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By Rep. Christine P. Barber 34th Middlesex District 

With this July being the wettest in Massachusetts history, wildfires raging in California, and the dire study from UN climate scientists declaring a climate emergency, we must tackle climate change through aggressive, urgent action. The Massachusetts House and Senate took an important step recently by passing the Next Generation Climate Roadmap over the veto of Governor Baker earlier this year. This law sets targets to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and defines environmental justice protections in state law, among other policies like new standards for home construction and heating. While this was an overdue and critically important step, more that must be done, centered on those most harmed by climate change.

Climate change is a health issue, an equity issue and an economic issue. Climate change deepens health disparities for people of color and low-income communities. Residents of color are exposed to 26-36 percent more pollution from vehicle emissions compared to the exposure of white residents. Work on climate change must focus on the most-impacted communities.

At the same time, we continue to grapple with COVID-19, which has also increased inequities. People of color have higher rates of contracting COVID-19. Those who were most impacted by the pandemic are often those who suffer the gravest consequences of poor air quality and noise pollution.

Improving transportation is a critical way to tackle climate change, and to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Transportation is the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts. Yet we must center changes on people who live in housing closest to highways, those who cannot afford to have cars, and those who cannot afford to live near public transit.

I am taking these issues on through four bills I filed to prioritize transportation and climate change. We have an opportunity for a cleaner public transportation system, decreasing our carbon footprint and cleaning air in communities hardest hit by climate change and COVID.

H.3559, An Act relative to public transit electrification will electrify public transit buses for both the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs) and electrify commuter rails, with a priority on routes that travel through environmental justice neighborhoods. To further decrease greenhouse gas emissions, I filed a companion bill, H.3255 An Act to promote electric vehicle fleets by 2035. This bill requires that all municipal and state vehicle fleets (like public works vehicles, school buses and garbage trucks) be electric by 2035 and prioritizes fleets in locations serving environmental justice communities. Cleaner public transit and public vehicles in our communities provide a solution to improve health and reduce air pollution, rooted in equity, that will benefit residents of the Commonwealth.

Too often, construction of highways and unfair housing policies have forced more residents of color and low-income people to live close to high-polluting roads and to breathe polluted air, both indoors and outdoors. H.969 An Act establishing the monitoring of ultrafine particulates, filed with Representative Adrian Madaro, requires the Department of Environmental Protection to monitor particulate matter and require projects to report on air quality impacts. Currently there is little to no regulation of ultrafine particulate matter, though we know exposure to these particles, even in small doses, increases asthma and cardiovascular issues.

Air pollution in our Somerville and Medford neighborhoods is largely from particulate matter created by motor vehicle transportation. Through extensive work by the local CAFEH study, we know that the closer to busy roads or highways, the greater the exposure to particulate matter. To improve both indoor and outdoor air quality in environmental justice communities (including in Somerville and Medford), I filed with Senator Patricia Jehlen and Representative Mike Connolly H.2230/S.1447 An Act to Improve Outdoor and Indoor Air Quality for Communities Burdened by Transportation Pollution. By improving outdoor air quality in areas with high pollution, requiring air filters in existing buildings near congested roadways and rail infrastructure, and requiring air filters in all new buildings, we take concrete steps to improve health outcomes in communities that have been plagued by pollution.

Tackling climate change must be rooted in community-based solutions and focus on those most impacted by pollutants. These bills provide tangible ways to transform Massachusetts’s transportation carbon emissions while prioritizing the health harms created by environmental toxins in our communities. These are solutions that improve air quality across the Commonwealth, and promote safer and more sustainable transportation infrastructure. We need to make significant changes to address climate change and create greater equity, and let’s continue to work together in that fight.