If you live in a home with an oil or gas furnace or boiler, like most people in Massachusetts, turning up the heat is the end of an unseen odyssey for your heating fuel. Between drilling, refining, and transport, fuels can travel thousands of miles before they are delivered into homes and burned for heat.
Unfortunately, almost every stage of this process favors dirty fossil fuels that damage our climate and our health. And, with over half of state residents relying on gas for heating and 23% on oil and propane, fossil fuels are clearly dominating the Commonwealth’s heating systems.
Massachusetts decision makers think that a new government program, called the Clean Heat Standard, can slash polluting emissions while protecting our climate and our loved ones. Since this program is currently under development, CLF took a deep dive to see just how clean it would actually be.
A Clean Heat Standard could be part of Massachusetts’ toolkit. However, this program must be designed carefully to focus on electrification, clean energy, and directing funding to reach all Massachusetts families.