MA Legislature Commits to Net Zero by 2050

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Quote: MA Legislature Commits to Net Zero by 2050

The NextGen Roadmap bill will step up the pace of our collective effort to slow climate change. This is the strongest effort of its kind in the country.

Some tools go to the state, some to the private sector, and some to cities and towns. The projects and buildings municipalities approve for construction this year will still be up and going strong in 2050, when the entire economy of Massachusetts, in all its aspects, must put out “net zero” emissions. So we give the force of law to the creation of a “net zero stretch energy code,” with flexibility for communities to opt in when they’re ready.

Next-Gen Roadmap Bill Charts Steady Course to Net Zero by 2050

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Quote: Next-Gen Roadmap Bill Charts Steady Course to Net Zero by 2050

The Next Gen Roadmap bill is a climate toolkit. The tools we’ve selected integrate seamlessly with the Global Warming Solutions Act. We give the force of law to a greenhouse gas limit for 2050 of net zero emissions. We set statewide emissions limits every 5yrs & commission reports on what each plan is actually accomplishing.

Deal reached on major climate bill led by Barrett

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Lexington Minuteman

After six months of private talks, legislative negotiators on Sunday afternoon reached an agreement on a major bill to accelerate the state’s pace toward addressing the global problem of climate change.

The bill (S 2995) would establish in state law a “net zero” greenhouse gas emissions limit for 2050 and establish statewide emissions limits every five years over the next three decades. Within that plan, the bill creates mandatory emissions sublimits for six sectors of the economy: electric power, transportation, commercial and industrial heating and cooling, residential heating and cooling, industrial processes, and natural gas distribution and service.

The bill’s chief negotiators – Rep. Thomas Golden of Lowell and Sen. Michael Barrett of Lexington – called the proposal “the strongest effort of its kind in the country” and the first major update to the 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act.

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Here’s a look at the winners and losers in the state’s far-reaching climate bill

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Boston Globe

No corner of the state’s energy industry seems to go untouched in the climate bill passed by the Massachusetts House and Senate on Monday, with just over one day left in the two-year legislative session.

Senator Mike Barrett, one of the lead negotiators of the bill, said creative builders can find ways to offset natural gas usage, such as through solar power, for example. But NAIOP blasted the bill in a statement, saying it threatens the state’s “precarious economic recovery from the effects of the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.” Of particular concern: the energy-intensive labs needed by life sciences companies, a proverbial golden goose for Greater Boston.

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Climate bill would clear up solar tax confusion

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Commonwealth Magazine

THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE is set to clarify a confusing and outdated tax law, which had been stymying solar projects around the state.

A compromise hammered out between the state’s assessors and solar developers has made it into the final version of a climate change bill. The bill was reported out of a conference committee on Sunday and is expected to be passed by the Legislature Monday and sent to Gov. Charlie Baker.

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Massachusetts lawmakers deal blow to Springfield biomass project

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Mass Live

SPRINGFIELD — Power from wood-to-energy plants — like the long-proposed Palmer Renewable Energy in East Springfield — won’t qualify as “green power” for municipal power utilities for at least five years under new rules announced over the weekend by state lawmakers.

A conference committee of state senators and representatives also called on Gov. Charlie Baker and his administration to complete a new study examining the impact of these biomass plants on greenhouse emissions, global climate change and public health. The conference report – meant to hammer out differences between the Senate and House bills passed in 2020 – will go to lawmakers for a vote before the term ends Tuesday.

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NextGen Roadmap Bill Will Step up Pace of Effort to Slow Climate Change

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Quote: NextGen Roadmap Bill Will Step up Pace of our Collective Effort to Slow Climate Change

Today the Conference Committee on Climate is pleased to issue its report, An Act Creating a Next-Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy (S.2995).

This bill is a climate toolkit. Reducing emissions to net zero is the contribution Massachusetts must make to the nation’s, and the world’s, larger climate effort. No question, doing our part is a big lift. With the tools the Legislature brings together here, we can construct the response we need and provide a blueprint to other states. The toolkit approach is not a vision statement. It is not abstract or general. It is detailed. It is concerned with the practical. It focuses relentlessly on the work of reducing greenhouse gases, creating jobs, and protecting the vulnerable. It’s about the ‘how’ of it, as in “Here’s how we get this done, one step at a time, starting now.”

Lawmakers release compromise climate change bill

senmikeb
Commonwealth Magazine

The climate change bill includes a host of provisions that spell out how the state should move forward and on what terms, but perhaps its biggest impact is that it gives those terms the force and durability of law.

“Without the force of law, it can all evaporate with the next governor,” said Sen. Michael Barrett of Lexington, the lead Senate negotiator on the bill, in a phone interview.

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