Since the Shippingport Atomic Power Plant in Pennsylvania went online nearly 60 years ago, becoming the first peacetime use of nuclear power in the world, proponents have touted the low […]
Nuclear wasted
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Our plan for late-night MBTA service
WE BELIEVE THERE is an affordable pathway toward establishment of a robust late-night transit service on the MBTA, building on the T’s existing early morning bus service. Our plan would not just offer service on […]
Posted inHealth Care
Healey offers hospital pricing suggestion
THE HEALTH POLICY COMMISSION convened a stakeholder group on Wednesday to brainstorm ways to address the pricing disparity between the state’s teaching hospitals, led by Massachusetts General and Brigham and […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Moment of reckoning for housing and state economy
THE MASSACHUSETTS ECONOMY is the envy of the nation. We quickly rebounded from the recession and are home to the nation’s best educated workforce and one of its largest and […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
“Dark money” on the right
First came the news last month that Gov. Charlie Baker was raising big bucks from Republican honchos — some $300,000 in all — Â to win seats for his allies on […]
Posted inOpinion
Inaction is driving solar firm out of Mass
THERE ARE 400 SOLAR COMPANIES working throughout the value chain in Massachusetts and I’m proud to own one of them. When I started my business, Sustainable Energy Professionals (SEP), our […]
Posted inBallot Questions, Health Care
De la Torre backs hospital pricing ballot question
RALPH DE LA TORRE, the president and CEO of Steward Health Care, stated unequivocally on Tuesday that he intends to support a union-sponsored ballot question this November that would compress […]
Posted inOpinion
Solar power is not a zero sum game
MORE BAY STATERS ARE BENEFITTING from solar power than ever before.   Such widespread adoption of the technology represents a growing consumer desire to control and cut their electricity costs while […]
Posted inThe Download
At DCF, fix-it focus hits some bumps
Fixing the queueing system that determines wait-times at the Registry of Motor Vehicles is one thing. Bringing order to the state social service agency charged with ensuring the safety of […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
We need some Frank Sargent political courage
We can learn from our history. Forty-six years ago the Republican governor of Massachusetts, Frank Sargent, made a valiant effort to change the course of Massachusetts’s transportation policy. It was […]
Posted inOpinion
Solar isn’t the cause of high electricity costs
LIKE MANY UTILITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, National Grid blames high electricity costs on net metering while claiming to protect ratepayers. But that’s not the real reason utilities object to this […]
Posted inTransportation
T eager to shift to cashless fares
THE MBTA IS MOVING AGGRESSIVELY to install a largely cashless fare system that would allow riders to pay with their phones, credit cards, or newly designed Charlie cards and allow […]
Posted inThe Download
Utilities, environmentalists duke it out on energy policy
While lawmakers on Beacon Hill are debating energy legislation in private, the state’s environmental advocacy groups and utilities are making their respective arguments in public. The Acadia Center today wraps […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
A roadmap for the omnibus energy bill
Final in a series. The first installment focused on natural gas and the second on utilities. A DECADE FROM NOW, electricity mix in Massachusetts could look quite different from what […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
No longer Taxachusetts, now we’re Trashachusetts
AFTER ANOTHER LONG NEW ENGLAND WINTER, Massachusetts residents will soon bid a welcome hello to spring. The sun will set later, the daffodils will bloom, the last of the snow […]
Posted inThe Download
Capital concerns at the Globe
For those of us in the news business, the Boston Globe’s shrinking Capital section is an alarming sight. The nation is in the midst of one of the most interesting […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Utilities aren’t afraid of solar
IN 2009, MASSACHUSETTS DECOUPLED our electricity rates, eliminating the incentive for us at National Grid to sell more electricity to our customers. This change in the way we do business […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Stop the attack on teachers and schools
The beatings will continue until morale improves… -Unknown THESE ARE CHALLENGING times to be in education. Today, more than any other time in our history, education is in the national […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Inside the solar negotiations
A legislative conference committee trying to bridge a philosophical gap between the House and Senate on solar power is making progress, but some new stumbling blocks are emerging. Sources familiar […]
Posted inGambling, The Download
Fantasy meet reality
Even the most casual sports fan and many non-fans know the term March Madness refers to the college basketball playoffs, now entering the second week of elimination games leading up […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, Opinion
What you can do to ease the opioid crisis
BY NOW, EVERYONE has seen or heard about the HBO documentary Heroin: Cape Cod, USA, and most have been bombarded with seemingly daily headlines highlighting the newest statistics or the […]
Posted inGambling, The Download
Casinos dangle funny money to lure customers
Think of it as the candy cigarettes of the casino industry. Players lose no actual money on the online games recently unveiled by Plainridge Park Casino. But they can still […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Police presence stepped up on T, at Logan
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said he and other state officials held a 2 p.m. conference call on Tuesday to discuss the terrorist attacks in Belgium and to deploy a greater law […]
Posted inEnvironment
Baker amenable to offshore wind
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said on Tuesday that he would support omnibus energy legislation that would spur the development of offshore wind, but he stopped short of backing a special carveout […]