Incorruptible Mass

23. The Climate bill that passed, and the timelines we are missing

October 25, 2021 Anna Callahan Season 4 Episode 23
Incorruptible Mass
23. The Climate bill that passed, and the timelines we are missing
Show Notes Transcript

After 13 years of no action on climate change, the MA State House finally passed a bill committing to net zero carbon emissions.  After vetoing this bill (which thankfully later passed when our supermajorities of Dems in both houses stood their ground), the Baker administration has missed many of the legislated deadlines required in the bill.  Cabell Eames from 350 Mass gives us the details on this crucial legislation.


Jonathan Cohn, Jordan Berg Powers (absent today), and Anna Callahan chat about Massachusetts politics. This is the audio version of the Incorruptible Mass podcast, season 4 episode 23. The video version is available here.

You’re listening to Incorruptible Massachusetts. Our goal is to help people understand state politics: we investigate why it’s so broken, imagine what we could have here in MA if we fixed it, and report on how you can get involved.

To stay informed:
* Subscribe to our YouTube channel
* Subscribe to this podcast
* Sign up to get updates at https://www.incorruptiblemass.org/ 

Anna Callahan:

Hey, everybody, you're listening to Incorruptible Massachusetts. Our mission is to really help you understand state politics, so we talk about why it is so broken, what we could have here in Massachusetts if we fix it, and the ways that you can get involved. Today, we are going to be talking about climate change. And we'll really dig into the environmental bill that passed the legislature last session, sort of. We'll talk more in detail about that. But first, let's go ahead and introduce Jonathan Cohn and our special guest Cabell Eames. Jonathan, do you want to go first?

Jonathan Cohn:

He/him/his, typically in Boston although I'm currently in Cambridge. And I've been a progressive activist on electoral and issues campaigns in Massachusetts, especially Metro Boston, for a number of years. I'm delighted to have Cabell joining us.

Anna Callahan:

Yeah, I'm Anna Callahan, here in Medford. I'm also super excited. Cabell, would you introduce not only yourself, but also your work with 350 Mass?

Cabell Eames:

Yeah. Hi. It's great to be here. So I'm Cabell Eames, she/her, and I'm the political legislative director for 350 Massachusetts. We have been around for quite some time- going on 10 years now. And we are just really excited that we now have a federal partnership that's actually listening to policy, and we're anxious to dig into the work.

Anna Callahan:

Fantastic. So why don't we start off with the bill that passed - sort of passed - the legislature last session. And we'd love to hear kind of broad strokes. What that bill did. Let me comment that we had to wait 13 years to get any real environmental legislation to come out of the State House. Cabell, if you would talk about that bill, in broad strokes what it covered, and a little bit about the details.

Cabell Eames:

Absolutely, yes. So to your point, yeah, last session became this session. That was due to the vetoes that came out of the Baker Administration. So we would have had it last session. However, there were vetoes that came out of the Baker Administration. He really did listen to his stakeholders, meaning developers in the real estate industry. So he really tried to cut out a lot of really important language around building energy efficiency, but the legislature caught him and they did not allow it thankfully. But you know, still the bill, it's an excellent bill, I will say that. It's the kind of bill honestly, that I would have liked to have seen many years ago. But unfortunately, it didn't happen. But we do have what we have. And now this next legislative cycle is where the rubber is going to meet the road, around whether or not we can really meet our climate goals, because it's one thing to put into writing that you're gonna do something. It's a totally different animal, though, to actually do it. And that's where the hard part is. The bill did require emission reductions for six sectors, those those sectors being electricity and transportation, commercial and industrial and residential buildings, as well as natural gas distribution. It also required that we achieve net zero emissions by 2050. And we have to get halfway there by 2030. So that means that there is real work to be done. There are real target mandates there. And the Baker Administration is responsible for meeting those targets. It also codified environmental justice language into law, which was extremely important to do, because for far too long, environmental justice populations have just been sacrifice zones. They have had plants built into their infrastructure without their input. There have been hearing that they have not been able to attend that were not in their languages. They were essentially cut out and they have been cut out I would say probably since the beginning of America as we know it. So it's really important that we have this environmental justice language in law now. We also they also greenlit 5200 megawatts of wind power, which is huge, because folks that know our Jetstream and know our weather patterns know that Massachusetts should be called the Saudi Arabia of wind, we have the potential to have enough wind power here in the state to actually have a surplus and sell it to other states so actually make money off of our wind. So that's extremely important that that was codified into law. And also the bill updates the priorities for the DPU (Department of Public Utilities). They have notoriously dragged their feet and not been helpful when people are trying to switch over from oil or gas, including Mass Safe, and they also have a mandate in this bill to work more in sync with homeowners who are trying to switch over to electric heat pumps, and so forth. It establishes renewable energy goals for municipal light plants, which is really important because munis have the ability to kind of control where their energy comes from. So it really establishes some concrete goals for them to at least require, I think it's 50% of their power has to be non carbon emitting by 2030. So really important stuff that's in this bill. Again, it's performance until it actually happens. And that's what environmentalists are waiting for right now. We're really waiting to see how these things are going to get implemented. And in a timely fashion. I might add,

