News Clips

Concord Bridge

State Sen. Michael Barrett, D-Lexington, has been hearing from constituents in Concord, concerned and curious alike.

“The general feedback I’m getting is cautiously supportive of the effort,” Barrett said. “I’ve been able to reassure them that DHCD is not a faceless bureaucracy that is acting capriciously.”

Barrett pointed out the Best Western near the Route 2 rotary represents a compromise for housing families. There is some access to kitchen facilities, for example. Also, families won’t share bathrooms, as they would in a shelter. There is also access to good schools and some transportation.

“This is not a first choice, and it’s not viewed as a long-term solution, but the state is at the point of needing some fallback options for these families,” he said.

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Bedford Citizen

Several of the objections to the project were on environmental concerns, led by State Sen. Mike Barrett, whose district includes the four Hanscom towns. Barrett is one of the Legislature’s leading voices on climate issues. 

“I’m just channeling my constituents’ general concerns. There is genuine concern about the use of private jets and corporate jets,” he stated, which are “exceedingly emissions-heavy, on any metric you might choose. 

“It is striking that in the middle of our attempt as a state to deal with an existential crisis, Massport is intent on building its private jet business,” he continued. “This is premium traffic at a huge environmental cost to all of us collectively, and it’s obviously crucial to Massport’s plan for this particular airport.” 

The solar panels and other energy-saving features planned for the buildings “will not negate the extraordinary emissions impact of the jet trips themselves,” he said. The issue is “hyperlocal,” he asserted, because “a Massport facility in our midst will single-handedly undo much of the progress we made” in carbon elimination. 

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Lowell Sun

Barrett is one of two lawmakers who filed legislation that would remove safety oversight of the MBTA from the Department of Public Utilities.

If approved, Barrett’s bill would establish a “commission on transportation safety oversight and regulation,” an independent public entity not subject to the supervision or control of any other executive office of the commonwealth.

“The feds tell us they do not want oversight in the hands of an agency directly responsible to the same governor who directs mass transit itself,” Barrett said. “So we’re trying to create some separation.”

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Boston Globe

“This effort to get a municipality to opt in is going to invigorate grass-roots politics in 2023 like you’ve never seen before,” said Barrett, coauthor of the 2021 climate bill that required the creation of the new, optional building code. 

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Concord Bridge

Barrett said he was proud to witness the swearing-in of Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, and Senate President Karen Spilka. “Anyone who saw those three women up there couldn’t help but feel proud,” said Barrett.

He gave a shout-out to Healey for “giving climate change a big upgrade.”

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CommonWealth Magazine

Appearing on The Codcast, Sen. Michael Barrett of Lexington and Rep. Jeffrey Roy of Franklin said they were sympathetic to the challenges the wind farm developers are facing, including rising inflation and interest rates, supply chain difficulties, and the war in Ukraine.

“The world is a different place,” Barrett said. “The war in Ukraine could not have been anticipated. The impact on natural gas prices in Europe and the attraction of LNG toward Europe and away from New England which relies on LNG [liquefied natural gas] for winter heating could not have been entirely anticipated. Supply chain disruptions are real.”

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Boston Globe

Other local officials stepped up in Clark’s place Saturday to rally the crowd and tout the influence that the Democrat from Revere will hold as Democratic whip after she was elected to that role in November.

“Talk about Massachusetts catching a lucky break and seeing one of its truly great legislators on the cusp of assuming national power,” State Senator Mike Barrett said, drawing cheers from the crowd. “Her performance over the last several weeks has been heroic.”

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Politico

Key lawmakers quickly showed interest in some of Healey’s ideas. Senate President Karen Spilka said she’d “love to sit down” with the new administration about hiring for the T. State Sen. Mike Barrett said there’s impetus to act on Healey’s call for a “climate corridor,” telling reporters that “the Healey stamp, joined with Baker’s prior initiative, gives it that bipartisan character that we really need.”

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Boston Globe

State Senator Michael Barrett, a lead author of Massachusetts’ major 2021 and 2022 climate laws, said Tepper was a “shrewd” choice for EEA secretary.

“She knows the advocates. She knows the business community. She knows lots of legislators. She can make things happen for the Healey-Driscoll team,” he said.

He noted that Katie Theorides, who served as EEA secretary under Governor
Charlie Baker from 2019 through mid-2022, didn’t come into state government with the same extensive contact list.

“She brought some serious tools with her, but started from zero in terms of personal relationships and friendships in the legislative branch,” he said. “Tepper has the know-how and the contacts. That’s a very rare combination.”

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Boston Globe

One example of how quickly things move: The plan released today does not account for any delays associated with Avangrid pulling out of Commonwealth Wind, according to state Senator Michael Barrett, a Democrat of Lexington.

“Going forward, I expect they’re going to have to make adjustments every several months because the world is changing rapidly and in unexpected ways,” said Barrett, one of the lead authors of the Massachusetts 2021 and 2022 climate laws. “Whether or not you put a revision down on paper and publish it every several months, your real strategy has to be congruent with the real world. So what’s required here is nimbleness and strategic agility even as you keep your eye on the long-term goal.”

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