On October 24th, Needham residents and town community gathered at Olin College for a community conversation on energy and the environment. Anthony Brooks, veteran NPR reporter and co-host of WBUR’s Radio Boston, opened the session by leading a discussion with Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Mark Sylvia and Green Needham Chair Michael Greis on [...]
This past Thursday, October 20th, Anthony Brooks and Meghna Chakrabarti talked with Green Needham Chair Michael Greis and Massachusetts Energy Undersecretary Barbara Kates-Garnick about the green economy, the 2020 clean energy plan, energy efficiency & “green living” at the local level and the upcoming Needham Summit on Energy and the Environment. With the backdrop of [...]
Massachusetts and New England are positioned to play a pivotal role in the future of comprehensive energy and climate legislation. The New England representatives that are leaders in the Congress for this legislation have made clear that it is a compelling national interest to address this challenge, but they also clearly recognize the importance of [...]
Last week, I participated in the Clean Energy Network fly-in to Washington in support of comprehensive energy and climate change legislation.
President Obama, John Kerry and other Senate leaders are planning a strong push to pass Comprehensive Energy and Climate legislation during the July work session of Congress. In early June, the President promised to “find the votes” for comprehensive climate change legislation. Senator Kerry’s American Power Act is working its way through his Foreign Relations [...]
It is at the local level – where people live, work, and learn – that the behavioral change driving a more sustainable society and economy ultimately takes place. That work is going on across the United States and around the world where community organizations are harnessing the power of community to make change. The US [...]
Building on the collaborative effort that led to a market-based system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electric power generation, 10 Northeastern states are working to do the same for transportation fuels. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is an operational cap-and-trade system that will reduce GHG emissions by 10% between 2009 and 2018. The [...]
The stimulus-funded Massachusetts appliance rebate program will have an even shorter window than anticipated – two weeks. As outlined in our early February post, the program provides a needed incentive to consumers, but the funding would easily be exhausted within a month with even average demand. Between Earth Day, April 22nd and May 5th, Massachusetts [...]
A new round of Energy Star rebates to encourage consumers is coming soon – but these are funded by the stimulus program for this year, so they will probably not last long. $300 million is being made available to the states along population lines, with the focus on larger energy-using appliances. Each state was allowed [...]
Berkeley, California pioneered the idea to advance California’s Million Solar Roofs program and it’s finally spreading and gaining traction nationally. A State House Bill wants to bring it to Massachusetts. PACE, or Property Assisted Clean Energy financing, is another example of applying a long-standing tool to a new problem – financing renewables for homeowners. Renewable [...]
