An energetic, visionary, and proven leader, Eric Lesser will partner with our next Governor to make sure she is the most successful in the country. Together, they will work on the biggest issue our state faces: the skyrocketing cost of living. Eric has a plan to fix our broken transportation system, build more housing, create better jobs, protect our environment, and make our state more affordable and equitable.
Eric understands that Massachusetts has so much going for it. But despite our Commonwealth’s considerable advantages, it’s harder and harder to live here. It’s too expensive – housing is out of control, transportation is unreliable, and childcare costs are crushing families. Meanwhile, small pockets of our state boom while entire regions are left behind. Our current situation doesn’t work: it creates skyrocketing prices and gridlock in some places, and vacuums jobs and opportunity from others.
Eric knows the gravity of the climate crisis, especially as a coastal state that is warming faster than the rest of the nation. Our next administration must prioritize bold, decisive action, because we don’t have a moment to waste.
Our efforts to combat climate change must foreground climate justice – protecting and empowering the frontline communities and marginalized groups who are the most at risk. Representing a diverse district in Western Mass, Eric understands those stakes.
The climate transition can be an extraordinary opportunity for our state to lead the economy of the future. As we’ve led the way on life sciences and technology, we can be leaders on green energy innovation and manufacturing.
Eric’s signature policy proposal, high-speed rail from Pittsfield to Boston, would be the largest sustainability investment in the history of our Commonwealth. Rail would take thousands of cars off of our highways and reduce traffic jams, targeting the single largest source of carbon emissions.
Eric was a key leader in the movement to stop a toxic biomass plant from being constructed in Springfield, where it would have poisoned the air and disproportionately harmed Black, brown, and low-income neighborhoods. In the State Senate’s 2022 climate bill, he wrote provisions to ensure that biomass power is not eligible for clean energy subsidies.
As the lead negotiator of the 2020 Economic Development Bond Bill, Eric helped secure 10 million dollars for sustainable and climate-resilient construction in affordable, multifamily housing developments. We will never achieve a carbon-neutral future without energy-efficient homes.
Eric wrote a budget amendment to increase state climate adaptation funding, leading the charge in the Senate on behalf of the Green Budget Coalition.
Eric authored a bill to establish home energy efficiency audits at the time of sale, which makes the energy costs of homes more transparent to potential homebuyers and empowers homeowners to make energy improvements.
Eric has secured millions of dollars for the Landscape Partnership Grant Program, which will conserve land and natural spaces across the state. In his district, he has helped set land aside for future conservation.