Request Comes in Wake of Cusack’s Effort to Roll Back Important Climate Legislation
January 27, 2026
Contact
Vick Mohanka, vick.mohanka@sierraclub.org, 508-451-4188
BOSTON – Today, Sierra Club Massachusetts held a press conference at the State House steps calling for the removal of Representative Mark Cusack (D-Braintree) as Chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy. The Massachusetts Chapter’s member-elected board unanimously voted in favor of calling for Representative Cusack’s removal in November.
Representative Cusack proposes clawing back climate goals, reneging on clean energy funding, increasing electric bills to subsidize fossil fuel infrastructure, and establishing untested pro-fossil fuel, anti-environment legal standards that no other state has enacted in this way. To rush his bill, H.4744, through, Rep. Cusack ignored the normal legislative process and public hearings. Sierra Club is disappointed to see what appears to be pay-to-play legislating on Beacon Hill.
“Our 20,000 members are deeply disappointed by what they have seen in the public arena that affects the lives of Massachusetts constituents. They are fed up with a political system that continues to prioritize private profits over public goods, whether it be walking away from climate goals, illegally meddling with other countries to secure fossil fuel resources, or prioritizing American land for extraction and destruction instead of conservation and preservation,” said Vick Mohanka, Director of Sierra Club Massachusetts.
“At a time of increasingly severe temperature extremes, ballooning energy demands, and utility bill spikes, Massachusetts needs someone to lead the Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy committee who understands the essential role of clean energy and efficiency in saving ratepayers money each month—not someone who answers to the beck and call of fossil fuel interests scrambling to hold onto massive profits at our expense.” said Amelia Koch, Vice Chair of the Sierra Club Massachusetts Executive Committee.
See more detail in our blog post.
###
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.