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Health & Fitness

Brownsberger expresses vision for energy and climate policy

In a forum last Thursday night sponsored by a coalition of environmental organizations for all the major Congressional candidates, and held at Arlington Town Hall, I expressed my vision for energy and climate policy.


Since first being elected in 2006, I have been one of the state legislature’s leading advocates of protecting our climate. In 2008 I organized 110 of his colleagues to sign a letter urging the legislature to pass the Global Warming Solutions Act, which mandates sharp cuts in Massachusetts’ greenhouse gas emissions. Recently ensuring adequate funding and improved service for the MBTA has been my top policy priority.


At the forum I praised Deval Patrick for having initiated a series of major laws concerning energy and climate change that have yielded great progress toward the state’s goal of reducing climate pollution to 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

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Two of the largest sectors that cause emissions are energy use in buildings and by autos. Concerning buildings, I am sponsoring a bill that would require public disclosure of energy use by commercial and residential buildings, giving owners and landlords a greater incentive to improve the efficiency of their buildings.


Regarding transportation, for which federal aid has been falling due to lower gas tax revenues as vehicles become more efficient, I advocate an increase in the federal gas tax, which has not changed from 18.4 cents a gallon since 1993. All funds from the increase should be returned to states and cities to help pay for mass transit costs and other transportation needs.

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I also support Mass. Senate Bill 1225, which would divest the state’s pension fund from ownership of fossil fuel companies. The bill is in the Senate’s Public Service Committee, which I chair.


Although not discussed at the forum, I am also a sponsor or co-sponsor of three other major pieces of climate-related legislation pending in the state legislature:

-- S. 1565, which would require the state to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases 45 to 60 percent by 2030

-- House 2532, sponsored by Representative Conroy and Senator Barrett, which would institute a carbon tax

-- House 2935, which would phase out coal-fired electric generating plants in Massachusetts by 2020


Together, we can beat the climate challenge, through actions at both the federal and state levels.


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