Issue Position: On the Environment

Issue Position

Especially now, as Donald Trump rolls back federal environmental protection gains with reckless abandon, Massachusetts must invest significant resources in the environment to mitigate climate change.

And yet environmental programs account for just a fraction of the Commonwealth's budget--about one half of a percent, which represents a roughly 14 percent decline in funding since 2008. This is short-sighted. A greater investment in clean energy would be not only good for our environment but also would create well-paying green-collar jobs in the Commonwealth, thereby driving robust economic growth.

With the environmental stakes as high as they are, the Commonwealth can and should move toward becoming a zero emissions state that relies 100 percent on renewable energy. And we must end any further major investments in fossil fuels.

I've worked for climate justice throughout my career. While at the American Friends Service Committee, I marshaled AFSC's resources to join a Clean Water Action campaign to close Mt. Tom coal burning power plant. While at National Priorities Project, our team made sense of federal budget data around spending on renewable energy so that climate activists could take effective action. I also joined waves of valley residents in my personal capacity by participating in civil disobedience at Vermont Yankee and was proud to be arrested in Vermont with Frances Crowe in an action to call attention to the dangers of nuclear power. While at MoveOn, my colleagues and I, joined by MoveOn members across the nation, joined forces with Native American leaders to protest the Dakota Pipeline. And more.

My wife Ann and I have done our best to raise our children as the kind of stewards of our planet that we know we need.

Isaiah and our daughter, Chloe, see us hang clothes out to dry, run around shutting off lights and turn down the heat, pack their water bottles, catch rainwater, use cloth napkins, and put solar panels on our roof.

They also see us struggle with inconsistencies. They hear us say that our family has to do more.

So you can imagine how proud I am as his mom when I see Isaiah pedal off to school every morning, no longer willing to take the bus or be driven to school.

I asked him early on why he was riding to school one morning and he looked at me with the clarity of purpose only kids can muster and he said, "Mom. The planet?!!" His call to action was as clear as that.

Source