Read about Governor Baker’s recent proposal to incentivize offshore wind development in Massachusetts. Read here.

In Part III of our series on the Transportation and Climate Initiative, we took a deep dive into one TCI jurisdiction, Massachusetts, to see how the plan might look once implemented. However, the broad implementation of this regional initiative is anything but certain. Despite the steps that some jurisdictions have taken in progressing towards legislation and executive action to implement the plan, many states are facing legitimate challenges that may prevent this regional program from actually going into effect. 

In Parts I and II of our series delving into the details of the Transportation Climate Initiative, we provided an overview and described the structure of the TCI. In Part III, we will discuss how the plan might look in one TCI jurisdiction, Massachusetts, and how the Commonwealth will prioritize investment of the proceeds from the initiative.

In Part I of our series on the Transportation Climate Initiative TCI, we provided an overview of this innovative program. Here in Part II, we will delve into how the initiative will work. As a regional policy, TCI will provide a framework for each state jurisdiction to implement in its own way. The recently released Framework for a Draft Regional Policy Proposal provides important insights into the way that the TCI could be structured in each state.

On December 17, 2019, thirteen jurisdictions in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United States officially issued an ambitious plan to combat climate change by reducing carbon emissions and investing in sustainable transportation infrastructure. The plan, entitled the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI), which has taken nearly a year to be drafted, is the first inter-state initiative of its kind and, if implemented, would drastically change the face of transportation along the East Coast.

In this first installment of a four-part series on the TCI, we will provide a comprehensive overview of the initiative and explain its aims. Subsequent installments will cover the initiative’s structure, the plan for Massachusetts, and potential challenges to implementation.

A law recently enacted by the Massachusetts legislature and signed by Governor Charlie Baker will increase the use of renewable fuels to produce electricity, allow the development of more offshore wind farms, enable more technologies to qualify for energy efficiency incentives and increase the use of technologies that store electricity.

Massachusetts lawmakers have returned from summer recess and are preparing to tackle a robust legislative agenda this fall. Legislators will meet formally through the third Wednesday in November, at which point formal sessions will end until 2018.

After closing the book on the formal sessions in July, Massachusetts lawmakers have turned their attention to the November election. The Senate and House of Representatives convene in informal sessions for the remainder of the year and no controversial legislative matters are expected to pass during this time.

Late Sunday night, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a compromise energy bill that will significantly increase electricity produced by offshore wind, hydropower and other renewable energy sources.