CLIMATE CHANGE was not just a key topic in the presidential and congressional contests earlier this month; dozens of down-ballot races across the Commonwealth were decided based on candidates’ stances on the environment. Candidates demonstrated that fighting the climate crisis, promoting clean energy, and pursuing environmental justice are winning campaign issues. Ten years ago, climate and environment were rarely mentioned by most state-level candidates. In the 2010 gubernatorial election, Cape Wind was a controversial issue—former governor Deval Patrick was its only supporter, […]
Climate change
Posted inOpinion
Carbon tax backers didn’t fare well in election
ONE OF THE MOST overlooked stories on Election Day was the defeat of pro-carbon tax politicians across the nation and here in New England. The most notable carbon tax proponent to seek office in New England was Sara Gideon, the speaker of the Maine House who was challenging moderate incumbent Republican US Sen. Susan Collins. […]
Posted inTransportation
Baker vows TCI decision by end of year
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said the underlying assumptions about a proposal to assess a price on the carbon contained in automobile fuels are in flux, but he still intends to make a decision on whether to push ahead with the high-profile regional initiative by the end of the year. At a State House press conference on […]
Posted inEnvironment
Climate initiative could push gas prices higher than forecast
A REGIONAL EFFORT led by Gov. Charlie Baker to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by putting a price on the carbon in vehicle fuels is likely to drive up the price of gasoline higher than earlier projected, according to a report by the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University. Under the so-called transportation climate initiative, […]
Posted inOpinion
Vote for climate and democracy
CLIMATE AND DEMOCRACY are on the ballot this fall for hundreds of thousands of voters across the Commonwealth. Voters in all or part of 44 communities (a complete list is at the bottom of this column) will have a chance to signal an instruction to their state representative to vote for 100 percent renewable energy […]
Posted inEnvironment
DPU orders gas utilities to rethink their future
THE MASSACHUSETTS Department of Public Utilities on Thursday ordered the state’s natural gas utilities to jointly hire consultants and come up with a way to dramatically phase down or eliminate their businesses over the next 30 years. The order is a response to Gov. Charlie Baker’s call for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. […]
Posted inOpinion
What we need in climate change legislation
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. […]
Posted inOpinion
Climate policy update needed on Beacon Hill
THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE has a chance to get the Commonwealth on to a better track with climate change. Massachusetts is regularly ranked first in the nation in energy efficiency programs and we have okay renewable energy programs, but when it comes to climate change policy we have been resting on our laurels. Our current programs were […]
Posted inOpinion
Climate action key theme of primary races
ON TUESDAY, Massachusetts voters sent a political shockwave to Washington, DC. as they for the first time in history rejected a Kennedy — with a double-digit margin — at the ballot box in favor of Green New Deal author and progressive champion Ed Markey. This victory should be seen as a sign of the climate […]
Posted inTransportation
How do we avoid a transportation relapse?
FOR MANY US CITIES, the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic provided a remarkable if temporary glimpse of an urban environment with dramatically less car travel and air pollution. On social media, photos emerged, from typically traffic-choked Boston to smoggy Los Angeles, of open roads and clear blue skies. While the reason for this change […]