“Our current situation is different, and yet in some respects it’s the same,” said Barrett. “What we’re doing in Massachusetts becomes all the more important as the odds go longer around significant national action.” While in Glasgow, Barrett said that in addition to speaking ...
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Barrett details plans for UN climate change conference in Scotland – Lexington Minuteman
Barrett said he plans to address a couple of key topics while in Scotland. The electrification of transportation and heating are both at the forefront of his mind, he said. Barrett is pushing for increased state subsidies that would allow individuals to purchase more ...
These lawmakers wrote the climate bill. They’re worried the state won’t achieve it. – The Boston Globe
“You can’t have utilities in charge of an all-out push to electrify,” said Senator Mike Barrett, a Lexington Democrat who was the lead author of the state’s 2050 climate law. “Mass Save is probably not going to be the quarterback to bring us to the emissions reductions Super Bowl ...
Baker pulls support for regional pact that would address climate change – The Boston Globe
The administration’s announcement deeply disappointed some state lawmakers and environmental advocates, who viewed the initiative as a key part of the state’s ability to comply with the landmark climate law that Baker signed earlier this year. The law requires the state to cut is carbon emissions 50 percent below 1990 levels by the end of the decade and effectively eliminate them by 2050.
“This is a serious challenge to our climate planning,” said state Senator Michael Barrett, a Lexington Democrat and one of the climate bill’s lead negotiators. “Plan B needs to be brought along quickly.”
He and others said the state must come up with a new way of curbing transportation pollution, which before the pandemic was responsible for 28 percent of greenhouse gas emissions nationally and 40 percent of the region’s emissions.
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In the void of national climate legislation, locals lead the way – The Boston Globe
“Our current situation is different, and yet in some respects it’s the same,” said Barrett. “What we’re doing in Massachusetts becomes all the more important as the odds go longer around significant national action.”
While in Glasgow, Barrett said that in addition to speaking on a panel about pricing carbon emissions, he expected to talk with legislators from Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom, even China, Russia, and Australia, where national climate efforts have not been enough to meet the climate crisis.
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UN climate conference could have distinctly Mass. flair this weekend – WBUR News
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey is headed to the next week of the conference, as is state Sen. Michael Barrett, who has butted heads and negotiated climate compromises with the secretary.
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Safety bills mix with calls for natural gas transition – WBUR.org
Advocates and lawmakers repeatedly pointed Tuesday to the climate law that Gov. Charlie Baker signed in March, which commits Massachusetts to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and requires interim emissions reduction goals between now and the middle of the century.
“Reaching that goal is going to require us to move buildings onto electric heat and off of gas, which will raise questions about the infrastructure that we have in place to deliver gas,” Sen. Michael Barrett, the Senate co-chair of the TUE Committee, said. “And at the same time, of course, we’re concerned about leaks from that infrastructure and somehow have to balance our weariness about continued investment with the necessity of maintaining public safety. Each year, at least so far, about 14,000 new leaks are detected in this infrastructure.”
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Barrett details plans for UN climate change conference in Scotland – Lexington Minuteman
Barrett said he plans to address a couple of key topics while in Scotland. The electrification of transportation and heating are both at the forefront of his mind, he said. Barrett is pushing for increased state subsidies that would allow individuals to purchase more electric vehicles. This extends to public transportation, where Barrett wants to see more electric MBTA buses. He also wants to find better ways of persuading people to switch to electric heat pumps instead of traditional furnaces in their homes, he said.
“This nitty gritty, close-up question of execution is a tough one,” he said. “What we need to do in Glasgow is to come up with some international standards for state and city actions.”
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