In his sixth inaugural address, Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone outlined his goals for the city, with many pertaining specifically to the environment and divestment from fossil fuels.
Our environment, in fact, is priceless," Curtatone, Somerville's mayor since 2004, said in his inaugural address. "Around the world, cities are taking the lead in sustainability. As we have done in so many other areas, Somerville will lead the way there, too. So, let's advocate together for the city's retirement system to divest from fossil fuels."
Many students expressed interest in the mayor's stance. Devyn Powell, a member of Tufts Divest for Our Future, said that Curtatone's call for divestment shows Tufts students that divestment is spreading to communities around the world.
"I think that now that the mayor is coming out in support of [divestment], there's going to be a lot more movement around divestment in Somerville [and] within the community in general," Powell, a senior, said. "I'm sure that that will attract some students because divestment is an international movement."
Sophomore Will Pearl, also a member of Tufts Divest, said that Mayor Curtatone's vocal support of fossil fuel divestment is valuable in informing others about the benefits of finding renewable energy solutions.
"[Curtatone] has some pretty awesome, ambitious goals in the area of climate policy," Pearl said. "If the federal government could be at that level that would be great because he's got some seriously progressive climate related goals."
In a Jan. 16 op-ed in the Somerville Times, Curtatone elaborated on his economic and ethical reasoning for supporting city-wide divestment.
"There is a looming $20 trillion carbon bubble, according to a report by London School of Economics' Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, in collaboration with nonprofit organization Carbon Tracker," Curtatone wrote in the op-ed. "Divesting from fossil fuels is not only the moral choice
