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The bill gives sweeping new powers to the state government to enforce these rules. Section 81 calls on multiple state agencies to set aggressive goals to reduce total vehicle miles traveled—not just emissions. It further requires these targets be baked into every transportation and land-use plan moving forward.
“The council shall assess and report on strategies and plans necessary to reduce statewide vehicle miles traveled,” the bill reads, and includes plans to develop “compact, walkable neighborhoods” and expand non-personal vehicle infrastructure like buses, trains, ferries, pedestrian paths, and bike lanes.
In other words, if Creem and her allies get their way, life in Massachusetts could start to look more like a 15-minute city experiment gone wrong—where personal mobility takes a back seat to centralized planning and top-down environmental controls.
To no one’s surprise, the left-leaning plan was met with skepticism—even from some within the Democratic ranks.
During a recent hearing, State Sen. Michael Barrett voiced concerns about the bill’s overreach and potential negative effects. “Whether we’re layering too many slightly disparate initiatives, one on top of another, in a way that is, in fact, going to complicate rather than clarify steps that need to be taken,” he said.
Barrett also pointed out that many current regulations already exist, noting that the MBTA is already working toward a zero-emissions bus fleet and that there are existing transportation emissions limits in law. So why this new law, and why now?
Even more troubling is the bill’s blatant disregard for rural communities. Barrett warned that it creates “an unintended and subtle bias against rural Massachusetts,” where public transit is nearly nonexistent and long commutes are unavoidable.
“I understand that one can easily imagine that EVs, over time, will reduce the number of polluting vehicle miles traveled,” Barrett said. “But why we would want to start to pressure Massachusetts to reduce all miles traveled, polluting and non-polluting alike, does raise the question of what someone is to do in a place where one has to travel a long distance to a construction job or to any other source of employment.”
Exactly.
Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance blasted the plan in a video released Friday, highlighting the absurdity of penalizing hardworking residents for simply getting to work or visiting family. The group is calling out what many see as a massive government overstep—an attempt to control how far people can travel, how they travel, and when.
The legislation’s vague but expansive powers, combined with its aggressive climate targets, suggest a future where Massachusetts families could be fined or restricted for driving “too much”—regardless of whether they’re in an electric car or a traditional vehicle.
At the end of the day, Creem’s bill is a warning sign for freedom-loving Americans. If bureaucrats can limit how far you drive today, what’s to stop them from telling you where you can live tomorrow?
This isn’t about emissions—it’s about control. And if this bill becomes law, it won’t just be the cars that are gone—it’ll be freedom that’s left in the rearview mirror.
