The LWVMA Environmental Action and Advocacy Committee produces the LWVMA Climate and Energy Solutions Series. The series consists of remote and in-person events, developed in collaboration with local Leagues and other organizations. All events are free and open to the public, and most are available for viewing.
March 23, 2022, Barriers to Regional Decarbonization
Host: LWVMA
Time: Wednesday, March 23, 2022, 4-5 pm
Speaker: Melissa E. Birchard, Senior Regulatory Attorney for Power Grid Reform, Acadia Center
Regional cooperation is essential to meeting our clean energy goals. The road to decarbonization faces challenges from long-established regional rules that favor fossil fuel interests and stand in the way of clean energy. Join us to learn who is in charge of these regional practices, what their impact is, and how we can meet these challenges.
Co-Hosted by League of Women Voters of MA and Elders Climate Action.
View Melissa Birchard’s presentation
November 4, 2021, Offshore Wind: Game Changer for Net Zero
Host: LWVMA
Time: Thursday, November 4, 2021, 4-5 pm
Speaker: Susannah Hatch, Clean Energy Coalition Director, Environmental League of Massachusetts
- Offshore wind potential in New England
- New England Offshore Wind’s advocacy priorities
- Policy landscape in New England and Massachusetts
- What you can do to drive policy for responsible development of offshore wind in MA
View Susannah Hatch’s presentation
Links to additional information
- New England for Offshore Wind Coalition
- Broad coalition applauds Biden Administration offshore wind plans
May 24, 2021, The Race to Zero Emissions: MA Next Generation Climate Law and Clean Energy & Climate Plan
Host: LWVMA
Time: Monday, May 24, 2021, 4-5 pm
Speakers: Speakers John Rogers from Union of Concerned Scientists and Matt Rusteika from Acadia Center
- Goals of the sweeping new climate law
- Strategies to achieve the goals
- The critical role of the regional electric grid
- Our role as advocates
View John Rogers’ presentation
View Matt Rusteika’s presentation
Links to additional information:
- Miriam Wasser’s WBUR report, What You Need To Know About The New Mass. Climate Law, published on 03/26/21.
- Paula Garcia’s UCS blog post, Massachusetts’s New Climate Law: 5 Reasons to Celebrate!, published on 04/06/21.
- Emily Lewis O’Brien, Director, Climate and Energy Analysis (CLEAN) Center and Matt Rusteika, Senior Policy Analyst: Clearing the Path for Clean Heating, published on 12/12/19.
- More from Acadia Center
- Clean Heating Pathways
- Clean Heating Pathways Citations.
- PowerHouse and Building Electrification: Fact vs. Fiction
- Weatherization: the Little Climate Action That Could
- Fossil Gas: A Bridge Too Far
- Fact check: net zero stretch code is the right move for Massachusetts
- How Massachusetts Can Make this Decade Count: Acadia Center Weighs in on the Interim CECP
November 6, 2019, Pipeline to the FUTURE Delivering Safe, Renewable Geothermal Energy to Massachusetts
Host: LWVMA
Time: Wednesday, November 6, 2019, 2:00 – 3:00 pm
Speakers: Senator Cynthia Creem, FUTURE bill sponsor
Audrey Schulman, HEET co-founder and Executive Director
Zeyneb Magavi, HEET Director
- Why a transition to geothermal energy makes sense;
- How geothermal heating and cooling works compared with our current natural gas utilities model;
- How residents, businesses, and gas utilities will benefit from this transition;
- How the FUTURE bill will contribute to reducing carbon emissions and controlling gas leaks.
April 23, 2019, Driving Down Emissions: Massachusetts and the Regional Transportation and Climate Initiative
Host: LWVMA
Time: Tuesday, April 23, 2019, 4-5 pm
Speakers:
Preyel Patel,
Office of Lori Ehrlich, Massachusetts House of Representatives
Jordan Stutt,
Carbon Programs Director for Regional and State Initiatives, Acadia Center
- What the Transportation and Climate Initiative is and why it is important
- State legislative efforts led by Representative Lori Ehrlich to guide development of a sustainable and equitable plan
February 6, 2019, It’s Happening. It’s Now: The Climate Reports of 2018
Host: LWVMA
“It’s Happening. It’s Now: The Climate Reports of 2018”
Speaker: Michael Oppenheimer, Princeton University
- What’s new in these recent reports?
