Climate change in Massachusetts

Climate change is an increasingly important issue within Massachusetts. A 2017 WBUR poll found that 88 percent of 500 registered Massachusetts voters are concerned about climate change—an increase from 77 percent in 2015.[1]

State laws

Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed into law three global warming and energy-related bills that will promote advanced biofuels, support the growth of the clean energy technology industry, and cut the emissions of greenhouse gases within the state. The Clean Energy Biofuels Act, signed in late July, exempts cellulosic ethanol from the state's gasoline tax, but only if the ethanol achieves a 60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions relative to gasoline. The act also requires all diesel motor fuels and all No. 2 fuel oil sold for heating to include at least 2% "substitute fuel" by July 2010, where substitute fuel is defined as a fuel derived from renewable non-food biomass that achieves at least a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The requirement for both motor diesel fuel and heating oil increases by a percentage point per year until 2013, after which it holds steady 5%. The act also allows the state to expand the requirement to other forms of fuel oil, and it requires the state to work to establish a low-carbon fuel standard under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

In early August 2008, Governor Patrick signed two additional bills: the Green Jobs Act and the Global Warming Solutions Act. The Green Jobs Act will support the growth of a clean energy technology industry within the state, backed by $68 million in funding over 5 years. The Global Warming Solutions Act requires a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the state to 10%-25% below 1990 levels by 2020 and to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. Under the act, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection will carry the burdens of determining the baseline level of emissions in 1990 and creating a plan to meet the future emissions limits, including the establishment of interim limits for 2030 and 2040.

Sea level rise

The city of Boston has already identified specific projects in East Boston, Charlestown, and South Boston that would raise small parcels of land and use temporary barriers in key locations to prevent flooding during storms, which due to climate change will be higher than present.[2] In 2016, Climate Ready Boston recommended studying the feasibility of a storm tidal barrier for Boston Harbor.[3] The resulting report from the University of Massachusetts Boston Sustainable Solutions Lab concluded that such a barrier would not be cost-effective compared to a larger number of smaller-scale on-shore projects.[4]

A 2018 noreaster caused flooding in downtown Boston, Quincy, and Scituate, raising more concerns about the impact of sea level rise.[5]

Collective buying

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston Medical Center, and the Post Office Square Redevelopment Corporation bundled their electricity purchasing power in 2016 to finance construction of a 6-egawatt solar farm in North Carolina. The City of Boston is planning a similar initiative with cities across the country.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gellerman, Bruce (28 June 2017). "WBUR Poll Finds A Sharp Increase In Concern About Climate Change Among Mass. Voters". WBUR.
  2. ↑ Climate Ready Boston
  3. ↑ Editorial: Costly plans wrong way to solve coastal flooding
  4. ↑ "UMass Boston Report: Boston Harbor Barrier Costs Would Outweigh Benefits". 2018-05-29.
  5. ↑ Photos: Scenes from the powerful nor’easter
  6. ↑ Power brokers: Boston to join other cities to collectively buy energy from renewable sources
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