete a decarbonization plan. According to town counsel, this would require a town meeting vote, Town Manager Thomas Hutcheson said during the Select Board meeting on Monday.

 

During the Green Committee meeting last week, the committee voted to continue to pursue utilizing the $60,000 funds for its intended purpose — the creation of a climate action plan. 

 

The plan would outline the changes Dalton needed to make to meet greenhouse gas emission targets.

 

The committee will now be working on green objectives that better benefit the town and will be discussing it at future meetings. 

 

"I think that the concept DOER has is excellent. And, I think that, we are coming up with better structures and more reliable structures, more financially acceptable structures than what [DOER] has and, so, I think that at this point, we're ahead of them," Irwin said. 

 

The town is going to be a climate leader whether it receives the designation or not, Green Committee member Rachel Branch said. 

 

By taking a step back and focusing on what initiatives are more beneficial to town could act as a template for other cities and town, she said.