At the risk of getting myself in another Globe column for keeping you guys in the loop, here I am again…
The House and Senate have both enacted the House’s rewrite of the Global Warming Solutions Act – it’s on the Governor’s desk. Looking forward to another bill-signing ceremony in the near future.
So once we finish the green jobs bill (which was enacted next door in the House Chamber as I wrote this), we will have four significant pieces to our energy reform accomplishments – the Green Communities Act, Advanced Biofuels, Green Jobs and the Global Warming Solutions Act. The House set energy reform as its top priority this session and we are pleased to end on such a high note.
Maybe we can get a column on that?
David Guarino
Communications Director
Speaker DiMasi’s office
I certainly would love it if the Boston media had columnists who were as dedicated to policy as they were political intrigue. In any event, David, your office and the Speaker did a stellar job this session, and even better in its waning days. You most certainly did make good on your words to make energy reform this year’s priority – and what a priority at that.
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p>I’m definitely proud of this legislative season and my thanks go out to all the Democrats who worked so hard to deliver us these results – which, no matter what’s reported, is what the people want. With a progressive Democratic Governor, Speaker and Senate President, it’s refreshing to see just how much we can accomplish.
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p>Also, I’m sorry if my posts got you in any trouble, whatsoever. I’ve been there in the past in my own campaign work, so I know that’s never any fun. Just know that you’re doing your job well and your efforts in this community are well appreciated by a lot of people. It’s always an easy target to try to pull down those who are at the top, especially when they’re doing a good job and getting things done.
I wouldn't, because a “political intrigue” piece written by a smart informed political columnist who offers her/his subjective analysis of the political enviornment coupled with conjecture about the motivations of the key players, is one of the key data points for any activists trying to influence the policy making process. And heaven knows, we spend at least as much of our time on conjecturing up political intrigue as we do on analyzing policy here on BMG.
When I was full time up at the State House, one of my chief pleasures after a participating in a complex, highly charged debate was reading the papers in the next morning and knowing what really happened. (No I don't miss standing around on those hard marble floors at midnight at all. I plead guilty however, to watching both the House and Senate sessions on the same screens at the same time last night)
I didn’t say “instead of”
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p>It’s important to cover politicians as well as policy, of course, however I think the current balance in this state is too much of the former and not enough of the latter. We sometimes forget that there’s a reason why we cover politics in the first place – it has real world and important implications.
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p>I’m sure David Guarino agrees with this…now. We’d have to check his work from a few years ago to see if he used to practice what he now preaches.
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p>But let’s sincerely give him the benefit of the doubt that since he went from journalism to public service his motives are good. It’s easier to throw darts and he certainly could’ve made a lot more money in PR or consulting.
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p>I wish we saw more posts from him here. For the record, I don’t have a problem with press releases here.
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p>Where’s the quick synopsis on the energy bills and supporting talking points, so I can tout the work of our state gov’mit to all my friends and family? (Sincere request.)
‘you know what’ like Ryan just gave him?
When did that Cognos deal go through again?
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p>I’d have someone else start my mo-ped if I were you Ryan.
I wasn’t even talking about Sal, I was talking about David. No staffer ever wants to be the subject of a news article, period. I’ve been there before and know that it sucks. That’s all I was getting at.
No trouble Ryan.
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p>Glad the good folks at CLT helped fill in some of the requests for more info on these bills, I was out of pocket all weekend.
It’s almost safe to say now that Mass is dedicating more of its resources to developing the green energy /life science sector, as a share of GSP, than any other state in the country.
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p>And it is [drawing notice http://www.xconomy.com/boston/…
This really is a huge achievement, and the speaker deserves a lot of credit. It is a shame that the Globe is more focused on the sausage making then the sausage.
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p>In the end, however, I think we can all agree that the legislature, Governor Patrick, the advocacy community and most importantly the public here in Massachusetts came together and got a lot of work done to lead the nation in cutting global warming pollution, preserving the environment and building a clean energy economy. The Green Communities Act and the Global Warming Solutions Act together are truly nation leading policies.
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I see no mention of it here or in the Glob…
in the informals; my understanding is it needs only final procedural votes. EDR, however, is probably dead for this session.
