THE 2022 MIDTERM elections saw the second-highest youth turnout for an election in more than 30 years, with 27 percent of citizens aged 18-29 casting a ballot. That figure is second only to the 2018 midterms, where youth turnout reached 31 percent. The rise in youth turnout upended the long-held narrative that young people don’t […]
Opinion
Posted inPolitics
Gov. Healey’s opportunity to drive transformative change
WITH GOV. HEALEY now in office, it is time for Massachusetts to embrace a transformative policy agenda. Rather than continuing to tinker around the edges and address individual policy areas in a piecemeal fashion, Massachusetts is uniquely positioned to lead the nation – and the world – in demonstrating the transformative power of making large […]
Posted inOpinion
Septic system commentary was misleading, wrong
AN OPINION PIECE in CommonWealth that argued against adoption of the Department of Environmental Protection’s updated regulations governing septic systems was misleading and just plain wrong. Let’s review the facts. According to multiple authoritative DEP- and EPA-approved reports, over 50 detailed watershed studies by UMass Dartmouth, dozens of state-prepared and EPA-approved assessments, and the state- […]
Posted inOpinion
Dealing with the fallout of sudden college closures
IN 2018, I helped finance a class action lawsuit by a group of former Mount Ida College students who were effectively kicked out of school as a result of the college’s sudden bankruptcy. The students and their families were caught completely off guard, and given little guidance on how to navigate the management of their […]
Posted inOpinion
What it takes to streamline state regulations
TO JUDGE the Boston Globe’s op-ed page, public officials, environmental advocates, and business leaders all seek permitting reform, some for protection of a warming planet, and others for provision of a hot meal downtown. Rather than advocating for a third category of favored cause or constituency, I suggest some principles for regulatory reform that can […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. Democratic Party isn’t all that different from GOP counterpart
THE DYSFUNCTION of the Massachusetts Republican Party has captured attention and headlines for the last few years, but it is the quiet collapse of the Massachusetts Democratic Party that should be concerning. In February 2006, Deval Patrick rocked the world of Massachusetts Democrats when he swept caucus after caucus, with slates of first-time activists beating […]
Posted inOpinion
3 steps for equitable climate action
JANUARY 2023 marks the beginning of a new year. For Massachusetts, it also marks the beginning of a new administration with the historic inauguration of Gov. Maura Healey, as well as a new legislative session with new (and incumbent) legislators. Both Healey as a candidate, and the Legislature during the last legislative session, have made […]
Posted inOpinion
Everything is wrong with DEP’s Cape proposal
ON CAPE COD, 85 percent of homeowners rely on title 5 on-site septic disposal systems to treat their home’s wastewater. And right now, 100 percent of those homeowners are extremely concerned about a draft regulation rolled out by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection last month. The state agency is proposing that owners of every […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Getting Boston on board with e-bikes
IT’S THE AGE of the e-bike — but Boston is behind the curve. By making biking easier, faster, and more sweat-free, electric bikes (e-bikes) have shown to be a hit. Americans bought nearly 500,000 in 2020, compared to less than half that number of electric automobiles (popularly referred to as electric vehicles, or EVs). “The […]
Posted inCourts, Opinion
SJC backslides on racial disparities in policing
IN A DECISION issued last week, the Supreme Judicial Court acquiesced in the disproportionate stopping and frisking of young people of color in the Commonwealth by upholding a police officer’s reliance for the intrusion on a juvenile’s “blading.” This amorphous amalgam of vague body movements and racially applied factors is so ambiguous that the SJC […]