North Shore GJC Holds BBQ And Rally For Energy Efficiency

Members of several organizations doing community work in the North Shore organized a barbecue and spirited rally at the Washington Elementary School in Lynn on Saturday, Sept. 11. Dozens of local residents came out to learn about the state’s energy efficiency program, and were surprised to find they were paying into it every month on their utility bills. MC Ruth Thompson of Neighbor To Neighbor-Lynn revved up the crowd, and Ana Perdomo, a Lynn resident, followed by describing her unsustainably high energy bills.

When Alex Papali of Clean Water Action asked if anyone had received home energy efficiency work in their home, or had gotten a job in this industry, not a single hand went up. The amount that residents have been paying into the system since it was set up by the Green Communities Act in 2008, shocked many in the crowd. Murmurs of surprise and indignation could be heard at the mention of hundreds of millions of dollars being collected for everyone’s use, but going disproportionately to wealthier communities.

Lucy Corchado of the Point Neighborhood Association in Salem, described the outreach she has been doing on this issue in her community, and asked why the utilities who run the program are not funding other groups like hers to get the word out. One of the GJC’s main demands is for the administrators of the state’s efficiency programs to empower community groups to spread the word in lower income neighborhoods, and those where language is a barrier to accessing the current methods of outreach- since websites and toll-free numbers favor those who know more about the system already.

The North Shore Labor Council’s Jeff Crosby spoke to the loss of local jobs and the desperate need the area faces for good green jobs. If the GJC’s proposals are supported by the system’s utility-company administrators, a whole industry could begin to flourish, which would give families a decent living while cleaning up the toxic effects of pollution from the old dirty energy systems.

Isabel Lopez of MassCOSH finished the day by rallying the crowd with chants, and warned that if the decision-makers did not accede to the GJC’s reasonable proposals, they would have a lot of upset customers to deal with.

Groups that organized the day’s action included MassCOSH, the North Shore Labor Council, Neighbor To Neighbor-Lynn, Salem Alliance For the Environment, The Point Neighborhood Association of Salem, and Clean Water Action.