Bill > S13

This bill, a report from the Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change, emphasizes the urgent need for Massachusetts to address climate change, noting that while the state has made progress, it is not on track to meet its 2020 greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. The report highlights the potential impacts of climate change on Massachusetts' agriculture, public health, and economy, including threats to food production, increased health risks from extreme heat and air pollution, and damage to infrastructure from rising sea levels. It reviews existing legislation like the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) and the Green Communities Act (GCA), which have spurred renewable energy development and energy efficiency, but argues that more assertive action is needed. The report recommends several steps for the executive branch, many of which can be implemented within existing legislative authority, such as adopting a clean fuel standard, enforcing GWSA regulations and implementing carbon pricing (a mechanism to put a cost on carbon emissions), encouraging energy efficiency, incentivizing smart meter use, embracing smart growth principles, boosting the Green Communities program, balancing imported energy with renewables, promoting clean and efficient transportation, strengthening building energy codes (the "stretch code"), and adopting comprehensive adaptation management plans to invest in statewide resilience and modernize the energy grid. The overarching goal is to protect the Commonwealth from climate change impacts while fostering a robust clean energy economy.