100% Renewable for Massachusetts

We’ve had the power to harness clean, abundant energy from the sun and the wind for decades. Today, we can do it more efficiently and cheaply than ever before. America now produces more than three times as much renewable electricity as we did a decade ago, and renewable electricity generation in Massachusetts has increased by more than 13 times in the past 10 years.

Given the progress we’ve made so far, combined with advances in clean energy technology and declining costs, it makes no sense to keep on producing, consuming and wasting energy in ways that do lasting damage to our environment, our climate and our health. Instead, we should accelerate the clean energy transition.

That’s why we are working to help pass the 100% Clean Act, which will transition Massachusetts to 100 percent clean electricity by 2035.

We need to get off of fossil fuels

Most of the energy we use today comes from burning fossil fuels. The lights in our homes, the cars in our garages, and the furnaces in our basements run on oil and gas. Burning fossil fuels releases pollution into the air that harms our health, contributing to asthma, heart attack, premature birth, and a host of other health problems.

Fossil fuels are also warming our climate, with devastating consequences for us and for future generations. If global warming pollution continues at high levels, kids born today could see our oceans rise by more than 10 feet off the coast of Massachusetts within their lifetimes.

Momentum is growing for clean energy in Massachusetts

Massachusetts has always been a leader in the transition to renewable energy. We were the first state in the country to limit carbon pollution from power plants, and we were among the first to go big on solar and offshore wind. But things really picked up last summer, when we helped pass a new climate law that will make Massachusetts a national leader for electric vehicles and energy-efficient buildings.

Now we’re working across the state to build a people-powered movement for a cleaner, healthier future that runs on 100% renewable energy. And we’ve got a lot of momentum to build on:

• Last session, we recruited more than 90 legislators — almost half of the State House and Senate — to endorse legislation for 100% clean energy.
• We’ve brought together a coalition of local officials, business leaders, and health professionals to work toward a future powered by renewable energy.
• We’ve worked with students on more than a dozen campuses to push their universities to go 100 percent renewable.
• Our research reports have documented a growing number of cities and towns taking strong action for clean energy across the Commonwealth.

Together, we can pass the 100% Clean Act

The 100% Clean Act (HD.3348), filed by state Reps. Marjorie Decker and Sean Garballey, will not only transition Massachusetts to 100 percent clean electricity by 2035, it will also replace diesel buses with electric models, and require new homes and offices to be heated with clean technologies like heat pumps rather than fossil fuels.

But we can’t get it passed without support from people all across the Commonwealth. Please sign our petition calling for the passage of the bill, and consider supporting our work to power Massachusetts with clean, renewable energy.

Think how much cleaner our air will be and how much healthier and safer our kids will be when our communities are powered with renewable energy.