A Better City’s Comments on the MA 2050 Clean Energy and Climate Plan
November 30, 2022
WRITTEN BY: ISABELLA GAMBILL, SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR ON CLIMATE, ENERGY, & RESILIENCE
In late October, A Better City submitted comments on the Commonwealth’s anticipated Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2050, which is intended to guide the State’s efforts to achieve net zero emissions economy-wide by 2050. Additionally, ABC leadership serves on the Global Warming Solutions Act Implementation Advisory Committee and provided constructive feedback directly to Undersecretary Chang and staff in that forum.
A Better City’s comments focused on sector-specific recommendations for the transportation, buildings, natural and working lands, and power sectors, as well as recommendations for cross-cutting and enabling policies to implement across all sectors.
For transportation, ABC urged the State to clarify and strengthen proposed public transit investment throughout the Commonwealth and to not be overly dependent on zero emission vehicles, in addition to supporting zero emission commercial fleets, smart roadway pricing strategies, and employer-focused efforts for transportation demand management.
For buildings, ABC recommended prioritizing deep weatherization as a pre-requisite to building electrification, with sufficient incorporation of digital technologies like building automation systems, as well as commissioning a study to detail the projected increase in electricity demand by load zone, developing a Clean Heat Clearinghouse, establishing climate financing mechanisms to spur building decarbonization, and pursuing public education campaigns for building electrification.
For natural and working lands, ABC recommended establishing baseline data for existing tree canopy and considering opportunities for public-private partnerships around tree canopy maintenance, improving tree equity, and expansion on privately owned land, alongside the establishment of a state-level Developer Focus Group or Private Landowners Task Force.
For the power sector, ABC recommended including greater emphasis on grid reliability alongside electrification and considering innovative grid resilience solutions like virtual aggregation of distributed energy resources with flexible load.
Finally, in cross-cutting recommendations, ABC recommended opportunities around equitable workforce development in building automation systems, forestry and other nature-based solutions, and transportation. We also recommended the establishment of a statewide Resilience Commission to help govern regional climate investments and critical infrastructure projects, and to incorporate the recommendations of the Climate Justice Working Group within the IAC.
In terms of next step, the Commonwealth is expected to release final the final CECP for 2050 by the enf of December 2022. Please contact Isabella Gambill with any questions.
