Third Formal Meeting: March, 2024
It was wonderful to gather with such an impressive group of MA sustainability leaders from corporate sustainability, academia, non-profits, utilities, and unions to discuss accelerating the move to 100% clean electricity in MA by 2035. We were delighted to host MA Senator Marc Pacheco, a longtime catalyst for climate action and first Chairman of the Global Warming & Climate Change Committee in the MA Senate, as well as Ryan Murphy, Executive Director of Climate Jobs MA, representing a diverse group of labor unions from electricians to pipefitters to teachers.
The CCC is building new and needed coalition value between MA climate tech, MA labor, and MA municipal leaders to provide conclusive evidence that the clean energy revolution is an outstanding business opportunity, an unparalleled workforce opportunity, and a much-needed equity opportunity -- a "win-win-win" for the Commonwealth. In order to unlock this strategic advantage, we need to:
1. Move faster and more decisively with a larger investment.
Senator Pacheco shared his frustration with the pace of investment in the sustainability revolution in MA. CCC delegates discussed the recently announced Mass Leads Act, which earmarks $1 billion for investment in the cleantech economy, to be housed and allocated by the MassCEC. Senator Pacheco discussed with delegates how $1 billion over 10 years is not nearly enough to address the magnitude of the transition, instead calling for strategies to incorporate private sector financing and to access MA's "rainy day fund," which exceeds $8 billion. MA has best practices in the clean energy revolution in offshore wind and geothermal; we need to invest in scaling these and doing the same across sectors to lead nationally in cutting-edge clean energy technologies.
2. Partner with union labor to unlock significant financial advantages and uplift MA workers.
Ryan Murphy of Climate Jobs MA shared that the 'worker shortage' in clean energy is a misunderstanding; rather, there is a shortage of project labor commitments. Project labor commitments would unlock the potential of the union apprenticeship programs, which could train far more workers if there were contractual obligations for post-training job opportunities in place. Vineyard Wind, for example, had a project labor commitment with unions that created 900 new good-paying jobs. In addition to uplifting MA workers, there is a strong business case; contractors who put these commitments into place can access substantial IRA tax credits that make the economics more favorable.
Tuesday's meeting continued a vitally important agenda-setting discussion about what the CCC can do to educate Commonwealth climate leaders to the advantages of leading with needed vision, ambition and urgency, while recognizing that the faster we go, the more we will save in terms of both dollars and lives.
We are looking forward to continuing the conversation with a rapidly-growing group of CCC delegates and friends at our Fourth Formal Meeting on Tuesday, April 16th from 4:30pm - 5:30pm at the UMass Club in One Beacon.
Information on guest speakers are forthcoming -- we are extending invitations to Rebecca Tepper, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, and Emily Reichert, CEO of MassCEC.
We'd like to thank Senator Pacheco for his service in rising to the climate challenge in MA. We look forward to addressing the CCC's action items on April 16th at the UMass Club.
