WE LIVE IN a time when the way we power our lives is literally putting our survival at stake. We’re seeing an increase in deadly natural disasters, glaciers melting at a worrisome rate, and American states and territories at risk of disappearing from the map due to rising sea levels.
Yet the Trump administration seems deeply committed to exacerbating the destructive impact of climate change. Scott Pruitt, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, announced earlier this month that he would formally move to repeal the Clean Power Act, an Obama era climate policy to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.
Massachusetts residents know better, and demand action. In a recent WBUR poll, 88 percent of voters in the Commonwealth said climate change is real and caused by humans; a majority of voters are concerned about coastal flooding, extreme heat waves, sea level rise, and more powerful storms.
Our fears are based on facts. A recent Union of Concerned Scientists report named Winthrop as the single most vulnerable community in the state when it comes to sea level rise; under a “high sea level rise” scenario, by 2030, 11 percent of the town will experience flooding at least twice a month. Revere, Chelsea, Hull, and Nahant were not far behind. And we know from Super Storm Sandy and Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria – which devastated the American South and the Caribbean – that it is the poor, the elderly, and minority communities that bear the brunt of these climate calamities.
While Massachusetts residents get it, their sense of urgency is not always reflected in the actions of our state leaders. At a time when our power grid is disproportionately reliant on natural gas – a fossil fuel – Gov. Charlie Baker has supported a cap on net metering, which is the mechanism through which solar projects are funded. Net metering caps have slowed the growth of solar in our state, an industry that employs 15,000 Massachusetts workers. Baker also supports a “pipeline tax” on all electricity customers to cover the $6 billion required to construct additional – and unnecessary – natural gas pipelines.
State and local action has become more important than ever in the Trump era. As the Senate chair of the Green Economy Caucus, and Massachusetts Director of the Sierra Club, we have been working to advance multiple bills that would protect the environment and increase the state’s renewable energy portfolio.
But there is also work to be done at the local level. Municipal officials have a major impact on laws and funding decisions made on Beacon Hill. Their priorities, ideas, and concerns shape the state budget, as well as policies on education funding, health care, affordable housing, public safety, zoning reform, and yes – the environment and energy.
That is why the Sierra Club has created the Mass. Local Climate Leadership Project in order to educate and empower local elected officials to take action in their own communities and on Beacon Hill, to protect our air, our water, and our lands. Protecting the environment means protecting communities, and safeguarding public health. This initiative will provide training and guidance to local elected officials about what more they can do.
From implementing community choice energy, to divesting from fossil fuels, to setting aggressive 100 percent renewable energy mandates, local officials can give the people what they want: clean energy, climate justice, and a livable planet. If you are an elected or appointed municipal official that would like to join the Mass. Local Leadership Project, visit CleanEnergyMass.org.
Sen. James Eldridge, Democrat of Acton, is vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change and the Senate chairman of the Legislature’s Green Economy Caucus. Emily Norton is a longtime environmental activist and Massachusetts director of the Sierra Club.
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At the urgings of environmental groups, like the Sierra Club, Massachusetts passed the Green Communities Act, and the Global Warming Solutions Act with mandates to force the adoption of renewable energy (wind and solar) setting a goal for 20% by the year 2020. We are now close to 2020 and wind and solar power is only a small fraction of the energy we use and it is obvious that for many reasons the initial 20% by 2020 has failed. Instead of examining the causes of failure to set a more realistic effort to address Climate Change, The Sierra Club and others are pressuring to double down and push for expanding the failed effort to 100% renewable energy.
What we learned in the last 10 years of pushing wind and solar is that in the absence of mass energy storage, which does not exist, fossil fuel needs to remain in the mix to avoid disastrous power shortages. Passage of new laws mandating 100% renewables by 2050 to 2080 will only serve to accelerated the early retirement of coal and nuclear in favor of natural gas with little to no reduction in CO2 emissions. ISO-NE has identified the need for seasonal energy storage before fossil fuels can be avoided. We need to store enough wind and solar energy in the summer to see us through the winter. No one knows if this is even possible.
In the meantime, the push to a clean energy future is raising electric rates sky-high. Neighborhood wind turbines are destroying our quality of life, mountain ridges are destroyed to plant wind turbines, and woodlands are being clear-cut for solar installations. In the name of saving the planet, we are destroying parts of it for nothing in return.
While most of us want to reverse Climate Change, what we are doing is not working, and the damage is unsustainable.