By Jess Nahigian
After a year and a half of legislative session, hours of testimony, briefings, citizen lobbying, and over two thousand calls and emails from Sierra Club members to their legislators, the Massachusetts legislature passed….next to nothing addressing climate and environmental crises, claiming they “ran out of time.” That’s just not true. This failure is the product of a dysfunctional process, politicians captured by for-profit utility corporations, and Governor Maura Healey's unwillingness to flex her power and deliver on the broad emissions reductions her own administration says are necessary. Per the legislature’s cultural rules, the remainder of 2024 is an “informal session,” but legislative leaders, House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka, could change that at any time by opening a “formal session” to pass more bills.
Here’s what really happened, where our priorities stand, and where we go from here.
After a year and a half of being paid full-time to work on these issues, legislative leaders advanced small policy scraps in the last two months of the session, including a “climate” bill in each chamber. The House version of the bill mainly consisted of reforming how we permit and site new electric utility infrastructure and large clean energy infrastructure. The Senate version comprised more robust action, but not at the scale required to meet our climate goals. If passed, it would limit money going toward expensive, polluting methane gas pipelines and would begin an orderly and necessary transition to clean, efficient heat. Among other things, it would also modernize the state’s bottle deposit, known as the bottle bill. Neither bill allowed adequate provisions for environmental justice communities, which face a disproportionate rate of pollution in Massachusetts. In the last weeks of the legislative session, the two chambers tried to negotiate an agreement. But Senate leaders refused to accept a compromise that increased ratepayer costs for a new grid while also asking ratepayers to pour billions more dollars into outdated, harmful infrastructure to placate gas companies.
Outside these proposals, many other worthy policies ‘died in committee’ where politicians take secret votes that their constituents cannot see. Many more died in the backroom process, where amendments to bills were withdrawn before they had a chance to receive a vote. And even more policies died after being advanced by committees and were never allowed to come for a vote despite having the public support of the majority of the legislature. The legislative process is broken, and it is clear that corporations' undue influence routinely blocks popular and effective legislation in favor of utility and developer profits.
Both House and Senate climate bills included measures from the Healey administration. The administration requested these to advance their legal obligations to meet our state mandates of net zero emissions by 2050, the year scientists say all countries combined must become net zero to avoid full climate catastrophe.
What DID pass?
The Sierra Club set out this session to lower emissions and protect communities and wildlife through multiple pieces of legislation. Our priorities ranged across issue areas: stopping gas pipeline expansion; reforming energy facilities siting processes to be more just; transforming our buildings to become more healthy and efficient; increasing solar on the built and disturbed environment; reducing pollution from our public transit system and public vehicles by changing them from diesel to electric; reducing “unhealthy forever chemicals” from new products; reducing single use plastics; protecting forests from logging; and increasing urban trees across the state.
We saw several concrete victories that advanced these goals. Alongside coalition partners at the Zero Carbon Renovation Fund table, we successfully advocated for $425 million in bonds for energy efficiency and building decarbonization authorizations. In the 11th hour of the session, Massachusetts became the second state to ban forever chemicals (PFAS) in firefighter personal protective gear. And within the Senate climate omnibus, which has not passed, we saw attempts to scale back the billions of dollars ratepayers are sinking into outdated, harmful pipelines.
What next?
The formal session is over, but in the Massachusetts legislature, rules are elastic. The climate omnibus bill was one of a handful of items left on the negotiating table that can’t be passed in an “informal” session. We’re already hearing the Governor hint that she wants to bring the legislature back for a “formal” session this fall so they can vote on an economic development bond bill. If they return for a formal session, they must also pass a robust climate omnibus bill that makes meaningful progress on our reduction goals by phasing out fossil fuels like methane gas, increasing renewables, protecting environmental justice communities, and benefitting workers.
You can take the first step by telling your legislator you are upset they didn’t pass a robust climate bill and that they MUST return to a formal session to pass a true climate bill - one that makes meaningful progress on our reduction goals by phasing out fossil fuels like methane gas, increasing renewables, protecting environmental justice communities, and benefitting workers. Find their contact information here.