Great job on this legislation, and thanks for posting the information.
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p>I’m trying to think of what conflict of interest we have overlooked between this legislation, your office, and … having a habitable planet to live in, but I confess I can’t see it.
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p>I do know that the regressive Mr. Romney would likely have vetoed all four of the pieces of legislation you mentioned before heading off for a family vacation in Canada with his newest dog strapped to the roof of his car.
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p>An important element of this story is that when we get sensible people in both the Governor’s office and the legislature, we can make progress.
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p>Makes one think of all the good that can be done in Washington if reason rules in November and Obama is elected and the Democrats gain significant majorities in the House and Senate.
with arbitrary deadlines brought forward so Sal can do exactly what Joan Vennochi said he was doing.
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p>Did Petro get what he needed? Did his wife get more than enough money for the bracelets she hands out on behalf of the Probation Department to cons in western mass? How’s that for power?
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p>Did Peter Koutouchian’s wife get the money she needed for the trial courts? That is what they pay her to do – To lobby her husband and others to give the court more money.
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p>Who did and did not get their stuff taken care of?
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p>Why?
Yes, we agree that the legislature could be better in a lot of ways. We need more transparency (committee votes, consolidated amendments). We need better accountability.
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p>But that doesn’t negate the fact that some good work got done. So please forgive us for focusing on the good for just a little while.
Is anyone aware of concise (but not too concise) summaries of the various bits of recent MA green legislation?
and what I’m most curious about is (a) following the money, and (b) if there’s any teeth to any regulatory legislation.
re: syphax’s question on bill summaries, the Conservation Law Foundation has prepared PDF summaries of the Green Communities Act and the recent decoupling order from MA DPU to promote energy efficiency. We don’t have one yet for the Global Warming Solutions Act
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p>The Green Communities Act summary can be found at:
http://www.clf.org/general/int…
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p>The decoupling summary at:
http://www.clf.org/general/int…
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p>From our perspective, the passage of the Global Warming Solutions Act was a fitting end what has been an historic legislative session for environmental issues. In addition to the emissions caps, during the 2007-2008 session Massachusetts officially joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, passed the expansive Green Communities Act to boost investments in renewable energy projects and energy efficiency measures, and approved the Massachusetts Ocean Act to create a comprehensive ocean management plan to balance protection of ocean wildlife with human uses. Great news all around!
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p>Colin Durrant
Director of Communications
Conservation Law Foundation
Yay, CLF.
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p>This was pretty much the level of detail I was hoping for.
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p>I see in the Green Communities Act that:
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p>MUNICIPALLY-OWNED AND UTILITY-OWNED RENEWABLES
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p>o Allows municipalities to own renewable energy facilities. Provides authority to issue bonds or notes for financing.
o Utilities allowed to own up to 25 MW of solar capacity by Jan. 1, 2009 and up to 50 MW of solar after Jan. 1, 2010.
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p>That’s pretty interesting. Towns with good bond ratings can borrow money quite cheaply. We are approaching the day (not here quite yet, last I checked) when a municipally-owned solar installation could have a positive cash flow from day 1.
I’ve been meaning to meet with my town’s Board of Selectmen – I’ve already met with the Finance Committee to discuss the formation of a Renewable Energy Committee, so the Selectemen are next on the list – I’ll be dropping by their meeting on Monday to bring this up. I live in Milford, we have an excellent bond rating – it’s time to install some town-owned renewable resources.
Or the pension reform?
A truly historic two-year session, and it’s just whine, whine, whine from the GOP. To be expected, I suppose — there’s not much to cheer about on your side.
We are a nation of whiners, after all – the GOP is just working the details of Phil Gramm’s self-fulfilling pophecy, that’s all!!
“Global” solution a governor can implement? The only thing funnier than silly the headline is the earnest breathlessness of its reporting.
Honestly, I’ve seen much funnier threads than this.
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p>Would you prefer the UN-approved moniker of “climate change”? Global Warming is the widely-accepted name for the phenomenon which this bill seeks to curb.
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p>I guess they should have called it the less ridiculous “Bad Environment Thingy Act”.
No one can solve this problem alone, so really, there’s no point in anyone trying to do anything about it. Makes sense to me!