Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown has been striking a defensive pose in recent weeks as non-profit groups and the thousands of Massachusetts voters they count as members called him out about his votes on the environment. A new radio ad from CLF and NRDC, launching today in major markets across Massachusetts, asks Brown to explain his latest votes in support of big oil, approving the continuation of huge subsidies for oil companies and opening up New England’s oceans (among other areas) to new offshore drilling. Brown’s rhetoric setting up a false choice between protecting the environment and creating a thriving Massachusetts economy is ringing hollow. We wonder what his response will be this time.

Siding with Big Oil – Senator Scott Brown by conservationlawfoundation

TAKE ACTION NOW! Tell Senator Scott Brown to protect our coasts, not big oil.

Photo: Matthew Trump

CLF spoke out today regarding Green Mountain Power of Vermont’s newly-inked deal to purchase power from Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, even as the state faces ongoing battles over Vermont Yankee. In a statement, Christopher Kilian, vice president and director of CLF Vermont, questioned the wisdom of betting on nuclear power as a long-term energy source for Vermont. The statement is below:

“Vermonters are rightly concerned about their energy sources,” said Christopher Kilian, vice president and director of CLF Vermont. “Striking the appropriate balance between cost, safety and environmental concerns associated with energy generation is an ongoing challenge, and we appreciate the state’s efforts to make energy-related decisions that are in the best interest of its citizens. However, we remain concerned about the state’s bet on nuclear energy over such a long time horizon. While Seabrook is a newer facility than Vermont Yankee, it shares the ongoing problems that all nuclear facilities have in common, like the absence of any proven solution for long-term waste storage and disposal. Adding to that the issues of Seabrook’s location right on the coast, which is especially troubling given the rising sea levels caused by global warming and recent sobering events in Japan, and continued lax federal oversight regarding relicensing of these older plants, CLF continues to believe that nuclear power is a poor choice for Vermont and New England and doesn’t belong in our energy future.”

Kilian continued, “Experience in Vermont shows the legal risks of betting on nuclear power. The state is now facing massive legal battles because the owners of Vermont Yankee are going back on their promises.”

Conservation Law Foundation joined more than 30 national, regional and local environmental organizations today on a letter to Massachusetts senator Scott Brown chiding him for his response to a series of ads taking him to task for his votes on environmental issues. Brown’s public remarks and a Boston Herald editorial have attempted to deflect attention away from the issues raised in the ads and onto the tactics of the League of Women Voters, the organization behind them. The letter details Brown’s recent votes for two pieces of legislation that, if enacted, would severely impact public health, including the health of children. Brown has said in the wake of the ads that “as a father, I would never do anything to put my two daughters or anyone else’s children in harm’s way.” The letter supported the ads as being “scientifically accurate.” In a press release, CLF’s Seth Kaplan urged Brown to respond to the issues at hand, saying, “By voting to undermine EPA’s ability to protect public health and the environment, he is choosing to protect out-of-state polluters, not his constituents.”

In arguments made today before Federal Judge Rya W. Zobel on the federal lawsuit regarding the New England fisheries management system known as Amendment 16, Conservation Law Foundation senior counsel Peter Shelley defended the process in which the new rules were developed and agreed upon at the New England Fishery Management Council and re-affirmed CLF’s support for the Amendment.

Shelley stated, “This lawsuit is not so much about the specific merits of Amendment 16, but more about the integrity of the process by which the new rules were developed and vetted and set into motion. The process, which involved all of the fishing interests, including some who today decry it and the outcome it produced, was fair, rational and legal. New Bedford’s interests were directly represented in those lengthy deliberations and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts participated actively in both the Amendment 16 science decision-making and the policy development. This is the New England Council’s plan, not a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) plan.”

“CLF supports the Council’s approval of Amendment 16 not because it is perfect, but because it represents a reasonable decision, reached after an extended transparent public debate that reasonably meets the Magnuson Stevens Act and National Environmental Policy Act requirements while attempting to provide additional flexibility for fishermen in the region to fish more efficiently and profitably if they want to. The related issues of consolidation and fairness in access to fish are on the Council’s plate now and should be carefully analyzed and debated.”

After the hearing, Shelley observed, “What we have learned over the past fifteen years is that strong and effective management of this important public resource, coupled with some degree of luck with Mother Nature, can restore fish populations to high levels and support a vital and stable domestic fishing industry. Amendment 16 is designed to accomplish that objective and is consistent with the Magnuson Act.”

Read the text of Peter’s full argument here.

