Tuesday, December 14, 20201

Chairman Barrett, Chairman Roy, and Members of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy:  

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the political director for Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide multi-issue advocacy group focused on fighting for a more equitable, just, democratic, and sustainable Commonwealth.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world must reach net zero emissions by 2050 in order to contain runaway climate change. The Next-Generation Roadmap bill passed earlier this year committed Massachusetts to the goal of net zero by 2050. But here’s the catch: if we are to reach that goal, we must do far more than we are currently doing, and as one of the most affluent states in the most affluent country in the world, we should be setting higher goals than those for the world as a whole.

That is why we urge you to give a favorable report to S.2170/H.3372: An act investing in a prosperous, clean commonwealth by 2030.

The bill is essential both for the higher goals that it sets (net zero by 2030 and 100% renewable electricity by 2030) and for the concrete steps that it proposes to achieve the decarbonization of our energy and transportation systems.

The bill mandates the procurement of new offshore wind and solar capacity, while increasing the accessibility of solar to low-income and environmental justice communities. It requires electric vehicle charging infrastructure for new residential and commercial construction and sets strong goals for the electrification of the MBTA, RTAs, and fleets used for a public purpose. It establishes a mandatory net zero building code for new constructionwhile harmonizing building efficiency standards across the commonwealth, and retrofits all publicly assisted housing by 2030.

The bill centers equity, both in the ways outlined above and in how it protects workers from fossil fuel industries, allowing them to choose to retrain or to collect a pension early while guaranteeing that jobs created as a result of the energy transition are union jobs with wage and benefit parity.

The fact that we just had a humid, 60-degree Saturday in the middle of December while tornadoes wrecked other states shows that the erratic weather patterns that climate change foretells are already here, and they will get worse, with impacts to

agriculture, infrastructure, and human health. Our efforts must match the scale of the problem.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn                                  

Political Director

Progressive Massachusetts

Monday, December 6, 2021

Chairman Barrett, Chairman Roy, and Members of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy,  

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the political director for Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide multi-issue advocacy group focused on fighting for a more equitable, just, democratic, and sustainable Commonwealth.

Earlier this session, the Legislature helped the Commonwealth take a big leap forward in climate action by passing the Next-Generation Roadmap bill, which codified a roadmap plan for achieving net zero emission by 2050 and set stronger emissions reduction goals (such as requiring statewide emissions reductions of 50% from 1990 levels by 2030). If we are to achieve these goals, then we need to put in place the policies, programs, and practices to make it happen.

Accordingly, we urge you to give a favorable report to the Solar Neighborhoods Act:  An Act establishing solar neighborhoods (H.3278) and An Act increasing solar rooftop energy (S.2165).

Buildings consume more than 50% of the primary energy used annually in Massachusetts. Achieving our climate goals will require making our buildings more efficient in their use of energy and greener in the energy they use. Some of that work will require adaptations and upgrades to existing housing stock, but we should be working to ensure that all future construction is built with our climate goals (as well as the goal of cleaner air) in mind.

The Solar Neighborhoods Act does just that by requiring that all new buildings be built “solar-ready,” i.e., able to accommodate rooftop solar panels and that solar rooftop solar panels are installed on new buildings (including single-family homes, apartment buildings, and commercial buildings) at the time of construction.

Our municipalities are already leading the way. Watertown recently passed an ordinance requiring new commercial and multi-family residential buildings to have rooftop solar. We’ve also seen action in other states, as California in 2018 became the first state to require all new homes to be built with solar panels.

We are all in an all-hands-on-deck moment for climate change. Let’s get to work.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn                                  

Political Director

Progressive Massachusetts

September 29, 2021

Chairman Barrett, Chairman Roy, and Members of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy:

I am submitting testimony in my capacity as Chair of the Issues Committee of Progressive Massachusetts. We urge a favorable report for S. 2226/H. 3365: An Act providing for building justice with jobs.

Progressive Massachusetts is a statewide grassroots advocacy group fighting for a Massachusetts that is more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic. We are appreciative that the Legislature began the session by passing the Next Generation Roadmap bill. But if we are to meet the targets set out in the bill (and go even further), we must take additional action to address the emissions across sectors. These bills, filed by Sen. Marc Pacheco and Reps. Maria Robinson and David LeBoeuf, would be a powerful step toward doing so.

After the transportation sector, the residential sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the state. However, many homes—notably in underserved communities—are older and must be retrofitted in order to achieve maximum energy efficiency. At the same time, many underserved communities where unemployment remains a significant problem would benefit greatly from programs that address retrofitting. 

The Building Justice with Jobs bill would do so by adopting housing regulations mandating minimum energy efficiency, energy performance, or related energy standards and by putting thousands of MA residents to work retrofitting 100,000 homes each year to improve energy efficiency and health outcomes, as well as reduce utility bills and carbon emissions.

We can address both the climate crisis and the inequality crisis at the same time; indeed, we have to. 

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Chair, Issues Committee

Progressive Massachusetts