{"id":894340,"date":"2026-10-25T17:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T17:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/894340\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T17:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T17:08:13","slug":"healeys-all-of-the-above-approach-has-alienated-some-climate-activists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/894340\/","title":{"rendered":"Healey’s \u2018all-of-the-above\u2019 approach has alienated some climate activists"},"content":{"rendered":"

The dueling messages underscore how the first-term governor has distanced herself from an uncompromising environmental warrior of four years ago<\/a>, when she proclaimed<\/a> she would be the \u201cmost aggressive governor in the country on climate.\u201d<\/p>\n

She now embraces an \u201call-of-the-above\u201d approach, as skyrocketing electric and gas bills have become a major political subject and her Republican opponent, Michael Minogue, hammers her over cost-of-living issues, pledging to expand the natural gas supply and do away with some of the state\u2019s most ambitious climate goals.<\/p>\n

Where she once bragged about opposing expansion of two natural gas pipelines, clashing with her predecessor<\/a> over the issue, she is now backing one<\/a> in Southeastern Massachusetts. And where she once pledged to ramp up electric vehicle usage and invest heavily in climate technology<\/a> \u2014 \u201cbig time revving up renewables<\/a>\u201d \u2014 she has delayed some measures and redirected some funds intended for clean energy projects to cut residents\u2019 energy bills<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For some of her longtime fans in the environmental community, Healey\u2019s apparent repositioning is, at times, baffling and disappointing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been a much more renewed focus on energy affordability, and … I have seen climate become a bit of a reduced priority,\u201d Kyle Murray, the Massachusetts program director at the Acadia Center, said of the broader political atmosphere. \u201cWhile they are still taking many steps forward, it is not as vocal as it once was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA new air filtration system at Otis Elementary in East Boston, where Governor Maura Healey visited earlier this month to tout her clean energy policies.David L. Ryan\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

Healey, for her part, says she doesn\u2019t see her messaging as any different from before, saying \u201cit\u2019s one and the same\u201d \u2014 a point her office reinforced by noting she signed a wide-ranging climate bill<\/a> that, among other things, included provisions to curb natural gas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to make investments in bringing in energy sources that make sense in today\u2019s world,\u201d Healey said in East Boston. \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m continuing with solar deployment and wind deployment and geothermal deployment, all of these things we need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Left unmentioned: Her embrace of natural gas projects.<\/p>\n

The US Chamber of Commerce found in 2025 that Massachusetts\u2019 electricity costs increased by more than 20 percent<\/a> over the last three years \u2014 to nearly double the US average.<\/p>\n

The rising costs have animated voters\u2019 concerns<\/a> and introduced a little d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu to this year\u2019s governor\u2019s race from 2022, during which Healey boasted of blocking gas pipelines<\/a> when she served as attorney general. (Though Healey publicly opposed the pipelines, her office lacked the authority to unilaterally block the projects.)<\/p>\n

Earlier in October, Healey publicly urged the Trump administration \u201cto join with Massachusetts and focus your efforts to increase gas supply in New England,\u201d and speed up a review of expanding the Algonquin gas pipeline<\/a>, a $300 million project in Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. <\/p>\n

Eversource executives and lobbyists donated thousands of dollars to Healey\u2019s campaign<\/a> ahead of that push. Her campaign said those donations did not influence Healey\u2019s thinking on the project, which she supported last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As attorney general, Healey said Massachusetts<\/a> \u201cshould be setting the path for an energy system that is equitable, reliable, and affordable \u2014 not one that pumps more money into gas pipelines.\u201d Increasing gas capacity, she argued, would hamper climate progress.<\/p>\n

But during the debate with Minogue on Oct. 15<\/a>, Healey said she has \u201cnever been against gas,\u201d clarifying that she opposed fossil fuel projects that could raise costs for ratepayers. She pointed to a court decision rejecting then-Governor Charlie Baker\u2019s bid to make electricity customers pay for building new pipelines<\/a>, which she opposed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI support clean energy,\u201d Healey said in the debate, \u201cbut it doesn\u2019t mean that we stop what we\u2019re doing with gas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Minogue has emphasized bringing more gas capacity into Massachusetts while pledging to do away with some of its most ambitious climate goals.Danielle Parhizkaran\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

Energy specialists said while Healey\u2019s broader approach \u2014 including pushing for energy affordability legislation \u2014 could pay off, much relief would not be immediate. Catherine Wolfram, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology energy economics professor who served in the Biden administration, said getting natural gas into Massachusetts is crucial to address winter shortages.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, using other funds to cut consumers\u2019 fees could help alleviate costs, Wolfram said, pointing to states like Virginia and New Jersey that took similar approaches.<\/p>\n