To see where each of our issues landed, see the following breakdown and refer back to the 2023-2024 priority legislation for explanations of any bills mentioned. But first…
Thank you!!
To every one of you who has been part of this effort so far - THANK YOU. It’s because of you that a meaningful climate bill is still possible. Shout outs —
- To the fabulous people who are part of our newly formed legislative team, who determined and executed our end-of-session strategy, and who kept the pressure up even after the session was over, recruiting people and jumping into action for our 2-hour notice post-session protest!
- To Paul Dale, who, among so many other things, brilliantly developed and wrote our solar on disturbed land legislation and brought the idea of increasing incentives on solar in the built environment to the center of the Massachusetts solar conversation.
- To Clint Richmond, who tracked and advocated for everything plastics, PFAS, and pesticides, and got creative by doing things like testing the bathing fountain water in a key district for PFAS
- To Lynne Man and Nancy Polan, who steered our forest protection team, and helped identify, advocate, and track our conservation priorities
- To Alan Gordon who lithely navigated the web of coalitions in the toxics space
- To our legislative sponsors and champions, who weren’t afraid of solid ideas that met the urgency and scale of needed change. See everyone who introduced our priority legislation here
- To the phenomenal group of lead volunteers who charted our legislative energy siting positioning through difficult waters
- To the transportation committee and action team, who tracked and advocated for bills, identified sneaky, terrible ideas that should be opposed, and made truly iconic graphics
- To Sierra Cape Cod group and especially Chris Powicki, for their continuing vocal support of our clean energy future and their persistence in stopping unnecessary barriers to solar on buildings in historic districts
- To everyone who attended an in-person event and showed off the power of environmentalists - whether attending a hearing, delivering calendars and priorities, attending a rally, watching votes from the gallery, or chanting in the halls
- To everyone who invited their legislators to briefings about key bills
- To everyone who submitted testimony at legislative hearings
- To everyone who submitted letters to the editor
- To everyone who amplified our power by contacting your friends or attending a phone or text bank
- To the literally thousands of you who called, wrote, and emailed your legislators in the final weeks
- To the many coalition partners we work with across issues that bring focus and strategy to our power and who make us stronger, together
- Last but not least - to our Sierra staff who, over the past two years, served as hard backstops to meeting goals and building power:
- Celeste Venolia, who always rolled with the punches and anticipated needs
- Dan McCarthy, who stepped into big shoes at a critical moment
- Dan Friedman, who was the best co-conspirator we could have asked for
- Raquel Fernandez, who lent a needed hand during a chaotic moment
- Veena Dharmaraj, who set us up for transportation success
- Emma Brown, for always being ready to handle a data request with ease
- Kira Liu, who ensured people actually knew what was happening
- Ally Samuell and Nick Katkevich, who worked with partners to build the Gas in the Past campaign
- Bianca Sanchez, who can draft clean copy for a press release in the blink of an eye
- Hannah Birnbaum and Deb Pasternak, who assisted in the conception of our strategy
- And of course, chapter director Vick Mohanka, who guided us
- I apologize to anyone I’ve forgotten. Please know that we appreciate you.
Where did our priorities land? Pieces passed, but many went to study, meaning they died.
Transportation
No new legislation has passed that would help us meet our climate goals in this high emissions sector. S.2217 / H.3392 An Act Setting Deadlines to Electrify the Commuter Rail was added as an amendment to the Senate climate omnibus bill, but of course, that bill didn’t pass by the end of the formal session. S.2218 / H.3139 An Act setting deadlines for school bus and public fleet electrification, S.2285 / H.3366 An Act electrifying regional transit authorities, and S.2277 / H.3272 An Act to increase regional transit accessibility in the Commonwealth were all sent to study.
