In the wake of Dominion’s announcement that it would not be cost effective to continue to operate and invest additional capital for pollution controls at Salem Harbor Station, the Patrick Administration has sent a message to ISO-NE calling for action.  In a letter to the President of ISO-NE, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Ian Bowles, highlighted the need to invest in clean energy instead of propping up old, environmentally obsolete coal plants such as Salem Harbor Station.  Secretary Bowles urged ISO-NE to “quickly implement” a solution to allow Salem Harbor Station to retire.

Clean energy policy has been one of the centerpieces of the Patrick Administration, and this letter signals not only the Administration’s commitment to building clean, new energy infrastructure, but also the important role they have in hastening the retirement of the coal-fired power plants that cause significant damage to public health and the environment.

ISO-NE is responsible for finding an alternative that will remove any need for Salem Harbor Station; however, after 7 years of transmission upgrades and planning, ISO-NE rejected Dominion’s request to remove Salem Harbor Station from the market over concerns that the plant could be needed on the hottest days of the year.  CLF has been pushing ISO-NE to expedite its planning process so that ratepayers will not be forced to bear the costs of keeping this 60 year old coal and oil plant on line despite its continued struggles to meet environmental regulations. 

The Secretary’s letter is particularly timely given that ISO-NE will host meetings on December 15 and December 16 to discuss the planning process for replacing Salem Harbor Station.

Yesterday’s decision by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) to approve a 15-year contract for the sale of half of Cape Wind’s power to National Grid removed yet another major hurdle for the nation’s first offshore wind farm and confirmed what CLF and other project supporters have long known to be true: Cape Wind is a good deal for ratepayers.

In finding the contract “cost-effective” and “in the public interest,” the DPU overrode opponents’ most recent objections that the project supposedly is too expensive and will lead to huge profits for the developer.  In fact, the decision pointed out again – for those who chose to overlook the terms spelled out in black and white in the Cape Wind contract – that the developer will not reap windfall profits because the profits are capped and cost savings will flow back to the ratepayers.  And, the contract price is fixed and predictable over the entire 15-year term of the contract.

CLF is thrilled, if not entirely surprised, that the DPU found the project to be good for ratepayers.  As noted in the DPU’s decision, the estimated price impacts are very small and are significantly outweighed by the benefits. Customers will get some relief from the volatile fossil fuel price rollercoaster while Cape Wind takes a major bite out of global warming pollution and forces some of the most expensive and dirty fossil fuel-fired power plants to reduce their operation.  This is a major win for the environment and the emerging clean energy economy.

As an intervening party in the DPU proceeding, CLF took the lead working with the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), NRDC and Clean Power Now to introduce extensive expert testimony, cross-examine one of the opponents’ principal witnesses (an avowed climate skeptic), and draft detailed legal briefs to make the case for approval of the Cape Wind contract.

John Rogers, senior energy analyst at UCS said, “With this decision, Massachusetts has taken a real step forward on behalf of the commonwealth and the country as a whole. We know that offshore wind represents a real opportunity for economic development and environmental progress.  This move means we’re ready to say yes to that opportunity.”

Over the past decade, Cape Wind has withstood exhaustive environmental and permitting reviews, demonstrating over and over that its benefits will far exceed its impacts.  Since the contract was so thoroughly vetted, we are confident that today’s decision paves the way for a much more streamlined review and approval of a contract for the second half of Cape Wind’s power, renewable energy credits and other output. With federal, state and local approvals, a lease and a long-term contract, Cape Wind is looking more and more like a sure thing.

Local Activists from Salem Alliance for the Environment (SAFE) and HealthLink are hosting a Forum this Sunday that will expose the true costs of burning coal at plants like Salem Harbor Station.  The heat is on Dominion Energy to shut down Salem Harbor Station to allow the City of Salem and Massachusetts to usher in a clean energy economy that will provide sustainable and equitable jobs without jeopardizing public health or the environment.  Anyone who is interested in moving us towards a Coal Free Massachusetts should attend this event to find out more about the toll coal fired power plants take on communities from mining through burning and finally the disposal of ash.

For more information on how you can get involved check out the SAFE and HealthLink websites  CLF’s take action webpage.

Patrick Administration offshore wind expert Greg Watson with an artist's rendering of the future wind blade/turbine port facility. (Photo credit: Sue Reid)

At an event Wednesday afternoon in New Bedford, Governor Patrick, Congressman Frank, Mayor Lang, Secretary Bowles, Senator Montigny, DOER Commissioner Phil Giudice and a host of other local, state and federal officials together announced that New Bedford’s South Terminal will be developed as a deepwater port to serve the Cape Wind project and other offshore wind projects to follow.

Congressman Frank at the podium. (Photo credit: Sue Reid)

It was a rare chance to celebrate the progress that has been made in bringing the nation’s first offshore wind project to fruition after so many years.  And it was striking to see longshoremen side-by-side with electrical workers, environmental advocates, renewable energy industry stakeholders, politicians and former politicians, such as former New Bedford Mayor John Bullard who long has championed the benefits of wind power — on land and offshore alike. The key message of the day was hammered home by speakers who highlighted the New Bedford wind port as a compelling example of the sort of convergence between economic and environmental objectives that we all seek.  Exactly.

Read more about CLF’s work on Cape Wind and other renewable energy initiatives at clf.org>>

Tomorrow, the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Ian Bowles, will announce new state support for electric vehicles and the infrastructure needed to support them.  This is great news for the environment and the economy.

