State To Build System to Monitor Greenhouse Gas Reduction

Massachusetts has some of the country's most ambitious goals when it comes to reducing our carbon footprint. And now, with the help of a hefty grant, the state's progress will be monitored and posted online for anyone to see. 

The Barr Foundation, a Boston-based nonprofit, last week awarded $230,000 to the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs the spur the development of a web-based tool to track the how far along the state is in its goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. The site will also allow for feedback from the public.

These numbers reflect the goals in the state's Global Warming Solutions Act, enacted in 2008 by Gov. Deval Patrick. 

"To hit these aggressive goals will take all hands on deck," Patricia Brandes, the executive director of the Barr Foundation, said in a press release. "Without a system to monitor performance and make progress transparent, there is no way to know whether our collective efforts are aligned and adding up to the change that we seek."

The state environmental affairs office expects the system to serve as a national model that other states can use to track their own greenhouse-gas emissions.