The 2017 Rhode Island General Assembly session recessed on June 30, leaving the fate of lots of proposed legislation up in the air. The House and Senate reconvened on September 19 to handle much of the unfinished business. It appears that this year’s session is now done until January (save for PawSox hearings). CLF was… Continue reading Rhode Island 2017 Legislative Recap: Food and Water
“With today’s ruling, Pease Development Authority has an opportunity to turn from a polluter to a protector of Great Bay and its communities,” said Tom Irwin, Director of CLF New Hampshire. “Our health and the health of our economy depend on clean, safe water. Now, the leaders of PDA have an easy choice to make: they can be an exemplar of responsible water management, or they can see us in court.”
I’ll admit it – I was a little nervous about this year’s Great Bay Kayak Clean-up. More than 25 people from Timberland, a Seacoast-based company that supports its staff who do community service, had eagerly volunteered to snug themselves into kayaks and spend their day getting wet and dirty while collecting trash along the shores… Continue reading Volunteers Making New Hampshire’s Great Bay a Little Bit Greater
Over six days, Hurricane Harvey dumped 27 trillion gallons of water on Houston and parts of the Gulf Coast, leaving a wide swath of destruction and toxic pollution for communities to deal with as they try to rebuild from the storm. 100,000 homes incurred damage or were lost altogether, and restoration efforts are estimated to… Continue reading Lessons from Houston: Protecting New England Communities from Toxic Spills
As the Houston area begins its long recovery from the devastating floods triggered by Hurricane Harvey – and with Hurricane Irma now barreling toward Florida’s coast – we wanted to know how Boston would fare in the face of such high waters and heavy rains. So we turned to CLF’s Director of Environmental Planning, Deanna Moran,… Continue reading Is Boston Ready for a Hurricane Harvey?
“This weekend, we saw thousands of homes destroyed, streets flooded and families displaced by Hurricane Harvey,” said CLF president Bradley Campbell. “We can’t wait around for the next natural disaster to inundate our communities. Shell’s facility sits on the banks of the Providence River, poised to spew toxic chemicals into our waters and our neighborhoods with no adequate safeguards in place. If the loss of life and damage from storms like Hurricane Harvey aren’t enough of a wake-up call, then legal action is needed to protect the public.”
When it comes to the future of Vermont’s Lake Champlain, Crea Lintilhac is optimistic. “We’re going to clean up our waters,” declares the long-time CLF Vermont Board member (and now chair), who has lived on the shores of the iconic lake for nearly 30 years.
Fighting Big Gas How One Community’s Fight Could Shape the Future of New England Restoring Lake Champlain Reasons for Hope after Decades of Degradation Local Food 2.0 Training a New Generation of Farmers in Western Massachusetts Whale Watch Saving North Atlantic Right Whales from Extinction Measuring Community Health A New Research Model Puts the Community… Continue reading Conservation Matters Summer 2017: Year in Review
“In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on an offshore Shell facility, the company was forced to confront the reality of climate change and the dangers it poses,” said CLF President Bradley Campbell. “But more than a decade later, Shell’s acknowledgement of these risks has not translated into action to prevent them in places where people actually live. With just one severe storm – one major flood – the Providence River and surrounding communities could be inundated with toxic substances, yet Shell has done nothing to safeguard us from this fate. It’s time they be held accountable for this grave inaction.”
Last week, I gave a presentation on the pollutants that plague Lake Champlain. On one slide I focused on the negative impacts of microbeads – miniature plastic balls so tiny that they slip through wastewater treatment systems and wind up in our lakes (and rivers, streams, and ocean). Once in the water, microbeads don’t biodegrade… Continue reading The Threat of Plastic Pollution
