Nearly all key stakeholders and public officials have embraced this opportunity to transform Boston’s western gateway into a showpiece of enhanced urban design and environmental planning, with a new transit station in Allston at the heart of the plans. Let’s get this project done. We can think big to improve mobility and protect the Charles River
“The judge made it clear that the federal government needs to go back to the drawing board and meaningfully address all of the impacts of the lobster fishery on right whales,” said Erica Fuller of the Conservation Law Foundation, one of the plaintiffs in the case. “Today’s ruling will put a stop to the government’s endless foot-dragging on implementing new long-term protections.”
“The North Atlantic right whale is in a really perilous position, hovering on the brink of extinction. And the sooner that we can get new protections in place, the better chance we have to protect it.” While the lawsuit had asked for a new rule by January, Green says the May deadline is still a victory.
The Charles River has been hit by toxic algae blooms almost every summer in recent years. The blooms — which can be dangerous for people, pets and the river’s ecosystem — are fed by hot sunny days and storm runoff containing nutrients, especially phosphorus.
“Climate change is real. The impacts of climate change are actionable,” Chris Kilian, a lawyer for the foundation, said at a hearing in the case on Thursday. “Climate change is already having documented and major impacts in Rhode Island and, more specifically, has been identified as a present and increasing threat in the Port of Providence.”
The environmental advocacy organization says it intends to sue the town of Barnstable and Willowbend Country Club in Mashpee for violating the federal Clean Water Act by discharging and adding pollutants into Lewis Bay and Popponesset Bay. The foundation sent notices to Barnstable and Willowbend on Wednesday, calling for both to put in place proven technology to significantly reduce nitrogen pollution or it would file lawsuit
“At the time, we understood this was a measure to protect public health. But as more information came out, it’s now clear that reusable bags are not a cause for concern, from a public health perspective.”
Like COVID-19, severe heat waves are not an “equal opportunity” health threat. The most disinvested neighborhoods — those dominated by buildings, pavement, and parking lots — are hit the hardest. The built environment of these places absorbs and traps heat, creating a “heat island effect” that makes them dangerously hotter than other neighborhoods while worsening their air quality.
The string of nor’easters we had in 2018 was a wake-up call: There was a viral video of a dumpster floating down Seaport Boulevard. But the unfortunate reality is a lot of the Seaport is already built out. The city of Boston has done a great job of planning for climate change, but we’ve moved pretty slowly on implementation, so the opportunity we had to leverage private development to get dollars for some of these district-wide resilience projects has come and gone
And this is New England’s only marine monument, one of very few unspoiled areas that can provide resilience and refuge for ocean resources (and a future for fishermen) in a fast-changing climate. Now, only the courts can stop it from being sacrificed for a photo op.
