We do not need another study to tell us that the impacts of climate change are here. Storms are growing more intense each year, and we continue to break heat records every summer. We must reach net-zero emissions in the coming decades to ensure these conditions do not get worse, and the 2050 Roadmap Bill provides the plan to get us there.
The Trump administration government is rolling back a key way to prove discrimination in court, but a set of bills in Massachusetts would make sure those protections remain at the state level. The bills would provide legal safeguards for communities of color and refugee and immigrant communities to ensure that policies addressing the intense heat, dangerous flooding, and extreme weather events of climate change do not discriminate.
Last year, you took action to oppose a proposed bill that would have threatened public access to Boston’s waterfront and set a dangerous precedent for waterfront areas statewide. That bill died in the legislature last session but has since been revived and is up for debate by a key legislative committee next week. So now… Continue reading Revived Bill Threatens Waterfront Public Access in Massachusetts
“It is unacceptable that this plan allows developers to buy their way out of regulations they don’t like,” said Peter Shelley, Senior Counsel at CLF. “The public’s right to access the waterfront has been guaranteed for generations, and officials have singlehandedly undermined that right. The municipal harbor planning process is broken, and we’re looking forward to proving it in court.”
“It is unacceptable that this plan allows developers to buy their way out of regulations they don’t like,” CLF senior counsel Peter Shelley said in response to the judge’s ruling. “The public’s right to access the waterfront has been guaranteed for generations, and officials have singlehandedly undermined that right. The municipal harbor planning process is broken, and we’re looking forward to proving it in court.”
“None of the systems in Massachusetts accept or collect coffee cups,” said Kirstie Pecci, director of the Zero Waste Project at the Conservation Law Foundation, referring to Styrofoam and the new cups. “Do not put coffee cups in your bin.
“CLF brought this case and others because nitrogen pollution is choking Cape Cod’s waters,” said Brad Campbell, President of CLF. “But in my thirty years of holding polluters accountable, I have rarely seen a property owner as constructive and solution-oriented in their response as Wequassett. All Cape Cod towns, property owners, and other resorts need to follow Wequasett’s example in protecting the Cape’s economy and way of life from irreparable damage by the relentless wastewater pollution of bays and ponds.”
Biomass developers are pushing for state policy changes that would allow their plants to emit more air pollution, underreport their climate impacts, and take families’ and businesses’ money while harming the health of our communities. CLF is joining Springfield residents and other local groups in fighting back.
Preserving the Cape’s beautiful waters is a responsibility that rests on all of us, and we will only be successful if every town and resort does their share. Every resident and visitor deserves the opportunity to enjoy the area’s bays, beaches and ponds for years to come. To preserve that opportunity, individual polluters as well as town officials must commit to stopping this dangerous pollution. We must protect our waters (and economy) for future generations.
Mary Lovell Egan is the Senior Program Coordinator for the Legal Food Hub. Mary was most recently employed at Harvard Business School as a project coordinator. She has spent most of her public health career at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital as a database manager and community health worker. Mary also brings great experience as a… Continue reading Mary Egan
