Week of Action, Day 3: Submit Letters in Support of Environmental Justice Bills

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Welcome to our third day of action for the No Compressor week of action! We’re so grateful for all of your support. Today we are asking you to submit letters in support of two Environmental Justice bills in the House and Senate.

Environmental Justice Bills currently at the State House would protect low-income people and people of color from continuing to have their communities overburdened by polluters. If this legislation had been in place, the Fore River Basin could have been protected from having a compressor station sited there. Let’s protect all Mass. EJ communities now.

The legislative session ends on July 31, so we need to submit letters as soon as possible.

Take Action:

  1. Write to Senate Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Michael J. Rodrigues in support of S.464, and House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz in support of H.4264.

  2. Write to your state senator and representative, asking them to contact their colleagues on the Ways and Means Committees on behalf of the bills. Find yours at https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator.

Talking Points (send comments to Michael.Rodrigues@masenate.gov, Aaron.M.Michlewitz@mahouse.gov, and your state senator and rep)

  • Massachusetts has a good EJ policy, but it has no legal teeth. As a result, low income communities, more often communities of color, continue to be overburdened by polluters. Legislative action is necessary to make our EJ policy enforceable.

  • The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear the connections between pollution and public health, impacting people of color and low income people disproportionately.

  • Racial justice requires environmental justice. This is no time to ask EJ communities to wait - again.

And don’t forget that you can continue putting pressure on all of this week’s targets. Make sure Attorney General Maura Healey hears your concerns about National Grid, the DPU, and the Compressor Tax. For specific details, click here. And if you haven’t already, send an email to MassDOT and leave them a voicemail, urging them to conduct a much-needed risk assessment. More info for this action item here.

Then, join us on Friday for a vigil on the Fore River Bridge at 7:30pm. We will have electric candles for those who want them. All we ask that you wear a face covering, maintain 6 feet of distance, and bring a sign. More details here.