HOUSE DEMOCRATS HAVE advanced a major bill that could scale back the state’s ambitious efforts to fight climate change.  

House members of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy greenlit the measure, H.3469, sponsored by Mark Cusack, the Braintree Democrat who co-chairs the panel. Seven House members of the committee, all Democrats, voted in favor of the bill, while four reps held back from casting an up or down vote, according to Ana Vivas, a spokesperson for House Speaker Ron Mariano.  

Cusack previously told CommonWealth Beacon, which first reported the legislative effort, that he is aiming to move the measure out of the House with a floor vote before lawmakers break for the year on November 19. 

Wednesday’s vote is the first sign that Cusack’s legislation, which would cut the state’s energy efficiency program and could render its 2030 climate mandate unenforceable, has some legs among Democrats, many of whom voted for those goals just four years ago, and is gaining traction in the House.  

And it’s a concrete signal of the political muscle being exerted by at least one part of the Democratic supermajority on Beacon Hill to soften its commitment to fight climate change and invest in clean energy in the name of energy affordability. 

The legislation, which CommonWealth Beacon obtained on Monday, details a scenario in which the state’s 2030 climate commitment to halve pollution compared to 1990 levels could become “advisory” if those goals are missed because of actions taken by the federal government. President Trump has kneecapped the clean energy transition by halting new offshore wind permits and pulling money meant to spur uptake in solar power and electric vehicles. 

Cusack’s bill also caps the Mass Save program at $4 billion, a $500 million cut from its current budget, and rolls back the amount of renewable energy that utilities are required to purchase.  

The measure is ushering in an unexpected — and messy — debate over the state’s overall policy push to meet its 2030 climate commitments as Gov. Maura Healey’s energy affordability package filed earlier this year is thrown into disarray. 

Cusack is moving forward with an entirely new bill tackling affordability outside of regular procedure, meaning he can move on his own track through the House without consent from his counterpart on the joint energy committee, Sen. Michael Barrett, a Lexington Democrat. The bill would eventually still need Senate approval to become law, however, something that is likely a long shot. 

“People always criticize the process when they can’t criticize the substance of the bill,” Cusack previously said when asked if the measure is more for messaging or negotiation than something that can become law. “We took the perspective of, what’s a bill that saves the ratepayer money, makes our commitment to clean energy, and our competitiveness economically? That was the focus. It wasn’t a focus of, can I get 21 votes in the Senate? I don’t serve in the Senate. Not my monkey, not my circus.”  

Environmental advocates, who were quick to react to Cusack’s plan with vows to fight it, are planning a rally at the State House on Thursday, according to an invitation viewed by CommonWealth Beacon.  

On Thursday, the joint energy committee will hold its first hearing since Cusack went public with his plan. He and Barrett are both expected there.