MASSACHUSETTS HAS BEEN A CASE STUDY for the positive relationship between economic growth, renewable energy procurement, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction. As a leading state on climate change policy, […]
Time to put a price on carbon
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Build the Middleboro line now
THE FALL RIVER Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently testified before the Fiscal and Management Control Board at MassDOT in support of a Middleboro rail extension to Fall River […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Boston Latin turmoil also moment of opportunity
THE RESIGNATION OF Boston Latin School headmaster Lynne Mooney Teta last week punctuates a tragedy that we all must feel compelled to address. Teta appeared to have ignored pleas from […]
Posted inThe Download
Supreme Court leashes prosecutors
In an 8-0 ruling, the US Supreme Court dramatically scaled back the power of federal prosecutors to charge politicians with corruption. The ruling overturned the bribery conviction of former Virginia […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Carmen’s union offers $24m savings plan
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A MAJOR LABOR GROUP representing MBTA workers proposed a plan on Monday that it said would net $24 million in savings over four years for the […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
T scrambles to load new fare software
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FACING A FRIDAY DEADLINE, the MBTA and its software vendor are scrambling to load new fares into fare gates, vending machines, and systems on buses and […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
Baker ups tax shortfall by $200m
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE APPARENTLY WORSENING TAX REVENUE shortfall facing state budget writers just days before the start of the new fiscal year will be adjusted on Monday by […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
There’s no getting around
THE TERM “HIDING in plain sight” has meaning beyond the obvious. Sometimes facts and realities that are part of our daily routine get overlooked, taken for granted, accepted as part […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
David Martin, former MassINC staffer and Democratic consultant, remembered
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE OFTEN THE UNSEEN hand behind politicians seeking to keep their campaigns on track and above board, David Martin passed away Saturday after a battle with cancer. […]
Posted inTransportation
South Coast Rail cost balloons $1b
This story was updated at 7 p.m. on June 27. RUNNING RAIL SERVICE from South Station to New Bedford and Fall River will take five years longer and cost $1 […]
Posted inThe Download
A question of mental illness
“Did they have a magic wand that somehow cured mental illness?’’ That poignant but simple question comes from state Sen. Kenneth Donnelly, a former Lexington firefighter, after the Boston Globe’s […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Long-term energy contracts make sense
The headline of a recent CommonWealth magazine story states, “Clean power will cost more.” Although presented as simple fact, the headline actually begs a more complicated question: “More than what?” […]
Posted inEnvironment
Senate’s ‘aggressive’ energy plan lets Cape Wind bid
THE SENATE UNVEILED an energy bill on Friday that is far more expansive than its House counterpart, increasing utility procurements for offshore wind and Canadian hydroelectricity, doubling the mandated growth […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Latin School leadership lessons
When the city moved to mayoral control of the Boston Public Schools more than two decades ago, it brought clarity to one central issue that has bedeviled struggling urban districts […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Clean power will cost more
The push to add clean power resources to the region’s energy mix is going to drive up electricity prices, at least in the short term. Clean energy advocates have hinted that the state […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
House GOP health care plan is an empty backpack
THIS WEEK, US House Speaker Paul Ryan released a long-promised plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. Most of the plan, “A Better Way: Health Care,” developed by a House […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 8: The Libertarian team of Johnson and Weld
Steve Koczela of the MassINC Polling Group offers a pollster’s perspective on the Libertarian candidates and Michael Jonas and Bruce Mohl of CommonWealth magazine dissected their CNN performance.
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The Codcast: The Libertarian team of Johnson and Weld
Bill Weld, the Libertarian candidate for vice president, showed he’s still got it during a CNN town hall Wednesday night. The former Massachusetts governor was clear, concise, and controversial. He […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Senate bill more Uber friendly
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE More than three months after the House passed legislation regulating ride-for-hire companies like Uber and Lyft, Senate leaders on Thursday will release a new version of […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Dukakis, Pollack agree on North-South rail link
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE With a final decision far off, the chief advocate for building a train tunnel beneath downtown Boston and the skeptic from the Baker administration agreed on […]
Posted inThe Download
Greenway’s history leaves it vulnerable
Back in the days of the typewriter, when an anonymous tip was passed onto newspapers, it was called “coming in over the transom,” a reference to the vent window above […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
New transmission lines, gas pipeline needed
Recent cancellations and delays of proposed large-scale energy infrastructure projects, and results from two regional surveys suggest energy policy and consumer and business concerns in New England are heading in […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Cities want renewable energy
ACCORDING TO THE United Nations, cities are responsible for 75 percent of carbon dioxide pollution. We believe this means cities have a special responsibility to act to reduce the emissions […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Mercurial candidate fires mercurial campaign manager
We don’t know whether Donald Trump’s dismissal of campaign manager Corey Lewandowski followed the script of his old reality TV show The Apprentice. We don’t know whether Trump uttered the […]