Our forests, open spaces, farms, and ocean can help us fight the climate crisis if we responsibly manage and conserve them. It’s time for Congress to invest in natural climate solutions now.
The House Oversight Committee recently held a hearing to interrogate Big Oil executives about their companies’ decades of deliberate climate disinformation. A disappointing yet unsurprising outcome tells us it’s time for more climate mandates for real accountability.
“Boston has the opportunity to be a national leader in tackling these overlapping crises head-on,” said Caitlin Peale Sloan, Vice President of CLF Massachusetts. “Climate, justice, and transportation issues affect everyone in Boston, and we’ve historically seen little progress on these issues. It’s time for Mayor-Elect Wu to make these issues a priority and commit to real progress that will positively impact the entire city.”
Over the past few years, recycling prices across the U.S. have soared, with some cities and towns now spending millions of dollars on their programs. To understand the financial burden our communities are facing, I spent the better part of last year collecting recycling data from Massachusetts cities and towns. Here’s what I learned.
“Wood-burning power plants spew harmful emissions that poison the air in surrounding communities,” said Staci Rubin, Vice President of Environmental Justice at CLF. “They worsen asthma and other respiratory conditions and set us back in reaching our mandatory climate goals. Industrial biomass plants don’t belong in any community, and it’s time for the Commonwealth to stop providing subsidies for toxic power that is hardly renewable.”
Thousands of hazardous waste sites and chemical facilities across New England are unprepared for the impacts of climate change. The failure of regulators to require such preparation leaves the health of our communities and our environment in jeopardy.
Exxon’s decades of deceit and indifference have left local communities and sensitive ecosystems at risk of catastrophe.
Climate impacts are here now, but are our communities ready for them? Here’s what we must do to get climate ready.
“It’s so important that local businesses serving low-income and minority communities have access to affordable financing,” said Maggie Super Church, Vice President of Healthy and Resilient Communities at CLF. “Stop and Compare provides healthy and affordable food to communities sorely lacking these critical resources, and this loan ensures that more Lynn residents will now benefit from everything this store has to offer.”
Our communities and neighborhoods deserve to be safe – and we must urgently transition off dirty gas to protect them.
