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 credit: Marilyn Humphries

For those of you looking for a good clean-energy read, check out this recent article by Climate Progress’s Stephen Lacey. Lacey focuses on the common myth that clean energy and climate reduction policies will mean higher energy costs for consumers, pointing out that two recently released reports show that the implementation of cleaner, more efficient energy systems will actually save them money in the long run. The same myth has been perpetuated regarding the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) here in the Northeast. To debunk that notion, Lacey quotes CLF’s VP for Climate Advocacy and Policy Seth Kaplan:

“The fact is, RGGI is a very, very, very small piece of the overall cost of electricity. There are so many costs that are much greater. Pulling out the cost of RGGI would be like factoring in the cost of mowing the lawn at the power plant or factoring in the property taxes. Some of the claims that groups are making about the cost of the program are patently absurd.”

To hear more from Seth on the subject, read the full article here.

Hands Across the Sands 2010, Salisbury Beach, MA. (Photo credit: William Scofield)

With the arrival of summer, many New Englanders’ thoughts turn to the ocean. Whether you enjoy surfing the waves at Hampton beach, sailing the Narragansett Bay, camping on Cape Cod’s National Seashore, picnicking with your family at Revere Beach or simply enjoying the ocean’s bounty in the form of a Maine lobster roll, our ocean gives us so much to be thankful for.

But the ocean means so much more to New Englanders then a day at the beach, it plays a critical role in growing our economy and supporting jobs and businesses.  In fact, healthy oceans bring tens of billions of dollars to our economy every year and support thousands of jobs and businesses in our region—fishermen, surf-shop owners, shipping companies and dock workers, bed and breakfast owners, restaurants and ice-cream shacks all depend on a healthy ocean.

Yet while we enjoy some sun at the beach after a long winter, New England’s ocean is at risk.

34 years ago oil companies drilled several test wells off New England’s coast and were preparing to launch full scale drilling operations when CLF, along with our allies in the fishing and tourism industry, stepped in to protect our coast. Despite the small amount of oil estimated to lie beneath our waters, the oil companies haven’t forgotten about that day, and now they, and their allies in Congress, are making a big push to re-open our coast to new drilling—and they’re closer than ever before.

Last month, less than a year after BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil disaster unleashed our nation’s worst environmental disaster, the US House of Representatives passed legislation that would expand drilling in New England and across the country. Thankfully that legislation was defeated in the Senate, but we know the oil companies and their allies will be back.

While most of New England’s congressional delegation—Republicans and Democrats alike—joined together to protect our coast, a few sided with the oil industry.  Congressmen Charlie Bass and Frank Guinta of New Hampshire and Senators Brown of Massachusetts and Ayotte of New Hampshire all voted with big oil to expand drilling off our coast, while limiting environmental review.

New England’s ocean is far too valuable to drill, and it is important that all of us from local business owners, to fishermen, to the casual beachgoer, send that message to our representatives in Congress.

That is why I hope you can join CLF and our allies in supporting a wonderful event called Hands Across the Sands.  On Saturday, June 25^th people from around the world will meet at their local beach to join hands and issue a simple call to governments around the world—Stop offshore drilling and promote the development of clean renewable energy.

So join us (and bring your kids, friends, neighbors, and anyone else you can think of ) at a Hands Across the Sands event near you. Then stick around afterwards and enjoy a day at the beach with the people you love. Click here to find an event near you.

There will be hundreds of events around the world, but if there is no event scheduled near you, it is very easy to organize your own event (and a great way to meet new people who share your love of the ocean). Click here to learn how, or call Winston Vaughan at (617) 850-1750 and he’ll walk you through it.

I finally got around to posting a blog entry about the latest report by the International Energy Agency about the terrible trajectory that our species is putting the planet’s climate but then I saw that Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby had weighed in with good news: he has found one physicist who disagrees with the rest of the scientific establishment and therefore we can stop worrying about this fundamental threat to our environment, society, health and economy.

If Jacoby was only a lone crank offering his opinions and “facts” on his own website that would be one thing – but he is the primary “conservative” columnist (although how ignoring science and real threats to the environment and the economy is conservative is  a bit of a mystery) at one of the leading news sources in New England.

Mr. Jacoby is the local voice of well-financed effort to generate doubt about climate science and he is seeking to undermine support for the affirmative steps taken in Massachusetts, and New England, to attack this most fundamental of problems.

The people stepping up to take action to protect our climate, our public health and to build a new clean energy economy come from our religious communities, our businesses, our neighborhoods as well as the public policy and political worlds.

This broad and deep support for action is grounded firmly in the science, the need to protect and conserve our environment and economy – as well as a recognition that getting out of the curve on global warming and energy independence will help build a more prosperous Commonwealth, region and nation.

Sad news from Western Massachusetts: the Boston Globe and the Daily Hampshire Gazette report the death of Bob Paquette, the longtime host of Morning Edition at WFCR, the public radio station in Amherst MA.   Bob, who often interviewed CLF staff about our work and reported on environmental issues, is warmly remembered by his colleagues.  His intelligence and engagement were rare and he will be missed.

