MA-GOV candidate Bob Massie has been a climate activist for years. Among many other things he’s done in his remarkable life, he started CERES, an organization I really admire, which has quite successfully gotten businesses on board for climate sustainability.
He can also wield a rhetorical shillelagh. He’s right on top of why the Baker administration has been such a disappointment (or just a fulfillment of low expectations) on climate and energy. On WGBH’s The Scrum podcast:
We are headed down right now absolutely the wrong road right now. We have utilities that should be serving the public; they are serving their investors and hedge funds that own them. We do not need any more natural gas capacity; in fact it’s dangerous to think about installing, because it locks us into fossil fuels for 30 years. I would start by dismissing the commissioners at the Department of Public Utilities because they work for the fossil fuel industry; that is their background. The governor has slowed wind, he has slowed solar. He has pushed for these pipelines. He is doing the exact opposite of what most countries around the world today are doing, which is embracing the technology the 21st-century. We are at risk of missing the greatest opportunity — economic opportunity in terms of jobs — in the history of Massachusetts, in order to safeguard a broken, dying, dangerous, dirty industry that remains in too much control. So this — as Governor, I will work to undo that control, and move us in a direction that I think most businesses and families will support. But we do not have the leadership, we’re stuck in that broken model that should be disbanded.
The whole thing is quite good. He’s talking to the people who are frustrated with the timidity of this administration on energy, transit, taking on Trump, etc. Don’t ignore this candidacy — he’s speaking to the moment.
Andrei Radulescu-Banu says
Bob Massey has a great personal history of overcoming difficulties. Great guy. Gifted orator. An inspiration, really.
On the environment, though, he is a populist activist.
I worry that, under his tenure, governance will be poor, spending would not be targeted to most promising technologies, and the energy market economy will be even more dysfunctional than it is now.
It should be a game of reaching the right destination, not just heading in the generally right direction.
The most serious thing right now is the NIMBY resistance – most often, actually, on environmental grounds – to power transmission lines, to wind turbines, to nuclear, to natural gas pipelines, and to new hydro capacity.
The next most serious is the absence of a level playing field between technologies, and the lack of transparency. We essentially have a state-run energy economy where the state plays favorites rather than step back and let the market work.
Todd Burger says
You may want to take a closer look at Bob Massie’s Energy Plan, released on January 2, 2018. And you should probably take a closer look at his background and his management successes. Yes, he’s an activist. He also has a doctorate from Harvard Business School. And a team analyzing state budget issues. And financing approaches for major initiatives. And cost savings efforts built into those approaches. He also has a keen sense of how various state activities are interrelated, and how to take approaches to solving problems that take in the full breadth of a problem, must also anticipate and plan to address unintended results. Bob also understands much better than most how to win over those that oppose your agenda, something he has done successfully on a national scale.
The information is out there to demonstrate that Bob Massie is much more likely to be exceptional at governance. And when it comes to energy planning and climate awareness, no one else comes close. Which is what Bill McKibben restated his endorsement for Bob for governor on January 18th at an event in Concord MA.
Bob has good answers about the future of our Commonwealth, and even better answers about the path(s) needed to get us there. Bob’s statements about renewable energy are more than goals, but a firm commitment and a tactical plan to re-establish Massachusetts as a leader, with lower costs, greater security, lower risks, better higher paying jobs and a stronger economy. Its amazing what’s possible when you stop catering to fossil fuel, nuclear power and Wall Street hedge fund manager interests.
jconway says
He’s worth a second look. The man has one of the most colorful and diverse resumes in the race. A Harvard educated systems analyst and a Yale educated priest and preacher. Such a powerful combination of intelligence and witness. Massie cuts through the BS and shows us how ecology, economy, and equality are interconnected unjustly in the present and justly if we fight for the future.. Joe Curtatone and Bill McKibben are people to
listen to. He’s the conscience of our primary, even if I am leaning toward Warren I am grateful for his presence in the race and open to changing my mind.
drikeo says
IMO, the only chance the Dems have against Baker is with a conscience pick. Massie does a nice job of redefining issues, and in stressing the importance of things we’ve overlooked (like here on the energy issue). I think he’d play well with people who aren’t looking for the status quo. Warren’s too muck of an opportunist for my taste. Also was a wholly unremarkable mayor in Newton (which, to be fair, is a city that runs on autopilot).
jconway says
The “what do we got to lose?” factor is also starting to come in play with me. None of them are “electable” against Baker, so pick the one you like best. I like Warren and have met a lot of his supporters who speak highly of him, I am definitely undecided though.
drikeo says
I’ve met Warren. Too slick for my tastes and he did just about nothing in Newton. Strikes me as the sort we Dems convince ourselves has electability, but we’re terrible at spotting that. Plus, as you mention, likely no one in this field can make it a race.
Warren seems to be going the route of trying to pin outrage to Baker’s back. I get the strategy, but I prefer Massie’s tactic of standing firmly on the right side of issues that matter.
garretwhitney says
The more one learns about Bob Massie the better he looks (and is)
Massie is a true climate champion, yes. But he’s much more than that.
He’s led on social justice issues and gender-discrimination issues, right from his days as an undergraduate. He wrote the seminal book on the South African divestment movement, after leading at Princeton and going to S.A. to help with their first democratic elections. At Nader’s behest he put together the Big Business Reader, an early critique of corporate power, way back in 1980.
Not just another ambitious politician, Massie is a graduate of both Princeton Divinity and a Harvard Business Schools, At every stage of his life he has been driven by a deep drive to serve, and to take on our biggest, most daunting challenges. He’s a powerful speaker and a tireless, inspired campaigner. He excels in bringing opposing parties to the table and forging agreements on common interests.
Massie led Ceres and the New Economy Coalition. He conceived of and created the Global Reporting Initiative and the Investor Network on Climate Risk. He started a homeless shelter. It goes on and on…
We won’t beat nice-guy manager Charlie Baker with another manager, nice-guy or not. Only a transcendent message — inspiring and grounded in real lifetime history and results — will do this.
Please go beyond these comments to find out more…bobmassie2018.com.
We in Mass have a gigantic opportunity in Bob Massie’s candidacy, if we can grasp it.