At the just-concluded meeting of the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers in Saint John, the capital of the province of New Brunswick in Canada, the governors of the New England states adopted a “Blueprint” for electric transmission to facilitate development of wind power.  The idea was to sketch out a basic plan for supportive infrastructure needed if the region is going to meet its renewable energy and climate goals. The plan, which is available at the website of an interstate organization known as the “New England States Committee on Electricity” (“NESCOE“) is not perfect.  It does not appropriately consider the impact of rising CO2 prices on the price of electricity and underestimates the reductions in electric demand as we become more efficient.  But it is a good start read more…

Pop quiz: Which country is the biggest exporter of oil to the United States? Venezuela? Mexico? Saudi Arabia? None of the above. The correct answer is America’s neighbor to the north, Canada. In a story that will almost certainly not make headlines in mainstream American news outlets, a group of activists blocked tar sands mining operations in Northern Alberta. The activists unveiled a massive banner and chained themselves to equipment. Most of Canada’s oil comes from the tar sands – a bitumen rich deposit of sand, clay and water the size of England. It is the single the largest industrial project in the world. Creating usable petroleum from the tar sands isn’t easy – or environmentally friendly – and has only been feasible in light of higher oil prices and read more…

Georges Bank is the underwater icon of New England – a place of legendary bounty for those fishermen willing to brave dangerous storms in search of Atlantic cod. But, the Bank has always been more than a popular and productive fishing ground. In New England, it’s comparable to the Grand Canyon for its popular resonance and cultural significance. Georges Bank is part of our cultural heritage that ties us to New England. Between 1976 and 1982, three oil companies drilled ten oil and natural gas wells on Georges Bank. They were stopped from additional drilling by Conservation Law Foundation, working fishermen and citizens from around the region. In 1998, President Clinton issued an Executive Order that prevented the leasing of any area in the North Atlantic and, as a result, read more…

New England’s ocean and coastal waters have long suffered from management that only allows a single-sector approach. One agency is in charge of energy, one agency in charge of commercial fishing and another is in charge of water quality. This leads to a situation in both state and fedaral waters where no one is watching out for the overall health of the ocean ecosystem. Both the Pew Oceans Commission and the US Ocean Commission, hundreds of scientists and regional leaders from several coastal states have called for protection of ocean and coastal habitat and an ecosystem-based approach to management. In Massachusetts we have the Massachusetts Ocean Plan, the first-ever-in-the-nation attempt at comprehensive ocean planning. There is a draft plan out now and a final due to be implemented by the end of 2009. The read more…

The Boston Globe today presents an excellent editorial on the misguided proposal for the power plant in Somerset Massachusetts: ONE OF THE state’s “Filthy Five’’ coal-burning power plants is trying to turn itself into a Cinderella of clean-burning electricity generation. Since the makeover includes a first-in-the-nation commercial use of a certain technology to reduce dirty emissions, the state should give it a closer environmental review. (MORE) This particular proposal is one that CLF is engaging in many ways, including in a pending court case (somerset-sc-clfs-memo-suppt-of-jdgmt-8-10-09).  And earlier on in the legal process this plant was (among other issues) discussed in an Op-Ed by Dr. James Hansen.  It has been the subject of ongoing upset, protests and opposition. If you want to support our work on cases like this – go read more…

I always say that mantra number two for a climate advocate is “Yeah, we have to do that too.”  As in, “We need to be more efficient AND we need to build wind farms AND we need to build transmission lines to support the wind farms AND we need to build sidewalks and transit so people can drive less, etc . . . “  You get the point. And mantra number one is: “The scary part is . . .” because every time you think you have seen it all, something worse and new comes along. The latest comes to us from the National Center for Atmospheric Research: Arctic temperatures in the 1990s reached their warmest level of any decade in at least 2,000 years, new research indicates. The study, read more…

CLF staff writing on this blog, smart commentators and allied climate advocates have taken issue with Verizon Wireless appearing on the sponsor list for a Labor Day rally and concert that includes gathering of signatures for petitions against, and statements opposing, climate legislation. A telephone conversation with Verizon Wireless Vice President Corporate Communications Jim Gerace led to him sending the following email giving his side of the story: I appreciate you taking the time to reach out to me.  You can use any of this email for your site if you’d like. As we discussed, our involvement in the Labor Day event was initiated by some local sales people to do what we pay them to do — sell wireless phones.  When they were presented with the opportunity to spend read more…

It’s no surprise that Fox News’ dunderhead commentator and global warming denier Sean Hannity is attending a Labor Day rally supporting the destructive coal mining practice of mountaintop removal.  It’s no surprise that gun-toting, washed-up 80′s rocker Ted Nugent will be there too, spewing his crass, foul-mouthed brand of conservative hatred (warning–adult language on linked content).  What is surprising is that if you are a Verizon Wireless customer, you may be helping to pay for this celebration of environmental degradation! That’s right, if you visit the home page for the “Friends of America” rally–after you watch the video of the coal company CEO decrying how “environmental extremists and corporate America are both trying to destroy your job” (last time I checked, the coal companies were part of “corporate america”)–you can visit the “sponsors” page to read more…

If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time thinking about where your garbage goes once it gets picked up from your curb. What’s that? You don’t wonder about the final resting place or you trash and recyclables? Well you should, and now, thanks to the MIT SENSEable City lab, you don’t have to wonder at all; you can know. Trash Track  is a process in which a tiny tracking chip is placed on a specific piece of regular waste. The MIT system can then track the location of the chip as it navigates the waste management system. You can see if that scrap of pressure-treated wood ends up in the landfill on the other side of the state or a barge to South Carolina; you can see if read more…

(BOSTON, MA) AUGUST 26, 2009 — “Today, we mourn the loss of Ted Kennedy, an incomparable leader for our region and country, and a decades-long champion of forward-thinking environmental policy,” said CLF President John Kassel.  “He was a powerful voice and vote in the Senate during the development, debate and passage of every major piece of environmental legislation since the early 1960’s, and he was instrumental in advocating for clean air, healthy waterways, public transit and environmental justice in low-income Boston neighborhoods – policies that CLF strives to uphold and protect.” “His leadership helped provide the essential foundation to pass everything from the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act and the National Environmental Policy Act,” noted CLF Vice President Seth Kaplan. “One key legacy that Senator Kennedy has left us read more…