ELM’s Statement on the End of Massachusetts’ Legislative Session

Statement from Elizabeth Turnbull Henry, ELM President, on August 1, 2024:

In the final moments of the legislative session on August 1, the Massachusetts State House failed to pass critical legislation, including an omnibus climate bill and an economic development package. ELM is profoundly disappointed in our state leaders’ inability to act with the urgency that the climate crisis demands. 

For the first time in a decade, despite broad support for these bills – from the public, advocates, industry experts, and lawmakers – formal sessions ended without the passage of climate policy desperately needed to ensure Massachusetts meets its emission reductions goals. Past laws have set ambitious climate goals for our state and demonstrated our potential to serve as an example for our nation. Significant action was required this session, too: Massachusetts’ emissions reductions are not on pace to achieve our 2030 and 2050 goals, nor build an equitable net-zero future. 

Inaction on the climate crisis has global repercussions and directly impacts every community in the Commonwealth. We cannot afford these failures at this critical moment in our net-zero transition. 

The inability to pass carefully crafted reforms to energy siting and permitting, set to pass as a part of an omnibus climate bill, is particularly disappointing. After months of thoughtful engagement, the Legislature and Administration produced recommendations to accelerate clean energy deployment, modernize our grid infrastructure, and improve community engagement. Despite broad consensus, the Legislature was unable to pass the proposed reforms before the end of formal sessions. They also failed to seize the opportunity to accelerate electrification of transportation, increase our supply of renewable energy and storage, and integrate new heating solutions into our energy delivery systems.   

We are also deeply discouraged to see efforts to make Massachusetts a global hub for climate innovation stall as the climatetech proposal in Governor Healey’s economic development plan was not passed into law. These provisions gained broad support in the House and Senate and could serve as an essential catalyst for this growing industry. As other states and countries invest billions to attract and grow this sector, the Legislature missed a critical opportunity to keep up with the competition.

ELM will continue to leverage every available path to advance policy that meets the scale and urgency of our environmental challenges. In the face of continued uncertainty on the federal level and around the world, leaders in Massachusetts cannot continue to lose valuable time to advance climate policy here at home.