STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ONE DOWN, 61 to go. The Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners joint venture announced Wednesday that the installation of the first of 62 turbine generators that will make up the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind project has been completed about 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, but project officials also backed […]
Environment
Posted inEnvironment
Somerset considering $20m tax break for Brayton Pt. plant
SOMERSET IS CONSIDERING giving a $20 million tax break to the Prysmian Group to help build a subsea transmission cable manufacturing facility at Brayton Point. Prysmian has already received a $25 million grant from the state for dredging and the construction of a pier. The proposed tax cut won approval from one Somerset town committee […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
Brayton Point offshore wind prize in doubt
ONE OF THE BIGGEST prizes of the emerging offshore wind industry – an onshore subsea cable manufacturing facility providing jobs, tax revenue, and the beginnings of a US supply chain – is in danger of slipping away at Somerset’s Brayton Point because of a dispute over a zoning condition. Prysmian Group, based in Italy, is […]
Posted inEnvironment
Legal challenges by fishing groups to Vineyard Wind rejected
A FEDERAL JUDGE ruled against two fishing groups who were challenging federal environmental approvals granted to Vineyard Wind for the construction of its wind farm off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. US District Court Judge Indira Talwani granted summary judgment to Vineyard Wind and various agencies within the US Interior Department and denied summary judgments […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
New York rejects bid to renegotiate offshore wind contracts
NEW YORK OFFICIALS followed the lead of regulators in Massachusetts on Thursday, rejecting bids by four offshore wind developers to renegotiate the prices they were awarded in previously approved contracts because of sharply rising and unexpected costs. The decision means the developers will have to either stand by the terms of their current contracts — […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
Healey announces 3-state offshore wind procurement
NERVOUS ABOUT rising prices for offshore wind power, the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut are banding together to solicit larger wind farm projects that hopefully will come with lower price tags. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey announced the three-state partnership at an offshore wind conference in Boston Wednesday morning. Individually, the three states were […]
Posted inEnvironment
Advocates press Healey to scrap Hanscom expansion
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IN A NEW SURGE of opposition, advocates are calling directly on Gov. Maura Healey to stop the expansion of the publicly owned airfield in Bedford that holds the most private jets in New England. The Massachusetts Port Authority, a quasi-public agency, has proposed adding 27 hangars at Lawrence G. Hanscom Field […]
Posted inOpinion
Why is the US locking down for climate change?
AMERICANS REALLY hated locking down for COVID-19, so why does the US keep locking down for climate change? Sometimes we are locked in, due to wildfire smoke and heat; and sometimes we are locked out, with homes leveled due to flooding and fire; but the bottom line is–we keep locking down. Our children aren’t playing […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment, State Government
Despite rules feud, lawmakers predict energy/climate bill will pass
The House and Senate chairs of the Legislature’s energy committee aren’t talking to each other, but in separate interviews they both seem confident lawmakers will pass another climate and energy bill this session. The two chairs, Rep. Jeffrey Roy of Franklin and Sen. Michael Barrett of Lexington, are locked in a dispute over rules governing […]
Posted inEnvironment
For environmental justice communities, tackling climate change can’t wait
IN THE FINAL days of summer, the Commonwealth is looking back at a season of near-record rainfall, multiple heat advisories, and dangerously smoky air. The classic Massachusetts summer filled with bike rides along the Charles and Red Sox games has looked much different this year. Extreme heat events have claimed more lives in the United States over […]