The chairman of the Chamber of a key legislave committee said on Wednesday that policymakers are re -evaluating all the mandates, plans and objectives of the climate and emissions of Massachusetts in view of the changes in federal energy policy.
This opens the door to the possibility of changes to the state’s commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
President Donald Trump has it moved quickly In his second term in remodeling national energy and climate policy, largely rejecting the transition of fossil fuels to clean energy sources that President Joe Biden favored and states like Massachusetts.
Here, the state government has pledged to reduce carbon emissions by at least 50% compared to the 1990 reference lines by 2030, at least 75% until 2040 and at least 85% by 2050, with TAG-Along policies to get the state of zero net emissions in the middle of the century.
The state also has numerous other terms in books, including things like electric vehicles.
These emission reduction requirements were subject to debate, as the House worked through budget modifications Wednesday morning.
State representative Marc Lombardo, R-22nd Middlesex, offered a modification that would declare: “The limits of greenhouse gas emissions throughout the state or the sector will not have the strength of the law as binding terms.”
Lombardo, from Billerica, described it as a commitment to restore “the balance, flexibility and sense of Massachusetts climate policy”.
Representative Mark Cusack, D-5th Norfolk, who took advantage of this session to lead the telecommunications, utilities and energy committee, urged representatives to reject Lombardo’s modification, and said that there was already an effort to reconsider climate mandates.
“Although we have approved the important climate legislation of the last sessions, we are in the process of reviewing all our terms, goals and plans of our climate and broadcast,” said Cusack, from Brainree.
“With the new administration in Washington granting funding and with the president’s executive order that prevents new winds on the high seas, we must revalue and try to find out the new reality of fulfilling our climate change goals without a federal partner and without our planned energy diversification,” said Cusack.
He said that “difficult problems and solutions and approaches” deserve to be discussed in public audiences and with various groups interested. He also said that the legislation on energy accessibility that Governor Maura Healey announced for the first time more than two months since it will be presented in May.
“To evaluate our new reality and where we go from here,” Cusack continued, “Everything must remain on the table.”
Lombardo argued that his modification would directly conform to the effort that Cusack described as “eliminating a mandate and calls for an aspirational goal that provides the flexibility that the Lord spoke.”
“Accessibility has been a mass discussion point in Commonwealth in recent years. We constantly see residents leaving the Commonwealth to live more affordable places,” he said.
“Energy costs [are] A direct way that our residents can help, maintain flexibility, have goals to diversify us, but not block us in a way that Nana and Grampy cannot pay the gas to warm their homes in winter, “he continued.” And so I ask my colleagues to join me and support this modification so that Nana should not be cold in winter. “
The chamber rejected Lombardo’s modification. Twenty-one Republicans supported it.
Four of them: the minority leader, Brad Jones, the 20th Middlelex, and the first leader of the Kimberly Ferguson, R-1st Worcester, as well as representatives Hannah Kane, R-11th Worcester, and Donald Wong, R-9th Essex, joined all Democrats and independent representative Susannah. Whipps in opposition.
It Final end It was 21-134.
From 2021, last year with data available, state officials informed Had reduced emissions by 28% below the 1990 levels. The Was credited to Pandemia With Massachusetts to fulfill its 2020 commitment, but there has been a great doubt as to whether the state continues to meet its 2030 requirement.
Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs of the State, Rebecca Tepper Said in March That the executive order Trump signed in January essentially stop all the federal actions of the wind on the high seas “pending the completion of a comprehensive federal review of the federal rental of lease and permission practices” could make it much more difficult to reach the 2030 control point.
“There is no doubt that the Trump administration has made it more difficult to fulfill the requirements, specifically on the side of the generation,” Tepper said at that time. “We planned to have a significant amount of clean energy for 2030 from the wind outside the sea. So it will be a great header if this does not happen.”