Cambridge, Mass., home of Harvard University, is not known for conservatism. But we might not have realized just how far to the liberal left the city is if we had not spotted the minutes of a recent meeting of a group called the “Cambridge Climate Emergency Congress.”
The group is made up of the mayor, the City Council and lots of other officials and private citizens, so at least to some degree, it represents the will of the people of Cambridge, not just some tiny fringe of the city’s population.
At any rate, here are some of the jarring and extreme conclusions the group reached on ways to fight supposedly manmade “global warming”:
* There is a “need to change community norms and expectations such that it is all right to tell your neighbors what they can and cannot do in the realm of climate change-related behavior,” said one sub-group of the so-called “Congress.”
* “Cars should be shared rather than privately owned,” said another sub-group, and “Steps should be taken to make it harder or less affordable to drive and park private vehicles while safer to walk and bike in Cambridge.” (We’re curious whether the people who paid for those cars will be willing to surrender ownership and “share” them with people who did not.)
* Without swift climate action, there is a need for coastal cities to “develop (a) relationship with an inland sister city to prepare for relocation away from coasts when sea level rises.”
* “Schools and hospitals could be mandated to serve only local foods.” (That should make for limited menus in chilly Massachusetts, where year-round growth of crops in large quantities is impractical.)
As one observer noted, “Some of the radical ideas make for humorous reading — that is, unless you ever plan to live or work in Cambridge.”
Cambridge can be sure that fewer people will opt to live or work there if it implements these zany ideas.