- What needs to be done to prevent the catastrophic scenarios in the reports?
- What are our best options for action?
- How can we summon the political and social will to take the actions necessary?
View the webinar presentation.
May 24, 2018, The Clean Energy Roadmap Webinar
Host: LWVMA
“The Clean Energy Roadmap: Pathways to a Clean Energy Future”
Speaker: David Ismay, Conservation Law Foundation
- What is the 2050 Clean Energy Roadmap and why does Massachusetts need one?
- What does Massachusetts need to do to get a roadmap, and how will we use it?
- How can we take action to support and achieve the goals of the roadmap?
View the webinar presentation.
February 27, 2018, Cooler Smarter Webinar
Host: LWVMA
“Cooler Smarter: A Practical Steps to Low-Carbon Living”
Speaker: John Rogers, Senior Energy Analyst, Union of Concerned Scientists
- How can each of us live Cooler and Smarter?
- Can our own lifestyle choices really make an impact on climate change?
May 2, 2017 100% Renewable Energy Forum
Host: LWV Worcester Area, LWVMA
“On the Path to 100% Renewable Energy”
Speakers: David Ismay, Senior Staff Attorney, Conservation Law Foundation, MA and Eugenia Gibbons, Clean Energy Program Director at Mass Energy Consumers Alliance
- What would 100% energy look like?
- What will it take to get there?
- How and when do we make it happen?
Watch the forum, posted on YouTube.
Sept. 14, 2017, Extreme Events and Climate Change
Host: LWV Boston, LWVMA, New England Aquarium’s Simons IMAX® Theatre, UMass Boston School for the Environment
“Extreme events and climate change: What we know and what we can do.”
Speaker: Ellen Douglas, PE, PhD, Associate Professor of Hydrology, School for the Environment, UMass Boston
- What have we observed from our changing climate?
- What changes are in our future?
- What plans are in the works to adapt to these changes?
Watch the forum on the aquarium’s website.
Click here for a copy of the presentation slides.
October 4, 2017, Health Benefits of Renewable Energy Choices
Host: LWV Winchester and LWVMA
“The Health Benefits of Renewable Energy Choices: A Role for Carbon Pricing”
Speaker: Jonathan Buonocore, ScD, Program Leader, Climate, Energy, and Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
- What are the sources and health impacts of air pollution?
- What is carbon pricing and how would it positively affect our health in Massachusetts?
Click here for a copy of the presentation slides.
October 19, 2017, Greening the Grid
Host: LWV Lexington and LWVMA
“Greening the Grid: Preparing for Our Clean Energy Future“
Speakers: Ariel Horowitz, PhD, Synapse and Megan Herzog, Staff Attorney, Conservation Law Foundation, MA
- What is the electric grid and who runs it?
- Why is the grid important as we transition to clean energy?
- How can the grid be modernized to support the transition?
Click here for a copy of presentation slides.
November 4, 2017, Extreme Events and Climate Change
Host: LWV Falmouth and LWVMA
“Extreme Events and Climate Change Boston Area and Cape Cod: What We Know and What We Can Do”
Speakers: Ellen Douglas, PE, PhD, Associate Professor of Hydrology, School for the Environment, UMass Boston
With local perspective from:
Stephanie Madsen, Sustainability Coordinator, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Dr. Robert Max Holmes, Deputy Director and Senior Scientist Woods Hole Research Center
- What have we observed from our changing climate?
- What changes are in our future, especially for Cape Cod?
- What plans are in the works to adapt to these changes?
Watch the forum, posted on YouTube.
Click here for a copy of the presentation slides.
For a list of organizations partnering the Climate and Energy Solutions Series, click here.
Support for this series was provided by the New England Grassroots Environment Fund.
