Energy + Environment Archives

Hull Receives $3 Million for Nantasket Ave Seawall Reconstruction

(BOSTON) - Last week, it was announced that Hull will receive $3 million for the reconstruction of the Nantasket Avenue sewall. This award is part of $19.2 million in total grant funding awarded this year through the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs’ (EEA) Dam and Seawall Program. "As sea levels continue to rise and storms intensify, our coastal infrastructure must be strengthened to protect our residents," said State Representative Joan Meschino (D-Hull). "This funding to repair the Nantasket Avenue Seawall is critical to our ongoing efforts to combat the climate crisis and invest in our coastal communities' resilience." “Since taking office, one of my top infrastructure priorities has been protecting our coast and this $3 million grant is crucial for Hull to protect the community from the impacts of severe weather events,” said State Senator Patrick O’Connor (R-Weymouth). “I was proud to work alongside my colleagues in . . . Read More

Joan Meschino2022-09-13T16:26:17-04:00September 13th, 2022|Budget and Grants, Energy + Environment|

Clean Energy and Climate Bill Signed Into Law

(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

Joan Meschino2022-08-12T11:53:34-04:00August 12th, 2022|Energy + Environment|

Massachusetts Legislature Passes Sweeping Clean Energy Legislation

(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

Joan Meschino2022-07-22T13:50:15-04:00July 22nd, 2022|Energy + Environment|

Representative Joan Meschino Receives Environmental League of Massachusetts Award for Environmental Leadership

(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

Joan Meschino2022-05-20T10:36:08-04:00May 20th, 2022|Energy + Environment|

Representative Meschino Continues to Offer Climate Presentations to Groups, Communities Across Commonwealth

(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

Joan Meschino2022-05-13T11:21:52-04:00May 13th, 2022|Energy + Environment|

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren Visits Hull to Discuss Climate Change, See Pump Station

(BOSTON) - This week, State Representative Joan Meschino (D-Hull) joined U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and local officials for a roundtable discussion focusing primarily on the impacts of climate change in Hull. The roundtable discussion was attended by State Senator Patrick O’Connor (R-Weymouth); Phil Lemnios, Town Manager; Jen Constable, Chair of the Board of Selectmen; John Reilly, Member of the Board of Selectmen; Nathaniel Peyton, Chair of the Planning Board; Paul Paquin, Chair of the Conservation Commission; Chris Krahforst, Conservation Administrator; Brian Kiley, Assistant of Wastewater Operations; Judy Kuehn, Superintendent of Schools; and Mike McGurl, Executive Director of the Hull Lifesaving Museum. Though updates on programming at the Lifesaving Museum and in Hull’s schools were shared by Mike McGurl and Judy Kuehn, most of the conversation centered around climate change. The town’s efforts to repair seawalls, prepare for and mitigate storm damage, and manage increasingly interconnected water and sewer . . . Read More

Joan Meschino2022-04-22T14:15:36-04:00April 22nd, 2022|Energy + Environment, Transportation + Infrastructure|

Massachusetts House of Representatives Passes Groundbreaking Offshore Wind Legislation

(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

Joan Meschino2022-03-03T18:02:11-05:00March 3rd, 2022|Energy + Environment|

Following Joint Rule 10 Deadline, Representative Meschino’s Bills Receive Favorable Reports and Extensions

(BOSTON) - State Representative Joan Meschino (D-Hull) will continue to pursue a robust legislative agenda following her successes after the recent Joint Rule 10 deadline, in which most Joint Committees must issue their recommendations for the next steps of bills under their review. Four bills filed by Representative Meschino received favorable reports and will continue to move forward in the legislative process. Highlighting these successes is the Joint Committee on Housing’s favorable report of H.3838, An Act to create and implement a Massachusetts Flexible Housing Subsidy Pool Program to address the medically complex needs of disabled men, women, and children experiencing homelessness. This legislation will braid public and private funding to meet the needs of homeless individuals, families, and unaccompanied youth across the continuum of care. Two of Representative Meschino’s bills before the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities also received favorable reports. An Act to provide notice to counsel of changes in . . . Read More

Joan Meschino2022-02-15T14:30:51-05:00February 15th, 2022|Energy + Environment, Housing, Transportation + Infrastructure|

Massachusetts House of Representatives Passes ARPA Spending Bill

(BOSTON) - At the end of October, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed legislation, An Act relative to immediate COVID-19 recovery needs (H.4219,) that allocates federal funding granted to the Commonwealth for COVID-19 relief from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and surplus tax dollars from fiscal year 2021. Funded at $3.82 billion, the bill aims to close gaps exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, encouraging recovery through one-time investments in housing, environment and climate mitigation, economic development, workforce, health and human services, and education. After the original $3.65 billion bill was released, more than 1,100 amendments were filed by legislators, and ultimately four consolidated amendments were added to the legislation. The House bill includes $500 million to replenish the Unemployment Trust Fund which will offset businesses’ contributions for unemployment programs. The bill also includes $200 million worth of tax relief for small businesses that paid personal income taxes on . . . Read More

Joan Meschino2021-11-10T17:46:13-05:00November 10th, 2021|Budget and Grants, Energy + Environment, Public Health, Seniors + Veterans, Transportation + Infrastructure|

Representative Meschino’s Priority Legislation Receives Key Endorsements

(BOSTON) – This summer, Representative Meschino’s (D-Hull) priority bills have received endorsements from influential caucuses and advocates. Representative Meschino’s top priority piece of legislation, An Act to create access to justice (H. 1792), was endorsed by the Massachusetts Bar Association’s House of Delegates on May 19th. This legislation would empower an individual to seek redress against discrimination by government policies; it would restore the right of an individual to bring a claim in state court when a government policy creates disparate impact, an unintended discriminatory effect on individuals of a protected class. The bill would provide access to justice for numerous constituencies, including people seeking to enforce environmental justice, language access, fair housing, equitable healthcare, and access to high-quality education. “The Massachusetts Bar Association is pleased to proactively partner with members of the legislature to create a more level playing field for victims of discrimination,” said Martin W. Healy, . . . Read More

Joan Meschino2021-08-23T16:35:35-04:00August 20th, 2021|Energy + Environment, Other Topics, Public Health|