Energy + Environment

(LOWELL) - On December 2nd, Representative Joan Meschino (D-Hull) participated in a panel alongside the University of Massachusetts Lowell COP29 student delegation. The event, aimed at connecting global and local climate initiatives, took place in Alumni Hall on the UMass Lowell campus and was moderated by Juliette Rooney-Varga (Professor of Environmental Science, Director of the Climate Change Initiative, and Co-Director, Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy). COP29 represented the 29th conference of parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Representative Meschino connected this international discussion back to Massachusetts climate policy.  “Fundamentally, you need to remember three big ideas when talking about climate change,” said Representative Meschino. “First, climate change is about what happens to people. It is imperative to remember the human impacts of climate change, whether that be sea level rise, increasingly frequent and intense weather events, or impacts on human health. Second, the solution is . . . Read More

(BOSTON) - On October 21st and 22nd, Representative Meschino (D-Hull) attended the Blue Future Conference in Plymouth to discuss the South Shore’s leadership in the blue economy. The third annual Blue Future Conference, called Plymouth at the Helm, showcased progress in aquaculture, robotics, AI, and marine tech research and development. The keynote speakers included Undersecretary of Economic Foundations, Ashley Stolba, and Undersecretary for the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, Josh Cutler.  Representative Meschino joined colleagues Representative Muratore (R-Plymouth) and Representative LaNatra (D-Kingston) as well as marine policy experts on Monday’s Public Policy Roundtable. Together, the group discussed the economic and environmental co-benefits a strong blue economy provides. The connections between sustainable oceans, resilient coasts, and healthy regional economies is clear, and the South Shore’s pioneering leadership in this sector is critical. “Harnessing the economic opportunity found in our oceans in a way that is both environmentally sustainable and financially . . . Read More

(BOSTON) - On Tuesday, October 31st, commissioners of the Metropolitan Beaches Commission (MBC), including House Vice-Chair and State Representative Joan Meschino (D-Hull), hosted their annual hearing following the release of the Commission’s “Breaking Barriers” report earlier this year. This hearing, held in a hybrid format in the State House, follows five years of fully remote hearings, with Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Commissioner Brian Arrigo and City of Boston Director of Green Infrastructure Kate England as this year’s featured speakers. "The Metropolitan Beaches Commission’s annual hearing furthers the implementation process of its Breaking Barriers report and provides us legislators with an opportunity to advocate for our district beach infrastructure priorities, including those at Hull’s Nantasket Beach,” said State Representative and MBC Vice-Chair Joan Meschino (D-Hull). “Thank you to Save the Harbor/Save the Bay staff and Director Chris Mancini, my fellow Commissioners, and all those who testified at the . . . Read More

(BOSTON) - On August 11, An Act driving clean energy and offshore wind was signed into law.  The legislation aims to reshape the way the state connects to offshore wind power, kickstarting a transition to renewable energy sources and aiding the Commonwealth in its efforts to hit its target of net-zero emissions by 2050.  The goals set forth by the Next Generation Climate Roadmap committed the Bay State to reducing carbon emissions by at least 33 percent by 2025, at least 50 percent by 2030, at least 75 percent by 2040 and at least 85 percent by 2050.  An Act driving clean energy and offshore wind takes critical steps that will aid the Commonwealth in meeting those interim targets, including measures that will clean our transportation and building sectors, incentivize clean power production, and create thousands of new jobs and economic benefits. A more comprehensive overview of the legislation’s . . . Read More

(BOSTON) - This week, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a comprehensive clean energy bill, An Act driving clean energy and offshore wind. The legislation bolsters green transportation, green buildings, and clean power production, including offshore wind, solar, storage and networked geothermal, while creating thousands of new jobs and economic benefits in the process. This bill expands upon the Next Generation Climate Roadmap bill (S.2995,) which contained key provisions from An Act creating a roadmap to a clean and thriving commonwealth, originally filed by Representative Joan Meschino (D-Hull.) S.2995 was passed earlier this legislative session and overhauled the state’s climate laws by putting Massachusetts on a path to reach net-zero limit on greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. “As a heat wave sweeps across the globe and we continue to see the devastating effects of the climate crisis, it is more critical than ever that we take robust action across all sectors . . . Read More

(BOSTON) - On May 19, 2022, the Environmental League of Massachusetts presented Representative Joan Meschino (D-Hull) with a Commonwealth Environmental Leader award during the organization’s annual Earth Night celebration, hosted this year at the New England Aquarium. The award recognizes Representative Meschino’s robust climate advocacy during her professional career and as a member of the Massachusetts state legislature. Other recipients of the award included María Belén Power and Andrea Nyamekye, co-leaders of the Massachusetts Environmental Justice (EJ) Legislative Table, Mass General Brigham, and Jeremy Grantham, an environmental philanthropist and co-founder of the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment and The Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust. “I was honored to receive one of the Environmental League of Massachusetts’ Commonwealth Environmental Leader awards,” said Representative Meschino. “From championing the Next Generation Climate Roadmap in the legislature to improving climate resilience in our communities, combatting the climate crisis has . . . Read More

(BOSTON) - This week, Representative Joan Meschino (D-Hull) joined the founder of the Massachusetts chapter of Elders Climate Action and seniors in Lasell Village to offer a presentation on the Next Generation Climate Roadmap, its implementation, and the Commonwealth’s next steps in tackling the climate crisis. Since the passage of the Next Generation Climate Roadmap, Representative Meschino has given dozens of these presentations to various groups across Massachusetts.  During most presentations, Representative Meschino outlines the key components of the Roadmap, reviews emerging climate legislation and her own bills in the energy and environment space, and offers thoughts on the future of climate legislation in the Commonwealth.  Representative Meschino has also given presentations on environmental justice and the decarbonization of the transportation sector to national groups like Climate XChange and Ceres. “It is promising that so many groups and leaders across the Commonwealth have taken such an interest in the . . . Read More

(BOSTON) - Today, Representative Joan Meschino (D-Hull) joined her colleagues in the House of Representatives in a vote to pass H.4515, An Act advancing offshore wind and clean energy, which makes historic investments in and establishes incentives for increased offshore wind development in the Commonwealth.  The legislation would establish a $50 million tax incentive program for capital investments and employment in the wind sector, fund wind technology and innovation through utility bill surcharges, create new environmental and fishing industry-related requirements for offshore wind projects, and institute important cost containment safeguards for the wind energy bidding process.  In addition, the legislation directs electric utilities to develop grid modernization plans and submit them for review, and the bill calls for a study conducted by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) to examine the viability of a solicitation for energy storage installations.  The bill also . . . Read More