One area lawmaker calls the legislation a "small step." The state's
leading industrial association considers it the most aggressive bill of
its kind in the nation.
The
two opinions on a sweeping greenhouse gas emissions law passed by the
Senate last week are likely to grow into a louder, statewide debate as
the proposal moves to the House.
"It's a small step in the right direction," Sen. James Timilty,
D-Walpole, said of the Global Warming Solutions Act. "We are sending a
message that says we are taking some steps toward a cleaner and better
environment."
The bill, passed Thursday, moves to the House for a vote later in the year.
Filed
by Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, the bill would require by 2020 a
reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 20 percent below 1990 levels,
and by 2050, a reduction of 80 percent below 1990 levels.
A statewide plan to meet those goals would be required by January 2009.
"It's
an historic moment," Pacheco said on the Senate floor. "If we pass this
legislation with the help of our colleagues in the House of
Representatives, we will be a state in the nation where we will see
increased investment."
The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs would be charged with developing the 2009 plan.
The
plan would be based on a greenhouse gas registry and inventory run by
the Department of Environmental Protection that would identify major
sources of greenhouse gases.
The energy agency would also
require a revolving loan fund for green buildings, renewable energy
grants and training programs. The agency would also have to report by
2010 on the plan's progress.
Massachusetts businesses would have to comply with the state plan. It would be up to them to decide how to meet the goals.
Environment
advocates praised the bill, despite the decision to eliminate a portion
of the law that would require heavy trucks to be retrofitted with
cleaner burning systems.
"We need to take action very soon to
avoid a critical climate change," said Frank Gorke, director of
Environment Massachusetts. "It's a great bill; it's a way to make
Massachusetts the hub of clean economy."
If approved,
Massachusetts would join 10 other states with similar emission targets.
Six others have some emissions targets that are either lower or without
a timeline, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In
2001, Massachusetts agreed to reduce its emissions to 1990 levels by
2010, then 10 percent below that by 2020 and then 75 to 80 percent
below that in the long term.
In 2004, then Gov. Mitt Romney
adopted a new plan calling for a reduction of state emissions to 1990
levels by the year 2010 and an additional 10 percent reduction by 2020.
According
to the EPA, Massachusetts' carbon emissions are already below 1990
levels. In 1990, the state released 83.92 million tons of carbon. In
2004, the latest measurement, 83.21 million tons were released.
But the business community says the cap set by the bill for the coming years is too high.
Associated
Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), a non-profit association of
Massachusetts employers, issued a news release calling the proposed
law, "the most aggressive emissions cap of any state or nation."
John
Regan, AIM's executive vice president for government affairs, said it
is not a good idea for Massachusetts to single-handedly take on the
problems of the world.
"While reducing greenhouse gases is a
noble cause, the entire cost of solving this global problem should not
fall on the back of Massachusetts while other states and nations
continue to emit many times what we emit, while selling their products
here in the commonwealth," he said.
AIM has urged its members to contact local legislators to oppose the bill in the House.
"Existing
stringent state regulations governing emissions already cause
Massachusetts business consumers to pay the highest costs for
electricity in the continental United States," Regan said.
Senate Republicans have issued a statement echoing critics in the business community.
"With
the state's economy on the brink of a recession, it would have been
more productive to use today's session to work on issues that will help
employers create more jobs, rather than once again adding to the cost
of doing business in Massachusetts," the statement said.
Timilty
said that he understands why businesses are unhappy, but added that he
thinks Massachusetts has to change the way companies do business and
start developing cleaner industries.
"We have to do some tough
things to change our focus," he said. "We know global warming is a
worldwide problem and we really need to get around it."
