The New Republic | Blue Governors Are Tacking Rightward on Fossil Fuels by Will Peischel
Last week, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey held a press conference to address concerns around spiking utility bills. She touted growing wind and solar industries as crucial solutions to the affordability crisis, but also importing more fracked gas from out of state.
“We have gas pipeline expansion on the Algonquin—that’s good!” she said from her podium, referencing a $300 million project to beef up natural gas infrastructure in the state via Enbridge’s Algonquin Gas Transmission Pipeline. “We need to continue to find more ways to bring energy in, and anything around gas pipelines that works out well with the ratepayers and is consistent with our regulations we’ll welcome.”
Not long ago, this cozying up to fossil fuel in the state would have bewildered constituents of most political shades. After all, it was Republican Governor Charlie Baker who signed the 2021 law directing Massachusetts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, pivoting away from fossil fuels. One year later, Healey, then the state’s attorney general, bragged about sinking proposed pipeline expansion plans. “Remember,” she reminded her audience, “I stopped two gas pipelines from coming into this state.” (Governor Healey’s office didn’t respond to a list of questions sent over email.)
Read more: https://newrepublic.com/article/207632/healey-hochul-lamont-gas-climate




