A RECENT story in the Boston Globe, with the headline “Floods seen as warning of Boston’s future,” described how sea level rise and storm surge effects predicted for later in the century made their appearance during last week’s bomb cyclone. The article also mentioned various studies on what to do about sea level rise planned or […]
Climate change
Posted inEnvironment
Luck is not a strategy for climate change
BOSTON AND MASSACHUSETTS have climate goals that are among the most ambitious in the United States, yet climate change is a global challenge, with some impacts already evident and likely to worsen. These include sea level rise and far more severe weather than usual – such as our extreme drought in 2016, the record snowfall […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. citizens point the way on climate change
WE LIVE IN a time when the way we power our lives is literally putting our survival at stake. We’re seeing an increase in deadly natural disasters, glaciers melting at a worrisome rate, and American states and territories at risk of disappearing from the map due to rising sea levels. Yet the Trump administration seems […]
Posted inEnvironment
Cities and states must take lead on climate change
CLIMATE CHANGE CREATES risks that scientists have been warning about for decades. Fortunately, many actions that reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change and hedge against longer-term risks can also benefit public health right now. Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions often go hand in hand with reductions in air pollutants with well-established relationships […]
Posted inEnvironment
Boston seizes clean energy opportunity
IT’S BEEN A sobering few months for clean energy advocates. Despite the Trump administration’s disdain for programs and policies intended to lower the carbon emissions that threaten the safety and well-being of the nation, Boston and like-minded cities are surging ahead to take advantage of the economic, health and other benefits inherent in a carbon-free […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Salem is taking on climate change
THE MORE THINGS change, the more they stay the same. For centuries now the economic health of the city of Salem has been tied to the ocean. In the immediate aftermath of the American Revolution and into the 1800s, ships from Salem took to the seas and returned with tea, spices, and silks that turned […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Massachusetts can’t lag on climate change
Last week, President Obama met with leaders from small island states at the UN Climate negotiations in Paris. During his opening speech, Obama reconfirmed his international commitments, saying “tomorrow we’ll pledge new contributions to risk insurance initiatives that help vulnerable populations rebuild stronger after climate-related disasters.” Sadly this sentiment is not shared by the Massachusetts […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Download
The pope goes green
Pope Francis is breaking all sorts of molds with his increasingly progressive views in what had been traditionally one of the most conservative seats of power in the world. His latest is an encyclical – entitled “Laudato Si,” or “Praise be to You” – that forcefully places blame for climate change on humans, putting him […]