All Hail to Massachusetts!

A couple days ago, while a neighbor governor was helping launch the music career of a three-diamond call girl, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick marched into the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association’s (NESEA) “Building Energy 08” conference at Seaport World trade Center in Boston and threw down the green gauntlet.

Governor Patrick announced that he had charged Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles to form a task force of industry professionals to go forth and craft a plan to raise his states “green building” standards. The good Gov wasn’t kidding around, he wants Zero Net Energy buildings – commercial and residential structures that meet most of their energy needs by efficiency and on-site renewable energy – by 2030.

Rock-on, gubernatorial greeny.

To make good on his challenge, the Gov promised to show up again next year, same Bat time, same Bat channel, to stand before NESEA and map out how his team will get it done. He promises to have in hand the plans to:

• Allow the state to issue specifications for the first state-owned Zero Net Energy building by January 1, 2010
• Specify an interim standard for state-owned construction that is significantly more stringent than the current Massachusetts LEED Plus benchmark
• Point the way toward broad marketability of Zero Net Energy residential and commercial buildings in the private sector by 2020, and universal adoption of Zero Net Energy buildings for new construction by 2030

“Less energy usage isn’t enough,” said Governor Patrick. “We have to set our sights not higher, but lower – all the way to zero.”

2030 is going to be a pretty interesting year all around for green building, especially with projects like Architecture 2030 plan for curbing carbon emissions maturing.

Getting to Zero Net Energy is a monster challenge for any builder. Considering 76 percent of all electricity generated by US power plants goes to supply the building sector, this commitment is a huge step in the right direction.

Meanwhile, back on the Big Sky ranch…

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer’s Climate Change Advisory Council came out with their recommendations on a 54-point plan to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse effect gases to 1990 levels by 2020. Montana has a 5.1 metric tons of carbon equivalent (MTCE) emissions per capita (PDF) while Massachusetts contributes a lean 3.6 MTCE (PDF). So you would think that folks in the Treasure State (Montana) would be happy to take part in saving that pristine wilderness and the flourishing ecosystems they tout on tourist brochures.

You know, do their part to save “The Last Best Place.”

The local paper covered the story well:

Efforts to begin writing would-be laws from dozens of proposals contained in a state global-warming report hit a familiar speed bump Monday night: Republican skepticism that human activity really causes global warming.

“This is all flawed and it’s based on flawed everything,” said Sen. Dan McGee, R-Laurel, of the science explaining global climate change. “This is a lie. Call it what it is.”

In the end, the panel, made up mostly of lawmakers with a few citizens and a governor’s aide, could agree only to take a second look at 15 of the council’s most popular recommendations and to single out those proposals that called for energy conservation only, not efforts to solely reduce Montana’s creation of greenhouse gases.” -- missoulian.com

Unfortunately, Montana doesn’t seem to be a state where the citizens are represented by their representatives. Prior to affirming their suspicions that global warming was “junk science”, as Rep. Craig Witte, R-Kalispell put it, the Advisory Council posted the carbon-reduction plan for public comment and survey.

The results (PDF) showed a consistent plea from voters for the Montana State legislature to do something, especially in the areas of green building. Almost 60% of those surveyed said that they would be comfortable, nay, delighted, if the State would go “Beyond Code” and require that new homes be 50 percent more energy efficient by 2020, with up to 10 percent of that from renewable energy. Respondents also were willing to expand the jurisdiction of code officials to enforce higher energy performing standards outside the normal city limits.

The survey even said that Montanans were willing to adopt the carbon emission standards of (gasp!) California!

Both Governor Patrick and Governor Schweitzer should be applauded for their efforts. A quick review of the Select State Actions to Address Climate Change (Word doc) compiled by the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators shows that there are still a few states AWOL in the climate change battle. But, leadership seems to be the difference between a plan that is aggressive and will work, and a plan that gets ignored.