“Massachusetts has always been a leader in prohibiting oil and gas development off its shores in federal waters,” said Peter Shelley, a senior attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation, which backs the proposal. “Something like this makes a lot of sense, even if it is somewhat symbolic at this point. It’s kind of a belt and suspenders approach.”
“Simply put, Vermont is leading the nation in dealing with the toxic blight of single-use plastics,” Jen Duggan, vice president and director of Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) Vermont, told Waste Dive
“This is a public-health emergency, and we need states to take action now,” said Amy Moses, director of the Conservation Law Foundation in Rhode Island.
Campbell says CLF is championing this cause because of its role as a watchdog of state waterfront regulations, a responsibility that includes designated port areas. He says CLF has become more involved lately because these industrial parcels, and the jobs they support, are under greater threat amid the heat of the real estate market.
“First it creates consistency and predictability in planning for climate risks in state licensing, permitting financing and capital projects,” Deanna Moran of the Conservation Law Foundation testified, in support of the bill. “Second, it requires investor-owned utilities to proactively plan for climate risks.”
“From agriculture and fisheries to recreation and tourism, our regional economy, culture, and way of life are on a knife’s edge,” said Bradley Campbell. “Our ability to stem the loss of other species will tell us whether we have the capacity to save our own.”
Several states, and roughly three hundred U.S. cities and towns, have banned single-use plastic bags. Now, several states in New England, including New Hampshire, are considering similar bans. Kirstie Pecci joins The Exchange to talk more about what we can do to reduce plastic pollution.
“This is a landmark, this is a symbol of pollution that has been destructive in this community for over 50 years,” said Amy Moses, Rhode Island director and vice president of the Conservation Law Foundation, which filed suit along with other environmental groups against Brayton Point Power Station in 2013.
Sean Mahoney, executive vice president of the Conservation Law Foundation, joins WPRI live on Eyewitness News This Morning to discuss the Brayton Point coal plant demolition.
“Reducing and weakening the lines in the water is a start, but we need to go much further, much faster,” said Erica Fuller, a senior staff attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation, which has sued NOAA in an effort to force the agency to take more aggressive action to protect right whales.
