THE LEADERS of the House and Senate on Wednesday put pressure on Gov. Charlie Baker to sign a climate change bill into law by warning him that the two branches will pass the same bill again in the coming days of the new legislative session if he vetoes the measure. The climate change bill was […]
Environment
Posted inEconomy, Education, Environment
Baker signs campus sexual assault bill, approves deal affecting craft brewers
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Tuesday signed six bills with statewide implications, including a bill to provide more rights and resources to students involved in cases of sexual misconduct on campus and a long-sought after deal between craft brewers and their distributors. The flurry of action came on myriad bills that landed on the governor’s desk in the final days of the legislative session, […]
Posted inPolitics
Worries mount over climate change bill
COULD GOV. CHARLIE Baker veto the climate change bill? It seems hard to believe, but several supporters of the sweeping legislation say they are hearing troubling reports coming out of the Baker administration as the clock winds down to the Thursday night deadline. Some advocates and lawmakers, who asked not to be identified, said they […]
Posted inEnvironment
Mayflower Wind cutting its price 10%
MAYFLOWER WIND is cutting its price for delivering electricity to Massachusetts customers by roughly 10 percent with the help of a new federal tax credit included in the recent COVID-19 stimulus package. Under the terms of its 20-year contract with the state’s three utilities, Mayflower agreed to an average price of 7.77 cents per kilowatt […]
Posted inOpinion
Baker is wrong to subsidize wood burning
GOVS. CHARLIE BAKER of Massachusetts and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan were featured US officials at the fifth anniversary celebration of the Paris Climate Agreement. Their presence demonstrated that state leaders, from both political parties, are actively battling the climate emergency. It is therefore baffling that the Baker administration just released new regulations that directly undermine […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Lawmakers release compromise climate change bill
HOUSE AND SENATE negotiators released a compromise climate change bill on Sunday afternoon that lays out a fairly detailed roadmap for reaching the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 and sets an interim target for 2030 that is more aggressive than what the Baker administration called for last week. The Baker administration last Wednesday called […]
Posted inEnvironment
Baker emissions roadmap sets ambitious targets
This story was updated at 2:30 p.m. THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION on Wednesday rolled out a draft plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade that calls for energy retrofits of 1 million existing homes, higher efficiency standards for all new construction, the deployment of 750,000 electric vehicles, preservation of the region’s nuclear power […]
Posted inTransportation
Mass., Conn., RI, DC sign transportation climate pact
MASSACHUSETTS, CONNECTICUT, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia signed on to a pact Monday to put a price on the carbon contained in vehicle fuels sold within their borders and leverage the revenues gained and the resulting higher price of gasoline to cut transportation emissions 26 percent by 2032. The group of initial participants […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Mass. no longer most energy-efficient state
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER NINE YEARS at the top of a list that state officials regularly tout, Massachusetts is no longer considered to be the most energy-efficient state in the nation. California now sits atop the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) rankings and bumped Massachusetts down to second place thanks to the […]
Posted inOpinion
Solar revolution is stalled, needs to shift into gear
AFTER FOUR YEARS of denying climate science and downplaying its consequences, the federal government is on the cusp of a new era. Although deep political divides persist on many issues, there is one thing that Americans are united on – and that’s a desire for a national transition to clean, renewable energy. A resounding 82 percent of voters say […]