THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE has a chance to get the Commonwealth on to a better track with climate change. Massachusetts is regularly ranked first in the nation in energy efficiency programs and […]
Climate change
Posted inOpinion
Climate action key theme of primary races
ON TUESDAY, Massachusetts voters sent a political shockwave to Washington, DC. as they for the first time in history rejected a Kennedy — with a double-digit margin — at the […]
Posted inTransportation
How do we avoid a transportation relapse?
FOR MANY US CITIES, the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic provided a remarkable if temporary glimpse of an urban environment with dramatically less car travel and air pollution. On […]
Posted inOpinion
House takes baby steps on climate change
WE ARE WRITING as Mass Power Forward, a grassroots coalition of over 200 environmental groups, community development organizations, clean energy businesses, faith groups, neighborhood health and safety advocates, and Massachusetts […]
Posted inOpinion
Lessons learned from the push for climate action
ON WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN the last day of the 2019-2020 legislative session, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a Roadmap Bill, helping to lay the foundation for a slightly more […]
Posted inEnvironment
House climate change bill calls for roadmap
The House unveiled a climate change bill on Wednesday that directs the executive branch of government to create a roadmap for reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and includes […]
Posted inOpinion
COVID-19’s lessons for climate change
AS WE ENTER the beginning phases of re-opening Massachusetts, Covid-19 has already provided several important lessons for policymakers to consider when addressing the other major global crisis that experts have […]
Posted inOpinion
COVID-19’s link to environmental racism
IT IS ESSENTIAL that we make the connections between years of systemic environmental racism and the ravages of COVID-19. This public health emergency is unprecedented, but it’s hard not to […]
Posted inOpinion
Hunger and the clean energy transition
TWO EVENTS that made the news recently caught my attention. Both highlight one of the most important challenges we’re tasked with solving as we commit to a cleaner energy future. […]
Posted inOpinion
My hunger strike yields some progress
LAST WEDNESDAY, I concluded a two-week-long hunger strike to spotlight public safety violations at the construction site of the Weymouth Compressor, a new fossil fuel facility planned for Boston’s South […]
Posted inUncategorized
Tallying up climate change tradeoffs
Trinity Episcopal Church in Stoughton is discovering that fighting climate change requires some tradeoffs. The church wants to reduce its carbon footprint, so it recently began exploring whether it would […]
Posted inThe Download
Tallying up climate change tradeoffs
Trinity Episcopal Church in Stoughton is discovering that fighting climate change requires some tradeoffs. The church wants to reduce its carbon footprint, so it recently began exploring whether it would […]
Posted inEnvironment
Mass. coastal property owners beware
HOW FAR CAN GOVERNMENT go in regulating private property when protecting us from common threats? Since a seminal 1922 US Supreme Court opinion, Pennsylvania Coal Company v. Mahon, a debate […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
7 takes on Senate climate change debate
IN BUSINESS-LIKE FASHION, the Senate passed a sweeping package of climate change legislation on Thursday night that sets a net-zero target for greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, creates an independent […]
Posted inOpinion
2 simple steps to address climate change
HAVING GROWN UP in the wooded suburbs of Boston, and then moved to the deep woods of the Adirondack and Green Mountains, I can be fairly accused of loving the […]
Posted inOpinion
T needs to move fast on electric buses
Editor’s note: This op-ed was written prior to the filing of Senate climate legislation mandating an all-electric MBTA bus fleet by 2040. RESIDENTS OF THE BOSTON AREA feel the pain […]
Posted inEnvironment
Senate to vote on sweeping climate change bill
THE SENATE IS PREPARING to vote on sweeping legislation to address climate change, putting in place a series of mandates and regulatory measures as well as phased-in carbon pricing on […]
Posted inOpinion
Baker’s net-zero goal is business-as-usual
ON TUESDAY, two notable public figures gave public addresses on the topic of climate change, illuminating the bridge that exists between what society needs to do to tackle climate change, […]
Posted inEnvironment
Net-zero target called most aggressive in world
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER’S top energy aide said his proposal for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 puts Massachusetts among a very small group of states and countries attempting to limit […]
Posted inEnvironment
Baker: Net-zero emissions by 2050
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER set a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in his State of the State address Tuesday night, and promised to achieve that ambitious target with […]
Posted inEnvironment
Mayflower Wind, without contract, moving ahead
Mayflower Wind still doesn’t have a final contract for its offshore wind farm off the coast of Nantucket, but it appears to be moving ahead with the project anyway in […]
Posted inThe Download
Mayflower Wind, without contract, moving ahead
Mayflower Wind still doesn’t have a final contract for its offshore wind farm off the coast of Nantucket, but it appears to be moving ahead with the project anyway in […]
Posted inTransportation
TCI club appears to be shrinking
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IN A PROTEST-INTERRUPTED State of the State address Thursday, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott cast a shadow on the prospects of him signing his state up for […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Parity for renewables is key to energy tax policy
THE CLIMATE CRISIS is the most pressing issue of our time — and increasingly it’s an intractable one. Nowhere is this borne out more in Massachusetts than on Cape Cod, […]