COMMUTES ONCE MEASURED in miles, hours and aggravation have changed to steps, minutes, and tranquility for those who continue to work from home post-pandemic. This is […]
Energy
Posted inEnvironment
Mass. becomes dirty word in Maine referendum fight
CORPORATE SURROGATES for Massachusetts have spent close to $17 million so far battling a referendum question in Maine that seeks to block the importation of hydroelectricity from Quebec using a […]
Posted inOpinion
State’s SMART program isn’t so smart
THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT of Energy Resources will finalize by July 15 regulations doubling the size of the MA SMART solar photovoltaic program from 1,600 to 3,200 megawatts. On the surface […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Theoharides: Transpo emission pact still priority
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides said Wednesday that the COVID-19 pandemic has only sharpened her and the administration’s resolve to push forward with its […]
Posted inUncategorized
Boston organization stirs ire of solar advocates
A SHADOWY Boston-based organization is sending renewable energy advocates across the country into a tizzy by challenging the logic behind one of the key subsidies that has been used to spur […]
Posted inThe Download
Boston organization stirs ire of solar advocates
A shadowy Boston-based organization is sending renewable energy advocates across the country into a tizzy by challenging the logic behind one of the key subsidies that has been used to spur […]
Posted inOpinion
New transmission infrastructure needed for offshore wind
EARLIER THIS MONTH, Attorney General Maura Healey posed a fundamental question to the Department of Public Utilities. Now that Massachusetts has proclaimed a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, […]
Posted inOpinion
Putting land for solar off-limits could hurt farmers
AT A TIME when our country is already in the grips of a global pandemic and social unrest, a disagreement over an obscure solar policy may seem unimportant – trivial […]
Posted inEnvironment
Feds release Vineyard Wind environmental assessment
FEDERAL REGULATORS on Tuesday released a detailed, 420-page environmental assessment of the proposed Vineyard Wind project that includes predictions about the future of wind energy along the East Coast and […]
Posted inEnvironment
Healey calls for orderly transition away from natural gas
ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY petitioned the Department of Public Utilities on Thursday to investigate how the state’s natural gas utilities should transition to a future where the fuel they are […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t knock natural gas
NATURAL GAS REMAINS the preferred energy choice of homeowners and businesses across the Commonwealth. It is the most affordable, reliable, and flexible energy choice, and it has played an important […]
Posted inOpinion
Eastie needs straight answers from Eversource
EAST BOSTON is a community that is used to having to defend itself against environmental injustices. In the 1960s, Massport’s expansion of Logan Airport led the Maverick Street Mothers to […]
Posted inOpinion
We need to start using less natural gas
WITH THE CORONAVIRUS pandemic raging, it’s hard to think about anything else. Yet precisely because this is a time of major upheaval, we need to recognize, and prepare for, the […]
Posted inEnvironment
Mass. emission strategies all up in air
THE COMPANY SELECTED by Massachusetts to build a power line delivering large amounts of hydro-electricity from Quebec into the regional power grid at Lewiston, Maine, is asking a judge to […]
Posted inOpinion
Can Mass. launch the fusion revolution?
SINCE THE 1950s physicists have researched something they knew was theoretically possible but technically challenging: the effective generation of fusion energy as a substitute for carbon-based power. The prospect of […]
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 inUncategorized
Clean Energy Center’s financial woes continue to mount
THE MASSACHUSETTS CLEAN ENERGY CENTER paid two outside law firms $2.3 million to defend it in a lawsuit the agency eventually lost and ultimately settled for $20.8 million. Both the […]
Posted inEnvironment
Net-zero target gets mixed reviews
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides used the occasion of Earth Day on Wednesday to finalize the state’s new net-zero greenhouse gas emissions limit, but […]
Posted inOpinion
Should the public buy Columbia Gas?
THE RECENTLY PROPOSED $1.1 billion sale of Columbia Gas to Eversource provides an important opportunity to consider how we, the people of Massachusetts, want our public utilities to be governed […]
Posted inOpinion
TCI: Meager benefits, high costs
THE TRANSPORTATION AND CLIMATE INITIATIVE (TCI) bills itself as a regional collaboration designed to improve transportation, develop clean energy sources, and reduce carbon emissions from the transportation sector. To accomplish […]
Posted inEnvironment
Healey calls for exploring expanded carbon pricing
ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY released a white paper on Monday that calls for the creation of a New England task force to explore expanded use of carbon pricing in electricity […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Opinion
The net zero imperative for Suffolk Downs
THE CITY OF BOSTON is considering whether to approve 10.5 million square feet of new housing and commercial building at the former Suffolk Downs racetrack in East Boston. The project […]
Posted inOpinion
Physicians critique National Grid official’s stance
A clarifiation has been made to this op-ed making clear that National Grid does not have an ownership stake in the Weymouth compressor station. More detail is at the end […]
Posted inEnvironment
Report: Utilities raised concerns on Mayflower
THE UTILITIES THAT SELECTED Mayflower Wind for the state’s second offshore wind procurement raised serious concerns at several stages of the process about the company’s ability to complete the project […]
