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Rindge Towers on a winter evening seen from across Jerry's Pond. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

05:377 hours ago

A Polluted Pond In Cambridge Is Poised For Cleanup — But Its Future Is Under Debate

A generations-long effort to turn Jerry's Pond into a public park may be gaining new momentum.

Recent Stories from Earthwhile

General Electric had a large plant in Pittsfield that polluted the Housatonic River, seen here, with PCBs. (Joe Difazio for WBUR)

EPA Issues Final Permit For Next Phase Of The Housatonic River Cleanup

5 hours ago

A loon chick translocated from Flagstaff Lake spreads her wings and looks out onto Assawompset Pond in Massachusetts, her new home. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

To Bring Loons Back To Mass., Biologists Must Convince The Birds This Is Home

06:09Nov 17, 2020

Early afternoon bumper-to-bumper traffic on 93 in Milton in March 2019. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Most Energy-Efficient State Goes To California, As Mass. Slips Out Of ACEEE Rankings' Top Spot

Dec 16, 2020

The view from Langone Park under construction, looking across the harbor to Bunker Hill and the USS Constitution. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

A Boston Park Rises With The Tide

04:54Nov 20, 2020

Climate Change And Health

Patient Steve Kearns describes his experience after contracting West Nile Virus during a follow up appointment at CHA Somerville Hospital. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Teaching Doctors In Training To Connect Climate Change And Health Care

04:24Sep 25, 2020

Morning traffic heading north on I-93 in Dorchester. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Study Finds Significant Racial Disparities In Vehicular Air Pollution Exposure Around Boston

Jul 23, 2020

An elderly man rests on a bench in the Boston Public Garden. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

First, A Pandemic. Now, The Heat. Why This Summer Poses Extra Risks For Older Adults

05:20Jul 17, 2020

Some experts believe pandemics like the coronavirus are made worse as climate change effects increase. Climate change protesters demonstrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London back in February. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

Climate Change Worsens Effects Of Global Outbreaks Like Coronavirus, Expert Says

05:37Apr 22, 2020

Building Solutions

Gas streetlamps on Temple Street in the early evening. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Beacon Hill's Iconic Gas Lamps Are Going Green

05:35Oct 27, 2020

On this site in Roxbury, developers are planning to build a five-story, mixed-use building out of a "revolutionary" type of timber. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

In A First, Boston Building Will Be Constructed With 'Revolutionary' Timber

06:05Jul 21, 2020

Finch Cambridge is a 98-unit affordable housing development being built to "passive house" standards for energy efficiency. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Cambridge's 'Passive House' Is Built With Focus On Affordable Housing, Climate Change

07:20Dec 13, 2019

A Gap Mountain Drilling truck at work in Brookline, Mass. (Bruce Gellerman/WBUR)

How A Climate Change Nonprofit Got Eversource Thinking About A Geothermal Future

07:34Jan 13, 2020

Series: The Nuclear Option

The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

To Combat Climate Change, Do We Need The Nuclear Option?

07:31Sep 17, 2019

Floating nuclear power plant 'Akademik Lomonosov' is towed out of the St. Petersburg, Russia shipyard where it was constructed in St. Petersburg, Russia. (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)

Big Plans For Small Nuclear Plants

08:41Sep 18, 2019

Martin Greenwald demonstrates how you can use a magnetic fields to contain and insulate a hot fusion plasma. Here the magnet pushes the bright plasma away from the wall of the glass tube. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

For Green Energy, MIT Aims To Build 'A Star On Earth'

07:09Sep 19, 2019

Series: Closing Pilgrim

In this photo, circa 1971, the 525-ton, 65-foot-tall reactor vessel arrives by boat at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. (Courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

Timeline: The 52-Year History Of The Pilgrim Nuclear Plant

08:30May 29, 2019

Spent fuel casks at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Pilgrim Is Closing. So Then What Happens To The Radioactive Waste?

