ELECTRICITY IN MANY WAYS is the key to the region’s climate change plans – bulk up and decarbonize the New England power grid and then use the green electricity to […]
Environment
Posted inOpinion
Natural gas bottleneck hurting New England
FOR ALMOST THREE decades, natural gas use has continued to grow in New England, while the number of pipelines feeding the region has remained stagnant. Demand has increased while supply […]
Posted inEnvironment
Electricity costs skyrocket along with oil usage
THE NEW ENGLAND power grid kept the lights on across the region in January, but at a very high cost financially and in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. The cost […]
Posted inEnvironment
Hunters, conservationists at odds on Sunday bow hunting
OVER THE YEARS, Massachusetts has gradually repealed its “blue laws” — historically religious laws aimed at preserving Sunday as a day of rest. In 1983, retail stores were allowed to […]
Posted inEnvironment
Close calls as region’s power grid walks a tightrope
This story has been updated. THE OVERSEER of the New England power grid warned on Monday that the region is walking a tightrope this winter, flirting with emergency situations that […]
Posted inEnvironment
Lawsuit challenges Vineyard Wind approval
A LAWSUIT CHALLENGING the federal approval of the nation’s first industrial-scale offshore wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts raises questions about the haste with which the project was approved […]
Posted inOpinion
Use our forests to fight climate change
TWO BILLS NOW before the Legislature — H.912, An Act Relative to Forest Protection and H.1002, An Act Relative to Increased Protection of Wildlife Management Areas — would help to […]
Posted inBook Review
The Quabbin lesson of doing big things (mostly) together
BEFORE THE FLOOD Destruction, Community, and Survival in the Drowned Towns of the Quabbin By Elisabeth C. Rosenberg 232 pages, Pegasus Books TODAY IT MIGHT be hard to imagine something […]
Posted inOpinion
Boston Green New Deal should include downsized Logan Airport
HIGH ON BOSTON Mayor Michelle Wu’s agenda is a municipal-level Green New Deal. Indeed, the new mayor recently declared that she is “looking to make Boston the greenest city.” The Boston Green New […]
Posted inOpinion
Boston’s health care industry is energy intensive
THE CLIMATE CRISIS is already wreaking havoc on our planet’s ecosystems, weather patterns, and economies. Some of its most profound effects, however, will be on human health. Fossil fuel pollution from heavy industry, large buildings, power plants, and transportation represents a two-front public health threat. It […]
Posted inOpinion
A lot can change when it comes to rivers
SIXTEEN YEARS BEFORE the passage of the revised Clean Water Act, 5-year-old Mark threw a rock into the Nashua River in Leominster, one of the 10 most polluted waterways in […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
FERC declines to revoke Weymouth compressor certificate
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A CONTROVERSIAL NATURAL GAS facility in Weymouth can continue to operate after federal regulators on Thursday declined to revoke the project’s authorization, dealing another blow to […]
Posted inEnvironment
Oil powering a big chunk of power grid
NEW ENGLAND POWER plants are burning a lot more oil to generate electricity, apparently because the cost of natural gas is so high. In January last year, oil accounted for […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Markey says FERC rethinking Weymouth Compressor
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FEDERAL ENERGY regulators will reconsider their approval for the controversial natural gas compressor station in Weymouth less than a year and a half after they gave […]
Posted inOpinion
John Muir’s view of wilderness is just plain wrong
THE IDEA that to “preserve” or “protect” a piece of land means it must be devoid of human influence (other than recreation) is a legacy of the white supremacy on […]
Posted inUncategorized
Sweeping offshore wind bill headed toward House
THE LEGISLATURE’S energy committee approved a bill Wednesday evening that would give the state’s Clean Energy Center a major role in the development of the offshore wind industry and tap […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Offshore wind policy fight takes center stage
A LONG-BREWING fight over state energy policy moved into the spotlight on Tuesday as key players laid out their positions in what promises to be an interesting debate over the […]
Posted inEnvironment
Power grid copes with cold by burning oil, coal
THE NEW ENGLAND power grid on Tuesday coped with unusually cold temperatures and outages at several power plants and transmission lines by bringing additional power plants online and relying on […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Baker approves solar, truck emission initiatives
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE With two of its key climate change policies dead or near-dead, the Baker administration approved two initiatives last week to incentivize the development of solar power […]
Posted inOpinion
Real work starting now at Pier 5
THE BOSTON PLANNING and Development Agency’s decision to reject the three proposals advanced for privatization of Pier 5 in Charlestown is welcome news, but now the real work begins. The […]
Posted inOpinion
Why we need to identify Green Zones
PRESIDENT BIDEN has signed an infrastructure bill that includes $21 billion for environmental remediation and $150 billion to boost clean energy and promote “climate resilience.” This money presents a tremendous […]
Posted inEnvironment
Baker: US offshore wind supply chain gaining traction
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said the state’s latest offshore wind procurement shows the industry is moving into a new phase geared toward building an American supply chain. “It speaks to two […]
Posted inEnvironment
Despite good Brayton Pt. news, court fight continues
BRAYTON POINT in Somerset was a big winner in the state’s latest offshore wind power procurement, but that apparently doesn’t mean the legal infighting over use of the waterfront property […]
Posted inOpinion
A better way to pay for power grid infrastructure
MASSACHUSETTS HAS SET realistic goals for reducing carbon emissions by 2030, but it will be necessary to make regulatory and policy updates to achieve those benchmarks. Fortunately, the Massachusetts Department […]