The opening of the Green Line Extension is a long-awaited milestone dating back to 1990, when CLF reached a historic settlement with Massachusetts over Big Dig pollution.
COP27 demonstrated once again that in the absence of leadership and accountability, good intentions on climate are no match for the power wielded by the fossil fuel industry.
“Burning wood for electricity is a bad idea to begin with, and building a biomass plant in a residential neighborhood is just evil,” said Johannes Epke, an attorney at environmental nonprofit Conservation Law Foundation, an opponent of the plant.
“We can’t burn our way out of this problem,” said Caitlin Peale Sloan, Vice President of CLF Massachusetts. “Burning oil and gas in our homes pollutes our air and worsens the effects of the climate crisis. The commission’s report is absolutely correct: we need to start planning now for a cleaner future without gas, whether it’s fossil gas or alternative methane gases.”
“Burning wood for electricity is a bad idea to begin with and building a biomass plant in a residential neighborhood is just evil,” said Johannes Epke, Staff Attorney at CLF. “The Department of Environmental Protection was right to revoke this permit the first time around, and the appeals office has made the right call today. We will continue our piece of this fight to protect air quality in Springfield by representing the City Council in Land Court in opposition to this facility.”
“The fact is that the community overwhelmingly opposes the construction of this substation, and state laws regarding the siting of this facility have been ignored,” said Staci Rubin, Vice President of Environmental Justice at CLF. “The Siting Board’s decision contributes to the inequitable distribution of environmental burdens and benefits and disregards East Boston residents’ voices. We’ll continue to partner with the community to challenge this facility.”
Fixing emergency power outages can cost electricity companies millions of dollars – costs they pass on to their customers. It is time for utility companies to update and reinforce their infrastructure to make it more capable of withstanding these storms.
“Rather than leaving it to individual homeowners to upgrade their septic systems, communities should look at what’s happening in their watershed,” said Nivison. “That is going to be the least heavy lift for homeowners, and it should be the most efficient way to get those waters as clean as possible as soon as possible.”
“Urban communities suffer disproportionately from toxic, polluted air,” said Heather Govern, Director of CLF’s Clean Air and Water program. “Holyoke and Worcester are two of the cities most burdened by negative health impacts like asthma because of this type of pollution. Durham School Services must own up to its role in this problem, stop violating anti-idling laws, and commit to reducing pollution from its buses.”
“It’s long past time for residents of Somerville and Medford to have access to reliable rapid transit,” said Staci Rubin, Vice President of Environmental Justice at CLF. “While the December opening date is past the late November promise the T made, we’re excited to finally see the full Green Line Extension open soon. We’ll be holding the T accountable to make sure there are no more delays to this project that has spanned decades.”
