Good News! YOUR EFFORTS PAID OFF! MA Poised to Pass a Major Climate Package

Thank you to all of the Sustainable Wellesley volunteers who called, emailed and tweeted their state representatives.   Your efforts paid off!   At 9:30 pm on Friday, July 31, 2020, after consideration of 108 amendments on the floor, the House passed H.4912 (“An Act Creating a 2050 Roadmap to a Clean and Thriving Commonwealth”) by an overwhelming majority (142-17)! 

Included in the original bill were emissions targets for 2030 and 2040, which require the state to reduce emissions by 50% and 75% below 1990 levels respectively, and
a commitment to a statewide net zero emission target by 2050.  It also:

• Establishes a “clean energy equity workforce and market development program” within the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC).
• Creates a low-income home retrofit task force to make recommendations to the energy efficiency advisory council to increase access to energy efficiency and electrician programs for low income residents.
• Includes various provisions around the net metering and the SMART solar incentive program
• Establishes a future utility grid commissions to make recommendations to better connect renewable energy and storage to the grid.

Because of pressure from activists like you, the above original bill was amended right before it passed, to make it stronger in several ways.  Some examples include: 

• Environmental Justice (EJ) communities must be recognized by law. With your help, Amendment #52 was successfully added to the Roadmap Bill, codifying the definition of Environmental Justice as the "involvement of all people with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies, including climate change policies; and the equitable distribution of energy and environmental benefits, and environmental burdens."  This amendment establishes protections for EJ communities that are currently missing in state policy, and a Governor-appointed Environment Justice Council. This amendment was co-sponsored by Wellesley’s State Representative Alice Peisch, along with several other amendments to make the climate bill stronger.
  
  
• Municipal Light Plants (MLP) need to be part of the climate solution. MLPs have historically been exempt from state's renewable energy requirements that govern investor owned utilities. The Roadmap Bill mandates that MLPs get to Net Zero by 2050 by shifting their energy to renewable sources (Amendment #19). This better positions Munis (like our own Wellesley MLP!) to be the centers of clean energy innovation we know they can be. 
  
  
• We know that we won't be able to meet our climate goals without transitioning our building stock to Net Zero standards. Amendment #8 to the Roadmap Bill adds four energy efficiency-focused seats to the Board of Building Regulations and Standards, ensuring that our statewide decision-makers on buildings are also experts on clean energy technologies

While there remains a lot of work to do to guarantee a rapid transition to a clean energy future in Massachusetts, the legislature is currently poised to pass a major climate package for the first time since the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2008.  The next step will take place in a Conference Committee, where this House Roadmap bill will be reconciled with the Senate’s NextGen bill.

Today, we are thanking Representative Alice Peisch for her part in the passage of the Roadmap Bill, and keeping up the fight for a better, more renewable, and more equitable future.

If you would like to join our team of legislative activists, please let us know by emailing [email protected].