Every winter the gas industry tries to scare us, claiming there isn’t enough gas during cold snaps to heat and power our homes. Their solution? More fracked gas and new, expensive gas pipelines. But we don’t have to buy into their propaganda. We have all the power we need without expensive new pipelines.
“We have many options for heating our homes,” says Greg Cunningham, Director of CLF’s Clean Energy and Climate Change program. “Alternatives like heat pumps avoid the use of oil and natural gas furnaces, which pollute our environment and damage our climate.”
Our electricity grid was designed over 100 years ago. But times have changed. Today, clean, renewable energy can be harnessed right where we live, so electricity doesn’t have to come from polluting power plants miles away. But we have to update our electricity grid to take advantage of it.
At a time when the federal government is utterly failing to protect us from the impacts of climate change, we need state-level policies like TCI more than ever. If it’s done right, we will all see the benefits.
CLF’ers Elena Mihaly and Tom Irwin show that you don’t have to live in a major city, or even on a paved road, to benefit from driving an electric car.
“Combatting the climate crisis is going to take everything we’ve got, and this legislation is a huge step forward,” said Alyssa Rayman-Read, Vice President and Director of CLF Massachusetts. “Getting to net-zero emissions by 2050 is an absolute necessity to protect our communities and our health. But we must hold our leaders accountable to make sure Massachusetts hits the ambitious goals laid out in the bills. We won’t be given another chance to get this right.”
Baker’s commitment to net-zero emissions by then was immediately hailed by environmental groups, many of which have been critical of him in the past. The pledge is a “crucial directive [that] puts Massachusetts in the vanguard of states and nations combating climate change,” said Brad Campbell, president of the Conservation Law Foundation.
“The climate crisis will touch every aspect of our lives and the consequences of inaction today will be ruinous tomorrow,” said Brad Campbell, President of CLF. “Governor Baker’s crucial directive puts Massachusetts in the vanguard of states and nations combatting climate change and embracing a clean energy future. We look forward to working with the administration on the bold steps that need to follow.”
“The reality of the climate crisis demands that we end our reliance on dirty fossil fuels,” said CLF Senior Attorney Jerry Elmer. “This commitment to 100% renewable electricity is a major step towards reaching that goal. The Governor must now make good on her promise to support a law that goes beyond mere talk and makes Rhode Island’s climate goals mandatory, including slashing emissions beyond the electric sector.”
In 2015, energy giant Invenergy announced its plan to pave over a pristine forest in Burrillville, Rhode Island, to build a 1,000-megawatt fracked gas and diesel oil power plant. For the next four years, CLF and the town of Burrillville fought to keep the polluting behemoth from being built.
