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 […]
Environment
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 […]
Posted inEnvironment
Healey again rejects Brookline anti-fossil fuel bylaws
FOR THE SECOND TIME in less than two years, Attorney General Maura Healey on Friday rejected bylaws approved by the town of Brookline placing restrictions or prohibitions on buildings incorporating […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Meeting Mass. emission targets about to get bit tougher
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE STATE ENERGY and environmental officials responsible for making sure Massachusetts meets its greenhouse gas emissions reductions commitments already had their work cut out for them […]
Posted inEnvironment
Two soundings from Somerset
IT WAS FITTING that Rep. Patricia Haddad would take a bow at a gathering on Thursday in Somerset celebrating the purchase of 47 acres at Brayton Point by an Italian […]
Posted inEnvironment
Natural gas infrastructure a climate change sticking point
AS MASSACHUSETTS SEEKS to transition away from fossil fuels and achieve net zero emissions by 2050, what to do with the state’s existing natural gas infrastructure is becoming a major […]
Posted inEnvironment
State said to be on track on 2020 climate goal
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION released a first-of-its-kind projection on Tuesday indicating the state is on track for now in meeting its climate change goals, but the governor’s top energy aide said […]
Posted inEnvironment
Baker administration unveils building code slide deck
BAKER ADMINISTRATION officials unveiled a slide deck on Tuesday that outlines in broad strokes how they intend to use updates to two existing state building codes and the development of […]
Posted inEnvironment
Baker seeking major changes in building code
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION is preparing to unveil proposed revisions to the state building code that would ratchet up energy conservation across the state and allow individual communities to opt-in to […]
Posted inOpinion
Grid operator should stop crying wolf
NEW ENGLAND’S fossil fuel interests and electric grid operator are at it again. Every winter, they issue dire warnings that our region’s power grid won’t be able to handle the […]