Alliance members are working to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping temperature increases below 1.5 degrees Celsius by reducing emissions, accelerating action, centering equity, and tracking progress. 

Explore Massachusetts's policies and actions across the Alliance's 10 key policy areas. Numbers presented below only reflect the number of policies in this database and thus may not reflect all climate policies pursued.

This database is for informational purposes only. An up to date and complete list of programs with additional detail can be found at [MA Climate Change Clearinghouse](https://resilientma.mass.gov/home.html) and [Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions](https://www.mass.gov/mitigating-greenhouse-gas-emissions).

massachusetts

GHG Targets + Governance

Just Transition + Equity

Industry

Pricing Carbon + Valuing Damages

Electricity

Transportation

Resilience

Natural + Working Lands

Climate Finance

Buildings

total

SB 2967: An Act Promoting A Clean Energy Grid, Advancing Equity and Protecting Ratepayers

The bill includes recommendations from the Commission on Energy Infrastructure Siting and Permitting intended to help expedite the development of clean energy infrastructure across Massachusetts.

The bill would require all cities and towns to approve small clean energy infrastructure project applications through a mandated consolidated permitting process within 12 months. Should a municipality not act within that time frame, the permit would be automatically approved, allowing the project to operate under standard conditions. Small clean energy infrastructure is defined as generation projects under 25 megawatts and clean energy infrastructure storage projects under 100 megawatt hours.

Permitting for large clean energy projects would also follow a consolidated process overseen by a reformed Energy Facilities Siting Board, with approvals due within 15 months of receipt of a complete application.

Directs the Department of Public Utilities to open a proceeding to facilitate right-of-way or pole-mounted electric vehicle supply equipment throughout the commonwealth not later than July 31, 2025, and for electric distribution companies to file plans to establish such equipment throughout the commonwealth by December 31, 2025.

The law also makes improvements to equitable siting and the community engagement process, which has historically been challenging to navigate. Municipalities will be granted automatic intervenor status in EFSB proceedings. A fund to support municipalities, organizations, and individuals who lack the resources will benefit from a new fund to support their needs for qualified legal representation and expert analysis. The EFSB will also require a cumulative impact analysis for projects seeking to site in environmental justice communities, so that no neighborhood becomes overburdened with infrastructure that the entire state benefits from. The Office of Environmental Justice and Equity and the Division of Public Participation at the Department of Public Utilities – both established under Governor Healey – will be enshrined in law.

Section 4 of the law also establishes multiple embodied carbon policies, setting up the state to develop a buy clean program.

The council is required to: develop an embodied carbon reduction plan, which will recommend requiring major building and transportation projects to collect EPDs; use low-carbon materials - especially cement, concrete, steel, glass, asphalt, and wood; recommend a process to set GWP values for these materials on or before January 1, 2026; develop EPD procurement procedures for state government; examine interactions with other laws, including ways to integrate embodied carbon reduction into the state building codes; and study best practices to increase building reuse.

Embodied carbon intergovernmental coordinating council

industry

DCR Urban and Community Forestry Greening the Gateway Cities Program is designed to reduce household heating and cooling energy use by increasing tree canopy cover in urban residential areas. The DCR Bureau of Forest Fire Control and Forestry Urban and Community Forestry crews, hired within local communities, plant trees in target neighborhoods to increase tree canopy cover for environmental and energy efficiency benefits.

Greening the Gateway Cities Program

natural_and_working_lands

Large Building Energy Reporting (LBER)

Large Building Energy Reporting (LBER) is a law, from An Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind (The Acts of 2022 ch.179, § 41), that created M.G.L ch. 25A §20 to require disclosure of Energy Usage data for Buildings greater than or equal to 20,000 square feet (Covered Buildings) starting in 2025.

The law requires electric, gas, and steam utilities to report Energy Usage data on behalf of Covered Buildings. It requires Building Owners or agents of Covered Buildings to report usage of additional energy sources such as oil, propane, wood, and on-site renewable energy generation.

Massachusetts Transportation Funding Task Force - Final Report

Governor Maura Healey announced a plan to make historic investments in the state’s roads, bridges and regional transportation system and immediately stabilize the finances of the MBTA, putting it on a path of long-term stability. The investments – representing $8 billion over the next 10 years – would be done without raising taxes and represent the largest state transportation investment in more than 20 years by maximizing Fair Share revenue and other existing resources.

The plan will be filed as legislation in the coming weeks as part of the Governor’s Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget proposal and an accompanying supplemental budget. It puts into action many of the recommendations made by the Transportation Funding Task Force, which delivered its final report to the Governor outlining multiple steps for stabilizing and enhancing transportation while setting the stage for ongoing discussion about how best to finance transformative investments in transportation into the future.

The Guide to Developing Solar Photovoltaics at Massachusetts Landfills

This guidebook helps municipal officials identify, evaluate, and pursue opportunities to harness the sun’s power to generate electricity and revenue from undeveloped landfill space. Topics covered include: physical requirements of PV systems; PV system economics; landfill considerations; public procurement; and PV system development, design, and installation.