By Jess Nahigian
I became an environmental activist when I learned about Massachusetts environmental politics. One summer during college, interested in politics and hoping to avoid the quagmire of Washington, I interned with a local advocacy organization. I entered believing our state was where progress was being made but was shocked to learn Massachusetts lacked concrete plans to do anything about our overburdened landfills, let alone slow down the climate crisis. After college, my commitment to environmental work landed me in an office in the City of Cambridge’s planning department. I sat in my cubicle, reading PDF after PDF of theoretical plans to deploy existing renewable technologies at scale to rapidly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. So why were these merely theories not policy?
Anyone entering into Massachusetts environmental politics will inevitably run into two frustrating truths:
- We are far behind on environmental goals
- We are in short supply of decision makers who will enact needed solutions
Sierra Club is one of the few environmental organizations that supports candidates for elected office in Massachusetts and one of only a couple that is volunteer-led. With the help of volunteers, we identify and support candidates who demonstrate a commitment to leadership on climate and environmental issues. Once elected, we work with these leaders to implement policies that benefit people and the planet.
Etel Haxhiaj is one such leader. As a teenage immigrant from war-torn Albania, Etel built her life in Worcester. After graduating from Clark University, she organized her community for local environmental causes. In 2019, she decided to run for Worcester City Council. During that race, Sierra Club recognized her as an environmental champion and gave her our seal of endorsement. Though she lost that race, she built a foundation during that campaign to run again for Ward 5 District Councilor and win in 2021, again with the Sierra Club’s endorsement. Since her election to city council, she has successfully persuaded the City Manager to institute curbside pickup for used clothing and garments, worked to mitigate the urban heat island effect by increasing urban tree canopy in low income neighborhoods, and has been an instrumental voice on the council in advancing the new specialized opt-in stretch code, which will ensure new buildings and major renovations are friendly to humans and the climate.
In Massachusetts, corporations spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every election cycle through dark money PACs to continue business as usual. This problem has only worsened over the past decade. The Sierra Club will never be able to match corporate spending.
But we can match their power. Sierra Club is driven by the power of our members. Whether it’s vetting candidates and voting on endorsements in our committees, knocking on doors for endorsed candidates with our elections team, consulting our endorsements to cast informed votes in local elections, or funding the staff time that makes this all possible, we couldn’t find and support candidates like Etel without our members - YOU.
Together, we are building the environmental champions necessary to protect Massachusetts air, water, and lands now and for future generations.