Mar 01, 2018

Maine Senate Votes to Protect Solar Energy

“The Senate stood up for Mainers today by supporting our right to affordable, clean energy,” said CLF attorney Emily Green. “The PUC has tried to gut solar energy across our state by charging families and businesses for the energy they generate and use at home. Today, the Maine Senate stepped away from those bad policies, moving instead towards policy that creates jobs, lowers our energy bills, and makes local clean energy available to everyone.”

Good solar policy is important for the success of clean energy.
Mar 01, 2018

CLF Brings Free Legal Services to Small Farmers and Food Business in Connecticut

“Local farmers and food businesses are at the heart of a healthy and thriving community,” said Jenny Rushlow, Director of Farm and Food, Conservation Law Foundation. “A sustainable food system is essential to the health, environment, and economic growth of our communities in Connecticut and throughout New England.”

Mar 01, 2018

Northern Pass Fights Permit Rejection

“Northern Pass’s motion is an act of desperation,” said Tom Irwin, Vice President and Director of CLF New Hampshire. “After months of hearings, the committee recognized that Northern Pass would be bad for our state, harming the many communities in its path. New Hampshire has rejected this harmful project, and it should stay firmly off of the table.”

transmission lines
Feb 16, 2018

Massachusetts Opens State Clean Energy Contract

“Moving forward with New England Clean Energy Connect is good news for both Massachusetts and New Hampshire,” said Brad Campbell, President of CLF. “The steps laid out by the Department of Energy Resources will establish, on the record, that the destructive, unpopular, and excessively expensive Northern Pass project is not feasible – and the concurrent negotiation with Avangrid will keep the process moving toward a better option.”

Feb 12, 2018

Massachusetts Releases Omnibus Clean Energy Bill

“This ambitious bill is a bold statement of our need to fight for the health and safety of our communities,” said David Ismay, Senior Attorney at CLF. “Climate change is already affecting families and businesses across our state, and these comprehensive solutions will help us reach our 2050 climate goals and beyond. The future of Massachusetts is clean energy that is affordable and accessible to everyone. This omnibus bill gives us the opportunity to simultaneously reduce our emissions, bring good jobs to the region, and invigorate our neighborhoods.”

MA legislators can still make progress on clean energy
Feb 08, 2018

CLF Files Lawsuit to Protect Critically Endangered Right Whales

“The North Atlantic right whale is facing the most dire of circumstances, and without our help, could be facing extinction as soon as 2040,” said CLF attorney Emily Green. “Research shows that entanglement in fishing gear has accounted for 85 percent of right whale deaths in recent years. Tragically, chronic entanglement is a source of extreme stress, pain, and suffering for right whales, and can interfere with eating, moving, and reproducing. And we know that entanglement can cause long-term adverse health impacts even for whales that manage to escape the ropes.”

right whales
Feb 01, 2018

Northern Pass Denied Permit by Unanimous Decision

“Northern Pass has bullied its way through this process, and today’s decision says loud and clear that the people of New Hampshire won’t stand for it,” said CLF attorney Melissa Birchard. “The committee served us well. It heard the overwhelming opposition of towns and communities, and it rejected Northern Pass’s false claims that New Hampshire’s properties, tourism industry, and treasured resources would be unmarred by this proposal. The Baker administration now has the opportunity to get this selection right by immediately choosing the best and most qualified project to put the state’s critical clean energy purchase back on track.”

Jan 30, 2018

Fishing Council Approves Amendment to Protect Corals

“Using their authority under the Magnuson-Stevens Act to safeguard fragile corals is commendable,” said Allison Lorenc, Policy Analyst for Conservation Law Foundation. “However, the Council’s approval of Option 6 – based largely on fishing industry conjecture – is a missed opportunity to make decisions based on the best available information. The Council had an option on the table that would have protected far more corals and would not have had significant impacts on existing fisheries.”

Coral amendment
Jan 30, 2018

CLF Brings LePage to Court for Outrageous Wind Power Decision

“This Executive Order is a naked political attempt to impose the Governor’s own anti-renewable energy philosophy on the people and businesses of Maine,” said CLF Executive Vice President and Maine Director Sean Mahoney. “It is a clear violation of a fundamental premise of government established by the Maine Constitution – the separation of powers between our three branches. Not only is it illegal, but it is also bad for Maine’s economy where businesses need to have certainty in order to invest. As with other decisions of this Governor concerning energy efficiency and solar power development, Mainers across the state will suffer from this outrageous effort to hamstring our economic future, and CLF will do everything in our power stop it.”

Photo: Wind turbines
Jan 25, 2018

CLF and Cronin Group Reach Settlement on Public Benefits for 150 Seaport Project

“A project that had been a battleground will now create common ground,” said CLF president Bradley Campbell, “and Jon Cronin deserves credit for resolving differences with CLF in favor of expanded public access to the waterfront.  CLF spent decades and taxpayers have spent billions of dollars transforming Boston Harbor from an open sewer to a natural treasure and an engine of new growth.  This settlement honors those public investments and makes clear that greater public access can go hand-in-hand with new development.”