FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Coalition Victory Advances Science-Based Climate and Environmental Justice Policy
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The Partnership for Policy Integrity (PFPI) today applauded the Massachusetts Senate’s 35–4 vote to remove woody biomass from the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standard (GGES) for municipal lighting plants.
Senator Adam Gómez’s Amendment #25 to Senate bill 3143 closes a longstanding loophole that classified woody biomass as a “non-carbon-emitting” energy source despite the reality that biomass power plants emit more carbon dioxide per unit of electricity generated than coal.
“This vote is the culmination of years of work by community members, scientists, public health advocates, environmental organizations, and legislative champions who remained committed to ensuring Massachusetts’ clean energy policies are guided by sound science,” said James McCaffrey of the Partnership for Policy Integrity. “The Senate’s action brings the Commonwealth one step closer to aligning all of its major clean energy programs with the Legislature’s earlier decision to end subsidies for biomass electricity in the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS).”
The Senate vote follows the House’s earlier adoption of identical language in Section 10 of H.5175 last month. The bill will now go to a conference committee to work out the differences between the two bills before going to the Governor’s desk for final approval.
The Senate also preserved related reforms by rejecting efforts to extend future biomass eligibility under the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (APS). Although additional work remains to ensure those provisions survive the conference committee, PFPI called the Senate’s action another important step toward modernizing Massachusetts energy policy.
PFPI thanked Senator Adam Gómez, Representative Orlando Ramos, the Springfield Climate Justice Coalition, Climate Action Now (Western Massachusetts), ARISE for Social Justice, the Massachusetts Public Health Alliance, the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, Mass Power Forward, and the more than 80 organizations that supported the legislation.
For more than a decade, PFPI has worked to align state and federal biomass policies with current climate science by providing scientific analysis, policy expertise, and technical support to legislators and advocacy organizations across the country. The organization said the Senate vote reflects growing recognition that clean energy policies must be grounded in science and should protect public health, forests, the climate, and our communities.
“We’re celebrating this milestone,” McCaffrey stated. “But our work is not yet finished. We look forward to working with legislators to ensure these important reforms remain intact through the conference committee and reach the Governor’s desk.”
About Partnership for Policy Integrity
The Partnership for Policy Integrity is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing science-based policies that protect forests, climate, public health, and communities.
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