Reacting to the decision by Massachusetts House leadership to ignore amendments offered to strengthen clean energy legislation, Climate Action Now of Western MA released the following statement:
How tragic that MA House leadership doesn’t get it yet, as shown by their refusal to address amendments strengthening clean energy legislation. This stands in contrast to the strong omnibus clean energy bill passed unanimously by the Senate. We are in a climate crisis that is already severely damaging our economy and health, threatening our shoreline and homes with coastal and inland flooding, and is threatening to cost billions of dollars and many lives over the next decades. The time to act is NOW. This is a failure of House leadership, given the clear support from many Representatives for a stronger response. We have to think that House leadership cares more about the pressure from industry lobbyists than about the voice of Commonwealth citizens. This is a sad day for Massachusetts and a blow to all of us who fear the consequences of continuing “business as usual.” The people of Massachusetts need significantly more local, clean, renewable energy and we will be taking more forceful action to convince leadership to represent our best interests, rather than those of investor owned utilities.