06:45May 30, 2019

Entergy's Chiltonville Training Center is an identical twin mock-up of the control room at the Pilgrim nuclear power plant. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

In An Identical Simulator, Pilgrim Operators Prep For Shutdown

07:25May 31, 2019

You Asked, We Answered: Questions About The Pilgrim Shutdown

May 28, 2019

The discharge canal at Pilgrim, where water used for cooling at the plant is released back into Cape Cod Bay. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

For 46 Years, Pilgrim Nuclear Plant Has Used Water From Cape Cod Bay. How Has It Impacted The Ecosystem?

07:24Apr 22, 2019

Signs warn of radiation and restrict access to working areas above the reactor at Pilgrim. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

As Pilgrim Powers Down, Some Worry It Will Leave Behind Too Much Radiation

05:35Apr 25, 2019

The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station, in the town of Vernon, is seen in a 2013 file photo. (Toby Talbot/AP)

This Vermont Town Took A Big Hit When Its Nuclear Plant Closed

09:55Apr 23, 2019

Historic Plymouth Looks To A Future Without Pilgrim

10:11Apr 24, 2019

More Environmental Coverage from WBUR

In this aerial image, a fire burns in a section of the Amazon rain forest on August 25, 2019, in the Candeias do Jamari region near Porto Velho, Brazil. (Victor Moriyama/Getty Images)

How US Firms Like BlackRock Bankroll Destruction Of The Amazon

Amazon deforestation is up 10% this year, a 12-year high according to Brazilian satellite imagery.

Here & Now

2 hours ago

First lady Melania Trump walks around the 2020 official White House Christmas tree after it arrived at the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 23, 2020. This year's tree is an 18.5-foot Fraser Fir, selected and cut from Dan and Bryan Trees in Shepherdstown, W. Va. (Andrew Harnik/AP

A Very Melania Christmas

A meditation on Christmas decorations in the time of COVID and climate change.

Cognoscenti

8 hours ago

Commercial Street is nearly devoid of pedestrians and traffic on March 25, 2020 in Portland, Maine, just before a stay-at-home order went into place because of the pandemic. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP)

Maine State Workers' Switch To Telework During Pandemic Brings 'Seismic' Drop in CO2 Emissions

The preliminary data are opening an unexpected window on the future of telecommuting and its potential to deliver substantial reductions in global warming pollution.

04:57Dec 17, 2020

Exxon Mobil Unveils 5-Year Climate Change Plan In Effort To Satisfy Activist Investors

It's not exactly clear how much of an impact the new pledge will have on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Here & Now

03:43Dec 15, 2020

Sen. Marc Pacheco of Taunton. (SHNS File Photo)

Mass. Senator Prods Climate Bill Negotiators With New Bill

Hoping to deliver "a wake-up call" and highlight the urgency of the issue, Sen. Marc Pacheco filed the bill, combining what he viewed as the best parts of the climate...

Dec 11, 2020

Canada Geese take flight at the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, Mass. (Glenn Rifkin)

Nature Isn't Partisan. And For One Morning, Neither Were We

Glenn Rifkin may never find common political ground with his cousin, but they're fumbling towards a different sort of communion.

Cognoscenti

Dec 11, 2020

New Trump Administration Rule On Soot Particles Contradicts EPA Scientists

The Trump administration declined to tighten regulations on soot emissions this week, despite advice from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Here & Now

04:24Dec 10, 2020

Traffic on the Mass. Pike at rush hour, as snow creates a second slippery commute for Boston drivers. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Poll: Majority of Mass. Voters Support Regional Greenhouse Gas Pact

It's unclear if the poll accurately reflects voters' views, since poll questions didn’t note that TCI will likely increase gas prices.

Dec 9, 2020

Recycling is sorted at the Sims Municipal Recycling Facility, an 11-acre recycling center on the Brooklyn waterfront on April 22, 2015 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Hundreds Of Environmental Groups Call For 'Presidential Plastics Action Plan'

Beyond Plastics President Judith Enck outlines what steps President-elect Joe Biden can take to curb plastic pollution.

Here & Now

10:52Dec 8, 2020

Many residents of East Boston oppose Eversource’s plan to build an electrical substation along Condor Street. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

16 Mass. Elected Officials Challenge State Agency On East Boston Substation

The elected officials say the public must be able to meaningfully participate in the project siting process

Dec 7, 2020