The IPCC made it clear (although it was already).
Continue readingThe Time for Bold Climate Action Is Now.
Our 2021 Annual Member Meeting: Videos & Slides
Thank you to everyone who joined us earlier this month for our 2021 annual member meeting!
We were not able to record every breakout session, but we do have recordings for five of them, which you can watch on our YouTube page:
- Beacon Hill 101
- What’s Next After the Next Generation Climate Bill?
- Biden Is President, So Why Are MA Immigrants Still at Risk?
- What’s Wrong with the MA State House, and How Can We Fix It?
- Police Reform: What Happened, and What’s Next?
You can also view the slides from the three presenters for the “What the COVID Pandemic Reveals about Our State Government” breakout.
And the slides from the “Massachusetts Budget Dilemma: Wealthy State, Inequitable Services” breakout:
The MA Legislature Passes the Next Generation Climate Bill — for the Third Time
This week, the Legislature re-passed their omnibus climate bill from last session, An Act creating a next-generation roadmap for Massachusetts climate policy, rejecting all of the amendments from Governor Baker that would have weakened the bill.
In the Senate, which voted on Monday, Ryan Fattman was the sole NO vote.
In the House, which voted on Thursday, the vote on re-passing the bill was 145 to 14, with 13 Republicans and 1 Democrat–Colleen Garry (D-Dracut)–voting no.
Don’t Let Governor Baker Weaken the Climate Bill
Charlie Baker isn’t taking the climate crisis seriously. Your state legislators shouldn’t listen.
Continue readingWhy the Delays on Climate Policy? A New Study Bring Some Sunshine
How the need for solar energy and the need for sunlight intersect
Continue readingCharlie Baker Shows His True Colors by Vetoing Climate Legislation, Tenant Protections
Your legislators shouldn’t let Charlie Baker set the limits of their ambitions.
Continue readingTell Baker to Sign These Bills
The Legislature ended the session with a flurry of bills. Baker needs to sign them.
Continue readingThe Next Generation Roadmap Bill Is An Important Next Step
And Charlie Baker should sign it.
Continue readingTell Beacon Hill to Finish the Job
The current legislative session in Massachusetts ends in just three short weeks, with a few holidays in between.
And there’s a lot left to do.
The Legislature has to reject harmful amendments proposed by Republican Governor Charlie Baker to weaken police accountability legislation and strike vital language on equitable abortion access and prison oversight from the budget.
Important climate and housing legislation has been languishing in secretive conference committees while crises fester.
Key protections for workers like emergency paid sick time and for our immigrant communities like the Safe Communities Act and the Work and Family Mobility Act (driver’s license bill) were voted out of committee months ago but remain stuck in limbo.
It’s time to stop delaying and take action.
Can you email your state legislators today to demand swift action on these priorities?
We can’t let the clock run out with so much still on the table — and so much at stake.
Vote Yes on Question 1, Yes on Question 2
Election Day is just twelve days away. Can you believe it?
On your ballot statewide here in Massachusetts, you’ll see two ballot questions.
YES on Question 1: Right to Repair 🚙🚙
In 2012, Massachusetts voted for a Right to Repair ballot initiative that required automobile manufacturers to provide non-proprietary diagnostic information as well as safety information directly to consumers so that they can choose who repairs their car (rather than being dependent on the manufacturer itself). Technology has advanced in the past eight years, and Question 1 updates the legislative compromise that resulted from the 2012 ballot initiative accordingly. Curbing monopoly power and protecting consumers is a win for all of us.
YES on Question 2: Ranked Choice Voting 🗳🗳
Our first-past-the-post system forces ordinary voters to weigh whether they can vote for their preferred candidate or whether doing so would lead to a “spoiler effect” that gives a candidate they like less a clearer path to victory. This same dynamic can lead candidates and their supporters to try to force similar candidates out of a race due to a fear of “vote splitting.”
Within the current system, the ultimate winner may command less than a majority support, a contradiction of a basic tenet of democracy and a far too common occurrence in Massachusetts elections. We have some of the least competitive elections in the country, and candidates can win with small pluralities and then stay in office for decades. Ranked Choice Voting would eliminate these problems by enabling voters to rank the order of their preferences on the ballot and ensuring that whoever wins does so with majority support.
📢Find opportunities to volunteer with Yes on 2 here. 📢
📢Join Ayanna Pressley for a phone bank for Yes on 2 next Monday at 5:30 pm. 📢
Climate & Democracy Ballot Questions
Some state representative districts across the commonwealth will see non-binding advisory ballot questions. We are supporting a YES on two of them in particular.
YES on 100% Renewable Energy ☀️☀️
Question: Shall the representative for this district be instructed to vote in favor of legislation that would require Massachusetts to achieve 100% renewable energy use within the next two decades, starting immediately and making significant progress within the first five years while protecting impacted workers and businesses?
YES on Transparent Government 🗳🗳
Question: Shall the representative for this district be instructed to vote in favor of changes to the Legislature’s rules that would make the results of all votes in Legislative committees publicly available on the Legislature’s website?
It’s simple: if we want a livable planet, we need to rapidly transition away from fossil fuels. And our legislators represent us, so we should be able to know how they are voting.