STATE ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS undersecretary David Ismay has made outrageously reckless  claims, and is in serious hot water. At least if you read the Boston Herald. 

The paper has been pummeling Ismay — and his ultimate boss, Gov. Charlie Baker — ever since the conservative Mass. Fiscal Alliance shared a video last week of Ismay speaking to the Vermont Climate Council about Massachusetts efforts to reduce carbon emissions. 

In talking about the effort to reduce carbon emissions in Massachusetts, Ismay told the group that one central fact facing policymakers is that 60 percent of carbon emissions come from residential heating and passenger vehicles. “There is no bad guy left, at least in Massachusetts to point the finger at, to turn the screws on, and you know, to break their will, so they stop emitting,” he said, apparently referring to big industrial sectors that can be targeted. 

The reductions have come from “you and me,” he said, from “the person across the street, the senior on fixed income.” “We have to break your will,” said Ismay. 

Baker wasn’t happy with the remarks. “No one who works in our administration should ever say or think anything like that, ever,” he said.

Ismay’s wording was less than politic. He seemed to admit as much when he closed his remarks — made publicly to a state panel in a recorded Zoom conversation — by saying, “I can’t even say that publicly.”  

But stripped of their blunt language, Ismay’s comments were more a matter of fact than a strong statement of environmental ideology. 

Bank robber Willie Sutton, when asked why he robbed banks, famously said, “because that’s where the money was.” 

There is a version of that going on with efforts to reduce carbon emissions, and Ismay’s misstep may have been to say the quiet (but obvious) part out loud — with some added harsh language that is a gift to opponents of the administration’s policies. 

The Transportation Climate Initiative the state is pursuing, for example, would lead to some increase in retail gas prices — though there is debate over how large the bump would be. 

For Herald columnist Howie Carr the Ismay video has been every holiday he can imagine all rolled into one. He has eviscerated Ismay in two columns in recent days. And it was not enough to dig out records of speeding tickets Ismay got 20 years ago as smoking-gun evidence of his fuel conservation hypocrisy, Carr somehow decided a speeding ticket Ismay’s wife evidently received 21 years ago was relevant here. (Is an investigative story far behind on whether their kids leave the water running while brushing their teeth?) 

Today’s Herald, which features the second installment of Carr’s all-out assault, also carries an op-ed by Mass Fiscal’s Paul Craney that urges Ismay’s firing. 

In another story, just posted the Herald website this morning and tagged “still developing,” the paper says Ismay is also now being “called out” for “questionable comments” about the fishing industry. The apparent scandal — which CommonWealth actually reported on five days ago in a story on the Ismay dust-up — involves Ismay also talking to the same Vermont panel about the challenges and opportunities in developing the state’s offshore wind energy sector. 

“We can’t have no offshore wind, no transmission, no solar, and have clean energy,” Ismay said. “Something has to give. There has to be some mechanism we trust to find a place to site a transmission line.”

Mass Fiscal says the comments are “fishy at best” in terms of their implications for the state’s fishing industry. 

You could argue that we should not take any steps to reduce residential or automobile emissions that could affect consumer costs. Or that the state should not pursue any offshore wind projects — and leave it to other states to build out this huge energy sector.  

But if the policy premise is that we should take action on both fronts, Ismay’s greatest sin seems to have been speaking truth to power (sources). 

MICHAEL JONAS

FROM COMMONWEALTH

Secretary of State William Galvin wants to make mail-in voting a permanent feature of Massachusetts elections, and state lawmakers filed legislation adding other voting changes.

Opinion: Katie Murphy of the Massachusetts Nurses Association and Karen Chen of the Chinese Progressive Association urge an end to the MBTA service cuts. … Dr. Sharma E. Joseph says Massachusetts is missing the boat on vaccinating the black community. … Colman M. Herman takes issue with a recent op-ed by Raymond La Raja, arguing for as much transparency in government as possible.

 

FROM AROUND THE WEB

 

BEACON HILL

Eight state representatives — seven Republicans and one Democrat — call on Gov. Baker to fire climate change official David Ismay for offensive remarks Ismay made that were caught on tape about “breaking the will” of consumers so they stop polluting. (MassLive)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS  

Salem is reintroducing a proposal that previously failed to let homeowners build “in-law apartments” without a special permit, now that Gov. Baker’s Housing Choice bill lowered the threshold for approving zoning decisions. (Salem News)

Boston plans to dramatically increase the “linkage” fees assessed on large commercial developments to help fund affordable housing and job training programs. (Boston Globe)

Boston City Council President Kim Janey says she’s excited about what her coming ascension to the role of acting mayor means for the city. (Boston Globe) 

Saugus is considering a proposal to mandate that 30 percent of development along bus Route 1 be commercial. Some town officials are worried that the rising number of residential developments will mean more cars and congestion and also fret about the loss of tax revenue. (Daily Item)

Pittsfield’s lone movie theater is about to reopen for the first time since March. The small chain that owns the theater already opened its other theaters in Iowa and Michigan. (Berkshire Eagle)

HEALTH/HEALTH CARE

A day after citing the troubled coronavirus vaccine rollout as the latest in a series of missteps calling into question Gov. Charlie Baker’s reputation for managerial smarts, the Globe has a front-page story saying the state’s vaccine effort may be “turning the corner.” 

