By Patricia Roy

A survey focusing on climate change and equity was conducted by Ashland, Natick  and Framingham over the past year.

The results were discussed in a Zoom meeting held on Oct. 19 with the Metropolitan Planning Council and the Ashland Planning Department and hosted by the Ashland Public Library.

Climate equity offers accountability and responsibility to those who benefit from the root causes of climate change. This can mean the equality of outcomes, not the equality of opportunity.

Equitable solutions to climate change address land use, housing, transportation, access to health care and education.  

In 2021, the three municipalities got $127K for their share of the MetroWest Climate Equity Project. At the Zoom meeting, residents will gain a better understanding of how climate change affects individuals and communities, how to prepare or cope with climate change and express their ideas for action to address the impacts of climate change.

Residents will also have the opportunity to say how climate change has affect them. Municipal officials will also learn about climate justice.

According to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, four out of five survey respondents think it is urgent to take action to reduce climate change.

Top four areas called for emergency planning, equitable clean energy and energy efficiency programs, getting around without a car and access to lakes and ponds for cooling.

Among the simple actions that homeowners can take is to reduce the use of lawn fertilizers that contribute to pollution of local ponds, making them unusable for swimming or fishing. Planting trees can also help cooling and taking advantage of bicycle lands and energy audits, which can sometimes be problematic for lower income residents and renters/landlords.

Of the 851 survey respondents, 134 were Ashland residents.

About 55 percent of the respondents over all three towns thought climate change would affect their families a great deal. There were 64 percent of respondents who said they have experienced extremely hot or cold temperatures, with fewer residents noting power outages and more ticks and mosquitos.

Other priorities included housing affordability and quality, access to healthy and affordable foods and access to education and good jobs.

Language access and immigrant inclusion was also important to 40 percent of those answering the survey.

Ashland scored relatively high on the neighborliness scale with 69 percent saying they felt safe, 57 percent answering they knew multiple people on their street and 40 percent acknowledging organizations that provide support during time of need.

Ranking a little lower, 34 percent said they trusted local government officials while 49 percent said they did “sometimes.”

And encouraging 79 percent responded that they have influence to make their community a better place either sometimes or all the time.