Why are we taking action?
Massachusetts has a new governor at the helm. Governor Healey has the power to chart a new course for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, implementing equitable climate solutions, and protecting frontline communities from environmental pollution & climate disasters.
Massachusetts could lead the nation, but only if Governor Healey is ready to act with conviction. Help us send a strong message – our governor must champion clean heat and clean air for all.
Help us reach our goal of 3,000 signatures.
Do more by becoming a “Climate Connector”
Our Letter:
The Governor of Massachusetts
Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon St.
Office of the Governor, Room 280
Boston, MA 02133
To Governor Healey,
As mothers and caregivers, we stand clear-eyed, resolute and shoulder-to-shoulder, focused on the future. We dream of a climate where all children can thrive.
We envision a Commonwealth where children can breathe clean air – in their homes, schools, and neighborhoods. Where families can count on safe, healthy, affordable, and sustainable housing. Where workers can count on quality, family-sustaining jobs. Where communities can be free from unjust burdens of pollution and energy infrastructure.
We have a path to this future, but in our path stand the enormous and powerful fossil fuel industry and the many others who benefit from the extraction of gas, oil, and coal, as well as the expansion of infrastructure to deliver them.
As governor, you have an opportunity to take meaningful and just action now. Massachusetts can lead the nation in putting the brakes on the climate crisis and ensuring a livable world for all children. But the window of opportunity is rapidly closing.
We call on you to commit to these goals as you lead a rapid and just transition away from fossil fuels to safe, affordable, clean, renewable energy:
1. Protect air quality for all communities – both indoors and out
- Champion laws to measure and improve air quality in pollution hot spots
- Stop the siting of dirty energy plants in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities, which already are overburdened with pollution
2. Stop the runaway construction of dirty energy plants and pipelines by ensuring that department commissioners prioritize health, safety, equity, and the preservation of our climate.
- No industry insiders!
3. Say “no” to utilities’ plans to prolong the piping of methane and other dangerous gases under our streets and into our homes.
- Ensure that customers’ fees go toward climate-friendly solutions, not a costly rebuild of underground gas lines.
- Reject industry calls for hydrogen and biomethane (so-called “renewable natural gas”), which will not solve our climate crisis.
4. Prioritize funds and policies to speed the adoption of clean, safe, and affordable electric solutions
- We can make all homes – both new and existing – fully electric, using technologies such as air-source heat pumps and networked geothermal systems, as Massachusetts moves toward a fully renewable electric grid.
5. Ensure that low- and moderate-income people benefit by scaling up funding to retrofit older homes, while ensuring that lower-income renters don’t get forced out.
6. Invest in workers, including prioritizing union contracts, so workers can move from low-wage jobs and jobs in declining industries into good-paying jobs in renewable energy.
The shift to a clean energy economy is one of the largest challenges facing our new governor. While this list is not complete, it reflects our priorities as mothers who care deeply about the health and safety of our children, homes, and communities. We call on you to publicly back these policies and to swiftly execute them when you take office. Future generations are counting on you.
Sincerely,
Members & Supporters of Mothers Out Front