Investing in Change and Building Affordability
Michele Cubelli Harris gets a new lease on life, thanks in part to CLF’s Healthy Neighborhoods Equity Fund

Michele Cubelli Harris gets a new lease on life, thanks in part to CLF’s Healthy Neighborhoods Equity Fund
“Continuing to expand polluting landfills is the last thing New Hampshire needs,” said Tom Irwin, Vice President and Director of CLF New Hampshire. “The state got it right the first time when it determined there is no need for this landfill expansion. It’s time – at long last – for New Hampshire to make good on its policy of reducing waste, rather perpetuating its burial of it in landfills and putting our communities at risk.”
The presidential election result is a welcome relief – especially amid the ongoing stresses of an unrelenting pandemic, hobbling economic hardship, and an overdue racial reckoning. We all deserve to take a moment and celebrate that. But even as we see the core values of our democracy vindicated after relentless voter suppression efforts, now is not the time to grow complacent.
“It is past time for MassDOT to heed the consensus among Mayor Walsh, transportation experts, and affected neighborhoods that the all at-grade approach is the best one for Boston, for commuters, and for the river,” said Bradley Campbell, President of Conservation Law Foundation. “The Baker Administration should start working for rather than against its own vision for the future of transportation in the Commonwealth.”
The City of Providence took a critical step in creating a zero-waste future and protecting its communities by banning trash incineration. The ban provides a model that other communities throughout the region can follow.
Low-income, immigrant, and communities of color experience more environmental burdens than whiter, wealthier neighborhoods. Having strong environmental justice legislation would make a significant difference in these neighborhoods, in part by simply ensuring residents have a voice in what happens in their own communities.
Private developers deliberately obscure the lines between public and private space along Boston’s waterfront – with the goal to make the general public feel unwelcome – even though we all have the legal right to access much of our waterfront lands. It’s time for private developers to become part of the solution to create a vibrant and welcoming Boston Harbor for all.
Environmental justice requires reversing and repairing the impacts of decades of environmental racism. Residents of environmental justice communities are the most likely to bear the burdens polluting industries and infrastructure, while having to fight for their share of resources we all need — healthy homes, schools, transit, food, and open space.
For decades, low income, immigrant, and communities of color across the Commonwealth have disproportionately born the burdens of air pollution from power plants, congested freeways, and industrial activity. After generations of disenfranchisement, what would having strong environmental justice protections mean for these communities?
The Green New Deal may be stalled on the federal level, but it’s always been local governments that move the needle on progress and have immediate, concrete impacts on our lives. Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu’s proposal – Planning for a Green New Deal & Just Recovery – is a great example of local action in the face of federal inertia, and offers an ambitious vision for Boston’s future.