Charlie Baker signs Massachusetts climate bill

Gov. Charlie Baker signed a broad climate bill on Friday, slashing emission targets and promoting green energy.

“We’ll be working hard to reach the ambitious emission reduction targets, in a science based equitable affordable manner,” Baker said after the 6-foot-6 governor sat down at a little desk to throw his John Hancock on the bill.

The bill was designed to commit Massachusetts to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, establish interim emissions goals between now and the middle of the century, adopt energy efficiency standards for appliances, authorize another 2,400 megawatts of offshore wind power and address needs in environmental justice communities.

The new law requires that greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 be at least 50% lower than 1990 emissions, that 2040 emissions be at least 75% lower and that 2050 emissions be at least 85% below 1990 emissions. In order to actually net out at zero emissions by 2050, the state will have to make up the remainder, up to 15%, through strategies like carbon sequestration and carbon banking.

The first interim plan required by the new law, the plan for 2025, must be in place along with the 2025 emissions limit by July 1, 2022. The bill also requires the Department of Public Utilities to consider emissions reductions on an equal footing as its considerations of reliability and affordability within 90 days, that the governor appoint three green building experts to the Board of Building Regulations and Standards, and that the administration establish the first-ever greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal for the home energy efficiency program MassSave.

The nuts and bolts of the bill changed over the past few months as it made it out of conference committee and then was reworked around a Baker veto.

Critics from the right have slammed the bill as “radical” and costly, while those from the left — including Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ben Downing on Friday in a statement — say it’s shortsighted and unambitious.

But the Beacon Hill leaders ended up on the same page by Friday, with Baker signing the bill with Democrat leaders Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano, Republican Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and various members of the bipartisan conference committee smiling in attendance.

Baker said that in Massachusetts, “Climate change has not been, ever, been a partisan issue.”

Also in the press conference, Baker said he hasn’t yet scheduled a vaccine appointment.

The Baker administration also signed off on adding more people who are allowed to be vaccinators; now podiatrists, phlebotomists, some more medical assistants and people certified by the U.S. Army as “Combat Lifesavers.”

— Herald wire services contributed to this report.

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