In October 2008 CLF and three citizens petitioned NOAA to protect the Atlantic wolffish under the Endangered Species Act. You may recall the news headlines from that time such as “Protection sought for sea brute” or ”Group to seek protection for a toothy sea monster,” not to forget my personal favorite “Group seeks protection for ugly New England fish.”  The Atlantic wolffish is, apparently, considered unattractive by both humans and most headline editors. In any event, it’s largely true that wolffish are best known for their fang-like teeth. What can you say about the fact that their eating habits consist of crushing whole scallops and sea urchins — not to mention the occasional wayward crab? Check our video, courtesy of Jonathan Bird, of the wolffish in action. It’s an admitted charismatically gruesome fish, but there are those of us who love it. So, after sitting patiently by read more…

The Boston Common has a long history as a place  where social activism and change can flourish.  It is therefore not surprising that  Massachusetts college based climate activists chose this most historic of public spaces for a “Sleep Out”  since the Common is right in front of the Massachusetts State House and this particular campaign is focused on provoking legislative action in favor of clean energy. These activists, and prominent guests and supporters like Dr. James Hansen the most prominent climate science in the United States, made the decision to stick out on the Common through the night despite the Boston Police showing up to issue citations for being in the Common after the 11 PM “closure” of the park. The number of people who are willing to publicly call read more…

A pending bill in the Massachusetts legislature would set up a reasonably good system for facilitating the siting of wind energy facilities in Massachusetts.   Conservation Law Foundation and a group of allies have placed on the public record a letter supporting this bill and responding to issues raised by opponents.   We urge Massachusetts residents to educate themselves on this issue and to make their voices heard.

Anyone who has ever authored anything relating to global warming that was posted on even a moderately popular website knows that this is a topic that brings forth legions of trolls lurking in the tubes of the interwebs in web “comments.” My recent Boston Globe Op-Ed (which also was posted on this blog) unleashed just such a torrent. Fortunately, some sanity prevailed in the later comments as a fellow who goes by “freejung” posted some smart responses with links to good resources at the end of the comment string. He highlights the letter from 18 of the most respected science organizations to the Senate on the subject as well as an interesting list of web resources. Perhaps the most interesting development in the collapse of climate change denial as socially read more…

The continued flow of oil into the Timor Sea north of Australia previously presented on this blog is both a general example of the many kinds of harm that flow from uncontrolled fossil fuel use and a specific example of why talk about new drilling techniques being safe should be viewed with great skepticism. News reports tell us that the flow of oil into the sea from the drilling platform continues and in a really sad new development the platform burst into flames during an attempt to close down the well. And now there is video of the situation.  Note the spokesman for the oil exploration company admitting that the fire is out of control. And yes the Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett who is in part responsible for dealing read more…

You’re invited to Next Steps for Salem: Working Towards a Cleaner Future. Tuesday, November 3, 2009 Reception: 5:30pm / Presentation: 6:15pm Salem Visitor Center 2 New Liberty Street Salem, MA Salem Harbor Station is close to a tipping point. The owner, Dominion, now faces at least three major obstacles to continuing the plant’s operation: ISO-NE, the system operator for the New England power grid, has recently determined that no more than two of the four units at the facility are still needed for reliability – and some key stakeholders question whether even those two units are needed. The two decade-old permit required for the plant’s water cooling system is long overdue for renewal, and any new permit should require the plant to retrofit with cooling towers to minimize environmental impacts read more…

CLF’s Seth Kaplan in an Op-Ed article from the October 26, 2009 Boston Globe: THE BLUR of details and fog of ideological attacks can obscure the truly essential in the current congressional debate about legislation to confront global warming while building a green economy: the stark need for immediate action. The bill recently unveiled by Senators John F. Kerry and Barbara Boxer represents an important step forward. The bill is not perfect, and ways that it can be strengthened are discussed below. However, it does include some of the most essential tools for addressing this most fundamental of challenges. The Kerry-Boxer bill sets hard targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions consistent with the need identified by science. It creates new tools for tackling the job of climate stabilization while leaving read more…

October 24, 2009 is the International Day of Climate Action, and author Bill McKibben’s advocacy movement known as 350.org has been getting a lot of attention. 350.org is coordinating a widespread day of environmental action with one goal: solutions to the climate crisis. Why 350? McKibben argues that it is the safe upper limit in atmospheric carbon dioxide, measured in parts per million. In order to avoid an environmental catastrophe, it’s the number targeted by this movement. In this week’s Yale Environment 360, economist Frank Ackerman argues that what is good for the Earth is good for the wallet. Of course, it is an alarming idea that this is the “safe” level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as we are at 390 already – and rising. Though 350.org’s wide read more…

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Incredibly, Boston-based energy management company EnerNOC, a company that likes to pitch itself as “green”, has convinced  the California Public Utilities Commission to approve a program that uses diesel generators to supply “peak power” to Sempra, the electric utility serving the San Diego area.  SNL, an energy and financial trade press website, reported the decision this way: California narrowly approves diesel generators contract for demand-side management October 15, 2009 5:11 PM ET By Jeff Stanfield In a rare 3-2 vote, the California Public Utilities Commission on Oct. 15 approved San Diego Gas & Electric Co.’s contract with Celerity Energy Partners, an EnerNOC Inc. company that aggregates distributed generation resources, with dissenting commissioners arguing that the decision threatens a core state energy policy. The commissioners fell out over whether 45 MW read more…