By Michael McCord
On December 1st, Melissa Hoffer, Massachusetts’ Climate Chief, released the Massachusetts Climate Report Card, the official assessment of how well the Commonwealth has been meeting the challenges of global warming. According to the report, the Commonwealth has made “significant progress,” yet very significant challenges are just around the corner, with the “sharpest emissions reductions [needing to occur] between 2025 and 2030.” Whether that will happen, of course, depends entirely on the political will of our elected officials and on the willingness of us, the un-elected citizens, to make our wishes known.
The transition from fossil fuels to clean energy will be hugely costly in the short term. It will also be massively disruptive, extremely threatening to some, and unquestionably controversial. There is, however, no viable alternative if we are going to avoid the worst outcomes of ever-increasing global warming. And, as if that challenge alone, weren’t sufficient, we are also needing to face the devastating consequences of the climate change we have already caused.
The message of this report and of the situation on the ground is clear. We have no more time to waste with inaction. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. The Commonwealth has a plan to lead us in the right direction. We need to:
> support that plan and make clear to the our elected leaders that we are 100% behind legislative and regulatory actions that will end the era of fossil fuels.
> make clear that we support the development of the clean energy sector in Massachusetts (solar, wind and hydro).
> support the steady built-out of an expanded clean electric grid and the expansion of our capacities to store electricity —much more than we can store now and for much longer periods of time.
> make sure our elected officials know that we support all of our residents who need help through this transition, including current gas workers who will need retraining and good paying jobs in the clean energy sector and any resident of the Commonwealth, who cannot afford the cost of transitioning their home away from fossil fuels to clean energy.
While we must act quickly and decisively, we must also assure that no one in our Commonwealth is left behind.
When ordinary citizens let their elected representatives (or appointed public officials) know that climate action is a priority for them, good things can happen. When we don’t allow our voices to be heard, fossil fuel interests will gladly fill the void, and will vigorously represent their own interests, while ours are unspoken.