Jonathan Cohn:

One quick thing I want to kind of want to ask. So earlier in the discussion of what the bill did you talked about it setting up a timeline for like a deadline for reaching net zero. Explain for people listening, what does that mean? And what types of policies and regulations would we need to have in place to make it happen?

Cabell Eames:

Yeah, basically it means that you're no longer emitting greenhouse gases, that's what that means, right. And so the stretch code which is also part of this bill allows for, there a building code that currently exists for when you're in development. And a stretch code allows for a building to go outside of that code, and build an extremely energy efficient building. Because currently our codes are pretty archaic. And most of our buildings have been built before 1950. So there's a lot of infrastructure that is extremely old. As we know, we are very old here in Massachusetts. So when you say net zero, it means you are not producing carbon emissions. You're not. And because there is so much in the atmosphere currently. Here's a gauge. So 350, actually, is the safe number of carbon that is in the atmosphere. We are right now at around 409. The last data point that came out was at 409. And that was in 2019. If you hit 450, you're in deep trouble. So it's imperative that we get carbon out of the atmosphere. We don't have technology right now, that's real to capture it. With the exception of nature, which is basically healthy soil and trees. Yeah, trees and healthy soil, I [inaudible] as well. Andyou know, when you talk about plastic fields, right, like you are literally covering up a carbon sink with plastic grass. So there are so many ways that we can bring down our emissions that are low hanging fruit, but we can't afford to put any more carbon in the atmosphere. And that's if we're going to particularly with the incremental Governmental Panel on Climate Change that was established in 1988. That says 1.5 degrees Celsius, you hit that target, it's no man's land. We're at about 1.1 right now. And we're having droughts, we're having fires, we're having historic flooding. We can't get to 1.5. So we can't afford any more carbon in the atmosphere.

Anna Callahan:

Yeah. And I'm also going to dig in a little more on the same question that Jonathan had, which is there was a battle during last summer, when they were fighting over what exactly would be in this bill, between net zero and 100% Renewable. And I think this is hard for people to really wrap their minds around, right? Is one better than the other? And when you're talking about net zero, which is like the emissions of carbon minus the the removal of carbon from the air is zero, right? Which means some people can pollute more carbon and others as long as they're drawing carbon out of the air, and it gives some wiggle room. But 100% renewable is really the gold standard. Would you say that that's accurate?

Cabell Eames:

I would say that's absolutely accurate, and that climate activists were very saddened when that bill did not pass or even get written in as an amendment. When the climate bill passed in March it wasn't even acknowledged, to be honest. And so it has been refiled. And the legislature is basically saying 'no, because we've already set our targets. We're not resetting our targets, because we can't figure out how to set the targets that we currently have.'

Anna Callahan:

Right. And so just a little tiny hit back to what happened over the summer. There were people who had committed to file an amendment for 100% renewable and then that did not happen. And you know, we talk a lot about the pressure inside the Statehouse to not rock the boat. This is a good example of one of those cases where there is no reason in the world why, with the sentiment of the people of Massachusetts, we didn't put 100% renewables inside this bill that should have been passed. And instead, we have a weaker climate bill, that was able to pass for all the reasons we've discussed in many other podcasts. We don't need to dig too deep into that.

Jonathan Cohn:

One quick thing I have to tag in here as well. So earlier, Campbell, you were talking about how environmental activists are now kind of watching to see what actually happens with the implementation. It reminded me of several years ago, when Governor Baker had to be sued into following through with the Global Warming Solutions Act targets, which his administration just kind of completely ignored. WhaT are the signals that you're currently getting out of the administration about how seriously that it's taking what's in the bill?

