A Green New Deal for Massachusetts

We are in the midst of a climate emergency. The science tells us that we have until 2030 to take meaningful action to curb the worst effects of climate change. Recent studies have also shown that the northeast is warming more rapidly than the rest of the United States, further increasing the urgent need to act on climate. But despite warnings from scientists, Massachusetts has failed to act with the urgency this crisis demands.

We cannot afford to settle for tepid half measures any longer. It’s time for Massachusetts to undertake a mass mobilization to zero out greenhouse gas emissions, prioritize environmental justice, and create a just and sustainable economy.

I have spent years fighting for climate action and environmental justice as an activist. The 2018 U.N. climate report was one of the biggest factors in my decision to run for office, and fighting climate change will be my top priority when elected. Today I am releasing my plan for a Green New Deal for Massachusetts. My plan includes:

1. Accelerating our transition to 100% renewable energy
2. Public ownership of public utilities
3. Investing in clean transportation
4. Protecting public lands and fund environmental agencies
5. Prioritizing environmental justice
6. Putting a price on carbon
7. Investing in and expand green infrastructure
8. Creating public data tools to ensure transparency and accountability

100% Renewable Energy

Raise the Renewable Portfolio Standard

The Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) is one of the strongest tools Massachusetts has in accelerating our transition to 100% renewable energy. The RPS dictates how much renewable energy electrical utilities, such as Eversource and National Grid, must purchase. Several other states have set aggressive RPS timelines to accelerate their transition to 100% renewable energy as quickly as possible. Vermont for example, plans to get to 75% RPS by 2032, while California is aiming for 50% by 2030.

In 2018, Massachusetts had the opportunity to pass a climate bill from the state Senate that would have raised the RPS high enough to get us to 100% renewable energy by 2050, in addition to removing barriers to solar energy and increasing procurement of offshore wind. But we didn’t. Instead, the compromise bill that emerged from the House made minor improvements to the RPS that will not get us to 100% renewable energy until 2095. PV Magazine called this legislation “by far the least ambitious 100% renewable energy mandate known to pv magazine.”

We cannot afford to wait until 2095 to achieve 100% renewable energy, and we certainly deserve better than “the least ambitious” plans to get there. We must accelerate the RPS to reach 100% renewable electricity by 2035 or sooner. Beyond the RPS, we must set additional goals to achieve 100% renewable energy economy-wide (including heating and transportation) by 2040 or sooner.

Eliminate Solar Net Metering Caps

To accelerate our transition to renewable energy, Massachusetts must do all it can to foster a robust solar industry. However, our recent track record on solar has hindered our state’s solar industry and has made it more difficult for Bay Staters to invest in solar. The most egregious example of this was our failure to eliminate the caps on solar net metering in 2018.

Massachusetts’ solar net metering policy allows property owners to send excess electricity generated by their solar panel systems back to the grid in exchange for a credit on future electric bills. In 2017, our failure to eliminate these caps stalled $78 million in solar projects, which collectively had a capacity of 51.2 megawatts (MW) — enough to power nearly 5,400 homes. That same year, due in large part to these net metering caps and uncertainty around solar incentives, Massachusetts lost a staggering 21% of its solar jobs.

Massachusetts must eliminate the caps on solar net metering. Additionally, we must raise the rates that community solar projects receive for selling back excess energy to the grid to ensure that underserved communities and residents in multi-unit buildings can also enjoy the full benefits of solar.

Increase Offshore Wind Procurement

There are currently only five offshore wind turbines in the United States, all of which belong to Rhode Island’s Block Island Wind Farm. Although Massachusetts set a goal of procuring 3,200 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind in 2018 (which was negotiated down from 5,000 MWs), we are still lagging behind other states. New York, for example, aims to procure 9,000 MWs of offshore wind by 2035, while New Jersey aims to procure 7,500 MWs by 2035.

It’s time for Massachusetts to aim higher with offshore wind. We should increase our procurement to a total of at least 6,000 MWs by 2035, which could power 3 million homes. Further, we should work with all New England states to push for an additional 6,000 MWs in regional procurement.

