Tuesday’s verdict was one welcome step toward change. But at CLF, we believe that real progress lies in systemic policy change that will break down the racist systems that have been in place for generations – ending white supremacy in this country.
“Dirty, industrial biomass pollutes our neighborhoods and has no place in our clean energy future,” said Kirstie Pecci, Interim Director of CLF’s Environmental Justice program. “Massachusetts residents deserve clean air and a livable future. The Commonwealth should not subsidize power plants or incinerators that will harm communities already bearing the brunt of local pollution and climate impacts.”
We find ourselves on the cusp of a sea change in how we transport people and goods as we urgently work to cut the climate-damaging emissions that spew from New Englanders’ tailpipes.
Biden’s infrastructure package represents a critical investment in our future, infusing much-needed funding to ramp up New England’s transition to a carbon-free economy by 2050.
We’re tackling transportation from all sides.
“They took a process that should be very public and very predictable and made it one that happens with a lot of private conversations between developers and cities and the secretary (of Energy and Environmental Affairs),” Shelley said. “We don’t think that’s good policy.”
Resident Researcher, Carl Baty, shares how the Healthy Neighborhoods Study is turning research into action and disagreements into long-lasting friendships in his community.
“The last thing the asthma capital of the U.S. needs is a plant spewing air pollution and further imperiling public health,” said Caitlin Peale Sloan, Interim Director of CLF Massachusetts. “Springfield residents made their opposition to this polluting plant clear, and DEP officials have handed them a win today. The fact is that burning biomass is neither clean nor renewable and it should be left in the past with fossil fuels.”
“Public access to Boston’s beautiful waterfront won today,” said Peter Shelley, Senior Counsel at CLF. “State officials acted unlawfully in coming up with the Downtown Municipal Harbor Plan and handed private developers a free pass to create new rules to benefit themselves. The judge saw right through this effort and affirmed that only the state’s Department of Environmental Protection can make decisions that protect the public’s centuries-old right to access the water and waterfront.”
“The last thing the asthma capital of the U.S. needs is a plant spewing air pollution and further imperiling public health,” Caitlin Peale Sloan, interim director of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Conservation Law Foundation, said in a statement. “Springfield residents made their opposition to this polluting plant clear, and DEP officials have handed them a win today. “
