Latest Environmental News

A technician removes a solar panel from a lift during a solar panel installation on the rooftop of Boston Building Resources in Jamaica Plain. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Mass. can expand solar without chopping so much forest, report says

A new analysis from Harvard Forest and Mass Audubon argues that Massachusetts could meet its ambitious goals for solar power while preserving forests and farmland.

A New England cottontail rabbit. (U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service via Maine Public)

Cottontail rabbits released in Maine refuge to help population bounce back

PHOTOS: Massive Vineyard Wind turbines under construction in New Bedford

Dune Boy

PFAS Series

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

At WBUR, we cover the climate conversation in ways that spur new ideas, provide a place for debate and arm our community in Massachusetts and beyond with information and inspiration...

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

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?

More Environmental News

A bus bound for Wakefield at the MBTA Ashmont Station in Boston. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

MBTA announces new climate office to reduce its environmental footprint

Eastie Farm gets $1M to train young people for green jobs

Leaf-peepers are clogging a Vermont backroad. The town is closing it

Some of Vermont’s rarest plants were destroyed by summer floods

What's at risk if global climate mitigation funding continues to exclude Indigenous people

07:52Sep 27, 2023

Yaks on the Smiling Buddha Ranch in the town of Ridgway. (Hart Van Denburg/CPR News)

How a small town in Colorado became a breeding place for yaks

05:46Sep 18, 2023

Migrating cranes fly during sunset near Straussfurt, central Germany. (Jens Meyer/AP)

261 million birds are predicted to be migrating south

05:36Sep 18, 2023

Black vulture populations are expanding across several states and causing problems for livestock producers. (Noppadol Paothong/Missouri Department of Conservation)

Black vultures cause chaos across the Midwest

04:21Sep 14, 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

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

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

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

46:55Aug 30, 2023

Tree #65 at Mount Auburn Cemetery, after a microburst broke off a large limb. (Courtesy Liza Ketchum)

How do you mourn a tree?

Fossil fuel company wants to expand gas pipeline in Northeast

The proposal from Enbridge would involve replacing existing pipes with larger ones, adding some secondary pipes and expanding compressor stations along the Algonquin Gas Transmission line.

Mass. conservationists welcome executive order to protect biodiverse lands and waters

The order calls for the state Department of Fish and Game to draw up a set of biodiversity conservation targets for state agencies to implement in 2030, 2040 and 2050....

Lanternflies are creeping into Mass. Here's why you should kill them

Holyoke is now one of a handful of cities and towns home to the invasive spotted lanternfly. The species known to be a nuisance, wreaking havoc on plants and putting...

What to do if you encounter a bear or coyote in Greater Boston

WBUR's Morning Edition host Rupa Shenoy spoke with Dave Wattles, biologist with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, about whether large wildlife encounters are occurring more frequently and what...

Local Coverage

03:48Sep 19, 2023

Plastic bottles are seen at a recycling center in Sacramento, Calif. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP)

Mass. will ban purchase by state of single-use plastic bottles, Healey announces

Healey said the order will make Massachusetts the first state in the nation to enact such a procurement ban.

Environment

Sep 18, 2023

A satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Lee in the Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 14.(NOAA via AP)

Provincetown harbormaster prepares for high winds from the passing Hurricane Lee

Hurricane Lee is expected to cause 50- to 60-mph wind gusts along the Massachusetts coastline as it passes by, far off coast, overnight Friday into Saturday.

Local Coverage

03:36Sep 14, 2023

An array of solar panels covers the roof of Mass Audubon's Joppa Flats Education Center. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Pilot allowing bans on new gas hookups is limited to 10 Mass. communities. There's 1 spot left

Nine communities — Acton, Aquinnah, Arlington, Brookline, Cambridge, Concord, Lexington, Lincoln and Newton — submitted official applications to be among the 10 cities and towns to ban fossil fuel hookups...

Environment

Sep 14, 2023

An opened flat of water bottles. (Elizabeth Román/NEPM)

Boil water order lifted in Springfield, schools open

The boil water order was issued Tuesday night after a large water main broke in Springfield off of St. James Avenue, spilling some 10 million gallons.

Local Coverage

Sep 14, 2023