That was the theme as two of the major candidates for Massachusetts governor shared their plans to address climate change during a live forum hosted Wednesday at WBUR's CitySpace.
"From my perspective it is about, big time, revving up renewables," Healey said, pointing to energy sources like wind in particular. Part of that would be appointing a climate chief to work across state departments"so every agency owns" the goals and responsibility of addressing climate change. Pressed on what unique advantages Massachusetts has when it comes to creating opportunity from crisis, both candidates noted the state has long been a leader in technology and innovation.
Chang-Díaz said Healey has collected about $50,000 in fossil fuel-based donations over the years, though she did not cite a source for that figure. Healey pushed back, saying she wasn't sure what donations Chang-Díaz was referring to, and pointed to her high-profile fights with oil companies as evidence of her independence."I don't think the fossil fuel industry likes me too much," she said."I don't think I'm on their holiday card list.
Both candidates said they’d support changing the composition of state energy agencies like the Department of Public Utilities so that they included more residents as members, or gave the public more of a voice in whether projects get approved. "As we speak, my team, who negotiated and went after Columbia Gas … they are working on the distribution of funds that are going directly into low-income homes," she said.One final area where the two candidates differed was on how they would, or would not, work with other New England states to reduce emissions or protect the environment.