Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has announced an ambitious new city-wide plan that would eliminate the use of fossil fuels in new developments and major renovations in an effort to take "every possible step to climate action."

If passed, the Home Rule Petition to the state’s new Bill H.5060 would make Boston the next large city to adopt such measures, following New York, Los Angeles, San Jose, Seattle, and Berkeley which have all codified similar mandates into local construction laws in recent years.

Furthermore, the city has announced the formation of a special advisory committee made up of local architects, environmental and public health experts, real estate developers, and other stakeholders who will all be tasked with creating guidelines that will later be recommended by Wu as ordinance to the City Council. 

In a press statement, Councilor Kendra Lara said: "Implementing meaningful environmental regulations will propel us toward our 2050 carbon neutral goal and [...] allow us the opportunity to prove that clean energy can be accessible and affordable on a large scale." 

Boston says on-site combustion accounts for a third of all emissions in the city, and that its participation in the pilot program will go a long way in strengthening the overall set of climate policies, which have been bolstered by recent net-zero standards for all municipal buildings and affordable housing developments. 

The city is also pursuing a separate electric school bus fleet pilot program and is requiring all existing mid- to large-sized building to reach net-zero by the 2050 deadline. 

"The BPDA is proud to support this important work with the Zero Net Carbon Building Initiative, which in partnership with this pilot program, will strengthen efficiency standards across the board," the city's planning chief Arthur Jemison said at the announcement. "We applaud the Mayor’s action today to further establish Boston as a national leader on decarbonizing building practices, and look forward to working together to ensure a greener city for all."