A NEW PRESIDENT always means change in key public policy matters. Before sharing my thoughts about what this transition means for our energy priorities in Massachusetts, I want to share observations from the front row seat I had for the last transition of Democratic president to Republican. Around Christmastime in 2000, while still adjusting to […]
Ian Bowles
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Advice for Beacon Hill energy conferees
THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE AND SENATE are to be commended for passing important energy legislation in recent weeks. Both bills represent the most important steps forward to date to further the landmark 2008 Green Communities (GCA) and Global Warming Solutions Acts (GWSA). As a conference committee of House and Senate lawmakers moves to develop consensus legislation, […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Baker right on hydropower, clean energy contracts
DAN DOLAN’S broadside against Gov. Charlie Baker’s proposal to bring additional hydropower into our electricity market reminds me of the time when the New England power generators essentially told me the lights would go out and the sky would fall if Massachusetts joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). That was 2007 and RGGI has […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
A look back, and look forward
Thank you for having me here this morning, for what I anticipate will be my last major speaking engagement as Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs. I intend to describe the energy waterfront as I see it – I have reviewed the thrust of my remarks with my successor and with the Governor, so I […]
Posted inEducation
Advancing degrees
compared with k-12 education, which has been under the microscope since (at least) the publication of A Nation At Risk in 1983, higher education has had it easy. Here in Massachusetts, the grand bargain-of investment, expectations, and accountability-embodied in the 1993 Education Reform Act has placed schools under scrutiny to do better for students and […]
Posted inEnvironment
Beyond Cape Wind
Filling up at the gas station for a weekend on Cape Cod has taken on new significance this summer as prices hover around $3 a gallon. High energy prices have long contributed to the cost of living and doing business in Massachusetts. But now, as the crunch seems to be getting worse, energy could represent […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
CW comes of age
Spring 2006 Winston Churchill said, “History will be kind to me because I intend to write it.” In much the same vein, I intend, on the occasion of CommonWealth’s 10th anniversary issue, to say a few admittedly biased words of praise for the magazine I am proud to publish, and especially the team that puts […]
Posted inPolitics
Turning 10
In 1996, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at about 4,000 and just beginning its dizzying five-year runup to more than 11,000. The United States was in the midst of the longest period of sustained economic growth on record. Wealth was being created on a scale not seen in our history. In politics, Bill Weld […]
Posted inUncategorized
Growing together or apart
Growth & Develpment Extra 2006 Today, Massachusetts is fast becoming not one state but two—and our sense of commonwealth is the worse for it. Some residents are enjoying the bounty provided by a resilient economy driven by innovation, entrepreneurship, and capital formation. Their home values have soared while their quality of life—starting with the liberty […]
Posted inUncategorized
Counting on new pilgrims
Fall 2005 Of all the media coverage generated in the wake of MassINC’s recent research on immigration, The Changing Face of Massachusetts, none was more poignant than an editorial by the Old Colony Memorial in Plymouth entitled “New Pilgrims.” The editors reminded readers of the Cordage Co., a local rope manufacturer, which a century ago […]