https://www.wbur.org/news/2021/07/27/massachusetts-towns-fossil-fuel-bans
Officials in a handful of Massachusetts communities think they’ve cooked up a worthwhile strategy for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and want the state’s permission to try it out.
“Let us be your test kitchen,” Arlington Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine told lawmakers Tuesday. “Let Arlington, let Lexington, Brookline and Acton, others that are pursuing this — let us put this effort forward. The people of Arlington want it to go forward.”
Three bills before the Municipalities and Regional Government Committee would prohibit fossil-fuel infrastructure in new buildings or those undergoing major renovations in Brookline, Lexington and Arlington. Rep. Tami Gouveia and Sen. Jamie Eldridge have also filed bills that would allow municipalities interested in pursuing such policies to do so without first receiving legislative approval.
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Local officials from the three towns described the bans as a way to help phase out use of fossil fuels to combat climate change and move the state and municipalities closer to their emissions-reduction goals.
A sweeping climate policy law signed in March commits Massachusetts to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to a net-zero level by 2050, a timeline that has officials and advocates looking for ways to boost energy efficiency and adoption of renewable power.
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