Climate bill back on Baker’s desk

This time it has veto-proof majorities

A sweeping climate bill that aims to slash carbon emissions in by 2050 has landed back on Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk — this time with the veto-proof majority.

“The Senate and House reaffirm today that this landmark climate legislation is too important to delay,” Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, said Thursday.

House Speaker Ronald Mariano, D-Quincy, said he was proud lawmakers “have not backed down from our ambitious goals and unwavering commitment to make Massachusetts a leader in climate protection and clean energy.”

Lawmakers first laid the bill on the governor’s desk following a late push during the last session, only to have it die when Baker vetoed the bill after the clock ran out on the formal session, leaving them with no mechanism to override his veto.

Legislators defiantly refiled an identical version of the bill days later, only to have it returned to them once again with amendments despite the governor at the time saying the two sides found “considerable common ground.” Lawmakers accepted the majority of the Republican governor’s changes.

Baker sought to change language that would require cutting carbon emissions to “at least” 50% of 1990 levels by 2030. Baker instead proposed a reduction range of 45% to 50% by 2030 and by 65% to 75% by 2040, which lawmakers rejected.

In his January veto letter, Baker cited a state analysis that found it would cost Massachusetts residents $6 billion more to hit the additional 5% goal in emissions reductions — a figure Democrats have called “largely exaggerated.”

Baker also sought to strip building code revisions that allow cities and towns to opt into a so-called “net-zero” building code that requires buildings to generate as much energy as they use.

That change was a major sticking point for the governor, who said it could increase housing costs and undermine his efforts to boost housing production, but Rep. Jeffrey Roy, D-Franklin, said 288 Massachusetts communities have already opted into an existing stretch-energy code and said “net-zero is the next step.”

The question remains whether the governor will veto the bill for a second time.

But if the governor chooses to exercise a veto, both branches retain wide veto-proof majorities. Senators on Monday advanced the bill in a 39-1 vote. House members on Thursday concurred in a 146-13 vote.

NICoLAuS CzArnECkI / hErALd StAFF FILE HEATED DEBATE: The state Legislature has approved a climate bill that aims to cut carbon emissions, agreeing to a few, but not all, of the changes suggested by Gov. Charlie Baker when he vetoed an identical bill during the last legislative session.