66 MA Legislators Sign Climate Action Now! Statement

Boston - Representative David P. Linsky (D-Natick) joined 65 of his colleagues in the Massachusetts House and Senate in signing onto a statement pledging their support for the passage of bold climate action before the end of the session on July 31st. The Climate Action Now! Statement encompasses legislation put forth by both the Senate, S.2477; An Act setting next-generation climate policy and the House, H.3486; An Act relative to GreenWorks.

Earlier this month, the Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change held an oversight hearing that hosted climate change industry leaders. The overwhelming consensus from the hearing was that the Commonwealth’s ability to maintain a thriving renewable economy hinges on the passage of bold climate legislation this session.

“I was proud to join my colleagues in signing the Climate Action Now! Statement during a time when climate change legislation is vitally important to the future of the Commonwealth” said Representative Linsky. “Ensuring the public health of the people of Massachusetts relies heavily on climate change legislation that can compliment the relief effort of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The link between air quality and high COVID rates was the primary focus of a report released in May by the Office of Attorney General Maura Healey, COVID-19’s Unequal Effects in Massachusetts: Remedying the Legacy of Environmental Injustice & Building Climate Resilience. Just last week, the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University released a research article, Evaluating the Impact of Long-Term Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter on Mortality Among the Elderly, further reinforcing the causal connection between mortality and long-term exposure to air pollution.

“The sustainability revolution is at our doorstep. Independence from fossil fuel addiction is within our grasp. All we need is to demonstrate the political will to act,” according to the Climate Action Now! Statement. “We the undersigned members of the Massachusetts Legislature hereby pledge our commitment to the enactment and implementation of bold climate action before the end of session. There is no time to waste, the time for climate action is now.”

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