Downing Talks Politics, Policy, And Energy Efficiency

Sen. Benjamin B. Downing speaks on public policy and the environment at MCLA's Green Living Seminar last week.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Great strides can be made in environmental legislation when there's political will to shape policy.

State Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, speaking at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Art's Green Living Seminar Series last Thursday, said both policy and politics aligned during the Deval Patrick administration, which had the same goals as the Legislature.

He said the original goal was to transition form an economy built around fossil fuels to one built around clean energy, efficiency, and conservation.

"When you have leadership that agrees with the general direction we are going, and the question that we ask about climate policy in Massachusetts is not if we ought to be doing anything, but how we ought to be achieving these broadly shared goals," Downing said. "Goals can be achieved."

Downing said legislation passed because of this shared commitment helped raise the state's solar capabilities from 2 megawatts to 752 megawatts, raised the number of clean and efficient energy jobs from 6,000  to 87,000, created more than 6,000 clean energy firms, and reduced greenhouse gases by15 percent from the 1990 levels.

He said these policies helped make Massachusetts a leader in energy efficiency policy. Downing, Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, added that even though Massachusetts has met many of its goals, it is no reason to ease up on the pressure.

"We have made a great deal of progress, but it is not as if we have achieved a goal and I am hesitant to tell people about how highly Massachusetts is ranked ... because being better than bad isn't good enough," he

Downing said with a new governor, Massachusetts has entered another transition phase with a new administration that may not align as well with policy. He said there are many areas where Gov. Charlie Baker agrees with the legislation, but there are still unknowns as to how aggressively the Baker administration will continue the efforts from the past eight years.

"I'm actually excited about where we are right now," he said. "The last eight years we all knew where it was going, and there is a great deal of possibility and opportunity in where we are in the unknown right now."

He said outside forces also affect the transition, such as the rising electricity prices in New England. He said this is both good and bad because it represents the elimination of some dirty or unsafe energy plants. It also provides the opportunity to make up for the capacity with something else.  

The talk was open to the public and held at Murdock Hall.

"We need to do everything we can to not simply rebuild the road or the bridge the way that it was built last time," Downing said. "It makes no sense if our goal is ... to expedite the transition to an economy build around clean never ... it makes no sense to rebuild right back to where we were and keep going down that road."

Downing said creating economic development that is safe, energy efficient, and sustainable has always been a goal of his. He said it is both critical for development and preservation.

"Growing up around here I saw these hills on either side and all I thought to myself was how can I get out of them ... but really as I came back I started to appreciate the beauty of this community and started to realize how lucky I was to grow up here," he said. "I committed myself to doing everything and anything I could to make sure that future generation have the same natural beauty."

Attendees were able to ask Downing questions after the lecture. Most of these were focused on how to best get involved and make a difference.

Downing said it is important for everyone to make their stories personal, form groups, and reach out to policymakers.

"There is nothing that scares elected officials more than young people organizing, especially young people organizing in their district," Downing said. "Get organized, get a hold of your elected officials, and ask what they are doing to be part of the solution."

North Adams to Begin Study of Veterans Memorial Bridge Alternatives

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:21AM / Monday, April 15, 2024

Mayor Jennifer Macksey says the requests for qualifications for the planning grant should be available this month. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Connecting the city's massive museum and its struggling downtown has been a challenge for 25 years. 

 

A major impediment, all agree, is the decades old Central Artery project that sent a four-lane highway through the heart of the city. 

 

Backed by a $750,000 federal grant for a planning study, North Adams and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art are looking to undo some of that damage.

 

"As you know, the overpass was built in 1959 during a time when highways were being built, and it was expanded to accommodate more cars, which had little regard to the impacts of the people and the neighborhoods that it surrounded," said Mayor Jennifer Macksey on Friday. "It was named again and again over the last 30 years by Mass MoCA in their master plan and in the city in their vision 2030 plan ... as a barrier to connectivity."

 

The Reconnecting Communities grant was awarded a year ago and Macksey said a request for qualifications for will be available April 24.

 

She was joined in celebrating the grant at the Berkshire Innovation Center's office at Mass MoCA by museum Director Kristy Edmunds, state Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver, District 1 Director Francesca Hemming and Joi Singh, Massachusetts administrator for the Federal Highway Administration.

 

The speakers also thanked the efforts of the state's U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, U.S. Rep. Richie Neal, Gov. Maura Healey and state Sen Paul Mark and state Rep. John Barrett III, both of whom were in attendance.