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Latest Environmental News

A map produced by the Department of Energy Resources shows the areas where incentivized biomass facilities would be prohibited under a proposal to shield environmental justice communities and surrounding areas from the wood-burning plants.

WBUR News

12 hours ago

Proposed Rules For Wood-Burning Biomass Plants Leave 35 Towns In Industry “Crosshairs”

Department of Energy Resources (DOER) Commissioner Patrick Woodcock outlined proposed changes to the Renewable Portfolio Standard regulations for biomass power plants

Chelsea Public Works staff Wai Leong and Cesar Cortez deliver a window air conditioner unit to a resident at the Prattville Apartments public development in Chelsea. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Cooling Aid Shifts From Luxury To Necessity For Some In Mass.

WBUR News

04:48Jul 23, 2021

An Eastern Spadefoot adult. Courtesy MassWildlife

Threatened Frogs Get A New Home In Mass. And Another Shot At Survival

WBUR News

Jul 26, 2021

A 34 bus at the Buckley Transportation Center in Lawrence. (Bruce Gellerman/WBUR)

As Free Transit Gains Momentum Across U.S., It's A Big Boston Mayoral Race Topic

WBUR News

06:57Jul 21, 2021

This image shows Island End River in Chelsea, with the marsh, boardwalk, Island End Park and Admiral's Hill Marina. The Mystic River is in the distance. (Ibrahim Lopez-Hernandez for GreenRoots)

Chelsea Public Schools Install White Roofs To Reduce Heat

WBUR News

Jul 26, 2021

Series: Boston Under Water

A Blue Line train passes over a culvert next to the DCR Bennington Street Pump Station. Water from Suffolk Downs flows through the culvert into this pond. Water flowing in the opposite direction, from Belle Isle Marsh, is blocked by tide gates. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

The Blue Line Was Named For Boston Harbor. Now The Sea Threatens The Service

WBUR News

06:24Jun 15, 2021

The Vertex building by Fan Pier in the Boston Seaport. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

The Seaport Cost Billions To Build. What Will It Take To Save It?

WBUR News

07:13Jun 16, 2021

Flood waters cover Morrissey Boulevard in November 2020. (Matt Stone/ MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)

As Sea Levels Rise in Boston, Stormwater May Have Nowhere To Go

WBUR News

07:03Jun 17, 2021

Zy Baer's "Polarity" installation imagines how the Fort Point and Seaport neighborhoods could look if nothing is done to reverse the effects of climate change. (Courtesy Fort Point Arts Commission)

'Your Condo Is Going To Flood': A Sculptural Installation Predicts What Climate Change Could Bring

WBUR News

03:13Jun 18, 2021

In a photo from the 1880s, men inspect sewer construction in Boston. (Courtesy Boston Public Library)

Boston’s Stormwater Problems Are Older Than The City Itself

WBUR News

Jun 17, 2021

(Photo)

Test Your Boston And Climate Change Knowledge With Our Quiz

WBUR News

Jun 16, 2021

A police car navigates through floodwaters on Central St. to reach Atlantic Ave. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

The 1-2-3s Of Boston's Rising Sea Level

WBUR News

Jun 15, 2021

Charles C. Perkins, "Boston for 100 years." (Courtesy Leventhal Map & Education Center)

8 Maps That Explain Boston's Changing Shoreline

WBUR News

Jun 14, 2021

Environmental Justice

A 2019 protest in Springfield against the Palmer Plant. (Courtesy of Rene Theberge)

Mass. Revokes Air Permit For Controversial Biomass Facility In Springfield

WBUR News

Apr 2, 2021

The Weymouth compressor station by the Fore River. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Why A Federal Order In The Weymouth Compressor Case Has The Natural Gas World Worried

WBUR News

07:04Mar 19, 2021

The location of the proposed electrical substation in East Boston (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

In A Blow To Environmental Justice Advocates, State Regulators Approve Controversial East Boston Substation

WBUR News

Feb 22, 2021

Shalanda Baker poses for a portrait in 2017. (Courtesy Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University)

'It's Not Inevitable That This Will Be Unjust': A Q&A With Shalanda Baker On Energy Justice

WBUR News

Jan 20, 2021

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

WBUR News

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

WBUR News

Jul 23, 2020

Mike Nichols, Tomas Cardoso and Romeo Gonzales place the tree in a hole at Prescott Sq. Park in East Boston. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Dead And Dying Trees Have More Methane In Their Soil, Study Finds

WBUR News

Jun 5, 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

WBUR News

05:37Apr 22, 2020

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Building Solutions

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

Beacon Hill's Iconic Gas Lamps Are Going Green

WBUR News

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

WBUR News

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

WBUR News

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

WBUR News

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?

