As a father and former environmental science teacher, Eric deeply understands the threat our city faces from climate change. It is clear we must make significant changes to our infrastructure and make more diligent efforts to offset pollution and emissions. From preserving parks to reducing emissions, we need a Councilmember who understands that local actions are key to protecting our environment and our quality of life. Parks make our city more livable and improve our neighborhoods, and we must protect these spaces from encroachment. As we face increased storms, winds and flooding caused by climate change, we need to do more to combat this threat. Eric is committed to green policies and to protecting great parks and green spaces for his children’s generation and every generation beyond that:

• Improving our Parks: Eric will deliver the funds we need to keep playgrounds safe and parks well maintained for all residents, and will empower local groups to support our parks.
• Expanding Environmental Education: As an environmental science teacher, Eric worked to ensure his students understood our connection to our planet and the importance of sustainability when he brought his students to the school garden. Teaching kids about food production, runoff, decomposition, and the value of a healthy environment is the first step in giving children a deeper understanding of their world so they grow up to be responsible stewards of their environment.
• Preparing for Flooding with Better Water Management: We all remember the swath of destruction Superstorm Sandy left across our community. We must take action at the local level to prepare for bigger storms and floods by reducing runoff to our sewage system. Eric is committed to green infrastructure, such as green roofs, bioswales, and stormwater tree pits, that can collect runoff and keep excess sewage from our precious rivers, while beautifying our neighborhoods.
• Green Construction: Green roofs help regulate building temperature, reduce runoff, and improve air quality. Rooftop solar infrastructure pays for itself and more, while reducing our carbon footprint. Better insulation and weatherproofing saves money and reduces energy usage while creating jobs. Eric will fight for increased tax credits to incentivize green construction across our city.
• Creation of the Climate Caucus: Eric would create a Climate Caucus in the City Council to address the imminent threats of climate change to our city. The goal of this caucus is to advance legislation that brings greater environmental sustainability and resiliency to every aspect of how our city works.
• Green Transportation: Eric has been a dedicated advocate of equitable transportation, but knows our systems contribute to climate change. Eric supports variable tolling based on emissions and air quality, the Better Bus Action Plan, and the expansion of comprehensive bus and bike lanes so that these modes of transportation can increase in popularity and become viable alternatives to cars. He will also work towards making sure that all city buses are electric, and that there is a robust network or charging stations so that electric cars can become a viable mode of transportation.

Supporting our community is a family affair - Eric and his twin boys help garden at a local community center