THE COLLISION of an escalating climate crisis with a brutal COVID-19 pandemic that continues to rage across the country, taking lives, and livelihoods with it, has been devastating. In the same month, we saw over 1,000 dead per day from the pandemic, all amid a backdrop of raging fires, eerily orange skies, and charred buildings. […]
Deborah Donovan
Posted inOpinion
Hydro power is good, but safeguards needed
MASSACHUSETTS IS ON THE FRONT LINES of the climate crisis. Residents are already grappling with the effects of a changing climate on the coasts and in our communities. In response to this growing threat, Massachusetts law requires that the state reduce emissions 80 percent by 2050, and Massachusetts has taken action to reduce climate pollution […]
Posted inOpinion
Raise the Renewable Portfolio Standard
AS THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION draws to an end, state lawmakers are considering bills that would increase the annual growth rate of the Massachusetts Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). As these proposals move ahead, it is important that decision-makers not be deterred by unsubstantiated claims made by opponents that an RPS increase is incompatible with procurements of hydroelectricity required by statute (Section 83D) or will undermine compliance with the state’s Clean Energy Standard (CES). This argument […]