Moratorium on New Fossil Fuel Infrastructure

If Massachusetts is serious about combatting the climate crisis, then we must get serious about investing in clean, renewable energy and move away from the fossil fuels that got us into this mess. We’ve seen the deadly consequences of our continued reliance on fossil fuels, most recently with the Columbia Gas explosions in the Merrimack Valley. Considering this recent history, it is nothing short of baffling why Governor Charlie Baker and his administration have pushed so hard for the construction of the Weymouth Compressor Station, which would bring fracked natural gas through New England into Canada, over the sustained objections of the surrounding community. We cannot afford to put people, communities, and our environment at risk with dangerous new fossil fuel projects. It’s time for Massachusetts to impose a moratorium on new fossil fuel infrastructure.

Divest Public Money from Fossil Fuel Industries

How our public institutions invest public money is a direct statement of our values and priorities. For generations, institutions such as public colleges and universities and state pension funds have held investments in fossil fuel industries. Over the last few years, however, we’ve seen a wave of student activism across the country that has forced many universities to divest their endowment funds from fossil fuel investments. Here in Massachusetts, UMass became the first major public university to divest, with many other schools following suit with full or partial divestment.

It’s time for all of our public institutions in Massachusetts, including public universities and our state pension fund, to acknowledge the urgency and scale of the climate crisis and fully divest from fossil fuel investments. Beyond being the morally sound thing to do, divesting from fossil fuels is a sound financial strategy, as investment professionals continue to signal their concern about the viability of the fossil fuel industry’s financial future.

Fighting for a Green New Deal at the September 2019 Climate Strike

Public Ownership of Public Utilities

To meaningfully combat climate change, we will need to reorient every sector of our economy toward sustainability. It’s time for Massachusetts to democratize our energy systems: We need public ownership of public utilities.

Public utilities are designed to provide critical services to the public. Instead of being entrusted to the public sector, almost all public utilities are entrusted to corporate entities through a government-sanctioned monopoly. In theory, this arrangement is supposed to serve the public good, but like any other private corporations, these investor-owned utilities are primarily concerned with securing the highest returns for their investors rather than serving the needs of consumers.

What have consumers gotten out of this arrangement? Recently, we’ve seen deadly failures to uphold public safety followed by long-term disruptions in service, a six month lockout and denial of health care benefits to National Grid’s unionized workers, and continued failure to uphold the values of public health. In addition to putting profit over public safety, these investor-owned utilities have used ratepayer dollars to grossly enrich their executives (Eversource CEO Tom May makes almost $10 million a year) and lobby against the public interest.

This dedication to shareholder profit also explains why investor-owned utilities are unlikely to phase out fossil fuels on their own. Currently, only 13% of Massachusetts’ energy is democratically-controlled through municipal light plants, or Municipally Owned Utilities (MOUs). It’s time for Massachusetts to follow Nebraska’s lead and ensure public ownership of public utilities. In re-imagining our energy system, the Take Back the Grid campaign offers an excellent roadmap:

1. Democratize: Bring energy systems under public ownership and control, and ensure that utilities work for the public good, not private profit.
2. Decarbonize: Restructure our energy systems along ecologically sustainable lines and accelerate our transition to 100% renewable energy
3. Decommodify: Guarantee energy as a human right. No one should go without heat or electricity simply for being too poor.
4. Decolonize: New energy systems must strive to undo the damage done to frontline communities and indigenous lands and prioritize environmental justice.

Invest in Clean Transportation

Transportation is the leading source of CO2 emissions in Massachusetts. Despite the fact that we have the MBTA, Commuter Rail network, and regional transit authorities statewide, Boston still has some of the worst car traffic congestion in the United States. If Massachusetts is to play its part in meaningfully combatting climate change, we need much deeper investments in clean, electric public transit across the Commonwealth.

In February, I published my plan for public transit in Massachusetts. Investments in transit must be a cornerstone of a Green New Deal for Massachusetts, and should, as my transit plan lays out:

1. Make public transit fare free.
2. Raise new progressive revenue to fix and fund the MBTA.
3. Transform the Commuter Rail to frequent, electric Regional Rail.
4. Build West Station in Allston now, not 2040 as suggested by Governor Baker.
5. Electrify the MBTA bus fleet.
6. Invest in high speed East-West Rail across the Commonwealth.
7. Enter into the Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI).

Protect Public Lands

Pass a Green Budget to Fund Our Environmental Agencies

Our environmental agencies have never recovered from the Great Recession. Currently, only 0.60% of the state’s operating budget goes towards protecting our environment. By contrast, in the early 2000s, 1% of the state budget was dedicated to our environmental agencies. With the threat of climate change becoming more severe — and as the northeast warms more rapidly than the rest of the US — dedicating only 1% of the state budget to the environment is woefully inadequate, but 0.60% is downright climate denial.

