Latest Environmental News

Local Coverage

02:45Dec 1, 2023

Mass. is on track to meet its near-term climate goals, but the hardest work lies ahead

Massachusetts first annual climate report card shows that the state is making good progress in key sectors, but needs to ramp up decarbonization efforts.

A wind turbine generates electricity at the Block Island Wind Farm on July 07, 2022 near Block Island, Rhode Island. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Can offshore wind help power the U.S. economy?

On Point

46:11Nov 30, 2023

Power lines in Massachusetts. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Boston residents can get greener (and cheaper) electricity through the city. Here's how

Local Coverage

Nov 29, 2023

Dune grass whips in the wind at Skaket Beach in Orleans on Saturday morning as Tropical Cyclone Lee passed by the Massachusetts coast. (Lynn Jolicoeur/WBUR)

Massachusetts unveils new strategy to help coastal communities cope with climate change

Environment

Nov 28, 2023

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PFAS Series

PFAS expert tips: How to reduce your exposure to harmful ‘forever chemicals’

Health

05:06Feb 13, 2023

Littleton Electric Light and Water Department workers inside a new water treatment facility that will remove PFAS chemical compounds from the water supply. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Toxic 'forever chemicals' force Mass. towns to face 'true cost of water'

Environment

04:52Feb 14, 2023

Town Administrator Denise Dembkoski points out on a map the origin of the PFAS contamination at the old fire station across the street from town offices. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Private well owners stuck with costs to treat 'forever chemicals'

Environment

05:21Feb 15, 2023

Tracing the path of toxic ‘forever chemicals’ inside the body

Health

05:41Feb 16, 2023

Power Shift: The Future of Offshore Wind

Technicians of the Block Island Wind Farm Support Team repair a crack in the blade of one of the wind turbines. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

We asked big questions about the offshore wind industry. Here’s what we uncovered

Environment

Oct 15, 2021

Offshore wind is America's new industry. Who will build it?

Environment

06:41Oct 13, 2021

Fisherman Jamey McGroarty hurls a dogfish overboard to begin separating the squid from the bycatch from his haul. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

As turbines rise, small-scale fishermen have the most to lose

Environment

06:44Oct 14, 2021

The five turbines of the Block Island Wind Farm off the coast of Rhode Island. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Big Oil wants to be Big Wind. Can fossil fuel companies be trusted?

Environment

06:13Oct 15, 2021

More Environmental News

A washed-up lobster trap and tangled lines sit on a beach in Biddeford, Maine. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP)

Maine gets $5M to support testing of alternative lobster fishing gear to reduce whale entanglement

Environment

Nov 28, 2023

Researchers cut through the muscle of a striped bass and insert an acoustic tag inside its body cavity near the stomach. (Eve Zuckoff/CAI)

Scientists, Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe work to solve mysteries of stripers, herring

Environment

04:30Nov 27, 2023

Gateway Park in Everett. The city is removing invasive species and replacing them with native species in the area (Courtesy of Catherine Pedemonti)

Everett aims to make waterfront park more accessible and climate resilient

Environment

Nov 25, 2023

The golden dome of the Vermont Statehouse rises over a flooded street in downtown Montpelier on July 11. Summer flooding caused damage to downtown, and the federal building that housed the local post office. (Mike Dougherty/Vermont Public)

Montpelier, Vt. no longer has a post office after temporary outdoor facility closes

Local Coverage

Nov 24, 2023

Here & Now Climate News

More

A bumble bee pulls itself into a foxglove beardtongue flower at the Weld Hill Research Building of the Arnold Arboretum. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Massachusetts incentivizes 'pollinator-friendly' solar farms

Here & Now

04:59Nov 28, 2023

The sun rises over an oil field over the Monterey Shale formation where gas and oil extraction using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is on the verge of a boom on March 24, 2014 near Lost Hills, California. (David McNew/Getty Images)

The world faces 'hellish' warming as climate policies fall short, UN warns

Here & Now

11:39Nov 20, 2023

U.S. Steel's new electric locomotives will save 40 thousand gallons of diesel fuel a year and emit no CO2. (Reid Frazier/The Allegheny Front)

U.S. Steel rolls out electric locomotives at Pennsylvania plants

Here & Now

03:46Nov 15, 2023

Steam rises from a fissure in a road near the town of Grindavik, Iceland Monday Nov. 13, 2023 following seismic activity. Residents of Grindavik, a town in southwestern Iceland, have been briefly allowed to return to their homes on Monday after being told to evacuate on Saturday after increasing concern about a potential volcanic eruption caused civil defense authorities to declare a state of emergency in the region. (Brynjar Gunnarsson/AP)

Iceland rocked by thousands of small earthquakes, volcanic eruption imminent

Here & Now

05:48Nov 15, 2023

On Point Environment Stories

With waves crashing against the rocks just below the railroad tracks, surfers walk along a shrinking North Beach in San Clemente on Wednesday, October 20, 2021. Sea-level rise is often pointed to as the unbeatable culprit chomping away at Southern California's most popular asset. But rising seas aren't the only reason the coastline is disappearing. Decades of development along the coast blocked sand flow to beaches. (Photo by Mark Rightmire/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

Lessons from California on how to adapt to sea level rise

On Point

47:10Sep 26, 2023

The moon is seen on Buenos Aires, Argentina, on June 10, 2022. (Luis Robayo/AFP via Getty Images)

Who owns the moon owns the future

On Point

47:07Sep 25, 2023

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, MT - MARCH 5:A bison looks back as it crosses the road near Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park.
(Photo by Erik Petersen/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Rebroadcast: A record cull of Yellowstone bison intensifies debate into how to best manage them

On Point

47:28Sep 20, 2023

A view of a burnt down house after the largest wildfire which Alexandroupolis and Evros regions have faced in the last 20 years in Evros, Greece on August 28, 2023. (Photo by Ayhan Mehmet/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A better way to rebuild after wildfires

On Point

46:55Aug 30, 2023

New map of U.S. plant zones shows a warmer Massachusetts

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has updated its Plant Hardiness Zone Map — the first revision since 2012. It shows that Massachusetts is getting warmer, leading to more options...

