If COVID-19 taught us anything, it’s that essential communities like Chelsea and East Boston are continually put at environmental risk. We deserve better. We must invest in transit systems that serve Chelsea and East Boston riders affordably, reliably, and safely. Doing so will not only improve our ability to get around but will improve our public health and our climate.
“The 2021+ Board will need the flexibility to issue its own debt, independent of the secretary or the governor at the time,” the groups wrote. “There may be times when the priorities of the public transportation authority and the administration differ. At these times, an independent governing body must be allowed to do what is right for the MBTA and its riders, despite the political ramifications for an administration.”
“It’s an historic moment in which we’ve seen the decline and impending demise of coal, as renewables nationally and within this region have surpassed it, both in the numbers of generating plants, but also, more importantly, how much power they’re generating on a daily basis,” said Greg Cunningham, vice president and director of the Clean Energy and Climate Change Program at the Conservation Law Foundation.
COVID-19 presents a challenge unlike any most of us have ever seen. When we emerge from this public health emergency, we will need to rely on clean, safe systems for reuse and recycling that will help preserve budgets that have been stretched thin and keep communities clean and safe. The bottle bill is a key part of this, regardless of the misrepresentations touted by opponents.
“A species that most people have never seen is harder to convince others to save,” says Dr Erica Fuller, a veterinarian and a lawyer with Conservation Law Foundation in Boston, Massachusetts. “If you saw one, you’d be struck by how majestic they are.”
“This decision confirms that even the federal government is not above the law,” said Erica Fuller, a senior attorney at the Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation, one of four groups that filed the lawsuit. “We must do whatever it takes to ensure right whales are here for future generations, and that starts with obeying the Endangered Species Act.”
“Polluters are going to be able to get out of compliance, cut corners, save money. And as long as they create the record, EPA is not going to enforce. And that’s going to lead to more pollution in our lungs, in our waters, and affecting the health of our communities.”
“The decision to scrap plans for this garbage depot is an unqualified win for the neighborhood,” said Kevin Budris, staff attorney at Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) Rhode Island.
One of the day’s presenters was John Hite of the Conservation Law Foundation. “I will say that we do have one program in place currently that is the single most effective recycling program we know,” he said. “Does anybody know what that is?” The answer — the bottle redemption program
In the absence of strong federal action, the Conservation Law Foundation and other environmental groups have been pushing the Rhode Island Department of Health for more than a year to come up with an enforceable drinking water standard for the compounds.