Our state budget is a moral document; a demonstration of our values and a statement of our priorities. What, then, does 20 years of budget cuts to environmental agencies say about our priorities in a time of climate change? We’ve already seen dire warnings about budget cuts in the wake of COVID-19, even though our Democratic supermajorities in the legislature have the power to enact fair taxation and make the rich pay their fair share. We cannot accept more and more austerity from our state government, especially when we only have 10 years left to take meaningful action on climate change.

Source: Environmental League of Massachusetts

Source: Environmental League of Massachusetts

The hollowing out of our environmental agencies not only prevents Massachusetts from living up to our potential, but allows polluters to degrade our water, air, and public lands with impunity. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), for example, has been forced to eliminate so many compliance jobs that they have seen a 50% reduction in enforcement actions for serious offenses and a 75% reduction in fine collections. These budget cuts have severely limited DEP’s ability to issue permits in a timely fashion, provide technical assistance, and enforce state law. Other environmental agencies have fared no better.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) are the strongest guardians of our public lands in Massachusetts, including 450,000 acres of land across more than 250 properties and almost 2,000 miles of trails. Our state parks and public lands offer access to nature and the most beautiful natural wonders of Massachusetts to everyone, regardless of income. Despite their work in protecting our public lands, a decade of budget cuts have eliminated over 400 full-time positions at DCR, more than a third of the agency’s total workforce. These staff and budget cuts have further resulted in a multi-billion dollar backlog of deferred maintenance in our state parks and forests. We must aim higher than 1% of the budget and greatly reinvest in our environmental agencies.

Create a Massachusetts Conservation Corps

Massachusetts isn’t only facing a climate crisis. In the wake of COVID-19, we will also be facing an economic crisis. Nearly 7.7 million American workers under 30 are unemployed, and 3 million have dropped out of the labor force in the last month. Massachusetts must prioritize a green recovery, and that requires us to think bigger and bolder. It’s time for us to create a Massachusetts Conservation Corps.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the original Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933, designed to provide jobs to young men in forestry, recreation, and soil conservation. By 1942, the CCC had 3.4 million participants, planted more than 3 billion trees, built hundreds of parks and wildlife refuges, and completed thousands of miles of roads and trails. While the original CCC was far from perfect — they only hired men, the work camps were segregated, and some projects were ecologically harmful — it does provide a useful model for states to emulate now. Several states have developed their own Conservation Corps programs, including California, Washington, Vermont, and Montana. Other programs, such as the Student Conservation Association and AmeriCorps, have created programs in a similar vein to the CCC that provide educational and internship experience to students and young people.

The California Conservation Corps is a department within the California Natural Resources Agency and provides perhaps the best model for Massachusetts to follow. The California program provides a year of paid service to young women and men age 18–25, and up to age 29 for military veterans. Corpsmembers take on projects in environmental protection, resource conservation, and natural disaster response.

A Massachusetts Conservation Corps should be housed within the Department of Conservation and Recreation as part of a broader plan to fully fund and rebuild the agency after decades of budget cuts. MCC projects could include environmental protection and conservation, public land maintenance, habitat restoration, a statewide tree planting initiative, trail construction and maintenance, historic building renovation, climate resilience measures, and environmental justice initiatives.

Environmental Justice

In any discussion of climate change and a Green New Deal, we must center environmental and climate justice, especially in the midst of a global pandemic. Environmental justice is the equal protection and meaningful involvement of all people with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws.

For generations, communities of color across the United States have been much more likely to live near polluters and breathe polluted air. This did not happen by accident. A landmark 1987 report from the United Church of Christ’s Commission for Racial Justice showed that race was the single most important factor in determining where toxic waste facilities were sited in the United States, and that this was the intentional result of local, state, and federal land-use policies.

To see the deadly consequences of environmental racism and our failure to prioritize environmental justice in our Commonwealth, look no further than Chelsea, MA. For decades, Massachusetts has treated Chelsea as a dumping ground and the resulting pollution has significantly compromised the health of Chelsea residents and allowed COVID-19 to spread rapidly throughout the city.

