July 29th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Like his West Coast counterpart, Massachusetts Governor Patrick has been a stickler on environmental issues since being elected in 2006. On July 2, he signed a massive energy reform bill (the Green Communities Act) which will lessen electric bills, develop more renewable energy and stimulate the clean energy industry.

In an op-ed piece he wrote in the Boston Globe, Patrick said, “By choice and necessity, the fossil fuel age is coming to an end. Think of this as a shift in an ‘age,’ not merely a shift in resource. The Stone Age didn’t end because we ran out of stone, but because humankind had a better idea. Clean energy is today’s better idea – better for people’s pocketbooks, the economy, and the planet.”

Patrick collaborated closely on the bill with House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and State Senate President Therese Murray. Specifically, under the law, traditional utility supply companies such as NSTAR, National Grid, Western Mass. Electric will be required to buy energy efficiency improvements and pass the savings on to their customers.

The utility companies, according to the governor’s office, will offer rebates and incentives for customers to upgrade lighting, air conditioning etc to more efficient models - whenever those incentives cost less than generating the electricity it would take to power the older, less-efficient equipment.

The hope is that these incentives will promote more efficient energy use and lessen the demand on the system, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles points to one of the main reasons that Patrick is meeting with success on the environment. “Massachusetts is one of the first states to align all of its energy departments under one roof including the Public Utility Commission, the State Energy Department, the Massachusetts EPA, Beaches, Parks and Recreation and Fishing. This has helped us become more efficient.”

In addition, he says, “Gov. Patrick’s new law makes sense because it does so much in one fell swoop. It’s all encompassing. It’s not piecemeal. This legislation will have far reaching effects.”

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