ISO New England, the region’s power grid operator, needs to be more accessible, more accountable, and buy-in to the climate fight.
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
RGGI should fight for environmental justice
STATES ACROSS the northeast and mid-Atlantic are more than a decade into an ambitious regional collaboration to clean the air, fight climate change, and create thousands of clean energy jobs — all while saving residents and businesses money on their utility bills. By many counts, it’s working. In Massachusetts and the 11 other states participating in the Regional […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t underestimate new AFL-CIO president Chrissy Lynch
NEARLY 50 YEARS AGO, I was hired by a prominent union side labor law firm as the first woman to practice union side labor law in Massachusetts. I learned that I had the position from the memo line on the check the firm sent reimbursing my interview costs: “Girl to be hired.” (I still have […]
Posted inPolitics
DiZoglio’s legislative audit is a well-intentioned bad idea
THE NEW MASSACHUSETTS state auditor won the Democratic nomination for the job in 2022 with an aggressive campaign centered on making the auditor the chief legislative transparency officer at the State House. At present, state Auditor Diana DiZoglio is attempting to sue the state Legislature into cooperating with her, while simultaneously supporting a proposed 2024 […]
Posted inOpinion
Tracing the origins of our college affordability crisis
IN TODAY’S AMERICA, the cost of college is nothing short of staggering. But this was not always so; in 1987, tuition and fees at a public institution in Massachusetts totaled $1,352 annually; equivalent to $3,220 in today’s dollars. This was a time when a summer gig paired with part-time work during the academic year could […]
Posted inOpinion
Follow the sun, push for permanent Standard Time
ON NOVEMBER 5, residents of Massachusetts and most other states will return to a behavior that offers them better health outcomes, better sleep, better school performance, and increased workplace safety and productivity. Sounds like a great idea, right? Yet, unfortunately, those benefits will only last four months despite the majority of Americans from both sides […]
Posted inHealth Care
State on course to improve dental care
DESPITE THE CLEAR link between oral health care and an individual’s overall health, approximately one-third of all American adults between the ages of 19 and 64 lack dental insurance. As a practicing dentist in Quincy, I am fortunate to see many patients who do have coverage, though barely a day goes by when I do […]
Posted inOpinion
Advice from 2 mothers whose children died from meningitis
AS MOTHERS who have both lost a child, we often say we’re in a club that we want no one else to ever join. We started our individual foundations and the Meningitis B Action Project after we each lost our young, healthy daughters too soon to a now vaccine-preventable disease, Meningitis B. Kimberly (Patti’s daughter), […]
Posted inOpinion
Each of us needs to help regulate our urban forest
AS WE LEAVE BEHIND one of the hottest summers on record, it is encouraging that the federal government has just released more than $1 billion in grants from the administration’s Inflation Reduction Act to help communities build broader, healthier, and more equitable urban forests. The city of Boston received over $11 million, Springfield $6 million, […]
Posted inOpinion
My energy efficiency efforts were frustrated by Mass Save
THERE’S A BROAD consensus in Massachusetts, affirmed by state law and policy, to accelerate the adoption of clean energy technologies as an important way to advance our climate and energy goals. In my experience, unfortunately, the Commonwealth’s energy efficiency programs do not appear capable of supporting these goals. I offer this brief outline of my […]