High-voltage power lines in Quebec. File photo
Two centerpieces of the Baker administration’s plans to tame Massachusetts’ carbon emissions suffered hammer blows last week even as activists said advancements in clean energy technology have proved that a grid fueled with 100 percent renewable energy is a realistic goal for Massachusetts.
A key transmission line that would carry carbon-free hydropower from Quebec to Massachusetts, via Maine, halted construction for now in the face of a court battle and multi-state compact to reduce transportation sector carbon emissions spearheaded by Gov. Charlie Baker collapsed. The power line project, in particular, is essential for helping commercial buildings in Boston meet strict new emissions requirements.
Despite support from the current Democratic governor of Maine, Republican Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, the former Republican governor of Maine and the Democratic Biden White House, Maine voters made clear that they do not want the New England Clean Energy Connect power line project to advance as planned, potentially undermining the region’s clean energy goals. The consortium of utilities building the 145-mile line has halted construction – temporarily, it says – until a judge rules on its request for a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit that claims the referendum was unconstitutional.
Hanna Nuttall, clean energy associate at Environment Massachusetts, said last week that she does not think the result of the Maine referendum was “Mainers saying that they don’t want renewable energy.”
“I think that the concerns in the opposition were more to do with the siting and the fact that the project would be running through Maine but delivering energy essentially to Massachusetts,” she said. “And so I don’t think that that was voters saying that they’re not ready for renewable energy. But I also think that with this project maybe falling apart, we have an opportunity still here in Massachusetts to produce renewable electricity within the state.”
Report: Clean Energy Matter of ‘Political Will’
Environment Massachusetts released its annual report Wednesday examining Massachusetts’ progress in wind energy, solar power, electricity energy efficiency programs, electric cars and energy storage over a 10-year period and comparing the growth to the rest of the states. As of 2020, America was producing nearly four times as much renewable energy from the wind and sun (11 percent) as it was in 2011 (3 percent).
And if wind, solar and geothermal generation maintain the growth rates they showed over the last decade, those three sources alone could meet the nation’s electricity demand by 2035, the organization said in its report.
“The last decade has proven that clean energy can power American homes, businesses and industry. And it’s put America on the cusp of a dramatic shift away from polluting energy sources,” Nuttall said. “With renewable energy prices falling and new energy saving technologies being developed every day, Massachusetts can and should set its sights on sourcing 100 percent of our energy from clean, renewable sources.”
Environment Massachusetts supports legislation (H.3288/S.2136) that would require utilities to provide 100 percent clean electricity by 2035 and would transition Massachusetts to 100 percent clean heating and transportation by 2045.
The bill, which Environment Massachusetts said has the support of 88 legislative co-sponsors and more than 60 environmental and civic groups, is awaiting a hearing before the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. Supporters said Wednesday that the new Environment Massachusetts report “affirms that our vision of 100 percent clean energy in Massachusetts is not a pipe dream.”
“The question no longer is ‘is 100 percent clean energy possible?’,” Jess Nahigian, political and legislative director for the Massachusetts Sierra Club, said during a press conference held to discuss the report. “Instead, the question is can we marshal the political power to meet the urgency of the climate crisis?”
Transpo Plan Fizzles
Another key part of the Baker administration’s climate and energy policy, the controversial regional effort to reduce vehicle emissions along the East Coast, collapsed last week when Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont told reporters in the Nutmeg State that he doesn’t think he will be able to get lawmakers there to support the Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI) in the near future and in response, the Baker administration on Thursday effectively scrapped its participation and declared the program “no longer the best solution” for Massachusetts.
TCI was a central part of Baker’s transportation and climate agenda and was “critical” to the efforts that will be needed to achieve his administration’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides said last year.
“Look, I couldn’t get that through when gas prices were at historic low,” Lamont said, according to CT Mirror. “So I think legislators are pretty clear, it’s going to be a tough rock to push when the gas prices are so high, so no.”
The transportation sector accounted for 42 percent of the Bay State’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2017, the most recent year for which data was available, outpacing any other source.
“The Baker-Polito Administration always maintained the Commonwealth would only move forward with TCI if multiple states committed, and, as that does not exist, the transportation climate initiative is no longer the best solution for the Commonwealth’s transportation and environmental needs,” Baker press secretary Terry MacCormack said in a statement
MacCormack added that federal pandemic aid and money from the new federal infrastructure package could help fund “investments to reduce transportation emissions, deliver equitable transportation solutions and benefits and meet the state’s ambitious climate goals,”
The TCI program’s target of a 26 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2032 would have added an estimated 5 to 9 cents to the price of a gallon of gas, according to officials involved in the effort.
It also stands as a victory for opponents of the program, including Republican gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl, who could face off against Baker in a primary election next year if the governor decides to seek a third term.
Pressure for Backup Plan to Mount
The Baker administration will now face increased pressure to roll out backup plans for fulfilling renewable energy needs and cutting greenhouse gas emissions without TCI, particularly with interim targets looming along the road to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
Sen. Michael Barrett, who co-chairs the Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee, said Thursday that the decision is a “major setback” even if it does not come as a surprise.
“The collapse of the centerpiece of our climate transportation strategy calls for the governor’s immediate attention and some very aggressive substitutions,” he said. “Climate isn’t going to give us a pass because Plan A collapsed. That’s not the way this works.”
Transportation Committee Co-chair Rep. Bill Straus on Thursday said he hopes the decision to withdraw from TCI will refocus attention toward broader transportation funding questions.
“As gas tax revenue becomes a smaller part of the picture over the next decade, the need to provide funding to take care of our public transit, roads and bridges becomes even more important,” Straus said in a statement. “Frankly TCI was a distraction in getting that discussion going since it’s been apparent for the last couple of years that a New England consensus on raising gas fees through this method was never going to happen.”
State House News Service staff writer Michael P. Norton contributed reporting.
