Throughout the first half of 2017, 350 Mass volunteers asked Governor Baker to stand with Massachusetts traditional climate leadership role, and encourage President Trump to stay in the Paris Climate Agreement. After much encouragement from us and allies, he did just that, and (following further encouragement from our network), announced that Massachusetts would exceed our contribution to the Paris Climate Agreement after President Trump announced the US would leave Paris.

Through the fall of 2017, alongside allies from Mass Power Forward, we made clear to Governor Baker that staying in Paris means not building any new fossil fuel infrastructure. As we invest in new energy infrastructure, we should build only the best, and limit our investments to clean, healthy, and sustainable projects like solar and wind energy and energy efficiency. We should go forward, not backward, and invest in 21st century renewable energy, not 20th century oil and gas.

To that end, we launched a Stand-In outside of Governor Baker's office that began every Wednesday at lunchtime with four people a day, and ended with 50 people standing in five days/week. We are asking Governor Baker to show the world that leading parts of the US, like Massachusetts, are taking our climate commitment seriously and are unambiguously embarking on a just transition toward clean energy.

In early 2018, we will again begin coming back to the Governor's office in larger numbers with increasing frequency until he agrees to do what is needed for the sake of our future. We have even taken the liberty of drafting an executive order for him to sign that would effectively prohibit new infrastructure from advancing within the Commonwealth.

If you are interested in participating in our action, please sign up here. If your organization would like to get involved, please e-mail craig [at] betterfutureproject.org