Press Release: 5/2/2025

Mass. Cannot Backslide on Climate Policy

 



Picture of Larry Chretien & Anna VanderspekLarry Chretien & Anna Vanderspek | May 01, 2025 



 



About a week ago, we began hearing rumors that Governor Healey was being pressured by the auto industry to delay implementation of the Advanced Clean Cars (ACC2) rule. ACC2 would, starting with model year 2026, require automakers to gradually increase the percentage of new cars sold in the Bay State that are electric. The Department of Environmental Protection adopted the regulations after an open public process way back in 2023, so it’s disheartening to know that this issue is on the table at all. The transportation sector is the leading cause of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Massachusetts, and ACC2 is, by far, the most important policy for reducing those emissions.



You can learn more and take action here.



 



 



On May 1, we read that the House of Representatives is “reviewing all of our climate and emission mandates, goals, and plans. With the new administration in Washington pulling funding, and with the president's executive order preventing the development of new offshore wind, we must reevaluate and try to figure out the new reality of meeting our climate change goals without a federal partner and without our planned energy diversification."



The current federal administration is slowing climate progress, yes. But none of the facts have changed. Climate change continues to harm people around the world and here at home. The pace of warming and the damage it causes both continue to accelerate. All the reasons to take action still far outweigh the costs, economically and socially. Massachusetts cannot backslide. 



 



A Little History




  • The original Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA), which mandated net-zero emissions by 2050 was passed in 2008 almost unanimously, seventeen years ago. 

  • GWSA has been amended a few times, most notably in March of 2021 when the legislature almost unanimously passed “An Act Creating a Next-Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy.” The bill was signed by Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican. It directs the adoption of a 2030 emissions limit of “at least 50 percent below 1990 levels” and a 2040 emissions limit of “at least 75 percent below 1990 levels.” 

  • Then-President Joe Biden did not sign the landmark Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) until August of 2022. The IRA provides billions of dollars in support for clean energy, and it is under threat by the current administration. We note that the primary climate mandates in Massachusetts were put in place before IRA was signed into law.  

  • In 2022, Maura Healey was elected governor after stating she wanted to be a “climate governor.” By all accounts, her administration has made climate policy a top priority. And she has the support of the legislature, which passed two excellent bills, one in 2022 and another in November 2024. 



 



No Need To Change Course  



The purpose of the history lesson is to point out that the Bay State’s commitment to reducing the emissions that cause global warming, creating jobs in the clean energy sector, and cleaning up the air that we all breathe never has been and should not be contingent upon who occupies the White House.



Make no mistake: If Massachusetts delays implementation of the clean cars rule, that will be in direct conflict with the mandate to reduce emissions statewide 50% below 1990 levels by 2030. It would certainly put the Commonwealth in non-compliance with the mandate, and that would subject the Commonwealth to a lawsuit. That is, unless both branches of the legislature and the governor agree on repealing the GWSA and its updates. If such an effort to repeal the Global Warming Solutions Act and its subsequent amendments begins in the slightest, Green Energy Consumers Alliance will work with our allies in the climate movement as hard as we can to head it off at the pass that from happening. 



We are in the middle of a climate crisis. Shame on any official who thinks we can kick the can down the road any further. 




 



P.S. Read our detailed blog on the delay of clean car regulations, and learn more about how you can take action NOW.