Cabell Eames:

Um, I wish that I could have a better report than I do. But unfortunately, I am seeing a lot of the same. And the things that are happening are performance based. For example, the Baker Administration created a commission on energy efficiency, essentially saying that they were going to figure out how they were going to meet their targets, because what came out of the administration was that you have to retrofit a million homes to be able to meet these these targets. And what a retrofit is, is it basically means that you're going into a two family home that was built in 1910, for example, and you are checking those windows, checking that roof, checking to see how they are getting heat, providing them with some ability to heat pump, right. And then also air sealing that apartment to make certain that nothing is leaking, period. So that's part of something that they have to meet. Right. Okay. So he created a commission by executive order very recently. On the surface that looks like he is actually pulling a lever that is important, and that is progressive. Nothing could be further from the truth. The people that he put on that commission are developers and real estate agents, the exact same people that have blocked climate legislation, as we know from the Brown Report that came out recently, from happening for decades. So if you're really serious about these things, you dig into communities, because the top down approach leaves people behind, and it makes people further not trust their government. If you're telling me that you're going to come in and retrofit my home, and a developer and a real estate agent is going to be part of who's deciding on how you're doing that then if I become displaced, because you're retrofitting my home, it's basically up to me to figure out where I have to go while you expedite my home. Because oh, you figured out there was mold in my apartment. And now I got to figure out where to go while you dig up the apartment, etc. And these policies cannot be top down. They have to be bottom up. And so that, for me was the biggest red flag that is recent that I want to call people's attention to because it looks one way but really when you dig in, it's something completely different.

Anna Callahan:

Yeah, I'm just gonna chime in a little bit for Somerville, because this whole question about real estate developers, who pour money into city politics, they pour money into state politics. They are one of the largest lobbying groups. And, you know, across the state, a third of our emissions are from buildings. And in Somerville, it's almost two thirds of emissions in Somerville that come from buildings. So this inordinate amount of money that comes from real estate and landlords and all of that means that it becomes incredibly difficult to deal with this problem that you're talking about. If you live in a two family in Somerville, and it leaks and you're a renter like me, and it leaks like a sieve pouring heat and fossil fuels and my money out the door, literally, and out the window, literally. The landlords don't care. The real estate developers don't want to do the work and they don't have to pay for it. And so it's a huge problem of corruption that what you're talking about happening with these building codes and retrofitting. New building codes, which is what a lot of, you know, politicians want to pass covers a tiny fraction of the buildings that we have in Massachusetts. We have to retrofit the buildings that already exist because it is the vast majority of buildings.

Cabell Eames:

Yeah, and I would just also add that this whole idea around buildings, that was the exact language that the Baker Administration was trying to cut out of the climate bill. So, you know, he is listening to the developers in the real estate agency, because they are, quite honestly, the ones that prop him up as governor when he runs for elections and such. That's why he's got that war chest, right? Because he's making deals with the devil.

Anna Callahan:

That's right. So I love that making deals with the devil because we are literally talking about the human race not being able to exist anymore. And the sixth extinction, so you know, not to make this too sad have a podcast, we're talking about real bad stuff happening here because of because of money in politics. Cabell, I would love for you to you talk a little bit about what is the timeline of action that the Baker Administration and possibly the legislature needs to take based upon this bill that was passed?

Cabell Eames:

Yeah, that's really important for people to know, particularly because some of them haven't been met. So effective January 21, that was 90 days after the bill was signed, the DPU had to align its policies with the targets that were given, with the net zero targets in the six sectors, specifically. No one has heard anything out of the DPU and what they're doing. So that's one. The governor needed to appoint three new members to the Board of Building Regulations and Standards, which is the BPRS acronym that everybody hears, it's Board of Building Regulations and Standards. He was supposed to put three new members on: one that was an expert in commercial building, another one that was an expert in energy efficiency, and another that was an expert in residential building energy efficiency. That hasn't been done to our knowledge. The parties that are running Mass Save, they were supposed to have some sort of new element where there's like a social valuation of greenhouse gas emission reductions into the design and implementation for their program services. Again, no idea. No idea. Everything is really vague, really vague as to what's happening. And these are from folks that actually watch it. As far as we can tell what was supposed to happen in June or in October, that has not happened. It also requires by December that the CEC design and launch an initiative to provide workforce training, which is very, very exciting. So again, that's into the future, and that the DPU and the Department of Energy and Regulations are also supposed to aim at targets, to be able to create solar facilities to receive net metering and transferring credits and that sort of thing. There's a lot that's supposed to be happening. And a lot of it comes later in the year. But when we look back on what was just kind of the bare bones of June, and we're in October, that hasn't happened.

