The following blog is by Dr. J. Timmons Roberts, an expert witness that CLF is presenting on the issues of carbon emissions and climate impacts in the ongoing litigation at the Rhode Island Energy Facility Siting Board in which CLF is asking the EFSB to deny a permit to Invenergy to build a new 900-megawatt fossil…
Mar 31
2016
2016
Mar 10
2016
2016
Improved Net Metering Legislation on Track in New Hampshire
Note: This blog post has been updated in light of the March 9 vote. Thanks to your advocacy and an amazing outcry of public support for rooftop solar and net metering, an improved version of House Bill 1116 passed the New Hampshire House Science, Technology, and Energy Committee unanimously, and on March 9 passed the…
Feb 10
2016
2016
New England States Forge Ahead on Climate Action Despite Supreme Court’s Stay of Clean Power Plan
Yesterday, the Supreme Court sided with Big Coal and other climate polluters when it put a hold on President Obama’s historic Clean Power Plan. But this is just a temporary setback for meaningful federal action on climate change. The good news is that the Clean Power Plan has only been put on hold; it hasn’t…
Feb 10
2016
2016
Retail Net Metering Is Good for Us All
Retail net metering is the single most important driver behind anyone’s decision – yours, mine, a local business’s, or town’s – as to whether it makes financial sense to install solar panels. And it’s pretty simple: with retail net metering, installing solar makes financial sense; without it . . . not so much. Here in…
Feb 10
2016
2016
No More Dirty Energy for Massachusetts!
As families across New England were preparing for this last holiday season, NRG Energy, a Texas dirty-energy giant (over 80% of its massive power holdings burn fossil fuels!), quietly filed its request with the Massachusetts Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB) for approval to construct its newest fossil-fuel power plant: a new, 350 megawatt gas- and…
Feb 9
2016
2016
Why Have Presidential Candidates Been Silent on Northern Pass?
The next president of the United States will decide only one issue that uniquely affects New Hampshire residents. Yet as candidates of both parties blanketed the state in the final weeks before today’s primary, that issue received scant attention. The next president will decide whether to authorize the cross-border connection to Canada’s Hydro-Québec needed for…
Nov 24
2015
2015
The Climate Change Connection: The Warming Gulf of Maine Needs Protected Areas
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” –President Theodore Roosevelt Considering how quickly our planet is warming, and what little is being done to combat it by our national government, this quote has never been more relevant or applicable. Here in New England, our ocean is especially vulnerable to the impacts…
Nov 6
2015
2015
Governor Baker: The People Have Spoken, and They Want a Marine National Monument
The people of New England, and especially Massachusetts, have spoken – and they want a Marine National Monument in the Atlantic. More than 160,000 people have signed their name in support of a monument designation, including over 10,000 from Massachusetts alone. We’ve received public letters of support from coastal businesses, faith-based organizations, and aquaria. And…
Sep 17
2015
2015
Solving New England’s Natural Gas Problem (Hint: It’s Not through Big New Pipelines)
For a few hours a day, on 50 days of the year, New England has a gas problem – not enough natural gas is available to meet demand for both heat and electricity. Two years ago, this problem led to dramatic spikes in the price of natural gas and the cost of electricity. Since then,…
Sep 3
2015
2015
Guest Blog: Fuel Tracking Makes Sense for Massachusetts
Conservation Law Foundation has been working closely with the Union of Concerned Scientists and other partners to advance legislation that would implement transportation fuel tracking in Massachusetts. What is fuel tracking and why is it important? David Babson, senior engineer for Union of Concerned Scientists’ Clean Vehicles Program explains: I have been traveling to Massachusetts…