MA Groups Look to Build on Landmark Climate Bill This Earth Day
Lily Bohlke – Commonwealth News Service
BOSTON — This Earth Day, as President Joe Biden convenes a climate summit with world leaders, Massachusetts environmentalists hope federal efforts will complement the essential work states have taken on to curb climate change.
Elizabeth Turnbull Henry, president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, pointed out states are laboratories for policy and innovation, and also the engine for a lot of the implementation of climate goals.
She argued a clean-energy transition has to attend to the needs of the most vulnerable communities.
“We want to make sure that as we remake how we power our lives, that we are doing so in ways that are lessening rather than exacerbating inequality, that are creating economic opportunities across the Commonwealth,” Turnbull Henry asserted.
Massachusetts’ landmark climate bill, the Next Generation Roadmap, signed into law last month, sets a target for net-zero emissions by 2050, allowing less than 30 years to wring all emissions out of the economy.
Turnbull Henry added measures such as the added focus on decarbonizing buildings and incorporating offshore wind are key.
In addition to providing funding streams to states, Turnbull Henry cited various roles the federal government could play, many of which she contended wouldn’t cost much.
She highlighted the importance of clean-energy tax credits as incentives for businesses and individuals, as well as a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that supports state efforts to coordinate and electrify the grid, and scientific innovation, which she noted has been on prominent display with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have made huge strides in wind, solar, batteries, fusion, so many exciting energy technologies,” Turnbull Henry stressed. “And as we’ve seen with the build-out of the vaccine over the last year, a highly-motivated federal government, when it comes to research, is almost unstoppable.”
She hopes clean-energy innovation and climate mitigation will play major roles in the economic recovery from the pandemic as well.