The latest check-in on Massachusetts’s progress towards its climate commitments revealed a mixed picture, exceeding some interim goals while others present daunting challenges the state will need to catch up on without the assurance of future federal support. 

State government here has committed to reducing carbon emissions by at least 50% compared to 1990 baselines by 2030, by at least 75% by 2040 and by at least 85% by 2050, with tag-along policies to get the state to net-zero emissions by the middle of the century. Based on 2022 data, which the state says is the most up-to-date it has, Massachusetts has seen a 26% reduction in statewide gross emissions since 1990.

But since returning to the White House last year, President Donald Trump has moved quickly to reshape national energy and climate policy, largely rejecting the transition from fossil fuels towards clean energy sources that President Joe Biden favored and states like Massachusetts pledged themselves to.

With the publication of the 2025 Massachusetts Climate Report Card on Friday, the state lamented that the Trump administration has made it more difficult for it to make progress, pointing to a reduction in federal aid, preemption of state-level climate initiatives, and efforts to stall or stop offshore wind development.

“The landscape for climate work changed significantly over the past year. The loss of a federal partner and global economic forces including high inflation, tariffs, and continued supply chain issues have slowed progress in providing clean, affordable energy for all and in equipping our communities to respond to climate hazards,” the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs said in its introduction to the report card. It added, “Across the board, Massachusetts remains committed to saving energy, cutting costs, reducing emissions, protecting people and property from flooding and other hazards, and supporting burdened communities.”

The report card delves into an array of metrics in six categories: Clean transportation, clean buildings, clean power, natural and working lands, climate adaptation and resilience, and environmental justice. Here’s a by-the-numbers look at how the state fared on some key metrics:

Electric Vehicles

  • 166,296 light-duty battery electric vehicles or plug-in hybrid vehicles on the road at the end of 2025 — up from about 103,000 EVs at the end of 2023 and from 139,018 at the end of 2024, but still short of the state’s Clean Energy and Climate Plan (CECP) benchmark of 200,000 EVs by the end of 2025.
  • 735 medium- or heavy-duty EVs on the road at the end of the year — up 144% from 301 electric trucks at the end of 2024, but still well short of the CECP target of 3,200 total medium- or heavy-duty EVs on the road by the end of 2025.
  • 10,387 public EV charging ports installed by the end of 2025 — an increase over the 8,791 public EV charging ports installed as 2024 ended, but short of the 12,000 chargers the state’s  Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Coordinating Council says are necessary by now.
  • 58.123 billion vehicle miles traveled by light-duty vehicles (a category that includes most personal cars) in 2024, the most recent year included in the 2025 report. That’s up from 57.191 billion miles traveled in 2023 and greater than the CECP model’s estimate of about 57.9 billion miles traveled in 2025.

Electrifying Buildings

  • 133,753 households that have had Mass Save install heat pumps as their primary heating since 2020 — exceeding the CECP estimate that heat pumps would need to be installed in at least 100,000 homes between 2020 and 2025. Installs slowed, though, from 40,116 households in 2024 to 30,567 households in 2025. The pace will need to pick up: the CECP says Massachusetts needs 500,000 heat pumps installed between 2020 and 2030.
  • 56 cities and towns that have adopted the state’s specialized energy code (covering 32.5% of the state’s population) and 245 municipalities that have adopted the state’s stretch energy code (representing 59.9% of the population) — the state has no targets, but says the figures “indicate progress toward highly efficient building envelopes in new construction which reduces impacts to our electric system and reduces energy bills.”

Cleaner Power Sources

  • 51.6% of state electricity consumption that was met with clean generation sources in 2023, the most recent year included in the 2025 report — up from 50% as of 2022. The 2023 state standard required Eversource, National Grid and Unitil to source more than 59.2% of their electric load from clean and renewable resources or by making alternative compliance payments, though those utilities provide only about 85% of of electricity consumed statewide.
  • 105 megawatts of in-state wind capacity at the end of 2024, the most recent year included in the 2025 report — down from 110 MW a year before and short of what the CECP says was necessary to achieve the state’s goals: 3,650 MW of total wind capacity online in 2025.
  • 3,939 MW of in-state solar capacity at the end of 2024, the most recent year included in the 2025 report — short of the CECP estimate of 4,470 MW needed by 2025.

Natural Climate Solutions

  • 1.412 million acres of permanently protected natural and working land as of June 2025, representing 28.4% of the state’s land area — beating the CECP target of 28% protected by 2025.
  • 3.051 million acres of forest land in Massachusetts in 2024, representing 58.9% of statewide land area — a loss of about 2,500 acres of forest land from 2023 to 2024. The state says a target for reducing forest loss is being developed as part of the Forests as Climate Solutions Initiative.

Resilience and Environmental Justice

  • 3% of income the median Massachusetts household spent on energy bills in 2024, the most recent year included in the 2025 report — unchanged from 2023 and up from 2.9% in 2022. The state says it is developing a target for this metric.
  • About $155 million in resilience-related state funding in fiscal year 2026 — roughly unchanged from fiscal 2025 and up from “>$90 million” in fiscal 2024.
  • $94.9 million awarded from federal funding sources to support resilience-related projects and programs in fiscal 2025, the most recent year included in the report card — up from $90.7 million in fiscal 2024.

Colin Young is the deputy editor for State House News Service and State Affairs Pro Massachusetts. Reach him at colin.young@statehousenews.com.