Deepest condolences to his many friends and his family, especially his husband Michael Packard.

Do you love the Earth? Fantastic concerts? Free stuff? Learning about the awesome work of your friendly neighborhood environmental non-profits? No matter what you and your family are into, celebrate it with CLF at EarthFest this Saturday, May 21, at the Hatch Shell in Boston. This annual event, presented courtesy of Radio 92.9, features hundreds of environmentally-friendly vendors and sponsors along with local non-profits doing green work in your community. And if that’s not enough rockstars for you, stick around for a stellar lineup featuring Atomic Tom, Sponge, LIVE’s Ed Kowalczyk and Ok Go, among other acts of musical greatness.

So tomorrow, come out and show your support for CLF and New England’s environment! Stop by our booth for environmentally-themed games, prizes and more. We’ll be strategically located between Lovin Spoonfuls and Boston Harbor Alliance in the non-profit exhibitor area between the Main Events area and the Vendor Cafe. We’ll see you there!

Let’s review:

Radio 92.9 EarthFest
Saturday, May 21
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Hatch Shell, Boston, MA

May 17th was a good day for fish and Massachusetts fishermen. In a harsh but eloquent opinion issued on Tuesday, the federal First Circuit Court of Appeals told the U.S. Coast Guard in no uncertain terms that it had failed to meet its responsibilities to fully evaluate the potential environmental impacts of its decision to overrule protections that Massachusetts put in place to protect Cape Cod, Buzzards Bay and the islands from further oil spills from coastal oil transport.

At issue was a new set of state rules, adopted by the Massachusetts legislature after the disastrous Bouchard oil barge spill in 2003 on a rock outcropping in Buzzards Bay. The state rules imposed mandatory tug escorts for oil barges, barge manning, and crew task requirements that were stricter than existing federal rules. The Coast Guard didn’t like being second-guessed on safety issues and issued rules that overruled the Massachusetts effort with more lax and oil transport-friendly requirements. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Coalition for Buzzards Bay challenged that action in federal district court and Conservation Law Foundation also briefed the case.

On appeal from an unfavorable lower court opinion, the federal Court of Appeals agreed with Massachusetts, chastising the lower court that it had misread legal precedent. The Court of Appeals held that the Coast Guard had done no environmental review at all despite the “tidal wave” of public concern about the consequences of the weaker rules and increased risks of more oil spills. Instead of a “hard look” at those risks, the Court found that the Coast Guard had, at best, given them a “brief glance.” In trying to avoid confronting the safety issues, the Appeals Court said, the Coast Guard “rip[ped] out the heart” of its own rules.

A bird covered in oil as a result of the Bouchard oil barge spill (Photo: MA EOEEA)

Unfortunately, the fight to protect Cape Cod, Buzzards Bay, and the Islands is not over, and further vigilance will be critical. The case will now be sent back to the Coast Guard to complete the necessary environmental review. We can only hope that they will be more responsive this time around. Coastal oil transport is no doubt critical to our regional economy but it must be done with maximum protections. Oil economic interests should not trump coastal safety issues. The future of our fisheries depends on clean coastal waters as does the health of all marine life, from fish to fowl to mammals.

A great debt is owed to the Massachusetts legislature for acting so forcefully on this issue and to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office and the Coalition for Buzzards Bay for their intelligent and passionate defense of these state interests. May 17, 2011 was a good day for our oceans.

CLF is a proud founding member of Renewable Energy New England (RENEW) – a group that brings together renewable energy developers and technology companies with environmental advocates.

In a major milestone in the life of RENEW (a relatively new organization) ISO New England (ISO-NE), the operator of the region’s “bulk” power system and wholesale electricity markets, has elected to perform a regional economic study requested by RENEW.

The RENEW economic study will evaluate how much of the approximately 4,000 megawatts of wind energy projects that have applied to connect to the New England system (the technical phrase is, “in the interconnection queue”) could be developed over the next five years without significant transmission upgrades (that is, building new power lines or supporting hardware) and what the economic impact of making those upgrades would be in order to develop the remaining wind power projects.

ISO-NE performs annual economic studies drawing from requests submitted by stakeholders.  In recent years ISO-NE has undertaken studies at the request of the Governors of the New England states that looked at long-term scenarios for building wind energy resources and transmission for supporting such resources. In the past two years ISO-NE has studied high penetration renewable resource scenarios for the year 2030 in the course of doing a New England Wind Integration Study (NEWIS). RENEW hopes the 2011 study will inform development and transmission upgrade decisions over the next few years as the states work to meet their renewable portfolio standard requirements, address the climate imperative to reduce emissions from the power sector and work to build a new clean economy.

More information on NEWIS and the economy study can be found at the ISO-NE section on the RENEW website.

Special mention and recognition is due to Abigail Krich, the President of Boreas Renewables, transmission consultant to RENEW who was the primary representative of RENEW in the NEWIS process and in the development of the economic study request (and whose material I have shamelessly borrowed from in crafting this blog post).

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.”