An important development today in the Northeast Utilities/NStar merger proceeding: the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (MA DPU) announced that it will modernize the standard of review for utility mergers, including requiring that climate change impacts be taken into account. CLF issued the following statement in response:

Sue Reid, director of Conservation Law Foundation’s Massachusetts office, said, “The DPU’s decision to modernize the standard of review for utility mergers and require that climate change impacts be taken into account is a very welcome development. A merger like the one proposed by NU and NSTAR – which would create the largest utility in New England and one of the largest in the nation – appropriately should be required to meet a “net benefit” test, rather than the mere “no net harm” standard used in the past. This change goes to the core of the merger petition filed by NU and NSTAR. These companies now must bear the burden of proof to demonstrate how this merger would benefit the public – in terms of jobs created, consumer choice, renewable energy commitments, and greenhouse gas reductions in keeping with Massachusetts’ ambitious requirements. It also will provide a more meaningful opportunity to address widespread concerns raised by stakeholders from the environmental, business and labor communities about the potential impacts of the proposed merger.”

CLF intervened in the NU/NStar proceeding in January, 2011.

In response to a February 21 order by the Rhode Island Supreme Court, the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) today filed a brief defending its legal standing in the Deepwater Wind case and issued the following statement:

Jerry Elmer, staff attorney at CLF Rhode Island, said, “If CLF and others are denied standing in this case, it will have the effect of shutting down the process for reviewing and appealing the PUC’s decisions on renewable energy contracts, not just in this case, but potentially on all future contracts as well.”

Tricia K. Jedele, director of CLF Rhode Island, said, “The need for a fair and open process to ensure that renewable energy development is done right in Rhode Island is at the heart of CLF’s case. That fair and open process begins with a finding by the Court that CLF has standing to pursue this appeal on behalf of its members and in the interest of Rhode Island’s clean energy future, which is in the public interest.”

In a letter to President Obama today, CLF added a regional voice to the chorus of national organizations asking him to use the State of the Union address on January 25th to show his support for the Clean Air Act. The Clean Air Act’s vital public health protections are once again under attack from the nation’s biggest polluters and their supporters in Congress; the President has a chance to let the nation know where he stands. We were proud to represent New England in this important call to action to the President.

Conservation Law Foundation issued the following statement in response to today’s release of Massachusetts’ Clean Energy and Climate Plan, which will reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

“The 25 percent target puts Massachusetts on the right trajectory to achieve the greenhouse gas reductions the science says we need to see by 2020,” said John Kassel, president of Conservation Law Foundation. “Setting the target at the maximum authorized by the Global Warming Solutions Act is in keeping with the Patrick Administration’s track record of bold and innovative clean energy and climate policy that recognizes the opportunity in aligning our environmental objectives with our economic ones. The new plan will put in place a diverse portfolio of pragmatic solutions that create jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions – a winning formula for the Commonwealth and one that will no doubt be watched closely around the country.”

Kassel served on the Climate Protection and Green Economy Advisory Committee that consulted with state officials on the drafting of the Plan. CLF played a key role in making the statute a reality and has lent its expertise throughout the planning process to ensure a final plan that was aggressive enough to achieve the necessary GHG reductions while still being achievable.

The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) protects New England’s environment for the benefit of all people. Using the law, science and the market, CLF creates solutions that preserve natural resources, build healthy communities, and sustain a vibrant economy region-wide. Founded in1966, CLF is a nonprofit, member-supported organization with offices in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

A logo is a funny thing. At first, you want to compare it to everything you’ve ever seen before. Ask 10 people and they will all see something different, but will grasp for the familiar in it. But over time, a logo takes on meaning of its own. Even with no words attached to it, we can identify the organization behind it. It says something startling about us that we can process the thousands of visual impressions we take in every day, mix in the messages we hear, and bring all those to mind when we flash on an image as simple as, say, a red line.

In our new logo, we hope you will see both the CLF you’ve come to trust, and the energy we have for tackling the environmental challenges ahead. The red line, or “zing,” as we’ve started calling it around here, is our version of the exclamation point. It says, “And we mean it.”

Our new logo is just one element of a whole new look and feel for CLF’s marketing and communications. We invite you to be among the first to get a glimpse at our brand new website, launched today. We hope you will tell us what you like and what you don’t, and come back often, as we are adding more content every day about our work and ways you can get involved. Starting today, you will also see our new look on Facebook and Twitter and coming soon in our print and digital publications, online communications, advertising and more.

We have some work to do before the zing means:  those people who cleaned up Boston Harbor, or that group that saved the cod, or the ones who made our cars cleaner. We’ll continue solving New England’s toughest environmental problems, and telling you about it here on our blog, on our website, in our publications, and in the media. In time, we hope, when you see the zing, you will say, “CLF: they’re the ones who protect my New England.”