Press Release: 10/29/2025

Massachusetts must invest in equitable climate solutions, expand Municipal Fossil Fuel-Free Demonstration Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

October 29, 2025

CONTACT:

Annette McDermott

404-545-7558

 

Massachusetts must invest in equitable climate solutions, expand Municipal Fossil Fuel-Free Demonstration Program

Environmental justice communities locked out of critical tools to invest in healthier, more affordable homes

 

BOSTON – A coalition of local and state elected officials as well as climate and community members testified before the Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy committee in support of equitably increasing access to healthier air and lower energy bills by passing legislation to expand the Municipal Fossil Fuel Free Demonstration Program. 

 

“I am incredibly grateful to my colleague State Representative Christine Barber for her leadership and for filing this important legislation to expand the number of communities who are seeking to do our part to tackle the climate crisis. Salem as a coastal and environmental justice community is already experiencing the disproportionate impacts of the climate crisis,” said Rep. Manny Cruz. “As a community we have stepped up our efforts to promote local clean energy, sustainability, and coastal resilience initiatives to mitigate the impacts for our residents. However, we need every option in our tool box. By passing An Act to further promote local climate action and joining this important pilot to transition away from fossil fuel in new construction and homes, we can do even more to be a leader during the climate emergency" 

 

“An Act to further empower local climate action” (S.2292/ H. 3449), introduced by Rep. Christine Barber, would double the number of communities eligible to reap the economic and health benefits of fossil fuel free buildings in new construction and major renovations by participating in the program. Despite the outsized demand for the program from cities such as Somerville, Salem and Boston, current law allows only 10 communities to ensure new homes are built all-electric. 

 

“Massachusetts’s current approach to the Fossil Fuel Free Demonstration Pilot is a self-defeating bureaucratic maze that forces communities to compete for a spot,” said  Worcester City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj. “Worcester’s most vulnerable residents are already facing increasing heat illnesses thanks to the extreme heat and increased air pollution from burning fossil fuels. With over 5,000 new housing units and developments currently in planning or construction, we have an immediate, time-sensitive opportunity to curb our emissions and protect public health. It’s time for Massachusetts to give municipal leaders the authority to protect our children and build a liveable, fossil fuel-free future.” 

 

Building new homes without fossil fuels can help save residents money on their energy bills and eliminate a major source of air pollution that is associated with 15.4% of childhood asthma in Massachusetts. Environmental justice communities in Massachusetts face higher exposure to gas leaks as well as slower leak repairs compared to residents statewide. Yet while waitlisted cities experience higher rates of childhood asthma than Massachusetts statewide, the existing cap prevents municipal leaders from accessing critical tools to alleviate air pollution and address Massachusetts’s energy affordability crisis. 

 

“At a time when Massachusetts is actively working to fully decarbonize our homes and buildings, it makes absolutely no sense to force communities to continue to build unhealthy new buildings with fossil fuels,” said Lisa Cunningham, Executive Director of ZeroCarbonMA. “In order to reduce the burdens our environmental justice communities face from fossil fuel pollution, Massachusetts must expand the demonstration program beyond the predominantly whiter, wealthier, and smaller communities of current participants.” 

 

Building homes with stronger standards that maximize energy efficiency and efficient electric equipment go hand in hand with a pro-housing agenda. According to the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER), all-electric homes are less expensive to build than homes with gas, even before considering a proposal by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities that ends outdated policies that allow gas utilities to pass on the charge of gas hookups for new homes to their existing customer base. Recent analysis from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) reveals communities with all-electric building codes in general follow national housing trends, while the town of Lexington, a current program member, has more multi-family housing under development than any other municipality outside of Boston.