On Tuesday night, the Governor set a goal of the Commonwealth reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 — without proposing many specifics, including interim goals to get us there. We and others have noted that that’s a little bit slippery — especially since we need drastic action now.
Thursday — a few days ahead of Sen. President Spilka’s “drop dead date”, take note! — the State Senate endorsed a framework that does set a number of interim goals to keep us honest, although it relies heavily on executive branch discretion in implementation.
- Setting a statewide greenhouse gas limit for the year 2050 of “net zero” emissions. To achieve this, An Act Setting Next-Generation Climate Policy requires the state to hit near-term limits in 2025, 2030, and every five years thereafter; set sub-limits for transportation, buildings, solid waste, natural gas distribution, and other major sectors; and make implementation plans that are “clear, comprehensive, and specific.”
…- Reflecting the price of carbon. Under the bill, the Administration would be free to choose among various market based forms of pricing carbon—including a revenue-neutral fee or a regional “cap and trade” system similar to the Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI)—but he or she would have to do so by Jan. 1, 2022, for transportation; Jan. 1, 2025, for commercial, industrial and institutional buildings; and Jan. 1, 2030, for residential buildings. Any mechanism would be implemented so as to minimize the impact on low-income households, disadvantaged communities, and vulnerable manufacturing sectors.
This is Sen. Barrett’s game, apparently. He has supported a revenue-neutral carbon tax as proposed by the Citizens Climate Lobby, et al. I’m much more supportive of a carbon tax/invest mechanism in the Bill Driscoll (formerly Jen Benson) bill in the House, H.2810, which specifically redirects proceeds to sustainable infrastructure with an economic justice. This bill hands the hot potato of what and how to implement it over to the Governor.
This agenda will seem very far-reaching indeed, touching on everything from the price of gas; to housing and commercial real estate; to transit; to appliances. But if I’ve been making any point at all on this site for the last 15 years, it’s this:
Climate is not a “single issue.”
It is everything put together.
Climate is literally where you live.
Climate policy is literally how you live.
Climate is the economy; it is energy; it is jobs; it is transit; it is water and air; it is food. It is everything.
Therefore, this will indeed require some adjustments. But these adjustments are nothing compared to the clearing-scythe of unchecked climate change.
There’s been an interesting discussion in climate circles about how much to emphasize personal actions to reduce one’s carbon footprint, versus public and political pressure to change systems. But I’m pretty sure it’s not one or the other. One way or another, these policy choices are going to be manifested in the lives of ordinary citizens. And so they will require unprecedented public buy-in, flexibility and cooperation.
- Yes, people will pay more for gas. (Compared to the amount of political oxygen this takes up, this is not actually a big deal.*)
- Yes, carbon energy will get more expensive, but we will use far less of it: The unit price of fossil fuels will become mostly irrelevant to our daily lives.
- Yes, people will be enabled to buy and use different kinds of cars and appliances.
- Yes, people will be enabled and therefore encouraged to use transit, walking, and cycling instead of driving.
If we want things to be different, I think we’re saying that we need to change.
But that’s how it works: Every policy change creates new constituencies. For example, I prefer to ride my bike to work — for environmental, health, monetary, and practical reasons. Well, someone decided to put a bike path in Arlington, which makes that choice much easier for me. And now as a bike commuter, I advocate for more bike paths. Bike policy recruited me as a bike constituent. It’s a virtuous cycle (heh).
So, as Sen. Barrett says, this is going to require a big leap in the public’s attitudes.
“The response has to be self-awareness and a concession that we’re falling off the pace and we’ve got to ask every climate activist in Massachusetts to help us put ourselves back on the pace.” said Barrett. “Because here’s the thing: You cannot legally enforce a limit if attaining the limit depends on millions of homeowners and millions of automobile purchasers making a particular set of decisions. There’s no body you can hold accountable. You can’t fine yourself as a collective population of 6.5 million. We’re going to find out, as climate change becomes more and more dire, that we truly are in this together and there’s no one source of failure. If we make these goals and we save Massachusetts it will be a collective success. If we fail, it will be a collective failure. We’re going to use the climate policy commission to highlight successes, highlight failures, keep this issue in the news, keep it before people until we succeed because, as the Senate president said, we can’t afford to fail.” [my emphasis]
I’d amend: We’ve got to ask every person in Massachusetts: Every Mom and Dad, aunt and uncle; every young person and every adult; everyone who cherishes life itself.
Get used to it, everyone; the alternative is too horrifying to consider.
*The price of gas is far overrated as an expense of owning a car: The proposed $0.17 gas tax under Rep. Straus’s bill or the TCI results in a mere $2.55 more per 15-gallon fill-up. Driving one’s car slightly more gently; or less; or choosing a car with slightly better mileage (moving from 22 to a meager 25mpg) absolutely obliterates that price difference. And put in the context of the yearly actual cost of owning a car — payments, insurance, tolls, repairs, parking — it’s negligible. And yet everyone fusses over a gas tax increase. More on this later.
seascraper says
In other words
Tax everything we do
Send the money to billionaires for stuff we don’t want
Chop down the trees and meadows to put up solar panels
Make it so expensive to live here that our kids move to Texas Arizona and Florida
Make it so expensive to make anything here that all our stuff comes from China built with coal energy
SomervilleTom says
In other words
Wah wah wah
seascraper says
Its so funny that four people read these comments
jconway says
TX. AZ, and FL will look like Australia pretty soon. I don’t think you’ll favor their cheap prices when they are under water or on fire. Somethings are more important than money or self interest. I’d say helping people get around easier with a smaller impact on the climate is a win win for lowering costs and connecting cheaper housing to jobs.
seascraper says
Move to Buffalo, climate refugee.
Christopher says
Sure, where the snowfall will only likely get worse as our climate goes to extremes. Do you have anything substantive you would like to contribute to a discussion about how to best address the climate situation?
SomervilleTom says
Of course not! Our resident troll has been doing this for years.
jconway says
I have to go to and come from Charlestown to pick up and drop off my wife. My logic is that we are saving both time and gas by taking one car, although I’ve started going round 16 to get to and from Revere to save on the Tobin toll. It would be great if people taking 93 from either direction had to pay their fare share. Every other road coming i has a toll, save for the busiest and most backed up. Quincy and Braintree denizens are on the T. Other towns south of that have a ferry service. As does Salem up north (although they can be cost prohibitive and weather dependent). Pumping that money and a modest gas tax hike into a point to point T makes the most sense. Carbon pricing makes sense too, especially at the wholesale level along with an income and wealth tax redirected into a freer or cheaper T. We got to get it done. Anytime one of my students gets skeptical about climate change I open up the map of their community underwater by 2050. By 2050 it’ll probably be too late for some of our coastal communities, which is where the big development is going (Suffolk Downs, Revere Beach, Eastie, the Seaport). DeLeos hometown of Winthrop already loses one of its two main roads connecting it to the mainland during storms.
fredrichlariccia says
Greta Thunberg’s righteous conviction : “Our next rally will be in Kansas City, Missouri! That way Trump and his supporters won’t be able to find us …