Medford residents joined many other Massachusetts voters in calling for action against global climate change with a ballot question on Nov. 4.
Question 4 was on the ballot in Massachusetts in 11 U.S. House of Representatives districts, spanning 25 towns, and it passed in each one, receiving 81.44 percent of the overall vote. The question calls on representatives to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2020 and proposes a plan to realize the goal by shifting government subsidies from bigger, unsustainable companies to smaller, more sustainable ones.
The Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts started the initiative to write Question 4, and the Committee for a Secure Green Future later joined. Together they formulated the non-binding ballot question. Because Question 4 is non-binding, its main purpose was to measure how much support there is for more urgent action.
The two groups chose a non-binding question over a binding one because it is easier to get on district ballots, only requiring 200 signatures per district. Even so, securing enough signatures was tricky at times because of gerrymandered districts, and some districts just fell short of 200, according to Eli Beckerman, the field coordinator of the Committee for a Secure Green Future.
Beckerman and Tina Woolston, project coordinator at Tufts' Office of Sustainability, both emphasized the need for more urgent environmental action. New scientific research is showing that it is "now or never" when it comes to saving the environment, according to Woolston. "Science is saying very clearly that we need to do something very quickly," Beckerman said.
William McKibben, a professor at Middlebury College, introduced the goal of an 80-percent reduction of greenhouse gases by 2050 when writing a popular science book on global warming. He has created 350.org, a Web site and organization dedicated to stopping climate change.
Because Question 4 is non-binding, it will not affect Tufts' current policies. Tufts has a commitment to the New England Governors/Eastern Canadian Premiers Climate Change Action Plan, which calls for a 10-percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2020. The action plan also has the long-term goal of lowering current emissions by between 75 and 80 percent by 2050, a date that Woolston said may be too late.
Both Beckerman and Woolston said the goals outlined by Question 4 would be impossible to meet unless the government decides to fully back the plan and passes legislation to support it. Woolston said the success of Question 4 and the environmental goals it outlines are contingent upon the Patrick and Obama administrations.
Woolston, who lives in Maynard, Mass., one of the towns that passed Question 4, said she was not aware that the question existed until the day before the election. That day, she went to Climatefest, an on-campus festival designed to increase environmental awareness, and met a representative publicizing Question 4 there.
The initiative behind Question 4 was small, and information was spread mostly by word of mouth, according to Beckerman. Other than Secure Green Future, there was no formal organizational support, aside from a few small grassroots organizations.
Question 4 appeared on the ballot only at certain Medford voting precincts. Tufts students who registered as Medford residents and voted at the Gantcher Center did not find Question 4 on their ballots.
"I voted at Gantcher Center as a Medford resident and all, but I didn't have any town questions," sophomore Alyce Currier said.
When asked to give Tufts students advice relating to global climate change, Beckerman emphasized the importance of urgent action to help the environment.
"The fate of human civilization is resting on whether this generation is up to this challenge," he said.
