Healey climate plan calls for cabinet czar

As the state’s attorney general, Healey has been active in the climate change arena, both on a broad philosophical level and in the nitty gritty trenches of utility regulation. She gained national attention for her still-pending lawsuit against ExxonMobil, alleging the oil giant lied to consumers and investors about the danger of climate change. Her office is also the representative for ratepayers in all regulatory proceedings involving utilities, a role that has thrust her into the nuts and bolts of electricity production and distribution.

Her climate change plan adopts a pair of very ambitious goals — a grid powered by 100 percent clean electricity by 2030 and a state public transportation system running entirely on clean electricity by 2040, with school and MBTA buses to go all-electric by 2030.

Most analysts say the first goal is mostly wishful thinking, given that the target date is less than eight years away, the state’s first offshore wind farm is not expected to come online until 2023, and on most days renewable energy accounts for less than 10 percent of the grid’s power production.

Healey’s 2030 target for a clean power grid mirrors the goal of her rival in the Democratic primary, Sonia Chang-Diaz, a state senator from Jamaica Plain who is challenging Healey from the left. In her climate plan, released in December, Chang-Diaz also called for making all public transit fare free, starting with buses.

Healey’s 2040 goal for public transit is also ambitious, but it makes no mention of eliminating fares. The MBTA wants to operate all-electric buses by 2040, 10 years beyond Healey’s target; currently, only 3 percent are electric. The T has set no timetable for electrification of the commuter rail system, a massively expensive endeavor that would probably require billions of dollars of investment. A year ago, the T put together a decarbonization plan with no financial constraints that estimated the commuter rail system could theoretically go all-electric in 2048.

In her press release announcing the climate plan, Healey included accolades from the top lawmakers in the House and Senate dealing with energy and climate issues — Sen. Michael Barrett of Lexington and Rep. Jeff Roy of Franklin — and climate activist Bill McKibben and FirstLight Power CEO Alicia Barton.

Barrett, a colleague of Chang-Diaz in the Senate, said what drew him to support Healey in the governor’s race is her deep understanding of the climate change issue from a philosophical and tactical perspective. He said Healey and her staff have provided a lot of help to him in drafting legislation.

“What makes a difference for me is I know the policy chops are there,” he said in a telephone interview. “These people know what they are doing.”

In addition to broad goals, Healey’s plan includes a number of recommendations for changes in how state government would operate in response to climate change. She calls for at least 1 percent of the state budget to go to state environmental and energy agencies (Healey’s campaign said the current allotment is .62 percent), and a sharp increase in the budget for the Department of Public Utilities.