Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts are considering bills to implement the Transportation and Climate Initiative – here’s what we’re working for in each.
State officials need to hear your voice in crafting this plan, which helps us achieve our mandatory climate targets.
Henri must be a wake-up call for our community and for companies like Shell. We must confront the impacts of the climate crisis. Flooding and sea level rise are only going to get worse. Now is the time to prepare for these impacts and mitigate the potential damage, not after a neighborhood and iconic waterway are inundated with toxic chemicals.
“The language of the proposed ballot question is ambiguous and will very likely confuse and mislead voters,” said Staci Rubin, Vice President, Environmental Justice, CLF. “This effort comes at exactly the wrong time. With the impacts of the climate crisis becoming clearer by the day, options should be on the table to reduce transportation fossil fuel use and prepare our communities for what’s to come.”
Our regional electricity grid operator, ISO-New England, must stop supporting the dirty fossil fuels at the root of the climate crisis.
“The Merrimack Station coal plant is destroying the health of the Merrimack River and it’s time they’re held accountable,” said Greg Cunningham, Vice President and Director of CLF’s Clean Energy and Climate Change program. “The permit for this fossil fuel plant must do more to protect this iconic waterbody, and the appeals board clearly agrees. CLF will continue to work with the EPA to make sure the next iteration of this permit protects the wildlife that call the river home.”
Biden’s infrastructure package represents a critical investment in our future, infusing much-needed funding to ramp up New England’s transition to a carbon-free economy by 2050.
No state here in New England has required its utilities to assess their vulnerability to climate change – or take action to prepare for it. With our homes, lives, and livelihoods at stake, allowing utilities to be so unprepared is irresponsible and simply too big a risk to take. CLF is pushing to change that – starting with Massachusetts.
“After four years of Trump obstructing clean energy and promoting dirty fuels at every turn, President Biden’s focus on offshore wind comes not a moment too soon,” said Bradley Campbell, President of CLF. “Wind has the potential to power our homes, our green economy, and our transition away from polluting fossil fuels for good. However, projects must be responsibly sited to protect ocean life as well. Today’s announcement should be a boon to New England’s nascent wind industry and a strong start to the administration’s pledge to have a zero-emission grid by 2035.”
Any plan to lower emissions in Massachusetts must not only consider how to cut the largest sources of carbon pollution – for the Commonwealth, that’s transportation and heating – but also how to ensure all residents have equal access to its solutions.