Electric vehicles are a vital piece of the puzzle when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants from the transportation sector.  These benefits are multiplied when electric cars are powered by clean renewable energy such as wind and solar.  In fact, electric cars are especially compatible with wind power which is often at its height when electric cars are charging at night.  Although these benefits are dampened in parts of the country where coal-fired power provides the majority of electricity, electric cars are still an improvement over the status quo.   So purging the system of old coal-fired power plants will maximize the positive impacts of these vehicles.

In addition, electric vehicles, like the Nissan Leaf will need charging stations, batteries, and maintenance—all of which will create solid, new green collar jobs.  One of the fastest growing electric car battery manufacturers started right here in Massachusetts, and with programs like the one at UMass Lowell (which is hosting the summit) and other leading educational institutions in Massachusetts, this sector will continue to grow and provide revenues and jobs for years to come.  This announcement is yet another sign of Massachusetts’ commitment to fight climate change by embracing innovative solutions.  It follows on the heels of, and will support the agreement entered into between Massachusetts and Nissan earlier this year.

Electric vehicles are one of the significant types of technologies that would benefit from the adoption of a regional Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) that is being developed by eleven Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states and would create a robust market for transportation fuels that are cleaner than petroleum.  Of course, electric cars are only one piece of the puzzle.  Increasing public transit, supporting smart growth, and reducing vehicle miles traveled are also essential to cutting the climate change impacts from transporation which is currently the fastest growing sector for greenhouse gas emissions.

Check out the work that CLF is doing to promote a regional low carbon fuel standard and increased public transit, and take action to support transportation solutions for the entire region.

If you were listening to Maine Public Radio yesterday (whether because you are on vacation or because you live there) you might have caught this piece about plans to develop a sub-sea cable from Maine to Boston.

Bottom line: In order to meet the climate and energy goals that science and sound policy dictate we will need to build thousands of megawatts of clean renewable generation (as well as becoming much more efficient and many other key steps) and the infrastructure to support it.  And a sub-sea cable could be part of that solution, if it is done right.

The Massachusetts’ Water Resource Authority’s decision to release 15 million gallons of untreated sewage into Boston Harbor’s Quincy Bay during last weekend’s storm felt to many like a giant step backward in the decades-long fight to clean up Boston Harbor. The good news is that there are actions that can be taken today that could have kept MWRA officials from having to make that decision in the future—implementing green stormwater infrastructure to reduce the burden on our sewer pipes, reduce flooding and make communities more resilient to climate change.

Many of our state’s aging sewer systems become overwhelmed with a mix of rainwater and sewage during large storms. That’s why MWRA officials were stuck between a rock and a hard place, forced to choose between quietly releasing 15 million gallons of untreated sewage into Quincy Bay or letting the water flood the station and release that sewage into basements, but sparing the Harbor. The problem runs deeper than this one incident—during last week’s storm, there were equally damaging releases of raw sewage into neighborhoods and into the Mystic and Charles Rivers as well. (See video footage here).

Massachusetts can stop these incidents by investing in green stormwater management techniques to enable communities to better prevent sewer overflows and save money over the long term. Some of these techniques include the use of permeable pavement, green roofs, rain barrels, even gravel—anything that will absorb stormwater and diminish runoff from hard surfaces. These actions can be taken by homeowners in and around their homes, at the city scale by greening streets, parking lots, and alleys, and at the state level, by greening state highways and universities.  Massachusetts residents can urge their towns to adopt bylaws requiring green stormwater and green building techniques to be used in all new construction or infrastructure projects. Cities like Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York are already rolling out these techniques and finding that they are both cost-effective and environmentally sustainable.

Fortunately, we have a chance RIGHT NOW to tell the state of Massachusetts how important it is to us to keep stormwater in check. The U.S. EPA is currently working on a stormwater permit that will govern the stormwater management of communities across Massachusetts for the next five years.

Help Massachusetts prepare for the next storm before it happens. Tell our government that we need a stronger stormwater permit to govern Massachusetts waterways and keep our communities pollution-free.

Yesterday’s Boston Globe editorial in response to Monday’s New York Times article on the Clean Water Act makes the point that Massachusetts is in a unique position because the state’s waterways are regulated under a more flexible state water act enforced by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). However, that’s not a panacea. Massachusetts must still support and enforce the terms of the federal Clean Water Act to keep pollution at bay.

While the DEP may enforce discharge permits in Massachusetts, it’s the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that has primary responsibility for issuing them. Two US Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006 have undermined the authority of the EPA by calling into question what defines a waterway eligible for protection under the Clean Water Act.  The confusion over which of these waterways are legally protected has left 52% of Massachusetts’ waterways at risk for increased pollution, because EPA is no longer asserting its jurisdiction to regulate pollution flowing into them.

Congress needs to act quickly convey that the Clean Water Act applies to all waterways and must be enforced broadly and effectively.

The Clean Water Restoration Act, first introduced in Congress in April 2009, would amend the Clean Water Act to clarify that the Act applies to all US waterways as it did prior to the Supreme Court decisions. Passing the CWRA will send a message to polluters that all waterways merit equal protection under the law, and that the EPA will continue to enforce the terms of the CWA to prevent further environmental damage.

If we want clean waterways, not just for Massachusetts but throughout New England, here’s our chance to make sure that the EPA has full authority to do its job right, by passing the Clean Water Restoration Act.

Support the Clean Water Restoration Act

Pretty amazing turnout at the American Wind Energy Association Offshore Wind Energy Workshop in Boston.   This is a very big room – and it has a A LOT of people in it.  Apparently pre-registration was over 650 people and more were registering at the door.

One of the two keynote speakers was the Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles (pinch hitting for Governor Deval Patrick who evidently is still “under the weather“) who alluded to the newspaper reports this morning about the announcement to be made today about Cape Wind.

Update: Here is the announcement from the Governor’s office. Read CLF’s statement.