CLF is no stranger to tough fights and seemingly impossible odds. In our 50-plus-year history, we’ve taken on – and taken down – Goliaths, from Big Coal to Big Gas. Here’s what we have learned from the biggest battles of the past decade – and what we must, and will, do before we reach 2030.
“This state agreement moves us toward much-needed regional collaboration to confront the climate crisis,” said Amy Laura Cahn, Director of CLF’s Healthy Communities and Environmental Justice program. “Urgent and bold action is necessary to tackle the scourge of carbon emissions and jumpstart clean transportation options for New Englanders. We also need more immediate solutions that improve air quality for residents in pollution hotspots.”
Home to some of the world’s strongest offshore winds, the Gulf of Maine can play an essential role in helping meet New England’s climate goals. But the energy of those winds has yet to be harnessed. Over the last decade, progress on this front stalled due in large part to the anti-wind policies of former… Continue reading Offshore Wind in the Gulf of Maine Back on Track
Just as families in Newport County prepared for a brutal winter night in late January, National Grid cut gas service to more than 7,000 customers, leaving homes and businesses in the cold. They called it a precaution and couldn’t say how it would last. Ultimately, the outage lasted a full week.
“As we said in June, this is a huge victory for Rhode Island and for the health of our communities,” said CLF Senior Attorney Jerry Elmer. “In the face of climate emergency, opening a fossil fuel plant that will spew carbon pollution for decades is simply reckless. After years of lies and misinformation, Invenergy’s efforts to pave over a forest to build this dirty plant have been dealt a substantial loss. This is proof that communities can stand up to big gas and win.”
“Customers should absolutely not be straddled with higher bills because of the mistakes of utilities,” said Amy Moses, Vice President and Director of CLF Rhode Island. “But the report’s suggestion of reducing demand for gas simply doesn’t go far enough. We need to get off dirty fracked gas and focus on clean renewables, not expand infrastructure that only harms our air and destroys our climate.”
Offshore wind is a crucial element of New England’s clean energy future, and Massachusetts has been betting big on this new industry. So despite the Trump administration’s delay of a promising project, Massachusetts is still moving forward with this critical source of local clean energy.
“Once again, Trump’s EPA has kowtowed to big oil and gas at the expense of the health of millions of Americans,” said Emily Green, CLF Staff Attorney. “At a time when we have yet again experienced the Earth’s hottest month on record, the devastating impacts of climate chaos are impossible to ignore. Slashing the nation’s strongest policy for reducing carbon pollution is simply irresponsible and backward.”
CLF’ers Elena Mihaly and Tom Irwin show that you don’t have to live in a major city, or even on a paved road, to benefit from driving an electric car.
“ACE should stand for appalling and corrupt,” said CLF attorney James Crowley. “By the EPA’s own estimates, the new rule will result in the deaths of thousands of Americans. The Trump administration’s pathetic rule is nothing more than a lifeline for dying coal plants, and we will continue to fight it.”
