Mass. climate, cleantech legislation will accelerate clean energy buildout

Ceres applauds the final passage of two important bills that will bolster Massachusetts’ role as a climate and clean energy leader while supporting the state economy. The Massachusetts omnibus climate bill includes essential reforms to state permitting and siting procedures to responsibly accelerate the buildout of clean energy infrastructure while boosting investment into clean power, transportation, and buildings. Separately, the Commonwealth’s new economic development bond bill includes a significant investment over the next decade to foster the emerging cleantech industry.

“Massachusetts boasts a powerful combination of private sector ingenuity, a highly capable workforce, and supportive public policy, laying the groundwork for the Commonwealth to become a national hub for clean energy,” said Rishi Reddi, senior advisor for Northeast state policy at Ceres. “Ceres and the businesses we work with are grateful that lawmakers were able to work together to pass the economic development and climate omnibus bills, which build on the Commonwealth’s strong foundation to lead the nation in clean energy and climate action. With the governor’s signature, these two pieces of legislation will position Massachusetts to build a new landmark industry and fully capitalize on the nationwide clean energy boom by building and deploying the crucial technologies that will support our economy and protect our climate.”

Ceres has helped organize business support for both bills throughout 2024. In July, Ceres joined an effort led by the Environmental League of Massachusetts to convene 28 leading businesses and institutions to call for passage of the climate omnibus bill in a letter to lawmakers. In the letter, companies including Akamai Technologies, Amalgamated Bank, Eastern Bank, Form Energy, Trillium Asset Management, and VHB joined institutions such as Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston Medical Center, the Museum of Science, and UMass Lowell to urge legislators to pass the law and “enable communities across the Commonwealth to take action to meet our statutory clean energy and emission-reduction goals for 2025 and 2030.”

Ceres joined another ELM-led effort in May to organize a letter in support of the cleantech investments in the economic development bill. More than 81 signatories — including Associated Industries of Massachusetts, Autodesk, Berkshire Bank, Clean Energy Ventures, DSM, Encore Boston Harbor, Lyft, REI Co-op, Schneder Electric, Siemens, and Uber — supported that investment to “signify to companies, venture capitalists, and innovators that Massachusetts is the place to be for climate tech.”

And in September, Ceres CEO Mindy Lubber published an op-ed on WBUR’s Cognoscenti website, calling on lawmakers to hold a special legislative session to pass both the climate bill and the economic development bill’s clean tech investment after both had stalled out at the end of the formal session in July. The two bills, she wrote, would allow Massachusetts to harness “strong economic tailwinds that the high-tech and life science sectors delivered the state in previous generations.”

Ceres is a nonprofit advocacy organization working to accelerate the transition to a cleaner, more just, and sustainable world. United under a shared vision, our powerful networks of investors and companies are proving sustainability is the bottom line—changing markets and sectors from the inside out. For more information, visit ceres.org.