Check out the Current’s Election ’26 Voters Guide HERE to learn more about the 10 ballot questions and congressional race. congressional race. Election Day is Nov. 3, and the Marblehead Current has pulled together everything you need to get informed before you vote.
Marblehead voters will find an extra question on their Nov. 3 ballots, asking whether companies that sell fossil fuels should pay a fee for carbon pollution, with the money returned to Massachusetts residents through monthly cash payments.
Question 10, known as the Clean Air CashBack initiative, is a nonbinding, advisory question appearing in just two Massachusetts House districts: the 8th Essex District, which includes Marblehead, Swampscott and parts of Lynn, and the 1st Essex District, which includes Newburyport, Salisbury, Merrimac and parts of Amesbury.
Unlike the nine statewide ballot questions, Question 10 will not change any laws, impose fees or authorize payments. Instead, it asks voters whether their state representatives should introduce and support legislation creating a carbon-fee-and-cash-back program.
The question reads: “Shall the representative from this district be instructed to introduce and vote for legislation that places a fee on carbon content of fossil fuels to compensate for their environmental pollution, and return the proceeds directly to residents as monthly payments?”
Under the proposal, companies selling fossil fuels in Massachusetts would pay a fee based on the carbon content of their products. Revenue collected from those fees, minus administrative costs, would be distributed directly to residents in monthly payments.
Those companies could pass some of those costs along to consumers through higher prices for gasoline, heating oil, natural gas and other products. Supporters argue the monthly payments would help households offset those increases while encouraging a transition to cleaner energy.
Question 10 does not specify how much companies would pay, how large the monthly payments would be or how the money would be distributed. Those details would have to be worked out by lawmakers if legislation moves forward.
Why supporters say it matters locally
The all-volunteer Clean Air CashBack campaign says the proposal is particularly relevant to North Shore communities such as Marblehead and Swampscott, where rising sea levels, coastal flooding and increasingly severe storms threaten homes, roads and other infrastructure.
They argue that putting a price on carbon pollution would encourage businesses and consumers to move toward cleaner energy sources, while returning money to households to help with rising living costs.
Residents could use the monthly payments however they choose, including for groceries, home heating, transportation, insurance or energy-efficient appliances.
The campaign also points to potential health benefits from reducing fossil fuel pollution, including improved air quality and lower risks associated with asthma and heart disease.
What happens after the vote?
Clean Air CashBack organizers collected enough verified voter signatures to place Question 10 on the ballot in the two districts. They estimate approximately 60,000 voters will have an opportunity to weigh in.
Marblehead resident Katie Farrell and Swampscott resident Steve Bushnell are local supporters of Q10. They say the immediate goal is to raise awareness about carbon pricing and determine whether voters support the concept.
“I support Question 10 because climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time and is already having impacts on people and nature,” Farrell told the Current. “Towns like Marblehead, being on the coast, are particularly exposed. Pricing carbon and returning the money to residents is a smart bipartisan idea and complements the other efforts the commonwealth is taking. The monthly cashback helps all households and is especially helpful to lower- and middle-income households who typically get more in cash back than they pay in increased fuel costs. It’s kind of a no-brainer.”
Even if Question 10 passes overwhelmingly, lawmakers would not be legally required to introduce or approve legislation. The results would serve as a measure of public opinion that supporters could use to encourage legislative action.
State Rep. Jenny Armini, who lives in Marblehead, said that, if Question 10 passes, she will file the legislation.
“But it is not my preferred approach to holding fossil fuel companies accountable for the impacts of climate change,” she added.
Armini is a cosponsor of H.1014, An Act Establishing a Climate Change Superfund, which would charge the biggest fossil-fuel extractors whose products contributed to greenhouse-gas emissions between 1995 and 2024.
“The payments would go into a climate change adaptation fund to finance resiliency projects — such as coastal and wetland restoration, flood mitigation, stronger roads and bridges, etc.,” she explained.
VOTING HOURS
In-person, early voting hours are underway at Abbot Hall, including:
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 29, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 30, 8:30 a.m.-noon
Election Day, Nov. 3, voting hours will be 7 a.m.-8 p.m. For more information, visit marbleheadma.gov.
