BOSTON — Massachusetts Senate Dean Marc R. Pacheco (D-Taunton) will travel to Germany next month for a transatlantic discussion and exchange of views on climate and energy policies.
The Portuguese-American lawmaker is one of seven US state legislators invited by the Aspen Institute Germany to attend the organization’s Laboratories of Democracy, a transatlantic forum taking place May 10-14 in Schwerin, Germany .
Wiebke Wartenberg, Senior Program Officer of the Aspen Institute Germany, said her organization is honored to welcome Senator Pacheco to the forum, which brings together representatives from the US state and the German Landtag (name of the legislative assemblies in Germany).
“Given his longstanding commitment to climate and energy issues, we look forward to him bringing his experiences and ideas to our exchange,” Wartenberg said in a prepared statement.
According to its website, the Aspen Institute Germany is an independent, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting values-based leadership and open discourse on society, politics and global challenges.
Senator Pacheco said he was incredibly honored to be invited to participate in this year’s Laboratories of Democracy policy forum on the key issue of climate and energy.
“The Aspen Institute has been a key facilitator of transatlantic partnerships over the past several decades, and I very much appreciate the opportunity to share my views on this critical issue,” Pacheco said in a prepared statement. “I look forward to learning from our international and U.S. government colleagues about innovative strategies and identifying opportunities for transatlantic and intergovernmental cooperation.”
The Laboratories of Democracy project, according to its website, “focuses on the role of state legislatures in creating political solutions and advancing transatlantic ties at a time when national governments are dominated by political polarization and crisis management.”
Its program consists of two confidential meetings per year – one in Germany and one in the United States. The US meeting will be held September 13-17 in Trenton, NJ.
Since its founding in 1949, the Aspen Institute has helped facilitate open dialogue on a wide variety of topics, including foreign and security policy, global order and multilateralism, trade, climate and energy, and the increasing impact of technology on the international system .
“Here in the United States, years of federal inaction on climate change has forced state policymakers to take the reins in addressing this existential crisis,” Senator Pacheco said. “In the face of urgent warnings from international climate experts and daunting challenges, I remain confident that building transatlantic partnerships and bold government policies will remain critical to our success in containing the worst impacts of the global climate emergency.”
Pacheco is the lead sponsor of this session’s legislation aimed at drastically reducing emissions from residential buildings as part of the Building Justice With Jobs plan – a nationwide initiative to decarbonize buildings. His proposal to codify a ten-year plan for millions of households was offered as Amendment 4 to the climate law.
The list of German and US lawmakers involved in the Laboratories of Democracy initiative also includes: Barbara Becker MdL (Bavarian State Parliament); California Assembly Member Tasha Boerner Horvath (D), Hannes Damm MdL (Mecklenburg-West Pomerania); Florida State Representative Anna Eskamani (D) Silke Gebel MdL (Berlin House of Representatives); New Jersey Assembly Member Don Guardian (R), Daniel Karrais MdL (Baden-Württemberg); Tamara Müller MdL (Rhineland-Palatinate); Washington Senator Ann Rivers (R) Gerd Schreiner MdL (Rhineland-Palatinate); West Virginia Senator Ryan Weld (R), Christian Winter MdL (Mecklenburg-West Pomerania); and New Jersey Senator Andrew Zwicker (D).
You can find more information at https://www.aspeninstitute.de/transatlantic-program/