MY MRI COST $7,200 Your article, “Overexposed,” in CommonWealth’s summer edition was superb. It revealed so many of the failures and successes of our medical system.I have only one thing to […]
Energy
Posted inEnvironment
Net metering windfall in works?
A state program designed to help homeowners and municipalities launch renewable energy projects is getting a makeover on Beacon Hill that could give private wind power developers a financial bonanza. […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Download
Wind subsidy tucked inside spending bill
By Bruce Mohl A special interest wind power subsidy is tucked inside a spending bill that is the focus of a power struggle between Democrats and Republicans on Beacon Hill. […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Gordon defends Cape Wind
It’s taken 10 years, but Jim Gordon, the president of Cape Wind, says the 130-turbine offshore wind project is about to clear its final regulatory hurdle. A supremely confident Gordon […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
SJC sides with Cape Wind
The Supreme Judicial Court delivered the coup de grace to Cape Wind opponents in their efforts to halt permitting of the controversial Nantucket Wind farm project. In a 4-2 decision, […]
Posted inEnvironment
An incredibly expensive contract
Read the other candidates’ statements: Charlie Baker, Treasurer Tim Cahill, Gov. Deval Patrick. I’m here as a physician, and a scientist and a long-standing environmental activist and a mother who […]
Posted inEnvironment
A big bet strategy
Read the other candidates’ statements: Treasurer Tim Cahill, Gov. Deval Patrick, Dr. Jill Stein. Let me just start by saying that we live in unprecedented times in Massachusetts. There are […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment
Hurts our economic competitiveness
For the other candidates’ statements, click here: Charlie Baker, Gov. Deval Patrick, Dr. Jill Stein. My feeling is that the Cape Wind project is the perfect example to the wrong […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment
Good environmentally, economically, and symbolically
Read the other candidates’ statements: Charlie Baker, Treasurer Tim Cahill, Dr. Jill Stein. I have from the outset acknowledged that there are thoughtful views on both sides of the Cape […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, The Back Story
The ins and outs of the Cape Wind debate
The story line from Monday’s gubernatorial debate was Gov. Deval Patrick defending Cape Wind in the face of strong opposition from his three rivals, including, surprisingly, the candidate of the […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Siting reform bill a wind breaker
Preserving local control over wind development has been Gov. Deval Patrick’s mantra, but lawmakers from wind-rich parts of the state didn’t buy it. Outnumbered and outvoted, they managed to run […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Download
Bruce Mohl and Michael Jonas appear on the Emily Rooney Show
CommonWealth Editor Bruce Mohl and Executive Editor Michael Jonas appeared on the Emily Rooney Show on WGBH radio today to discuss the new special issue of CommonWealth on Energy and the Environment. Listen here. […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Download
Getting wind power to hold a charge
By Michael Jonas An interesting read in today’s NY Times on the growth of power storage companies, which are a crucial component of the renewable energy effort, especially wind power, […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Grass is greener
like the health care bill before it, the fate of a new federal climate change law rests with the Senate. John Kerry is navigating a political minefield, with Republicans uniformly […]
Posted inEnvironment
An overdue cost-benefit analysis
when gov. deval Patrick signed sweeping energy legislation into law two years ago, the headline in the Boston Globe the next day was: “State starts a green era.”The story was […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, State House News Service
Nuclear: Obama on board but not Patrick
President Barack Obama and Gov. Deval Patrick see eye-to-eye on most energy issues—except nuclear power. Obama is on board, but Patrick isn’t in any hurry to catch up. Nuclear power […]
Posted inEnvironment
Energy efficiency drives reinvention of Bay State company
The roots of East Walpole-headquartered Hollingsworth & Vose Co. extend back to the 18th century and to a product as basic as rag paper. But today, this old-line manufacturing firm […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Cheap, clean energy stirring interest in Holyoke
Cheap, clean electricity is putting the city of Holyoke on the map.Holyoke, one of the poorest cities in Massachusetts, hasn’t attracted any significant business development in a long time. But […]
Posted inEnvironment
8 questions for Tom King, president of National Grid-US
cw: Why does National Grid make a portion of your salary contingent on meeting a company carbon-reduction target?king: National Grid is committed to taking a leadership role in addressing climate […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, State House News Service
Who’s the real environmentalist?
The elegant, lazy motion of wind turbines once appealed to Eleanor Tillinghast. Generating energy takes a heavy toll on the natural world, so it stood to reason that Tillinghast, a […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Opinion
Wishful thinking
the traditional focus of energy policy was on ensuring inexpensive and reliable supplies, but now, driven by concerns about anthropogenic climate change, there is pressure to rein in emissions of […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
The big bet
The south shore community of Milton is planning to borrow $6 million to build a large wind turbine on town land. Normally, a project of that magnitude in such a […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Opinion
Competition works
massachusetts is committed to the principle that approximately 20 percent of its existing electric generation capacity should be replaced by a combination of efficiency measures and renewable energy. On the […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment
Seeing green
The air was thick with anticipation as US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar stepped to the microphone, even though the news he was about to make had already leaked […]
