Sec. Tibbits-Nutt Spotlights Climate Issues In First Meeting As MassDOT Board Chair

In her first meeting as the Chair of the agency's Board of Directors, MassDOT's new Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt focused on the agency's responsibilities in defending the Commonwealth against catastrophic climate change.

After a brief introduction to her fellow board members during Wednesday's monthly meeting of the MassDOT Board of Directors, Tibbits-Nutt started the meeting by talking about storm damage in Leominster, where nearly 10 inches of rainfall from a single storm earlier this month caused severe floods that washed out roads, bridges, and MBTA tracks.

"Seeing these storms, seeing how they are increasing in intensity every year, we all know that climate change is a major problem," said the Secretary. "This will continue. We will have to find ways to adapt. We will have to find ways to build better infrastructure."

New MassDOT office will focus on climate accountability

Towards that end, Tibbits-Nutt announced that her agency would soon set up a new office to advance the agency's climate and racial equity work.

"We are creating – the first in state government – an Environmental, Social, and Governance office. This, I do believe, is the first Department of Transportation to do it. I also believe that we're one of the first public-sector agencies to to this in the country."

Environmental, Social, and Governance, or ESG, has become a shorthand for management strategies that measure and aim to improve an organization's performance on environmental issues – most prominently climate change – and on social issues, like wealth equity and racial diversity.

The concept of "ESG" has become widespread among large corporations and investment firms, but as Tibbits-Nutt alluded, it hasn't really taken hold in the public sector.

"At MassDOT, we can really champion some changes, especially around the protection of our environment, resiliency, and leading on more (greenhouse) gas reductions. Because we all know that we're one of the filthiest industries, and we have a lot of work to do."

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Tibbits-Nutt said that MassDOT's ESG office will start with three employees – a director and two program managers – who will work with all of the state's transportation agencies, including the MBTA, on decarbonization efforts.

The Secretary also mentioned that the state's Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience has also recommended a "climate program management office" at the MBTA.

A similar office is being formed at MassDOT, and rather than duplicate those efforts, Tibbits-Nutt said that one office would oversee climate work at the T and MassDOT together.

"This will allow both agencies to advance and track all efforts in the transportation sector toward our shared Commonwealth goals," she said.