Massachusetts State Senator
The state of Massachusetts has just put into place one of the strongest climate laws in the country. The bill, which passed with bipartisan support, contains a number of new ideas as the state looks to lead on this important issue. Massachusetts State Senator and author of this bill, Michael Barrett, joined Cheddar to discuss.
I have an Earth Day resolution: to join with grassroots activists to make sure the ambitious new climate law is implemented in full. It commits to the right Big Number — 50% fewer emissions by 2030. Let’s hope other states follow Massachusetts’ lead.
The administration needs to get with the program quickly. “Next-Gen” sets a number of deadlines:
• On July 1, Gov. Baker will have three new vacancies to fill — green building experts, all — on a reconstituted Board of Building Regulation and Standards, a low-profile entity with enormous sway over energy use in new construction.
• By July 15, 2021, the administration must set a first-ever greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal for Mass Save, the popular home energy efficiency program.
• No later than July 1, 2022, the administration must adopt emissions limits and sublimits for the year 2025, together with a “comprehensive, clear and specific” plan for operating within them.
• By 21 months from now, the administration must develop and promulgate a new “municipal opt-in specialized stretch energy code” that includes “net zero building performance standards” and a definition of “net zero building.”
It’s no secret the governor vetoed an earlier version of the climate bill on the prodding of builders and developers. Taking note of the increasing urgency of global warming, we responded to the pushback by doubling down on net zero in the version of the bill that became law.
My constituents have been instrumental in seeing to it that Massachusetts passed the most ambitious climate bill in the country, which is cause for celebration. Now we need to make sure it gets implemented well.
Sen. Mike Barrett, D-Lexington, a co-chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, who co-authored the bill, says up-to-date data is crucial for the plan to succeed.
“We’re taking note of the incredible lag time that has been involved in reporting back to the Legislature on whether we are curbing emissions,” Barrett said during a recent Joint Way and Means Committee hearing. “We need to provide that data in a much more time-relevant way than has been the case.”
Barrett said the new climate law requires the state Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to provide lawmakers with an update on emissions levels every 18 months “so that we’re not looking at 2017 numbers in 2021.”
The presentation suggested natural gas was in for the “fight of its life.” Slides urged that “everyone needs to contact legislators in favor of” the fossil fuel and warned “Anti-Gas Pressure Continues to Grow.” Another slide suggested the industry should “take advantage of power outage fear.”
The slide that most concerned them was one that said Eversource supported a “consortium to combat electrification,” suggesting the company and others in the industry sought to blunt the move toward renewable energy.
“This is a smoking gun for someone like me,” said state Senator Michael Barrett, a Lexington Democrat and one of the climate bill’s lead negotiators. “This is distressing, explosive stuff. I worry this represents the real sentiments of Eversource.”
The bill signing for the Act Creating a Next-Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy took place in the Library of the State House, otherwise empty due to the pandemic.
“I have heard words used to describe this piece of legislation, words such as sweeping, landmark, far-reaching, ambitious, bold and nation-leading,” Senate President Karen Spilka said. “I believe it is all of these things.”
Well put. We’re the first state to keep attention riveted on climate by setting emissions limits every five years instead of every ten. The first state to mandate emissions sublimits on the most important sources of greenhouse gases — transportation, buildings, and electric power. The first state to overhaul the charter of its electric power and natural gas regulator to include, alongside price and system reliability, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Sen. Michael Barrett, who led the negotiations for the Senate and said he is concerned that the Baker administration has tried to “evade legislative intent” of the new law, said Friday that everyone in state government now must start “pulling in the same direction” now that the work turns to implementation.
“The order of the day beginning tomorrow is ensuring interpretations of the law that are true to legislative intent and then overseeing implementation in a way that is true to legislative intent,” he said. “One reason I’ve been so concerned about the administration’s insistence on idiosyncratic readings of the new statute is because today’s abstract discussion segues over in tomorrow’s implementation. If the administration pushes back against the plain language of the law today, how are they going to implement it tomorrow?”
The pace of climate change is picking up — so the pace of climate policy must pick up. The Next-Gen Climate Roadmap law reflects the concerns of people of every age, from every part of the state. The grassroots climate movement of MA is a force to be reckoned with.
Special thanks to Senate President Karen E. Spilka and Speaker Ron Mariano, who know how to lead. Special nod to State Rep. Tom Tipa Golden and his successor, State Rep Jeff Roy, who know how to collaborate. And special shout-out to MA climate activists, who know how to mobilize.
