Clean Energy Caucus Co-chairs advocate for climate action with the Healey-Driscoll administration and in the Legislature
This session, I was pleased to welcome a new House co-chair to the caucus, Rep. Steven Owens of Watertown. The Clean Energy Caucus (CEC) was founded by former Rep. Frank Smizik and myself, and co-chaired over the past two sessions with former Rep. Maria Robinson, before she joined the Biden-Harris administration. Very good company to serve alongside!
This session, Rep. Owens and I, along with a caucus made up of 28 members, have held briefings with the Mass Clean Energy Center (MassCEC!), the Green Energy Consumers Alliance, the first-in-the-nation Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer appointed by Governor Healey, and have scheduled an upcoming June 1st tour of MassCEC's Wind Technology Testing Center. In addition to serving with Rep. Owens as a co-chair of the CEC, I am also proud to file several bills with Steve, who has become a good friend. I am thrilled to have filed S.481 / H.872 An Act establishing a climate change superfund and promoting polluter responsibility also known as the “Make Polluters Pay bill” in collaboration with 350 Mass for a Better Future and dozens of climate action groups.
We held an incredible press conference on March 17th at the Watertown Arsenal, a current Superfund site, and the Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) recently held a hearing on the bill. As a follow-up to Clean Energy Caucus's briefing with Climate Chief Hoffer, we have met directly with Climate Chief Hoffer, and sent her this memo to reflect the concerns of the CEC's members, and many of our constituents. The letter is below and your feedback is welcome. I pride myself on close collaborations with colleagues on a whole host of issues, and one of the stronger of these has quickly been generated with Rep. Steve Owens.