MCAN is a member of the Massachusetts Climate Coalition along with such groups as Clean Water Action, the Conservation Law Foundation, Environment Massachusetts, the Environmental League of Massachusetts, and Environment Northeast.

The members of the MCC provided vital information to policymakers during the formulation of the state energy bill currently pending before the conference committee. Here's a copy of the letter that went to the conferees from the MCC.

Energy Bill Alert

The long-awaited Energy Bill has been passed by both the House and Senate and now hinges upon ability of the six conferees to hammer out a compromise version.

While both the House and Senate versions, (H. 4373 and S. 2468, respectively) contain provisions that will increase the use of energy efficiency and renewable energy, there are a few concerns which remain to be addressed.

Coal Gasification: Coal gasification--the creation of gas from pulverized coal which is then burnt to create energy--is given a special incentive in both the House and Senate versions of the bill. The House version, however, contains much less ambitious language concerning CO2 emissions, and most climate activists support the tougher Senate language, which limits these plants to emissions similar to those of a new combined-cycle gas plant.

Home Energy Audits: The Senate bills contains a section (section 4) that would make home energy information part of the stadard time-of-purchase home inspection. MCAN supports this language, as it will help consumers understand the changes they can make to their homes to improve their energy efficiency as well as comfort and home value.

The members of the conference committee are:

Senate

Sen. Stephen Panagiotakos, D-Lowell, 617-722-1630
Sen. Michael Morrissey, D-Quincy, 617-722-1494
Sen. Bruce Tarr, 617-722-1600

House

Rep. Robert DeLeo, 617-722-2990
Rep. Brian Dempsey, 617-722-2263
Rep. Paul Loscocco, 617-722-2220

To find your personal Representative and Senator, you can look them up using your street address here.