Anna Callahan:

And Baker gets away with it. Because when nothing happens there's nothing to point to right. There's nothing for the media to be like, 'Oh, look at this terrible thing that he's doing' because he's doing nothing.

Cabell Eames:

Yeah, I mean, creating a commission by executive order, instead of like actually meeting the mandates by the climate bill that you signed is, again, its performance. So you know, there are real concrete steps that the climate bill lays out that have not been met to the best of our knowledge. And so it would be really fabulous if we had the Administration, at least to be transparent about what's going on. Because what we're talking about is the future of our livelihood, the future of our children. These are real questions that are really scary. And so the best thing to do is to be transparent about what's happening so that people can sleep at night instead of you know, having like backstage/frontstage type of tactics.

Anna Callahan:

I think right before we started you said something about the 'Oscar goes to...'

Cabell Eames:

Yeah, there are several people in our legislature that get Oscars, but I think Baker is the Meryl Streep in my mind of the legislature. At least in terms of performance, because she's way cooler. If you're talking about somebody that's got a lot to display it would certainly be Governor Baker.

Jonathan Cohn:

But it's like Meryl Streep could be governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker could never play in Julie and Julia or Kramer versus Kramer. So somebody is at home and thinking about like, what impact that they themselves can have. What are some of the things that you would recommend for them to help have an impact on this?

Cabell Eames:

Well, this is where the federal government comes in. We haven't touched on this yet, but we do have a real chance right now to have some huge dollars come down from the federal government that is specifically designed for climate mitigation and adaptation, Mitigation meaning solutions. Adaptation meaning adapting to what's coming. That's basically what that means. So if the federal government does pass this huge infrastructure bill, which it is in jeopardy, I will say that it is in jeopardy of not passing the 3.5 trillion, which that is also a compromise. It started with 10, from our senator filing the Thrive Act, which was 10 trillion over 10 years to enforce climate legislation, mitigation and adaptation. That was too much, then it went to 6 trillion. That was too much. Now we're at 3.5 trillion. And they're trying to negotiate that away behind closed doors.

Anna Callahan:

And specifically to the climate parts of that are among the things that might get puled.

Cabell Eames:

Yes, yes. So there is a lot at stake in this very moment. I know that we're feeling like we're in this safe zone. But COVID has really hurt the labor force, including in the federal government, and the Trump administration left it so decimated, that the ability to clean up and get things back on track is taking much longer than it would have. Because of COVID. And because the fact that people can't go back to work because their childcare or their daycares aren't open or don't have safety precautions, or what have you. This infrastructure bill has a lot of things in it, that would get us back on track. And so we really need to pass that infrastructure bill at 3.5 trillion. But then we also need to have the oversight in the state to be able to spend those funds correctly, and swiftly. Because right now, we have the American rescue plan funds that came down at $5 billion. And to their credit, the legislature has been hearing from the people about how they should spend those funds. Even though the Baker Administration discouraged that effort to hear from folks they are hearing from people, those hearings have been ongoing, they are wrapping up. And now it's time for us to give these funds to local governments and let them implement things like charging stations, for instance, or create grant programs for folks to retrofit their homes. There's a lot of new building infrastructure that's going up particularly in the school department, which I know Somerville has a new school, Watertown as well. The 20 years are up for a lot of these buildings, and they're being rebuilt. We have to ensure that they are rebuilt with a net zero code. And so the local aspect to all of this is really, really important. It's essential that people get involved with their select boards, with their city councillors with their mayor's to let them know that they're watching, because this funnel money is going to come down. And we need to make sure that it is spent to benefit us and not spent to benefit, you know, a fancy, blah, blah, blah in town or like a water fountain or whatever, something that's stupid and completely unnecessary. We really need this money. We need this money to rebuild our towns. And we need the local governments to know that we're watching. So you know, that comes from a phone call to your federal government saying 'pass the infrastructure bill', your congress person, your senator. And it also comes to a phone call with your Select Board, your city council, your Mayor's office to say, 'I know that these funds are coming. I know that you have funds from the American Rescue Plan. Please use these funds for adaptation and mitigation so that our children have a home to live in in 20 years.'

