A landmark agreement between CLF and Massport aims to improve public transit access while cutting air and carbon pollution. One part of the multi-pronged agreement will study whether or not a fee on drop-offs and pick-ups at the airport can help ease growing traffic congestion there.
An MBTA proposal to extend the Fairmount commuter rail service to Foxborough could help or harm current riders of the Indigo Line.
Victory! Casella Waste is abandoning its plans to expand the Southbridge Landfill – and it will close the facility entirely by the end 2018.
“These rules re-establish the Commonwealth as a national leader in developing sensible, enforceable standards to transition our economy to a low-carbon future,” said CLF President Bradley Campbell. “Much more needs to be done, and Governor Baker’s leadership will be essential to getting neighboring states to take meaningful action to prepare New England for the energy future being shaped by the Paris Climate Agreement.”
Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) released the following statement today in response to Casella Waste’s announcement that it will shut down Massachusetts’ largest landfill by 2018. “After decades of living in the shadow of a landfill that contaminated the water and fouled the air, residents have finally buried this menace to our environment, our health, and our economy,” said Kirstie Pecci, Conservation Law Foundation Senior Fellow and resident of Southbridge. “The closing of Southbridge sends a strong message across Massachusetts that residents will resist and persist until the polluting legacy of all landfills and incinerators come to an end.”
The Healthy Neighborhoods Equity Fund is a groundbreaking example of impact investing that marries margin and mission in a marketable fund focused on social determinants of health in the built environment.
Completing a new neighborhood development is just the beginning of the story. The true success of such targeted investment will come with the changes it brings to a community over time. That’s where Vedette Gavin, CLF’s Director of Research, comes in. “The reality is that the relationship between development and health is extremely complex,” she says.
The story of North Atlantic right whales is a sadly familiar one. Historically, they were targeted by whalers because they were commercially lucrative and easy to kill. Today, with barely 500 North Atlantic right whales left on the planet, they face threats from warming waters, which push their food sources north, as well as fishing net entanglements and ship collisions.
As Director of Agriculture and Environment for Nuestras Raíces, a Holyoke-based community organization, Rafael Herrero is overseeing an ambitious effort to train 100 new farmers in earth-friendly practices over the next two years.
CLF President Bradley Campbell said, “Community health is vitally dependent on neighborhood design and smart investment, which is why CLF is proud to partner with MHIC on projects researched and designed to promote affordability, mobility, and better health outcomes.”
