Letter to the Boston Globe

Today, I wrote a letter to the Boston Globe, in response to their coverage of the Massachusetts legislature’s actions on energy and the environment. Or lack thereof, in the case of the House. It probably won’t get published, but here’s what I wrote:

To the editor:

It is hardly true that “Mass. lawmakers [have wrapped] up work on energy legislation,” as the Globe’s headline states on July 13. In fact, the baby steps taken by the Massachusetts House of Representatives amount to kicking the can down the road, ensuring that they will have to take up energy legislation session after session until they can credibly fulfill the state’s obligations under the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2008.

The irony is that the House could have had it easy. That’s because the Massachusetts Senate had already thoroughly vetted and passed an omnibus energy bill, a giant leap forward that would have moved the state toward a more resilient energy infrastructure and created an engine of economic growth for Massachusetts. The House could easily have embraced that bill and worked with their colleagues on this responsible legislation.

But House leadership has never been one to accept the good work of others. We will all suffer as a result, not least including House leadership, who will be faced with the same questions next session – assuming they’re still in office.