S.1747, An Act combating climate change

Senator Brownsberger recently submitted the following testimony on S.1747, An Act combating climate change:

TO: Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy

FROM: Senator William N. Brownsberger

RE: S.1747, An Act combating climate change

DATE: October 27, 2015

I am writing in support of S.1747, An Act combating climate change.
This bill will set an important precedent by pricing carbon and create a real economic cost for this harmful pollutant. Climate change is driven primarily by the burning of fossil fuels by humans. Fossil fuels are economically competitive with renewables in part because consumers do not have to have to bear any economic costs for carbon emissions. S.1747 will institute a tax on carbon emissions per ton, assessed on the sale of carbon based fuels.

We need to embrace measures such as this that will create strong economy-wide incentives to move away from high carbon fuel sources and accurately reflect the true cost of carbon emissions. This bill will encourage consumers to transition more quickly to renewable energy sources and take more aggressive measures towards energy efficiency as carbon becomes more expensive. This bill will help the Commonwealth meet the goals set forth in the Global Warming Solutions Act to reduce our carbon emissions by 80% below the 1990 baseline levels, by 2050.

I believe the committee should consider changes to the bill that would lessen the impact to some energy intensive industries. We need to create strong consumer incentives change energy consumption without making Massachusetts businesses non-competitive.

Creating a strong economic incentive will expedite our transition to a more sustainable future. I hope the committee will report S.1747 favorably.

You can view an original copy of the testimony here.

Andrew Bettinelli
Legislative Aide
Office of State Senator William N. Brownsberger