I’d like to thank Marty Nathan and the Gazette for another excellent column on dealing with the climate crisis. (“Legislature’s opaque process hurts climate fight,” Aug. 5).
Nathan opened with this line: “The goings-on of the Massachusetts Legislature are the subject of jokes for many who try to improve the laws that govern us.” Our Legislature is laughable? Ouch. She goes on to explain that its rules are “obscure,” its proceedings “opaque.” And here’s the kicker: the House is under the thumb of “entrenched leadership who determine which bills advance and which die in committee every session.”
Well, I suppose making jokes is a way to fight off tears of frustration. But I’m not laughing. When we vote for people to represent us in the State House, we entrust them with the power to make critical decisions on our behalf. Chief among them are decisions on how to deal with crises like the current pandemic and the resulting economic turmoil.
And like the biggest one of all, the planet-sized one, the existential one, the climate crisis. It’s an enormous responsibility we’ve given our representatives. And how does the House leadership handle the trust placed in them? Check out this Massachusetts Sierra Club description of how they dealt with a vital bill on a complex issue: “Most State Representatives had little or no foreknowledge of the [House climate bill] until less than 24 hours before the bill was introduced. A little after 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, legislators received an initial copy of the bill and were told that they had less than five hours to review, analyze, and file amendments.”
By conducting the people’s business this way, the House leadership betrays their colleagues and betrays the trust of the voters. I was born and grew up in Massachusetts and have lived here most of my life. In so many ways, I feel proud to say that. But if we let ourselves be governed in this way, in a time of multiple crises, when so much hangs on the choices our leaders make, then shame on us.
Linda Butler
Leeds