Massachusetts climate chief exits with call for gas phase-out by 2050

Massachusetts has no Cabinet-level climate chief as of this week. Melissa Hoffer, the nation's first Cabinet-level climate chief, left the Healey administration Monday with no publicly announced successor, leaving the future influence of the Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience in question.

Hoffer used her final day to deliver a farewell address hosted virtually by the Massachusetts Climate Action Network. Her core message: the transition to a cleaner economy cannot succeed politically unless people understand that climate action and affordability go hand in hand.

She is leaving to become president of Vermont Law and Graduate School. The school announced her appointment in August. Her new position begins Dec. 1.

What did Hoffer say about natural gas?

Her remarks exposed tension at the center of Gov. Maura Healey's energy policy. Hoffer urged advocates to push for an eventual end to natural gas infrastructure. Healey, meanwhile, has emphasized additional gas supplies, arguing pipeline expansion can lower energy costs.

Asked what she would change with a "magic wand" to remove systemic obstacles, Hoffer was blunt.

"We should be putting in place a hard stop on natural gas infrastructure," she said. "It should be phased out by 2050."

She called methane "a super pollutant." She qualified the proposal, stressing that any transition must be orderly and that the state could not immediately stop using existing gas infrastructure. She also noted she was answering in a hypothetical scenario free of political constraints.

"I'm answering you in a magic world where politics don't matter because you gave me my wand," Hoffer said. "But if we are looking at science, that's what we should be doing."

What is at stake for ratepayers?

Hoffer argued that continuing to invest in both gas and electric infrastructure risks saddling customers with costs for assets that may become unnecessary as more homes and businesses electrify. The state, she said, effectively requires customers to pay for two energy systems at once.

"We're expanding the electric system and we're expanding the gas system, and we're paying for stuff that we don't need," she said.

On stranded gas assets, Hoffer pointed to Healey's energy affordability legislation, which proposes integrated gas and electric planning. Utilities, she said, must coordinate so that areas expected to transition to heat pumps do not keep receiving unnecessary gas investments.

"Right now we're running two systems next to each other, and we have to do that for safety and reliability," Hoffer said. She added the state needs to identify where it can "prudently prune back" gas infrastructure.

Better utility transparency and planning, along with stronger oversight by the Department of Public Utilities, would help avoid ratepayer-funded investments in infrastructure no longer needed, she argued.

What is the administration's position?

Healey created the climate chief position on her first day in office in January 2023, placing the Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience within the governor's office to embed climate considerations across state government.

"On day one of this administration, we created the Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience and appointed the nation's first cabinet-level Climate Chief because we know that addressing the climate crisis requires a comprehensive, coordinated approach across all of state government," Healey said in October 2023.

The administration now supports additional gas supply. In an October letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Healey urged the Trump administration to expedite federal review of the proposed Algonquin Reliable Affordable Resilient Enhancement, or RARE, pipeline project. The governor's office says the project could lower costs by reducing reliance on more expensive imported liquefied natural gas delivered through the Everett terminal.

"I've been clear that we need to bring more energy supply into Massachusetts with an all-of-the-above approach that includes solar, wind, storage, nuclear, geothermal, hydro and gas," Healey said in a statement.

Enbridge has proposed a second Algonquin expansion, Project Beacon, which would increase gas flows into the region. Healey has not clearly outlined her position on it.

In January, after state regulators approved an Eversource supply contract tied to the RARE expansion, Healey said the decision would lower costs for more than 600,000 gas customers. The administration says the project would be funded by its developer rather than ratepayers.

How does affordability frame the dispute?

Hoffer pressed the argument that clean energy and affordability align.

"What is affordable is green. What is affordable is clean energy. What is affordable is investing in resilience now," she said.

She invoked the spotted owl conflict as a cautionary example of environmental policy framed as conservation versus working-class economic interests.

"This is one of those situations where we must do everything we can to avoid running into a situation where people see it as a competition between, it's either going to be affordable or it's going to be green, because that's malarkey," she said.

Hoffer also acknowledged political constraints as the Trump administration moves against federal climate programs, citing offshore wind cancellations that damaged the state's reliability planning.

"As a governor, not just Governor Healey, but you saw many governors really trying to thread that needle, where you would cleave to your strong values and your state commitments, but not try to get on his bad side," she said.

The state remains legally committed to net-zero emissions by 2050. The administration said a successor would be named before Hoffer left. None was announced as of Monday. Hoffer's office did not reply Tuesday to questions on timelines for a new appointment.

"What we can't do is take that bait that somehow it's just too expensive for us to deal with climate change," Hoffer said. "Because I'll tell you what's really expensive: that is, climate change."

The next milestone is the governor's choice of successor — and whether the office retains Cabinet rank.