sponsored by The Boston Foundation
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Our study didn’t ignore grid costs. We measured them — and utility-scale solar lowers them.
Rooftop solar should be compensated for the savings it provides the system — the avoided generation, the deferred upgrades, the peak demand it shaves — no more, and no less.
White Stadium and the community engagement gap
There’s still time for White Stadium project planners to deliver on the principles of EJ Community Engagement and Outreach – improved levels of trust, transparency, and stronger pathways for ongoing collaboration.
Why the Beacon Hill transparency debate gets it all wrong
The problem is not that the public lacks crucial information about its government; it’s that its government lacks crucial information about the public — and has little motivation to care about that.
Massachusetts is already putting its untapped talent to work
The administration is working across state agencies and with workforce partners to remove obstacles that prevent people from entering—and staying in—the workforce.
A Massachusetts diploma should come with a plan
One of the most consequential recommendations in the state graduation council’s report is its emphasis on postsecondary planning and the implementation of My Career and Academic Plan, or MyCAP.
Will Massachusetts go deep in the health care affordability playoffs?
Like the Red Sox season, the health care picture in the state this year has been marked by big ups and downs.
AI data centers are coming for Massachusetts. Gov. Healey’s new guardrails aren’t enough.
GOV. HEALEY took an important step last week to protect Massachusetts communities from the unchecked growth of data centers. Her new executive order will require large data centers to meet new standards around energy, water, air quality and public health and gives communities a greater voice in deciding whether these projects move forward. Data centers with peak electricity demand above 25 megawatts must demonstrate compliance with the state’s responsible development framework and enter into a community benefits agreement before receiving state permits. These new standards are an acknowledgment of what communities across Massachusetts have been saying: AI infrastructure may exist…
Massachusetts political parties stand by as their membership rolls evaporate
Why Massachusetts parties are allowing the slow-moving self-destruction to continue is anyone’s guess.
Massachusetts schools face a desperate shortage of STEM teachers. Here’s how we can fill that gap.
We are asking more of our students than ever before. Now we need to build the pipeline of teachers who can get them there.
Massachusetts has a plan to end hunger, but it’s missing the most important piece
EARLIER THIS YEAR, Governor Healey’s Anti-Hunger Task Force released its final report. I read it closely. Much of it is right, fortunately, since 40 percent of households in Massachusetts are currently experiencing food insecurity. But buried inside, in a section called “Coordinating Cross-Sector Collaboration,” is a three-word phrase that deserves far more than a bullet point: enhance data sharing. The task force knows this matters. What the report doesn’t explain is why it keeps failing — or what would actually make it work. I know, because I have watched it fail before. In 2022, I sat in a room in…
Critics of the Legislature’s productivity ignore a key legal distinction setting Mass. apart from nearly all other states
It is easy to see how that storyline can spark the ire of voters and the scorn of opinion writers. But it is a fundamentally flawed reading of legislative productivity for reasons that are virtually never acknowledged amid the easy targeting of lawmakers.
Boston is arguing about crime statistics. The real test is the walk home.
The test is simple: Are people safe, and do they feel safe, walking through downtown’s streets, stations, and parks? Judge our progress by that standard.
Addressing our housing crisis means tackling transportation woes, too
MASSACHUSETTS RANKS NEAR the top in education, health, and economic output. It also ranks near the top for cost of living. Housing and transportation drive much of that cost. Those costs show up in daily life. A nurse in Worcester spends 45 minutes commuting because they can’t afford anything closer. A teacher in Fitchburg drives two hours daily for the same reason. A two-earner household in many communities still spends more than half its income on housing and transportation combined, because both adults need cars to reach work. Seniors who want to downsize often can’t find smaller homes near services,…
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