
H.832 is a major, extremely important bill for creating a roadmap with verifiable goals that would be periodically assessed and adjusted to ensure that we meet our energy goals for 2050. This excellent testimony by Launa Zimmaro explains the objectives of the bill and why it must be passed with record speed.
Testimony submitted to the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture In support of H.832, An Act to create a 2050 roadmap to a clean and thriving Commonwealth By Launa Zimmaro, LWVMA Climate Change and Energy Specialist
May 14, 2019
The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts supports H.832 as an essential reboot of the 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act. As an implementation measure for the GWSA, H.832 establishes clear guidelines and requirements consistent with current science and the accelerating pace of climate change. The League of Women Voters has long championed protections and policies to ensure the well-being and health of the public and the environment, which are inextricably linked. Recent climate change reports make it clear that the ecosystem is already severely affected by climate change and that increasingly worse impacts lay ahead. The need to act is urgent. But urgent action must be thoughtful and systematic, as well as timely.
Remodeling our current energy economy is critically overdue for any chance of a livable future. We need this roadmap to guide that remodeling.
The League supports H.832 because it:
- Provides carbon emissions targets consistent with current science calling for net zero emissions by 2050;
- Offers a comprehensive framework, encompassing all sectors of the economy and sources of emissions;
- Incorporates time-limited periods of analysis, planning and reporting to ensure that objectives are met or adjusted;
- Incorporates clear expectations and consideration of the impact of actions on low- and moderate- income populations and jobs;
- Encourages evaluation of multiple, viable options for getting to net zero emissions by 2020;
- Requires development of a comprehensive package of regulations by 2022;
- Allows for a full range of market-based carbon pricing mechanisms;
- Generates income for implementation through assessment of fees on largest pollution emitters;
- Sends a clear market signal for action by eliminating the sunset clause.
We have the technology and expertise to respond to the scope, scale, and pace of actions needed to mitigate the worst-case scenarios presented in climate reports. The only question is whether we have the will. Passage of H.832 would be a strong indication that Massachusetts is willing to take on this daunting challenge.
Addressing climate change to protect the public’s health and well-being and the ecosystem that we all rely upon is a critical function of good government. The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, representing 47 local Leagues from Cape Cod to the Berkshires, urges this Committee to give its full support to passage of H.832.
______________________________________
H.832 was reported favorably out of the House Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee and sent to the House Ways and Means Committee.
Write to your Representative and ask him/her to urge the Ways and Means Committee to favorably move H832 out of committee and to the House for a vote.
There are many talking points in the testimony above, particularly in the last two paragraphs.
Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa Lindsay.sabadosa@mahouse.gov 24 Beacon St., Room 443, Boston, MA 02133
Rep. Dan Carey. Daniel.carey@mahouse.gov 24 Beacon St., Room 33, Boston, MA 02133
Rep. Mindy Domb. mindy.domb@mahouse.gov 24 Beacon St, Room 134, Boston, MA 02133
Rep. Natalie Blais. Natalie.Blais@mahouse.gov 24 Beacon St., Room 134, Boston, MA 02133