Clean Energy
H.3237 An Act establishing a moratorium on new gas system expansion was sent to study in the House (meaning that they are not interested in taking the bill up, and politely killing its hope of moving forward) but had broad support, as demonstrated by the 52 cosponsors it gained in 8 hours when filed as a House amendment to the omnibus climate bill - the second most cosponsored amendment. In the Senate, S.2135 was advanced from the energy committee to Ways and Means but never made it into the Senate omnibus bill. S.2138 / H.3169 An Act Protecting Ratepayers From Gas Pipeline Expansion Costs and S.481 / H.872 An Act establishing a climate change superfund and promoting polluter responsibility were all sent to study.
S.2150 / H.3225 An Act to Encourage Solar Development on Built and Disturbed Land was sent to study (politely killed) in both chambers. The bill sought to increase an incentive program called net metering for solar on larger buildings and disturbed land, to spur this lagging part of the industry. The administration is revamping our solar programs, and we are also pursuing increasing incentives at the administrative level.
Environmental Justice
Our leadership failed to advance environmental justice priorities this session. Environmental justice communities bear a disproportionate burden of our energy infrastructure. During the last legislative session, these communities, supported by allies like the Sierra Club, introduced legislation to correct this in future decisions. When the House separately became interested in energy siting this year, we worked hard to include the key ideas from this bill, like conducting an assessment of cumulative pollution and health impacts in a community to determine whether new infrastructure can be added. Despite multiple back and forths with both chambers and the administration, the idea laid out by the environmental justice table has never appeared in any draft of the climate omnibus’ siting section viewable by the public.
Meanwhile, after its second session of being introduced, S.1382 / H.2131 An Act to improve outdoor and indoor air quality for communities burdened by pollution didn’t make it out of the Ways and Means committee. Its broad support was demonstrated by the 48 co-sponsors it had in the House as an amendment to the omnibus climate bill. S.953 / H.1677 An Act to create access to justice and S.2246 / H.3266 An Act Relative to Fare Free Buses were both sent to study, although the final budget did include funding for fare-free RTAs, which was a win!
Building Electrification
The final Affordable Homes Act H.4977, which passed both chambers and is before the Governor, includes $150 million in bonds for public housing decarbonization and $275 million for sustainable and green housing initiatives, a total of $425 million in bonds for energy efficiency and decarbonization authorizations. S.2365 / H.3232 An Act establishing a zero carbon renovation fund, which would have created a much larger long-term fund for building decarbonization, was sent to study (politely killed) in the House and never made it out of Ways and Means in the Senate. The concept of funding, however, lived on in the bond bill and will undoubtedly appear in future funding bills.
Toxics & Plastics
One smaller piece of PFAS legislation that focused on firefighters’ personal protective gear passed, which is a step in the right direction but leaves a lot left to do: S.902 An Act relative to the reduction of certain toxic chemicals in firefighter personal protective equipment was passed by the House and Senate in the final hours of the legislative session and is currently awaiting the Governor’s signature. MA is now the second state to ban PFAS in firefighter personal protective gear and, barring faster action by other states, will become the first to eliminate its manufacture and sale by 2027, beating out Connecticut which will do so in 2028. S.175 / H.318 An Act Relative To Toxic Free Kids and S.1356 / H.2197 An Act to protect Massachusetts public health from PFAS were redrafted but ultimately didn’t make it out of Ways and Means. S.487 / H.825 An Act Relative to Pesticides didn’t make it out of Ways and Means.
The Senate passed multiple measures to reduce plastic as a combined omnibus package bill (S.2833) but the House chose not to take up the bill. Legislation to modernize our container deposit was included by the Senate in the omnibus climate bill that did not pass.
Public Lands & Nature-Based Solutions
No new legislation passed to increase proforestation and reduce logging on our public lands or commit to municipal reforestation as a broader MA climate strategy. S.452 / H.869 An Act establishing the Municipal Reforestation Program didn’t make it out of Ways and Means. H.904 An Act relative to increased protection of wildlife management areas, H.894 An Act relative to forest management and practices guidelines, H.895 An Act to Require Separate Carbon Accounting for Working Lands and Natural Lands and to Eliminate from Massachusetts Net-Zero Carbon Emissions Goal Any Carbon Offsets Sold to Entities Outside of the Commonwealth, and H.4150 An Act Relative to Forest Protection were all sent to study (politely killed).