Massachusetts Senators Offer Plan To Accelerate Clean Energy Growth

By Matt Murphy, State House News Service

A comprehensive and complex bill written by a leading climate change activist in the Senate proposes to accelerate the state's transition to renewable energy by banning new natural gas infrastructure, setting new targets for emission reductions, and using the market to curb fossil fuel consumption.

The omnibus bill unveiled Monday includes a smorgasbord of proposals touching on virtually every sector of the state's energy marketplace, specifically seeking to eliminate caps on reimbursements for solar energy production, pursue energy storage technology, and expand the state's offshore wind power goals.

It directs Gov. Charlie Baker's administration to use "market-based" strategies to reduce carbon emissions in the transportation, commercial and residential building sectors, which could include carbon fees or a regional cap-and-trade system similar the one Massachusetts participates in for power generation.

Sen. Marc Pacheco, the chair of Senate's Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change, said the legislation would put Massachusetts on track to exceed the goals of the Paris climate accord and be competitive with states like New Jersey and New York, which are aggressively moving into the... Read the rest of the story HERE on Wbur.org