Global Warming In the News

Maynard - Legislators, scientists, and environmental groups gathered at the Statehouse Monday to call for swift and strong action to curb global warming pollution.  A new report, "Falling Behind: New England Must Act Now to Reduce Global Warming Pollution" released today found that global warming emissions in Massachusetts have increased by 1.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent over the last five years.

“This report illustrates Massachusetts’ need for urgent action when it comes to cutting global warming pollution” said Ben Wright of Environment Massachusetts.  “We’ve made real progress in some areas, but fallen back in others.  Instead of playing ‘whack-a-mole’ with pollution reductions, Massachusetts needs to adopt a comprehensive approach that must include a mandatory limit on carbon.”

Last June, Governor Deval Patrick confirmed his commitment to the New England Governors’ 2001 agreement to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2010, 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, and 75 to 85 percent below 2001 levels by 2050. Despite commitments, emissions were higher in 2005 than in 2001 region wide. The increase in global warming emissions has put our state and region farther from hitting these targets, which scientists agree is necessary to avoid the worst effects of global warming.

“Senate approval of the Global Warming Solutions Act is a good first step toward positioning Massachusetts as a leader in global warming solutions, but we must continue our efforts,” said Senator Marc Pacheco, chairman of the Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change.  “It is imperative that we pass the Global Warming Solutions Act to secure far-reaching greenhouse gas reductions and strengthen our commitment to protecting the economy and the environment of the Commonwealth for future generations.”

“The good news is that we seem to be turning the ship around, but today’s report makes it clear that we have to turn the wheel harder,” said Lilah Glick of Clean Water Action. “We cannot afford to allow emissions to trend upwards when we have made commitments to do our parts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  More must be done to address growing emissions in the electric and transportation sectors by passing a comprehensive energy bill that creates incentives for renewable energy and supports the development of clean renewable energy.” 

Regionally, transportation emissions increased by 7 percent between 2001 and 2005, accounting for the largest share of the increase. This change primarily reflects greater use of gasoline to fuel cars and light trucks, increased use of diesel fuel for heavy-duty trucks, and expanded consumption of jet fuel. Additionally, the transportation sector makes the largest contribution to global warming emissions in Massachusetts.

The good news for New England is that global warming pollution fell slightly from 2004 to 2005—the first year-to-year decrease since 2001—and that several indicators suggest that the decrease in emissions continued and accelerated in 2006. Total emissions in New England dropped 0.3 percent.

“Massachusetts should adopt mandatory, enforceable caps on global warming pollution from all sectors of the economy, similar to those in New Jersey, Minnesota, and California,” said John Rogers of the Union of Concerned Scientists. “We need to make the reductions science says are necessary to prevent the worst impacts of global warming, which mirror the New England governor’s agreement.”

The report’s findings reinforce calls from many environmental groups to tighten the emissions allowed in the regional plan to cut power plant global warming pollution, or the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). To keep New England’s carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity sector in line with Climate Action Plan targets of 1990 levels by 2010 and 10% below by 2020, RGGI administrators should retire allowances or ratchet down the carbon dioxide cap from electricity production.

"This report shows we have a long way to go, but the Massachusetts Legislature has worked hard this year to address global warming,” said state Sen.r Pam Resor, chair of Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture Committee. “The Senate passed the RGGI bill and the Global Warming Solutions Act. And, both chambers passed a comprehensive energy plan. Together, I believe these actions will move us in the right direction, but we need to make sure that these bills are signed into law before the end of July.”

Because the transportation sector is the largest source of increased emissions from 2001 to 2005 and accounts for more than one third of all global warming emissions in Massachusetts, our leaders must turn their attention to transportation policy solutions. Meeting the emissions reductions will require that our states build a more sustainable transportation system, such as: investing in the region’s rail infrastructure, improving transit in suburbs and smaller cities, encouraging downtown redevelopment in a sustainable, pedestrian friendly way and considering global warming pollution in transportation planning and development projects.

Representative Patrick commented on the economic opportunity for Massachusetts to reduce its Green House Gas emissions through technological innovation.  Patrick remarked that, "the green tech economy is the 10th largest industry in Massachusetts and is growing by 20 percent a year.  We have the expertise and resources to meet the challenges of global warming while becoming more competitive and growing jobs in the commonwealth."

"Massachusetts has taken strong steps to conserve energy and curb emissions, but the challenges we face are immense and there is still work to do," said state Rep. Carl Sciortino. We need higher fuel standards, stronger public transportation, and smart, renewable, energy-efficient development."