Vick Mohanka - Massachusetts Clean Energy Organizer

Massachusetts communities are still recovering from the legacy of polluting power plants: mercury in the air, ash in the water. In this video, we interview Clean Water Action’s allies from campaigns across the state, savvy environmental warriors who have lived through environmental pollution and have scored many victories in moving toward a brighter future. 

“The solutions don’t need to be removed from the community: given the right resources, given the right support, we can really build an economy based on renewable energy,” -- Maria Belén Power, GreenRoots

We are gearing up for a new legislative session and that means a brand new slate of bills that our elected officials will be considering for the next two years.  As always, Clean Water Action is committed to being a loud and present voice on Beacon Hill and all over the state fighting for environmental justice, public health, and climate change action.  

The Massachusetts legislative session ended on July 31st. Overall, it was a controversial session that has been characterized as much by what didn’t happen as by what did. The two environmental actions taken by the legislature this session were environmental justice funding in the state budget, and a compromise clean energy bill. They also passed an environmental bond bill, but it is not clear how much it will raise and what impacts it will have.

Last week, the Massachusetts Senate passed a landmark clean energy bill, S.2545, An Act to Promote a Clean Energy Future. While the fight is not over, and a House version still needs to pass, this bill is a strong signal to the world that Massachusetts wants to be on the forefront of climate policy and justice.

Last week, I started at Clean Water Action Massachusetts as the new Clean Energy Organizer, and it has been jam-packed with events and meetings.