THERE IS OVERWHELMING evidence the world is experiencing the impacts of climate change, and that we must move away from fossil fuels. As an energy company serving millions of people […]
Environment
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Senate passes climate bill, adds offshore wind boost
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SENATORS TOOK a major step Thursday toward achieving the net-zero emissions target they already set for Massachusetts by approving a policy-heavy bill aimed at expanding the […]
Posted inOpinion
Too many containers are being burned, buried, littered
CLIMATE CHANGE is wreaking havoc on our planet, particularly in the Northeast region. A recent report from the United Nations found that climate change is accelerating at a shocking clip. The UN’s […]
Posted inEnvironment
Senate climate bill goes granular, ups electric vehicle rebates
SENATE LEADERSHIP unveiled a very prescriptive $250 million climate change bill on Thursday that would direct Gov. Charlie Baker and his successor to boost rebates for zero emission vehicles, allow […]
Posted inOpinion
Moving the needle on climate change by not eating
WE HAD PROTESTED. We had lobbied, called, emailed, and written. We had marched, rallied, and chanted. We had sat in, blocked, disrupted, and gotten arrested. None of it had stopped the insanity. […]
Posted inEnvironment
Grid operator urges slower transition on renewables
THE NEW ENGLAND power grid operator filed a proposal with federal regulators on Monday seeking more time to come up with a system for incorporating clean energy into the region’s […]
Posted inOpinion
Addressing the drinking water gap in Mass.
AMONG THE MANY progressive actions taken in Massachusetts, access to clean water was deemed a right guaranteed by Article 97 of the state Constitution in 1972, yet over half a […]
Posted inEnvironment
An international shout-out for Boston planning efforts
OUR NATION AND WORLD have experienced great trauma in the past two years: a global pandemic, the January 6th Capitol riot, an intense reckoning with past and present racism, and […]
Posted inOpinion
Olmsted inspiration: Use parks to address climate change
IT’S ALL TOO EASY to imagine: a Boston neighborhood keeps flooding in extreme weather. Rising waters and dirty storm runoff threaten public health and homes. A community that wants to […]
Posted inOpinion
With climate changing, get educated about flood insurance
IT’S CLEAR THE CLIMATE is changing. According to FEMA, the U.S. has experienced more severe flooding in the last decade (18 severe floods during 2010-2019) than during the prior three […]
Posted inThe Download
Scrap metal operation shuts down in Somerset
At around 7 p.m. Monday night, the clanging sound of scrap metal being loaded onto a ship at Brayton Point in Somerset appeared to come to a halt. According to […]
Posted inUncategorized
Scrap metal operation shuts down in Somerset
AT AROUND 7 p.m. Monday night, the clanging sound of scrap metal being loaded onto a ship at Brayton Point in Somerset appeared to come to a halt. According to […]
Posted inOpinion
Protecting the state’s protected lands
WE OFTEN THINK of floods, hurricanes, snowstorms and the like as threats to our normal way of life, but the Covid pandemic has shown us a unique threat that affects […]
Posted inEnvironment
Brayton Point scrap metal business asks for more time
A clarification has been added to this story. THE BATTLE over the scrap metal heap at Brayton Point in Somerset looks like it’s going to go down to the wire. […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service, Transportation
Senate seeks fixed date for bus electrification
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WARNING THAT the pace of electrification underway for the MBTA’s bus fleet is “too slow for the Legislature,” a top senator is newly forecasting that his […]
Posted inEnvironment
How 3 women helped drive a scrap metal business out of Somerset
LAND COURT JUDGE Robert Foster ordered the scrap metal export business at Brayton Point in Somerset to shut down largely because of what he heard and saw on a visit to […]
Posted inOpinion
Van Welie is wrong about natural gas
IN RESPONSE to Russia’s unjust invasion of Ukraine, the European Union announced it will rapidly accelerate its transition from natural gas – much of which it gets from Russia – […]
Posted inOpinion
ARPA money needed for nature, open space
LAST FALL, the Massachusetts Legislature invested $4 billion of state and federal funds in a COVID recovery. The lawmakers’ priorities – support for essential workers, investments in housing and healthcare […]
Posted inEnvironment
Judge orders shutdown of Brayton Pt. scrap metal operation
A STATE LAND COURT JUDGE on Monday ordered a scrap metal operation at Brayton Point in Somerset to shut down within the next two weeks after concluding that the operation […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Offshore wind bill sails through House
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE LEGISLATION THAT lawmakers hope will turbocharge the growing offshore wind industry in Massachusetts and help the state meet its climate commitments easily sailed through the House […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
2 senators say proposed building code comes up short
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AS THE DEPARTMENT of Energy Resources launches hearings on its straw proposal for a stretch code update and a new municipal opt-in specialized stretch code, two […]
Posted inEnvironment
New offshore wind bill drops electric bill charges
HOUSE LEADERS on Tuesday abandoned a proposal to hike electric ratepayer bills as they pulled together the votes needed to pass legislation offering significant financial incentives to the offshore wind […]
Posted inOpinion
We demand our gas utilities shift to renewables
ONE MORNING, as Elena was walking her children to school, her 8-year-old son suddenly said: “Mom, I smell gas!” He was smelling gas from one of Massachusetts’s 15,000 unrepaired leaks, […]
Posted inOpinion
Why we’re still using gas, oil to produce electricity
IN DECEMBER, ISO New England issued its annual winter outlook and warned of the precarious state the region’s power system would be in if a prolonged, severe cold snap developed […]
