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.
Kirstie Pecci is director of the zero waste project with Conservation Law Foundation. She says the MassDEP decision to expand the capacity of the landfill is especially egregious because the landfill doesn’t have a plastic liner.
“Bourne is trading short-term economic gain for long-term pollution,” said Kirstie Pecci, Director of CLF’s Zero Waste Project. “The Bourne Landfill is already leaching toxic garbage juice into groundwater, and this expansion will only make matters worse. It’s time to stop looking for more places to bury waste and get serious about reducing trash before it reaches incinerators and landfills.”
“After a lengthy debate over the future of this project, today’s announcement is a major step in the right direction,” said Staci Rubin, Vice President of Environmental Justice at CLF. “In choosing this design, officials have the potential to unlock commuter rail, bike, and bus access to communities sorely lacking convenient transit options. As this process moves forward, state officials must commit to minimizing environmental impacts, and CLF will be involved to make sure that happens.”