Anna Callahan:

Yeah, a lot happening. A lot at stake right now, between the federal and the state stuff that passed but is not being implemented. And one thing to remember is that when money does come from the federal government, that we don't we don't know how long that partnership with the federal government will last. So talking to some of the state reps during the Trump administration, they were like, 'well we thought that we were gonna have support on some of these things from the federal government but we have none. And so we now we can't do things we thought we were going to be able to do.' So I think it's important that we pressure our state leadership, legislature and the governor to make sure that we take advantage of these things while we have them.

Cabell Eames:

That's right. And reminding them that they said that they couldn't do anything because of Trump and now they don't have Trump they actually have a lot of cooperation. So what are they doing?

Anna Callahan:

Absolutely. Great. So what else about what's happening in the state of Massachusetts do you want to make sure that people know what right now?

Cabell Eames:

Well, I want people to pay attention really to what's going on in the state legislature regarding bills that have been filed, because we are in a new session. And a lot of the bills that have been filed are meant to kind of color in the blueprint that the state passed through the next gen roadmap bill. So there is a lot of legislation that kind of shows the way on how you do those things. There's a lot of environmental justice bills that have been filed around air quality that's important to uplift. You know the reckoning has happened, I think, actually globally. And so equity needs to be centered going forward. And I encourage folks to check out certain bills that really center equity that those environmental justice tables or coalitions for lack of a better word, are uplifting, because that's a scary notion to think that we could pass climate bills that once again, leave environmental justice communities behind. A big thing that folks are nervous about is that when a climate bill does pass, that they're going to somehow get stuck with the funds to have to pay to retrofit their home, for example, or to pay for an electric vehicle, which is extremely expensive. I'm an environmentalist, okay, I can't afford an EV, I can't. So if I can't afford an EV, then I can't imagine what it must be like for somebody else who doesn't do this work. Right. Like, it's just these things need to be attainable for everybody. And as Julia Meija says, 'All means all.' And we really need to walk the talk on this equity and and dig into this reckoning that's happening, and check ourselves and make sure that when we're passing legislation, we aren't leaving anybody behind. And that it is done with community voices, and that communities are engaged. And so some of this comes down to you know, coalitions. There the Mass Renews Alliance coalition, that is essentially the Green New Deal coalition in Massachusetts, that is, I will say, national, there are many states that are doing this. And they're all passing legislation that centers equity. And there are other coalitions in Massachusetts, that center equity. And so you know, Green Justice Coalition is one that I think of. There are organizations doing great work like Neighbor to Neighbor is one of them. You know there's a lot of work being done by the environmental justice community. And so I would really encourage folks to dig into that and uplift that, because they care about climate change, they care about their children, but they've notoriously been left behind by governments. And so we need to ensure that that doesn't happen anymore, and that we are centering their voices and their needs.

Anna Callahan:

Absolutely. Such important work, it's great to have you on and dig into the details. And given that, you know, they've finally passed the environmental legislation that commits us to following these timelines, the long timelines, we can really look forward in the next few sessions to bills that actually dig a little deeper into the details about how do we meet those timelines, is that accurate?

Cabell Eames:

Yeah, and, you know, some of the bills too, are about just transition, because you will also want to ensure that if you're creating a workforce, you're creating a workforce that is fair, and you are paying prevailing wage, and you're protecting workers, because again, you know, we have this society of grind culture where you squeeze as much out of a person and then you send them on their way, and we don't pay equitably. We have not kept up with inflation. I mean, it's as simple as that. If you have a federal minimum wage, it's$7.25. That's criminal. Massachusetts is $15 an hour. Great, thanks. Okay. That's, you know... These jobs require fairness. And so, while we are rebuilding the wheel, essentially, let's make sure that we get it right this time. And let's not leave anybody behind. The New Deal was a was a wonderful piece that passed, that created a bunch of fabulous jobs, that's where unions were created. But the Green New Deal is a different kind of down-payment that makes sure that everybody is included, and that once again we pay prevailing wage. And so the job part of this is so so so important - that people can actually live and not have to have five jobs just to survive.

Anna Callahan:

The jobs part, the environmental justice part, all super super important. Thank you so much. It's been fantastic, love having you on. And also thanks for all the work that you're doing for 350 Mass and everything.

Cabell Eames:

Thanks for having me. It's great to come on and talk about these important things so I appreciate it.

Anna Callahan:

Absolutely. see everybody next time.