WHEN HOUSE DEMOCRATS first floated a plan to take the teeth out of the state’s next big deadline for slashing greenhouse gas emissions, Gov. Maura Healey did not have much to say about it.
Instead, she wanted to talk about reducing household electricity and gas costs.
“I haven’t seen the outlines of any specific plan on that,” she said in November, three days after CommonWealth Beacon broke the news that Rep. Mark Cusack, the House point person on energy, wanted to rework a huge energy affordability bill the governor filed by weakening the state’s 2030 decarbonization mandate. “There are other things in that legislation that will, right now, help us reduce energy costs,” Healey said. “That’s what we’ve got to focus on. That’s what we’ve got to do.”
Facing strong blowback to Cusack’s plan, House leaders abandoned the idea of gutting the emission reduction mandates and pivoted to another idea that would have seemed out of bounds only a few years ago: slashing $1 billion from the Mass Save energy efficiency program.
Healey again skirted the issue — “I’ve got to take a look at it,” she said when the new House idea emerged — and stuck to her message. “I’m really glad to see this energy affordability bill move forward,” she said. “We’ve got to get this done.”
If Healey seems laser-focused on energy costs these days, she is hardly alone. It’s part of a new political calculus on climate and energy policy, one that reflects a striking turnabout, in Massachusetts and beyond.
As Massachusetts Goes, So Goes New England
by Dan McKay
1 hour ago
WHEN HOUSE DEMOCRATS first floated a plan to take the teeth out of the state’s next big deadline for slashing greenhouse gas emissions, Gov. Maura Healey did not have much to say about it.
Instead, she wanted to talk about reducing household electricity and gas costs.
“I haven’t seen the outlines of any specific plan on that,” she said in November, three days after CommonWealth Beacon broke the news that Rep. Mark Cusack, the House point person on energy, wanted to rework a huge energy affordability bill the governor filed by weakening the state’s 2030 decarbonization mandate. “There are other things in that legislation that will, right now, help us reduce energy costs,” Healey said. “That’s what we’ve got to focus on. That’s what we’ve got to do.”
Facing strong blowback to Cusack’s plan, House leaders abandoned the idea of gutting the emission reduction mandates and pivoted to another idea that would have seemed out of bounds only a few years ago: slashing $1 billion from the Mass Save energy efficiency program.
Healey again skirted the issue — “I’ve got to take a look at it,” she said when the new House idea emerged — and stuck to her message. “I’m really glad to see this energy affordability bill move forward,” she said. “We’ve got to get this done.”
If Healey seems laser-focused on energy costs these days, she is hardly alone. It’s part of a new political calculus on climate and energy policy, one that reflects a striking turnabout, in Massachusetts and beyond.
..........Story continues at https://commonwealthbeacon.org/environment/ratepayer-revolt-has-the-affordability-debate-soured-mass-on-climate-commitments/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DL%2003-12-26&utm_source=2&utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Ratepayer%20revolt%3A%20Has%20the%20affordability%20debate%20soured%20Mass%20%20on%20climate%20commitments%3F&utm_campaign=DL%2003-12-26