CLIMATE CHANGE is real. So too is a massive transformation underway of electric power generation markets and transmission networks. That transformation is largely driven by public policies focused on electrification […]
Climate change
Posted inEnvironment
Healey greets Mothers Out Front at her office door
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A CLIMATE JUSTICE GROUP got a last-minute speaker at its State House rally on Wednesday — Gov. Maura Healey, who told a group of mostly mothers […]
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 […]
Posted inEconomy
Climate change taking toll on Mass. farms
RYAN VOILAND, owner of Red Fire Farm in Montague and Granby, says growing organic vegetables is hard enough, but doing it amidst climate change makes it nearly impossible. In 2021, […]
Posted inOpinion
Nature-based climate solutions are crucial
This commentary is written as a letter to Gov.-elect Maura Healey. WE JOIN THE CHORUS of leaders across the Commonwealth in congratulating you on your historic election victory. As you […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
Baker administration fleshes out 2050 climate plan
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION on Wednesday released a 168-page climate plan for 2050 that follows the same general playbook that’s been outlined in the past – increase production of clean electricity; […]
Posted inOpinion
Adapting to water rather than fighting it
TEN YEARS AGO, Superstorm Sandy – after ravaging the Caribbean and much of the East Coast of the United States – turned inward and exerted its full force on New […]
Posted inOpinion
Forests: the natural solution to climate crisis
FROM CATASTROPHIC STORMS and record-breaking heat to the rapid decline of bird and insect populations, a day doesn’t pass without news about the dire ecological and economic effects of climate […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Rating agencies praise state, but also issue warning
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE BIG THREE credit rating agencies had largely good things to say about Massachusetts this month, but one firm warned that the strong economic fundamentals and […]
Posted inOpinion
Federal funds, used wisely, can tackle climate change
AMERICANS CAN FINALLY breathe clean air and a sigh of relief as we see the path ahead to our clean energy future. For decades, the prospects for a livable future […]
Posted inOpinion
Keep climate in mind entering voting booth
FOR THE MILLIONS of Massachusetts voters who worry about the consequences of climate change and our role and responsibility in the Commonwealth to fight it, the 2022 primary and general […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
Maine court revives Mass.-financed hydroelectric power line
THE MAINE SUPREME Judicial Court on Tuesday breathed new life into a Massachusetts-financed power line designed to carry hydroelectricity from Canada to Lewiston and from there into the New England […]
Posted inEnvironment
Boston seeks to join state pilot banning gas hookups in new construction
BOSTON MAYOR Michelle Wu said on Tuesday that she wants the city to join a state pilot program allowing 10 municipalities to ban fossil fuel infrastructure in most new construction, […]
Posted inEducation, Energy, Environment, Opinion
Schools are missing from the state’s climate plan
ON THURSDAY, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law a landmark climate bill which affirms, for the first time, that schools are part of the state’s leadership on climate. What’s […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
Baker signs climate bill, despite ‘deep misgivings’
DESPITE “DEEP MISGIVINGS’ about some of its elements, Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law on Thursday a climate change/energy bill that he said would help Massachusetts retain its standing as a […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
Baker in take-it-or-leave-it position on climate bill
THE LEGISLATURE returned compromise climate legislation to Gov. Charlie Baker on Sunday and urged him to sign it into law even though he didn’t get all the changes he wanted. […]
Posted inOpinion
Walking the hope tightrope
THE FOSSIL FUEL industry thrives on fatalist climate change messaging and, so far, they’re winning For many Americans, Fourth of July weekend is the summer kickoff. Some of my best […]
Posted inOpinion
State not living up to environmental justice responsibilities
JUST OVER A YEAR after Gov. Charlie Baker signed “An Act Creating a Next-Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy,” which contained protections for environmental justice populations, the state has found […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t pit housing crisis against climate crisis
TODAY IN MASSACHUSETTS, both the Baker administration and the Legislature – and some individual communities, too – are working on proposed “net zero” policies to address the climate crisis. Dramatic […]
Posted inOpinion
How the gas system can adapt to net zero future
THE FUTURE of natural gas is now at the forefront of state and local climate planning as it has become clear that the combustion of fossil methane and the leakage […]
Posted inOpinion
A strategy for tackling housing, climate crises simultaneously
TWO CRISES are bearing down on our state. There’s the critical shortage of affordable housing, which leaves ever more of our neighbors unable to keep a roof over their heads. […]
Posted inEnvironment
Climate change brain drain in Baker administration
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER lost another key aide on the climate change front, as Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides said she is leaving the administration next week. Theoharides has […]
Posted inOpinion
Massport is targeting net zero by 2031
CLIMATE CHANGE isn’t something that could happen in the future – it’s already here. And the effects in a maritime city like Boston and coastal state like Massachusetts are particularly […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA goes out to bid for battery-electric buses
THE MBTA is beginning the process of electrifying its bus fleet, launching a long-awaited procurement that could lead to the purchase of 460 battery-electric buses over the next five years. The […]