Environment

Nov 22, 2023

Bruce Hennesey, co-owner of Maple Wind Farm in Richmond, holds one of the turkeys he will sell for Thanksgiving this year. Hennessey's farm was flooded out this summer, and they lost more than 400 turkeys. (Howard Weiss-Tisman/ Vermont Public)

How a Vermont farmer saved Thanksgiving turkeys from summer floods

The flooding this summer almost wiped out the turkey crop at Maple Wind Farm in Richmond, Vermont. But the farm owner and staff worked to make turkeys available to its...

Local Coverage

Nov 22, 2023

The Boston Housing Authority will retrofit 159 affordable units at the Mildred C. Hailey apartments in Jamaica Plain with the grant money. (Courtesy of the Boston Housing Authority)

Mass. awards $27 million to help ‘decarbonize’ hundreds of affordable housing units

The grant money will help reduce planet-warming emissions and improve energy efficiency at more than 700 affordable housing units around the state.

Local Coverage

Nov 21, 2023

An electricity meter on a house in Cambridge. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

National Grid proposes more generous discount rates for low-income electric customers in Mass.

Currently, qualifying customers can save 32% on their monthly electric bill. If the proposal is adopted, customers could get up to a 55% discount, depending on income level.

Local Coverage

Nov 17, 2023

The New England Aquarium's aerial survey team spotted right whale "Pediddle" and her 10-month-old calf foraging in the Gulf of Maine. (Courtesy Of The New England Aquarium via Maine Public)

Scientists report high level of whale activity off Maine coast this fall

Several North Atlantic right whales have been spotted in the Gulf of Maine in recent weeks, including a mother and her 10-month-old calf. Federal officials have implemented a voluntary slow...

Environment

Nov 17, 2023

David Rothstein of Florence, Massachusetts, prepares to set off from Hatfield on day three of his attempt to secure the world record for distance traveled in a pumpkin. His friend, John Frey, waiting in a kayak, will accompany him on this leg of the journey. (Ben James/NEPM)

Western Mass. man paddles the Connecticut River in a pumpkin

Sculptor and lawyer David Rothstein aimed to break the world record for longest pumpkin paddle while bringing attention to the Connecticut River watershed.

Local Coverage

Nov 15, 2023

John Beach stands in his backyard in Yarmouth, where he can see his newly installed solar panels. (Eve Zuckoff/CAI)

Cape homeowners push to install solar panels in historic districts

The 45,000 people who live in Cape Cod's Old Kings Highway Historic District are required to get approval from local committees for visible solar installations. Those who have had their...

Environment

04:44Nov 15, 2023

Power lines running to an apartment building in Somerville. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Pilot program will install batteries in 2,000 Mass. homes to reduce energy demand on the grid

The federal government awarded Mass Save and Generac $50 million to test whether installing batteries in homes can reduce demand on the grid as more homes are electrified

Environment

Nov 15, 2023

Mass. is on track to meet its near-term climate goals, but the hardest work lies ahead

Can offshore wind help power the U.S. economy?

Boston residents can get greener (and cheaper) electricity through the city. Here's how

Massachusetts unveils new strategy to help coastal communities cope with climate change

PFAS expert tips: How to reduce your exposure to harmful ‘forever chemicals’

Toxic 'forever chemicals' force Mass. towns to face 'true cost of water'

Private well owners stuck with costs to treat 'forever chemicals'

Tracing the path of toxic ‘forever chemicals’ inside the body

Climate Reality

We asked big questions about the offshore wind industry. Here’s what we uncovered

Offshore wind is America's new industry. Who will build it?

As turbines rise, small-scale fishermen have the most to lose

Big Oil wants to be Big Wind. Can fossil fuel companies be trusted?

Maine gets $5M to support testing of alternative lobster fishing gear to reduce whale entanglement

Scientists, Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe work to solve mysteries of stripers, herring

Everett aims to make waterfront park more accessible and climate resilient

Montpelier, Vt. no longer has a post office after temporary outdoor facility closes

Massachusetts incentivizes 'pollinator-friendly' solar farms

The world faces 'hellish' warming as climate policies fall short, UN warns

U.S. Steel rolls out electric locomotives at Pennsylvania plants

Iceland rocked by thousands of small earthquakes, volcanic eruption imminent

Lessons from California on how to adapt to sea level rise

Who owns the moon owns the future

Rebroadcast: A record cull of Yellowstone bison intensifies debate into how to best manage them

A better way to rebuild after wildfires

I've walked every day for 12 years

New map of U.S. plant zones shows a warmer Massachusetts

How a Vermont farmer saved Thanksgiving turkeys from summer floods

Mass. awards $27 million to help ‘decarbonize’ hundreds of affordable housing units

National Grid proposes more generous discount rates for low-income electric customers in Mass.

Scientists report high level of whale activity off Maine coast this fall

Western Mass. man paddles the Connecticut River in a pumpkin

Cape homeowners push to install solar panels in historic districts

Pilot program will install batteries in 2,000 Mass. homes to reduce energy demand on the grid