“Last year’s climate bill was about laying out a plan for tackling this formidable challenge of climate change. This year, in this legislation, we propose to begin to execute on the plan. If you like metaphors, last year was about laying out a roadmap, today we start traveling down the road. That’s why this is all about implementation,” Barrett, a Lexington Democrat, said on the Senate floor. “I am happy beyond measure, I am so happy, that this Senate has the courage to move beyond roadmapping and beyond laying out a template and is in favor of getting to the question of implementation and execution.”
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Senate plan pours $250 million into decarbonization movement with focus on transportation, energy – WickedLocal.com
Where the 2021 law “was and is about laying benchmarks,” the new bill “is about doing what needs to be done to hit those benchmarks,” said Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee Co-chair Sen. Michael Barrett.
The bill would use $100 million to create a Clean Energy Investment Fund, allocate $100 million to incentivize adoption of electric vehicles, and deploy $50 million to build out electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
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‘The most important issue of our time’: Mass. Senate unveils climate change legislation for electric vehicles, all-electric buildings – MassLive.com
“We know climate change is relentless, so Massachusetts needs to be relentless, too,” Barrett said. “No one’s going to give us an ‘A’ for effort — what matters are results. An Act Driving Climate Policy Forward pushes back against global warming on multiple fronts, with an emphasis on innovation and smart experimentation.”
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Mass. is drafting a new climate-friendly building code. Here’s what you need to know – WBUR News
Offshore wind policy fight takes center stage – CommonWealth Magazine
Sen. Michael Barrett of Lexington has outlined his position previously — that reaching the state’s emission goals hinges on electrification of transportation and heating and low electricity prices make that task possible — but the footnoted letter dived into the details.
Barrett said the state’s procurements have attracted respectable onshore economic development — including the promise of a transmission cable factory at Brayton Point in Somerset — while keeping the price of offshore wind electricity well below the price in every other state. He noted Massachusetts prices have been 43 percent, 68 percent, and 100 percent less than similar deals in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, respectively.
Removing the cap, Barrett said, would put Massachusetts at the mercy of a handful of offshore wind companies that he described as an oligopoly. “We can’t count on competition to substitute for a price cap,” he said.
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