New England’s cod populations are at their lowest levels in history, thanks to decades of chronic overfishing and habitat destruction. Fisheries scientists agree that protecting vital fish habitat is key to restoring these once-plentiful fish species. How does the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) respond? Yesterday NOAA proposed to allow new bottom trawling and other forms of commercial fishing in areas of New England’s ocean that have been protected for almost twenty years. read more..

With last month’s Northern Pass route announcement and last week’s filing of an amended application for a Presidential Permit, Northeast Utilities and PSNH have repackaged and repeated the very same arguments for the project that have filled air waves and op-ed pages throughout New England for nearly three years. We keep hearing the same sales pitch—cleaner air, a more reliable grid, economic prosperity, low-cost energy—with the same numbers: 5 million fewer tons of carbon pollution, 1,200 jobs, and millions in energy savings and tax revenue. From a distance, the claims look real enough; on closer inspection, it becomes clear that they were born in a long-gone energy landscape and are aggressively deceptive. And they live not only in Northern Pass’s marketing materials, but in the disseminations of Northern Pass’s cadre read more…

A full environmental review is needed before Vermont Gas Systems digs up wetlands and pollutes the air. Federal law requires a full review for major projects – like pipelines – that will have significant environmental impacts. The Vermont Gas project should not be exempt from this requirement. The proposed gas pipeline planned for Addison County would use publicly owned rights of way. Land acquired with federal tax dollars. When federal land is used for a major project, the environmental impacts need to be fully evaluated. That’s the law. And it only makes sense that before we allow our tax dollars to support major projects, we know what the environmental impacts are. In a letter to the Federal Highway Administration, Conservation Law Foundation is calling on the Agency to undertake this needed read more…

On July 8, 2013 the Governor of Connecticut, Dannel Malloy stepped up to the microphone and made a series of major announcements about the critical topic of energy. Governor Malloy’s first task at the podium was to present the law he had just signed which set in place and partially implemented a Comprehensive Energy Strategy for the Nutmeg State. As CLF said in our press statement, this new law position Connecticut to take critical steps toward reaping the benefits of energy efficiency, our strongest, best and most widely available renewable resource.  The State can create the much-needed jobs and consumer savings it seeks by ramping up the state’s electricity and natural gas efficiency programs, rather than rushing to build costly and unnecessarynew natural gas infrastructure. Under its energy strategy Connecticut read more…

This summer New England took another big step toward regional ocean planning as the newly minted Northeast Regional Planning Body (RPB) held 10 public meetings to get feedback on set of goals they have drafted. See our previous blogs for a discussion of the draft goals and how the planning process in New England is developing. The public meetings took place from Maine to Connecticut and were attended by RPB representatives and hundreds of fishermen, members of conservation groups, offshore renewable energy developers, and others. Generally, each meeting began with short talk on what regional ocean planning is, then an overview of any ocean planning activities that were already taking place in a given state (for example, the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan and Rhode Island Special Area Management Plan). After read more…

On July 20, many volunteers including CLF Attorney Ivy Frignoca helped plant vegetation along a tributary of Long Creek which winds through South Portland, Maine, and eventually empties into Casco Bay. The planting was part of the Long Creek Restoration Project, a collaborative 10 year plan to reverse the impacts of years of stormwater pollution to Long Creek. The creek runs through the Maine Mall and surrounding industrial/commercial area where it receives runoff from impervious areas like rooftops, roads and parking lots. This runoff carries heavy metals and other toxins into the creek, and has killed brook trout and other species that once lived there. In 2008, CLF petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and asked it to issue a permit requiring area businesses to clean up the pollution. EPA read more…

A version of this article first appeared in the Sunday June 23 edition of the Rutland Herald /Times Argus. Conflicting and confusing information is nothing new when it comes to climate change or big energy projects. The role of natural gas in meeting our energy needs is but the latest guest to this party. Like most things in life, natural gas itself is neither all good nor all bad. True, natural gas is a relatively clean-burning fuel with fewer emissions than coal or oil. And currently natural gas prices are lower compared to oil. As a source for electricity, gas can be quickly brought on and off line and so fills a useful niche to balance intermittent renewable sources like solar and wind. But these benefits are only part of the read more…

This week on Talking Fish, at-sea catch of depleted river herring finally gets attention from the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council; despite some industry voices suggesting otherwise, cod stocks are at historical lows; in Fish Talk in the News, NOAA Regional Administrator John Bullard asks for input on a groundfish industry recovery plan, and members of Congress call for a higher U.S. bluefin tuna allocation. read more..

Today, we learned from PSNH President Gary Long about the Northern Pass transmission project’s long-awaited “new route.” As predicted, the “new route” hardly changes the original proposal and corrects none of its serious flaws. You can read CLF’s official statement on the announcement here. It’s critical to see Mr. Long’s announcement for what it is: a desperate (one might say “last ditch”) effort to resuscitate his company, PSNH, and its failing business model of operating inefficient and costly power plants on the backs of New Hampshire households and small businesses, leading to the highest energy rates in the region. True to form, PSNH parent company Northeast Utilities and its shareholders would still collect the lucrative fees from Northern Pass partner Hydro-Québec, while PSNH customers, who have to live with the read more…

Vermont is known for its thriving bucolic landscapes, but even in downtown Burlington many people have dirt beneath their fingernails. The Conservation Law Foundation has long supported agriculture in Vermont by helping farmers understand the legal landscape and find funding to grow their operations. More recently, CLF has been playing a significant role in urban agriculture advocacy and policy development in Boston, MA, fostering a resilient regional food system by addressing barriers to urban farming. Now, CLF is supporting the Burlington Food Council’s efforts to shape that city’s agriculture policy landscape through ordinances that will promote environmentally responsible urban agriculture and humane livestock husbandry. Urban food production is burgeoning in Burlington, as residents aim to localize their diets and connect with the sources of their food. In recognition of this read more…