By Bob Katzen

“Mayor Wu’s announcement demonstrates that the new climate law is already working. Cities and towns are lining up to do their part in the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.”
—Ben Hellerstein, state director for Environment Massachusetts, on Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s announcement that she will lobby to have Boston included among the 10 cities and towns authorized under the new climate law to set fossil-fuel-free requirements for new buildings.

“Gov. Baker talks a good game about supporting workforce development. But when he had the chance to help women and people of color build their skills and gain more access to state construction jobs, he vetoed a 20 percent apprenticeship requirement for projects over $1 million in the recently approved transportation bond bill. The 20 percent provision is modeled after the 2008 stimulus bill, which successfully increased diversity and brought new apprentices into the building trades.”
—Massachusetts Building Trades Unions president Frank Callahan.

“I will say this: she and her team have been terrific partners on a lot of this stuff around the Orange Line. They’ve been great.”
—Gov. Baker on Mayor Wu.