A compromise bill mandating some of the steps Massachusetts needs to take to meet a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 was approved by House and Senate lawmakers on Thursday. The Massachusetts House approved the compromise bill on a 143-9 vote. The Senate then voted 38-2 in favor of the bill. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker has 10 days to review the legislation and decide whether to sign or veto it.
The legislation was passed as dangerously high temperatures threatened much of the Northeast on Thursday, driving home concerns about climate change. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu extended a previously announced heat emergency in the city through Sunday. State Rep. Jeff Roy and State Sen. Mike Barrett, both Democrats, helped hammer out the compromise, combining elements of legislation approved separately by the House and Senate.
The two said the compromise preserves the central ideas of both bills. “Massachusetts needs to open up huge new sources of green electric power if it’s to stay on course for reducing emissions,” the two said in a joint statement. “Today’s compromise aims to ramp up clean power, especially offshore wind but also solar, storage and networked geothermal, and run it through cars, trucks, buses, and buildings, the biggest sources of emissions in the state.”