\u201cClean energy will help us break the dependence on these volatile fossil fuels, but it\u2019s going to take a while for clean energy projects to get built and for relief to show up,\u201d Wolfram said. She added that at times, \u201cit\u2019s just not worth dying on the sword for a clean energy program in the state of Massachusetts, when climate change is really a world problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, some clean energy advocates see her embrace of expanding gas infrastructure as a pivot from her strict environment-first approach \u2014 even if they applaud moves early in her tenure.<\/p>\n

Last year, more than half<\/a> of New England\u2019s energy resources came from natural gas, followed by nuclear energy. Renewable energy made up about 13 percent of the state\u2019s usage.<\/p>\n

Advocates have praised the Healey administration for appointing the state\u2019s first-ever climate chief<\/a>, investing in offshore wind projects<\/a>, bringing Canadian hydropower<\/a> into the region, promoting clean grid modernization efforts, and incentivizing climate-friendly building<\/a> construction.<\/p>\n

\"WindWind turbines under construction off the coast of Massachusetts in 2023. Under Governor Maura Healey, the state pushed forward with offshore wind projects, though some have stalled since President Trump returned to office in 2025.David L. Ryan\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

Healey often cites a 2024 law she signed to accelerate clean energy development<\/a> by reforming siting and permitting measures, which her administration said would help Massachusetts\u2019 ambitious goal of zero emissions by 2050.<\/p>\n

But a combination of economic and political headwinds is complicating Massachusetts\u2019 approach: The Trump administration has slashed funding for clean energy projects, inflation is running higher than expected, and oil prices are soaring amid the war with Iran.<\/p>\n

Last year, Healey pushed back the state\u2019s minimum requirements for sales of new electric vehicles<\/a>. Efforts to import more hydropower into the region at times haven\u2019t yielded<\/a> as much energy as expected. And this year, her administration delayed implementing the so-called clean heat standard \u2014 a program intended to incentivize cleaner heat technologies \u2014 until 2028, arguing they responded to requests for additional time to implement changes that could raise costs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Healey declared an \u201cenergy emergency\u201d<\/a> and announced she would use money from one of the more obscure fees attached to utility bills, so-called alternative compliance payments, which typically go to local and state clean energy projects, to reimburse consumers, estimating it would reduce heating bills by at least $129 million. She also used $305 million of those funds earlier this year<\/a> and last year<\/a> to cut customers\u2019 electric bills.<\/p>\n

Her administration said clean energy investments from that fee \u201cremain an important part of the administration\u2019s long-term energy strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Healey\u2019s approach, some argue, is part of a trend of Democratic candidates softening climate policies<\/a> they championed just a few years ago in favor of addressing cost-of-living concerns.<\/p>\n

To Larry Chretien, executive director of the Green Energy Consumers Alliance, \u201cwe\u2019ve always had all of the above, and we\u2019re still overly dependent upon natural gas as a state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather than look for \u201cquick fixes,\u201d Chretien said Healey \u201cneeds to exert some leadership\u201d on issues such as proposed cuts to energy efficiency programs: \u201cThe foundation is strong. We\u2019ve just got to keep building on it rather than abandoning it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minogue, who ran the medical technology company Abiomed, takes a different approach. He pledges to eliminate the requirement that fossil fuel emissions in Massachusetts be effectively eliminated outright by 2050 and slash what he calls \u201cclimate taxes\u201d on utility bills by \u201cone-third.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WorkersWorkers install a heat pump at a house in Brookline.David L. Ryan\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

As with Healey, Minogue supports expansion of natural gas pipelines and new sources of nuclear energy. Healey, by contrast, says Minogue would \u201ckill wind\u201d and \u201ckill solar,\u201d tying her Republican opponent to \u201cTrump\u2019s agenda around energy.\u201d Minogue retorts that while he uses solar power at his home, more broadly relying on clean energy would \u201cbankrupt the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

His 238-page financial disclosure also showed Minogue owns stock in more than a dozen energy and utility companies nationwide, including Eversource. He also holds stock in NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy, two companies that own New England\u2019s biggest nuclear power plants and are seeking to merge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Hopkins, a spokesperson for Minogue, said his Eversource investments are held in accounts managed by investment professionals.<\/p>\n

\u201cMike is not making day-to-day trading decisions,\u201d Hopkins said, adding that he has \u201cdelegated responsibility to the investment managers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minogue\u2019s approach has alarmed some environmental activists, including the Environmental League of Massachusetts Action Fund, which endorsed Healey and raised flags on Minogue\u2019s \u201chostility towards clean energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, some climate groups that previously backed Healey are remaining neutral this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen she came into office, she saw things the way we did \u2014 that it\u2019s an investment in an outdated and polluting, dirty system that\u2019s also expensive,\u201d Vick Mohanka, director of the Sierra Club\u2019s Massachusetts chapter, said of gas expansion. \u201cAnd now she\u2019s asking for more pipelines.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anjali Huynh can be reached at anjali.huynh@globe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The dueling messages underscore how the first-term governor has distanced herself from an uncompromising environmental warrior of four…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":894341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-894340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/894341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}