Another lively and informative chapter meeting! This month we were privileged to welcome four special guests who brought us the inside scoop on some of the most important climate initiatives pending in Washington and New England.
First, on the national scene, we heard from Anna Lenhart, Senior Legislative Assistant to U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, and from two of U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey’s aides – Katherine Morfill, Staff Assistant, and Nolan O’Brien, Regional Director. They shared the latest news about the federal Infrastructure bill and Reconciliation package, and answered our questions about key climate priorities, strategy for getting these bills passed, and how we can focus our advocacy.
Our meeting’s second hour featured an inspiring presentation by Susannah Hatch, Regional Lead for the New England Offshore Wind coalition, and Clean Energy Director at the Environmental League of Massachusetts. Susanna explained how offshore wind is “the single biggest lever we can pull to meet New England’s climate goals.” She filled us in on the coalition’s work (which ECA Mass supports as one 95 regional coalition partners), and she updated us on the status of the Massachusetts offshore wind bill that’s one of our priorities, H.3302/S.2158.