On August 11, Governor Baker signed a comprehensive climate bill into law that will hasten Massachusetts’ transition to energy free of fossil fuels, including a pilot program allowing ten municipalities, including Newton, to ban fossil fuels in new multi-family buildings. Climate activists and legislators had expressed some concern that the Governor might not sign the fossil-fuel ban, since he had suggested that it may increase the cost of constructing affordable housing. Persuaded that the bill will advance clean energy and offshore wind procurement, however, he joined forces with Green Newton, 350 Massachusetts, the Environmental League of Massachusetts, and many other climate activists.
Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Creem (D-Newton), chair of the Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change and member of the inference committee that produced the House and Senate compromise bill, said, “We began this session by enacting an ambitious law that requires the Commonwealth to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Now, less than 18 months later, we have passed another transformative climate law — a far-reaching piece of legislation that touches on transportation, electricity, buildings and natural gas and sets the Commonwealth on a path to achieve our emissions-reduction obligations. The climate crisis demands bold, decisive action and that’s what the new law delivers.”
Although the climate bill passed, the legislature continues to work in informal session to pass an essential multi-billion dollar funding bill for economic development, which it failed to complete by the end of the current session. The recently enacted federal Inflation Reaction Act will provide funding for energy and climate programs.
Newton joins Brookline, Cambridge, Lexington, Arlington, Concord, Lincoln, Acton, Aquinnah, and West Tisbury in the pilot program that bans fossil fuels in new and renovated buildings. Municipalities can participate if they:
- Meet the 10% affordable housing requirement under Chapter 40B;
- Are granted safe harbor status under Chapter 40B through a Housing Production Plan approved by the Department of Housing and Community; or
- Approve a zoning ordinance or by-law that provides for at least one district of reasonable size in which multi-family housing is permitted as of right (essentially, if they comply with the multi-family zoning requirement for MBTA communities).
Life sciences and health care facilities are exempt from the local ban.
Passage of the climate bill is another example of Massachusetts’ successful bi-partisan approach to major legislation. Negotiation and compromise across the aisle and the corner office set an enviable example for other states.
