Massachusetts

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Opponents of legislation to address climate change in Massachusetts are no longer denying the problem but are blocking measures through "discourses of delay," according to a new study by researchers at Brown University, which recommends the state "rein in" utilities’ lobbying. The study by the Institute at Brown for Environment...

Lawmakers in Massachusetts on Thursday passed a climate bill identical to one vetoed by Gov. Charlie Baker (R) in mid-January. The vetoed bill was passed by the House of Representatives and Senate at the tail end of the last legislative session. In his letter vetoing the bill, the governor said...

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) vetoed a wide-ranging climate bill Thursday, saying he needed more time to scrutinize the details of the legislation and recommend changes. "While I support the bill's goals and am largely in agreement with many of its proposals, 35 hours was not enough time to review and suggest...

Last fall, governors from five of the six New England states — Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont — jointly released a pointed statement that said ISO-NE was frustrating regional and state-specific efforts to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions. It also called for reforms to the RTO’s market designs, transmission planning...

Massachusetts lawmakers passed a sweeping climate bill Monday that would provide the state another path to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The bill, which passed both the state House and Senate, still requires sign-off by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, who recently released his own legally binding plan to achieve net-zero emissions...

Tensions between New England states and ISO-NE came to a head last year when five governors issued a joint statement calling for reforms to the RTO to enable their efforts to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions. (See New England Governors Call for RTO Reform.) A few days later, the New England States...

Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and D.C. signed a memorandum of understanding Monday to launch the Transportation and Climate Initiative Program (TCI-P), which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles by 26% from 2022 to 2032 and invest $300 million per year in cleaner transportation choices and public health improvements.

State energy and environmental policy leaders from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maine outlined their long-term strategies to achieve decarbonization goals Dec. 15 during a webinar co-hosted by the Connecticut Power and Energy Society and New England Women in Energy and the Environment. Heather Hunt, executive director of the New...

The New England Energy Summit kicked off the second of three virtual sessions last week with a U.S. senator touting carbon pricing and finished with a panel of energy experts from the public and private sectors. Here is some of what we heard at the summit, organized by the New England...

The COVID-19 pandemic upended legislative business across New England in 2020, though state legislatures still managed to advance significant legislation to transform the region’s energy industry. At its annual legislative update last week, the Northeast Energy and Commerce Association reviewed recent developments and issues to watch next year, including climate...