Letter from Melissa Ludtke regarding Urge support for Policy Order 2023 #115 sponsored by Mayor Siddiqui and Councillors Nolan Zondervan and Carlone

1 Taylor, Bernice From: Melissa Ludtke <[email removed]> Sent: Sunday, July 30, 2023 8:29 AM To: City Council; City Clerk Subject: Urge support for Policy Order 2023 #115 sponsored by Mayor Siddiqui and Councillors Nolan, Zondervan, and Carlone. Hello: I am grateful for your strong pioneering leadership with the June 26 passage of amendments to the Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance (BEUDO). Passage of Policy Order #115 will close a gap that remains for BEUDO-eligible buildings. Why should the City of Cambridge permit large new buildings to be built with new fossil-fuel infrastructure, and then wait until 2035 or 2050 for them to update their systems to meet what will be required. We should be putting new large commercial and institutional buildings on a 2030 fast track to net zero as a way to push forward with necessary fossil fuel-free construction. It is important to note that this policy includes large labs and scientific research facilities, which are exempt from the state’s ten-town Fossil Fuel-Free Demonstration Program. We've experienced the hottest July on record, so it is not possible to ignore the presence and urgency of the climate crisis. I urge you to support this policy order so our city can do what is necessary to meet the urgency of our moment. Thank you, Melissa Ludtke 30 Buena Vista Park, Cambridge, MA Melissa Ludtke Author, Locker Room Talk: A Woman's Struggle to Get Inside, forthcoming from Rutgers University Press https://www.melissaludtke.com/ Co-Producer, Touching Home in China: in search of missing girlhoods Website phone: [phone removed]