Salem Ranked One Of MA's Top 'Greenest' Cities Or Towns

Salem MA

29 April, 2021

11:10 AM

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SALEM, MA — A cooperative approach to climate change impact, focus on being a car-light community and an ongoing push for more trees helped Salem crack the top 10 of Boston Magazine's list of the "Greenest" cities and towns in the state. Boston Magazine took the 40 cities and towns within the 128/95 corridor and assessed them on 19 indicators that "demonstrate how committed a municipality is to doing its part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions." According to the magazine, these indicators include everything from what percentage of the town or city's fleet of ordinary passenger vehicles and light trucks are electric and whether they chose to participate in voluntary state programs that fund cleaner energy usage to whether a community has a full-time employee leading climate mitigation efforts. The full list of criteria can be found here. The magazine tied for ninth with Brookline, saying this: "Salem became a designated Green Community through the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources back in 2010, the first year the program existed, and it is still on the vanguard. "It's currently working with Beverly to generate a Climate Action Plan that will serve both cities, something that could serve as a model for how communities can help others that have made less progress on addressing climate change." Top 10 Green Cities! "Salem became a designated Green Community through the MA Dept of Energy Resources back in 2010, the 1st year the program existed, and it is still on the vanguard. It's currently working with Beverly to generate a Climate Action Plan" https://t.co/VcPiDG4na8— Kim Driscoll (@MayorDriscoll) April 23, 2021 The full top 10 list — Cambridge ranked No. 1 — can be found here. Around the North Shore, Beverly ranked No. 12, Marblehead was No. 16 and Swampscott was tied for No. 18. Did you find this article useful? Invite a friend to subscribe to Patch. (Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.) More Patch Coverage: Salem Plans Arbor Day Addition To Bates School