Greening the Bay State

Massachusetts has long poured its energies into environmental protection.  Shift the focus to energy efficiency itself and the rose-tinted view gets murky. Recent studies estimate that the state pumps out 87 million tons of carbon per year. The Bay State is not an efficiency leader, but solidly in the middle as the 25th highest carbon emitter in the U.S.

So, can the Bay State lead from the center?  There are those who say, yes. But not at the state level. They point to cities and towns that are taking the lead in efforts to reduce global warming gas emissions. From the first-in-the-nation Cambridge Energy Alliance, to energy task forces from Amherst to Salem, Massachusetts towns are revitalizing that old bromide, "Think global, act local."