Cape Cod seniors trying to use the new state hotline to sign up for two regional COVID-19 vaccination clinics found themselves unable to get appointments, which were filled by people who used their computers to book appointments. (Cape Cod Times) 

Clinicians say they are worried about the low uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations by the homeless. (WBUR)

As it turns out, this was the flu season that wasn’t. (WBUR)

State officials will revise their plan for a new Holyoke Soldiers’ Home to include more beds, after home trustees and area legislators objected to decreasing the capacity of the home. A Holyoke Soldiers’ Home trustee tells a legislative committee that at the start of the COVID outbreak there, trustees were told everything was fine. (MassLive)

The private company running a mass vaccination site at the Eastfield Mall in Springfield promises to make changes after seniors are left standing in freezing cold temperatures for over an hour waiting for a vaccine. (MassLive)

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

The Senate, in a 56-46 vote, says it is constitutional to hold an impeachment trial of Donald Trump even though he has left office. (Washington Post) Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, one of six Republicans voting yes, says it wasn’t a close call and that Trump’s lawyers did a “terrible job” arguing against moving forward with a Senate trial. (NPR) Senator Ed Markey says that if the Senate were to have a secret vote, Republican senators would likely convict Trump. (GBH)

It’s hard to maintain your lead these days of the category of “feline-related phenoms” as “Roaring Kitty” of GameStop fame has seen “lawyer cat” claw his way in no time to the undisputed top spot. (New York Times) 

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

The developer of the old Channel 56 building on Morrissey Boulevard in the Dorchester section of Boston scraps plans for two apartment high-rises and proposes one 175-unit apartment building and one building for life science and office use. (Dorchester Reporter)

Secretary of State William Galvin has subpoenaed Keith Gill, the online investor known as “Roaring Kitty,” to determine whether he violated any securities regulations in promoting stock in GameStop. (Boston Globe) 

EDUCATION

UMass Amherst suspends the Theta Chi fraternity for holding parties that violated COVID-19 guidelines. The campus is in the midst of a COVID outbreak. (MassLive)

Northeastern University is trying to nudge students back toward in-person instruction — and some faculty aren’t happy about it. (Boston Globe) 

ARTS/CULTURE

An investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct with students by the former director of Boston Children’s Theater in Beverly concluded with no charges, according to the Essex district attorney. (Salem News)

TRANSPORTATION

The MBTA is getting ready to vaccinate many of its employees, who are slotted to receive shots after those 75 and older and those 65 and older are inoculated. (State House News)

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

A new report finds the ocean waters off Massachusetts are becoming more acidic, due to climate change and other human factors, making them less hospitable for shellfish and threatening the commercial shellfishing industry. The report also lays out proposals for how to respond to the environmental threat. (Gloucester Daily Times)

Environmental groups urge the Legislature to reject Gov. Charlie Baker’s amendments to the climate change bill. (Gloucester Daily Times)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

A bill introduced by the state inspector general would let cities and towns sue municipal employees who fraudulently claim wages for hours they never worked and obtain restitution for three times the amount the employee gained from the fraud. (Eagle-Tribune)

A man who killed a Shrewsbury police officer is released from prison onto medical parole while on his deathbed from COVID-19. This follows a series of reports of the DOC granting the rare medical parole to inmates deathly ill from COVID. (Telegram & Gazette)

Milford Police Chief Michael Pighetti is placed on paid leave while an unspecified investigation is conducted. (MetroWest Daily News)

The ACLU of Massachusetts sues over a Trump-era rule expelling asylum-seekers from the country under a public health law. (MassLive)

MEDIA

Jeremy Burton, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, explains why Bruce Springsteen’s Super Bowl ad for Jeep that was widely acclaimed for its call for unity and a political meeting in the middle was not actually that all-encompassing. (Jewish Telegraphic Agency) 

PASSINGS

Chris Thibault, a videographer, writer and producer, and owner of West Springfield’s Chris Teebo Films, dies. Thibault had been battling cancer. (MassLive)