Massachusetts needs a comprehensive plan to codify and prioritize environmental justice, which at a minimum should include:

1. Write environmental justice into law and codify the definition of environmental justice as “the right to be protected from environmental pollution and to live in and enjoy a clean and healthful environment regardless of race, income, national origin, or English language proficiency.”
2. Put a cap on the expansion or siting of new industrial facilities within environmental justice communities. Doing so would lower the risk of toxic exposure to those living in environmental justice communities and preserve their access to healthy environments.
3. Create a Supplemental Environmental Project bank to fund environmentally beneficial projects in environmental justice communities, funded by environmental violators.
4. Guarantee solar power equity in low-income and environmental justice communities.
5. Establish an Environmental Justice Advisory Council to provide independent advice and recommendations to the Governor and executive agencies and issue regular public reports about environmental justice in Massachusetts.
6. Require the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to appoint a Director of Environmental Justice.
7. Require the Department of Environmental Protection to develop and environmental justice strategy for all of its work.
8. Incorporate tenets of environmental justice in all projects large enough to be subject to the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act.
9. Ensure multi-lingual outreach and consultation when projects undergoing environmental review are proposed in environmental justice communities.

Put a Price on Carbon

There is wide agreement among experts that carbon pricing, while not a silver bullet solution, is one of the most cost-effective ways to achieve the deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions we need to protect our climate. Any carbon pricing mechanism must incorporate environmental and economic justice principles and exempt low-income households. Additionally, revenues generated from carbon pricing should be used to:

1. Fund clean energy investments in frontline communities impacted by pollution and environmental racism.
2. Expand clean energy and energy efficiency projects to further reduce emissions.
3. Invest in clean, electric public transportation across Massachusetts, including regional transportation authorities, which have long been underfunded.
4. Ensure a just transition and provide financial assistance to workers affected by the transition away from fossil fuels.

Green Infrastructure

Implement a Net Zero Building Code

In Massachusetts, buildings account for nearly half of all carbon pollution when accounting for electricity, heating, and cooling. In some cities and towns, buildings can produce more than 70% of the carbon pollution. Massachusetts’ building energy code is set by the Board of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS) and determines the minimum energy efficiency requirements to which all new construction projects and major renovations conform.

Massachusetts’ building energy code includes the Base Code (the minimum requirements) and a Stretch Code, which allows communities to opt into higher energy efficiency standards than the Base Code. While the stretch code allows cities and towns to opt into these higher standards, they cannot impose standards that exceed the stretch code. By implementing a net zero stretch code, new buildings would be required to generate at least as much power as they consume, which would greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in cities and towns opting into the net zero stretch code. It’s time for Massachusetts to update the Stretch Code to a net zero standard.

Retrofit Existing Homes and Buildings for Energy Efficiency

While a net zero building code will greatly reduce carbon pollution for newly constructed buildings, existing homes and commercial buildings present a larger challenge. While retrofitting older buildings would be a large undertaking and a longer-term project, doing so would create thousands of high-paying union jobs in construction and maintenance.

Expand Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

While investing in clean, electric public transit must be our top priority in future transportation planning, we must also make it easier for drivers to purchase electric vehicles (EVs) and expand our EV charging infrastructure statewide. Currently, our EV charging infrastructure across Massachusetts is woefully inadequate, especially along our highways. It’s time for Massachusetts to greatly increase our public charging stations and make it easier for anyone living in or traveling through Massachusetts to own or operate an electric vehicle.

Transparency and Accountability

Public data is a powerful way of keeping the public informed and empowered and keeping our state government accountable. New York State provides a helpful model here with their Clean Energy Dashboard, which aggregates and provides information on utilities and other state government programs related to clean energy and climate goals. San Diego’s Tree Map also shows the power and potential of public data for environmental initiatives. The tree map allows users to see the quantifiable benefits of trees, including data on carbon sequestration, water retention, energy saved, and air pollutants reduced from individual trees. Massachusetts should create a performance-measurement and management tool to publish metrics and goals, track data, and ensure accountability for each quantifiable policy discussed above.

We only have 10 years left to stem the worst effects of climate change and avoid climate catastrophe. Massachusetts cannot afford to wait any longer on bold, urgent action. We must act now to accelerate our transition to 100% renewable energy, protect frontline communities, and create a just and sustainable economy. A better world is possible, but it’s up to us to build it.