Conservation Law Foundation Statment on GreenDOT Implementation

More Specifics, Prompt Action Needed to Ensure Ambitious Plan Can Achieve Climate Goals, Says CLF’s Melissa Hoffer

Contact:
Karen Wood, CLF, (617) 850-1722

BOSTON, MA June 20, 2012 — In response to today’s oversight hearing on the GreenDOT Policy Directive held by the House Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change, Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) issued the following statement:

“The GreenDOT Implementation Plan is an ambitious, forward-looking plan for reducing pollution impacts, saving energy, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Commonwealth and we commend MassDOT for its efforts,” said Melissa Hoffer, VP and director of Conservation Law Foundation’s Healthy Communities and Environmental Justice program. “It acknowledges MassDOT’s central role in achieving the state’s climate objectives and reflects the Agency’s increasing and serious commitment to sustainability. However, the Plan lacks much-needed specifics on how the activities set forth in the Plan will achieve GreenDOT’s goals. It also lacks clear guidance for Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and other stakeholders on how to implement GreenDOT’s core transportation planning requirements. Today, MassDOT testified that it is working with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to identify a transparent means to measure and account for GHG reductions, and we look forward to seeing the agencies’ proposal.

Hoffer continued, “Without data, budgets and concrete goals to guide its implementation, the GreenDOT plan will continue to languish. Massachusetts can’t wait any longer to begin to put this plan in place. Across our region—and the nation—we are already feeling the costly impacts of climate change. MassDOT must rise to the challenge and help the Commonwealth realize its potential to be a national leader on climate. As the Legislature turns now to the tough question of how to fund the Commonwealth’s transportation system, including highways, roads, and bridges, it is imperative that we keep the Commonwealth’s sustainability commitments—which will save energy and money and create jobs—front and center.”

Background: 

GreenDOT was issued by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) two years ago in June 2010. GreenDOT was developed to ensure MassDOT’s compliance with several Massachusetts laws and policies, including the Global Warming Solutions and Green Communities Acts, both passed in 2008, and the Healthy Transportation Compact, passed as part of the 2009 transportation reform legislation. Transportation sector GHG emissions constitute about a third of total Massachusetts GHG emissions, and are the fastest growing source of GHG emissions.

Developed to help the Commonwealth achieve the target reductions set forth in the Global Warming Solutions Act, MassDOT projects that the GreenDOT policy would produce a reduction of 7.3% below the 1990 baseline level of transportation sector GHG emissions.

In addition to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation sector, GreenDOT’s goals are to promote the healthy transportation options of walking, bicycling, and public transit; and support smart growth development.

At the end of May, the agency issued a 77-page “GreenDOT Implementation Plan,” intended to lay out in greater detail MassDOT’s plan to put GreenDOT into action.

Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) protects New England’s environment for the benefit of all people. Using the law, science and the market, CLF creates solutions that preserve natural resources, build healthy communities, and sustain a vibrant economy region-wide. Founded in1966, CLF is a nonprofit, member-supported organization with offices in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

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