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Senators took a major step Thursday toward achieving the net-zero emissions target they already set for Massachusetts by approving a policy-heavy bill aimed at expanding the clean energy industry and reining in emissions from the transportation and building sectors.

Nearly 12 hours after they kicked off debate, senators voted 37-3 on legislation (S 2819) that faces an unclear future as negotiators prepare to reconcile it with a smaller-scope bill that cleared the House (H 4515). All three of the chamber’s Republicans, who unsuccessfully pushed an alternative proposal, voted against the final measure.

Along the way, the Senate adopted 45 amendments — including one that calls for attempting to nearly double the amount of offshore wind energy generated for Massachusetts over the next decade-plus — leading to what Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee Chair Sen. Michael Barrett called “a product here that is much better than when we started.”

The legislation, which comes on the heels of a 2021 law committing to reaching net-zero emissions statewide by 2050, would pump $250 million into clean energy expansion, electric vehicle incentives, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. It would also overhaul the offshore wind procurement process, require greater scrutiny on the future of natural gas, and allow some cities and towns to restrict the use of fossil fuels in new construction.

“Last year’s climate bill was about laying out a plan for tackling this formidable challenge of climate change. This year, in this legislation, we propose to begin to execute on the plan. If you like metaphors, last year was about laying out a roadmap, today we start traveling down the road. That’s why this is all about implementation,” Barrett, a Lexington Democrat, said on the Senate floor. “I am happy beyond measure, I am so happy, that this Senate has the courage to move beyond roadmapping and beyond laying out a template and is in favor of getting to the question of implementation and execution.”

The bill focuses on three main areas: electricity, transportation and buildings, all of which play major roles in existing greenhouse gas emissions.

Using surplus state tax revenues as seed funding, the legislation would create a $100 million Clean Energy Investment Fund, spend $100 million to incentivize adoption of electric vehicles, and deploy $50 million to build out electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

All new vehicles sold in Massachusetts would need to produce zero emissions starting in the year 2035 under the bill, which would also require the MBTA to purchase or lease only zero-emission buses starting in 2028 and convert the entire fleet by 2040.

After senators adopted an amendment filed by Transportation Committee Co-chair Sen. Brendan Crighton, the bill would also require the MBTA to cease purchasing diesel-powered locomotive trains by the end of 2030 and lay out specific plans to electrify the commuter rail system.

Ten municipalities would be empowered to limit the use of fossil fuels in new construction, a local option that Senate Democrats crafted in response to the Baker administration’s stretch energy code that does not authorize cities and towns to mandate builders use all-electric heating.

‘Really Kick Up Our Game’

Sen. Marc Pacheco at one point delivered a 61-minute speech calling for the Senate to expand the bill’s focus to include housing emissions. He filed an amendment that would use $1 billion in remaining American Rescue Plan Act dollars to fund home retrofits with energy-efficient heating systems and clean energy infrastructure.

Largely mirroring a Pacheco bill known as the “Building Justice with Jobs Act” (H 3365 / S 2226), the amendment would have called for rolling out a plan to cut statewide housing-related emissions 50 percent by 2030 and completely by 2040.

Pointing to recent United Nations and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports about the rapid pace of the climate disaster, Pacheco said the future will look “extraordinarily bad if we don’t really kick up our game.”

“Think about what I said earlier: 2008 was the first comprehensive bill that passed,” Pacheco told his colleagues, referring to the Global Warming Solutions Act that initially implemented greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. “Here we are in 2022. That’s how quickly the Legislature has worked on this thing. You got to be kidding me. There’s no plan right now. I hope everybody gets that, no plan. We say we want it done. Even if you had a little bit of a plan, you’ve got nothing to accomplish the plan with what’s out there right now.”

Fellow Democrats contended that Pacheco’s amendment, while targeting an important area, would have delegated too much responsibility to unelected panels.