The Honorable Charles D. Baker
Governor of Massachusetts
State House
Boston, MA 02133
Governor Baker,
On behalf of the business and non-profit members of RENEW Northeast,1 I write to commend your Administration for giving the critical task of climate change mitigation the attention and resources it deserves. Under your leadership, Massachusetts has made important decisions, starting with your major commitment to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in the Commonwealth by 2050. I congratulate you on having produced two reports calling for transformative change – the Massachusetts 2050 Decarbonization Roadmap Report and an interim 2030 Clean Energy and Climate Plan – and thank you for giving us this strategy to counter climate change and promote economic development in the Commonwealth.
You can now enhance the Commonwealth’s position as a national clean energy and climate leader by signing into law Senate Bill 2995, An Act Creating a Next-Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy. As the first substantive update of the 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act, this landmark legislation provides your administration, the private sector and municipalities with tools necessary to implement the Climate Plan strategies.
From RENEW’s perspective, the Act importantly strengthens Massachusetts’ Renewable Portfolio Standard by accelerating mandatory annual increases in purchases of renewable energy to ensure Massachusetts homes and businesses are powered with electricity that is at least 40 percent renewable by 2030. The bill also makes sure Massachusetts will be at the forefront of reaping the economic development and environmental benefits of offshore wind, a technology that is advancing at a rapid pace and whose costs have fallen dramatically in recent years.
Together, the Roadmap Act and your groundbreaking Climate Plan will accelerate the pace of efforts to slow climate change while also boosting jobs and economic growth in the clean energy sector. With Massachusetts now poised to lead the nation on clean energy and climate, I respectfully urge you to take the crucial next step and sign the Roadmap Act into law.
Sincerely,
Francis Pullaro
Executive Director
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1. RENEW Northeast is a non-profit association uniting the renewable energy industry and environmental advocates whose mission involves coordinating the ideas and resources of its members with the goal of increasing environmentally sustainable energy generation in the Northeast from the region’s abundant, indigenous renewable resources. The comments expressed herein represent the views of RENEW and not necessarily those of any particular member.