SAFE co-chairs Pat Gozemba and Jim Mulloy testified, along with board member Kate Enderlin and Councilor Jeff Cohen, at the mid-July Telecommunications, Utility and Energy Committee hearings on decarbonization bills. SAFE supported S.2093/H.3227 (An Act expanding access to fossil fuel free demonstration project) and S.2105/H.3203 (An Act Relative to Clean Heat), along with Salem’s Home Rule Petition, House Bill 3846.
As Jim Mulloy stated in his testimony, the climate crisis is here and we cannot afford to wait longer to move toward a fossil-free future. Said Mulloy, “We are at 1.2 degrees and reports show we will be at 1.5 degrees above ‘normal’ in little more than a decade. This is catastrophic and members of this committee understand this. Although the contribution from MA emissions is negligible relative to the rest of the world, our leadership in the U.S. is critical, and SAFE believes this leadership is lacking on this issue right now.”
We are at 1.2 degrees and reports show we will be at 1.5 degrees above “normal” in little more than a decade. This is catastrophic.
–SAFE Co-Chair Jim Mulloy
Mulloy advocated for expanding the ten community pilot project that will allow municipalities to limit gas hookups in new construction. Enderlin noted that the current communities being considered are not representative. She asked, “How can we decide the effects of this project without better levels of diversity? We need to view and evaluate from many different perspectives. One small selection of towns that are very similar will only provide us with information on a small segment of the Commonwealth. We really need better representation in order to get the data required to make informed decisions.”
Gozemba further contextualized these comments by referring to Salem’s history as a producer of energy for the Commonwealth. She noted:
As an Environmental Justice city bearing the burden of producing power for a large swath of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, we have been among your energy producers for over three-quarters of a century–first with a coal plant and now with a gas plant that is not slated for decommissioning until 2050.
That’s right, we in Salem have 27 more years to live with a polluting power plant. By 2050, Salemites will have suffered for a century in breathing toxic emissions and particulate matter—all to produce energy for the Commonwealth. This is the reality of many EJ cities.
Despite living with a power plant for 75 years, Salem has created an impressive environmental record of greening our community. We want to continue building on our successes and your passing of An Act Expanding Access to the Fossil Fuel Free Demonstration Project would offer us a huge opportunity to continue to eliminate fossil fuels in our midst.
Councilor Cohen reiterated his support for Salem’s home rule petition (which would allow Salem to participate in the pilot) but also for expanding the pilot to any community that wants to participate. “He noted that the restrictions on participation are unfair to any city or town that wants to move forward with protecting its health and environment. “We should be able to make decisions about our environment and health,” he argued. Yet, “we are most likely not able to proceed with formulating an ordinance unless the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) chooses us as one of the 10 in the demonstration project and this is why it’s not only imperative that our petition, H.3846, is approved, but that H.3227, An Act Expanding Access to the Fossil Free Demonstration Project, passes as well, so all communities can have autonomy as they see fit.
Read Co-chair Jim Mulloy’s testimony [pdf].
Read Co-chair Pat Gozemba’s testimony [pdf].
Read Councilor Cohen’s testimony [pdf].
Read SAFE board member Kate Enderlin’s testimony [pdf].