WBUR News

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

WBUR News

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'

WBUR News

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

WBUR News

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?

WBUR News

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

WBUR News

07:25May 31, 2019

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

You Asked, We Answered: Questions About The Pilgrim Shutdown

WBUR News

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?

WBUR News

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

WBUR News

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

WBUR News

09:55Apr 23, 2019

The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Historic Plymouth Looks To A Future Without Pilgrim

WBUR News

10:11Apr 24, 2019

More Environmental Coverage from WBUR

A pickup truck heads through flood water that has crashed over the seawall in Revere during a Nor’easter. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Baker Announces $17.3M In Grants To Repair Dams, Seawalls

The governor said the grants will help toughen critical resilience projects in the face of a changing climate.

WBUR News

Jul 29, 2021

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey steps away from the podium after taking questions from media during a news conference in September of 2019 in Boston. (Steven Senne/AP)

Healey, Baker Say It's Time To Stop Harm To Electric Consumers

Electric customers in Massachusetts who switched to a competitive electric supplier paid $426 million more than they would have had they stayed with their utility company from July 2015 to...

WBUR News

Jul 28, 2021

A gas-lit flame burns on a natural gas stove. (Thomas Kienzle/AP)

Mass. Towns Seek Permission To Lead On Emission Cuts

Three bills would prohibit fossil-fuel infrastructure in new buildings or those undergoing major renovations in Brookline, Lexington and Arlington.

WBUR News

Jul 27, 2021

A view of the Prudential Tower from Somerville on Monday afternoon. Smoke from the wildfires from the western part of the country and Canada returned to Boston. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Air Quality Alert In Massachusetts As Wildfire Smoke Blows Through

The smoke is thicker than it was last week — it's likely that you could even detect the scent of burning wood.

WBUR News

Jul 26, 2021

The Massachusetts State House. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Baker Administration Pushes Legislature For Climate Resiliency Funds

Energy Secretary Kathleen Theoharides asked senators for federal funds for infrastructure and ecological restoration to prepare Massachusetts for climate change.

WBUR News

Jul 26, 2021

A North Atlantic right whale swims in the waters of Cape Cod Bay April 14, 2019 near Provincetown. (Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images)

White House Has Right Whale Conservation Rule Proposal For Review

The government has said the rules will focus on reducing the number of vertical ropes in the water. They’re also expected to modify restricted areas of ocean.

WBUR News

Jul 26, 2021

In this 2012 file photo, a 4-year-old Atlantic salmon is held at the National Fish Hatchery in Nashua, N.H. Maine is home to the last wild Atlantic salmon populations in the U.S., but a new push to protect the fish is unlikely to land them on the state's endangered list. (Jim Cole/AP)

Groups Urge Maine To Protect Last Wild Atlantic Salmon In U.S.

A new push to protect the final remaining wild Atlantic salmon in the U.S. is unlikely to land the fish on a key state endangered list.

WBUR News

Jul 24, 2021

A woman kayaks in the Charles River. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Officials Warn Of Fish Kill, Strange Odors In Charles River

Boston-area officials are recommending no swimming, boating and fishing on parts of the Charles River while officials investigate abnormal odors, dead fish and an oil sheen.

WBUR News

Jul 23, 2021

Shepard Fairy cuts out the stencil for the mural being installed on a wall of the IMAX Simon’s Theater at the New England Aquarium. The mural is part of Sea Walls, an environmental public art project based in East Boston to raise awareness about the effects of climate change on the planet's fragile oceans. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

From Obey Giant To Oceans, Artist Shepard Fairey Reflects On His First Permanent Mural In Boston

The street artist and activist has immortalized the likenesses of wrestling icon André the Giant and President Barack Obama in paint. Now, it's the North Atlantic right whale's turn.

WBUR News

06:09Jul 23, 2021

The iron anode section of Form Energy's prototype iron-air battery. Courtesy Form Energy

The Magic Ingredients For Innovative Batteries? Humble Rust And Salt

Form Energy and Malta, Inc. are developing energy storage technology based on iron and sodium

WBUR News

Jul 22, 2021