The I-90 Allston Multimodal Project could be described as a MassDOT highway project—yet it is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reconnect the Allston community and to deliver transformational transportation options, unprecedented development opportunities, and critical environmental benefits for Boston, Worcester, and beyond.
Bradley M. Campbell
Bradley M. Campbell is the President of the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston.
Posted inOpinion
Shame on the House’s Kraft land grab
THIS END-OF-SESSION season is when the Legislature’s aversion to transparency and penchant for back-room deals become the mortar and pestle of terrible policy decisions at the expense of the public interest. The economic development bill passed by the House of Representatives presents the latest case-in-point. Quietly tucked into the bill was an amendment that would […]
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 stress of another season of extreme weather. As this week’s CommonWealth story highlights, 2022 is no different. It’s time to call out ISO-New England (our […]
Posted inOpinion
For Baker, crunch time on climate change
LAST WEEK, a bipartisan climate bill passed with overwhelming majorities in the Massachusetts House and Senate. Gov. Charlie Baker now has to choose – by Thursday at midnight – between cementing his and the Commonwealth’s position as climate leaders, or withholding the tools needed for Massachusetts to comply with its own climate law. A broad coalition of business, health, environmental, and environmental justice groups supports the bill. It includes key efforts that […]
Posted inOpinion
A new, bigger I-90 viaduct is not the answer
IN 1965, Massachusetts officials opened the Allston section of I-90, shoehorning an eight-lane elevated highway between Boston University and the Charles River, dividing a vibrant working-class community and wounding vital riverfront habitat in the process. Some 60 years later, Boston, Brookline, and Cambridge still endure impacts from this obsolete, failed transportation policy that placed a […]
Posted inEnvironment
Climate change demands raising infrastructure standards
PERCHED ON THE North Atlantic, with a shoreline prone to flooding and a history of damaging Nor’easters, and surrounded by the fastest warming ocean waters in the world, Massachusetts of all places needs to prepare now for the ravages of climate change. From Cape Ann to Cape Cod, our infrastructure is not built to withstand […]
Posted inOpinion
Gas explosions show how dangerous the fuel is
THE CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION in late September held a meeting in Lawrence to highlight the work of our community partners there. Just as these groups began their presentations, natural gas-fueled explosions and fires began to erupt in South Lawrence and the neighboring towns of Andover and North Andover. Amidst the ensuing chaos, one person was […]
Posted inOpinion
The waterfront is for all
WALKING ALONG THE Boston Harbor waterfront today, it is clear that the area has come a long way from the days when the harbor was an open sewer and an elevated highway cut off the water from the rest of the city. For decades, neglected waterfront properties created few jobs, paid little in taxes, and […]