I’d like to thank the Recorder for the excellent Sept. 18 front page article on the effort by South Deerfield residents to have Deerfield designated a Climate Leader Community. Because of the work of many residents to get signatures on petitions, and those who signed the petitions, three warrants will be voted on at Special Town Meeting on Oct. 29 so that Deerfield can be so-designated. In Massachusetts, the Climate Leader Community designation creates voluntary goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Significantly, Climate Leader communities are eligible for more than $1million in grants to help attain those goals. In Deerfield, this would include applying for a grant to put solar energy on the roof of the new library, which would mean significant savings in municipal electricity costs for town residents.
I’d like to correct one error in the print article, however. The three proposed warrant articles have in fact been endorsed by the Planning Board and the Energy Conservation Committee. The error was quickly corrected in the article online, but I write so that readers who read the Recorder only in hard copy aren’t left with the incorrect impression.
Anne Buchanan
South Deerfield