(Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
By Curtis Brodner
(BOSTON) Republican Gov. Charlie Baker vetoed a climate emissions bill on Thursday that would set a goal of net neutral carbon emissions in Massachusetts by 2050, reported MassLive.
Baker says he wants to reduce carbon emissions, but disagrees with state legislators on how to get there.
In a letter to lawmakers, he said he worried the bill would slow housing production and that it lacks the tools to respond to natural disasters.
“While my administration wholeheartedly supports the environmental justice goals of this bill, intent without the tools to address those issues are empty promises,” said Baker. “The bill does not have language or funding to address the ongoing impacts of climate change faced by those communities.”
Democratic Sen. Mike Barrett, an advocate for the bill, said lawmakers consulted the governor during the negotiation process, and that Baker hadn’t raised concerns about the carbon emissions goal until after it was passed.
“The near-total absence of critical feedback from the administration for the entirety of 2020 makes me think the kerfuffle of the past two weeks is really about politics, not policy,” said Barrett, per MassLive. “This is pushback, plain and simple and with a hint of panic, against the Legislature’s determination to see this governor, as well as future governors, act more boldly against climate change.”
The bill passed only two days before the end of the legislative session, leaving no time for renegotiation. Baker’s veto therefore kills the bill for the time being.
Baker said in his letter that he would have proposed amendments for the bill had it passed earlier.