The Green Blog

Union of Concerned Scientists Kevin Knobloch going to US Department of Energy

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:20:44 GMT

This is from a press release from the Union of Concerned Scientists: Kevin Knobloch, the president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, will take a new post as chief of staff to Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. Knobloch...

Local group compiles country's top greenhouse gas polluters

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:40:39 GMT

By Doug Struck Globe Correspondent Want to know whos killing the planet? A research group at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has pulled together a nifty list called The Greenhouse 100 of the top climate polluters in the country....

Forest winners and losers in changing climate

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:33:38 GMT

By Doug Struck Globe correspondent Federal officials are increasingly alarmed by the toll of climate change on the nations forests, as vast tracts of the West and Southwest erupt in flames, and bark beetles and other bugs turn swaths of...

Storms that stay too long: scientists explore jet stream, arctic ice role

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 21:10:04 GMT

By Doug Struck Globe Correspondent The latest event in a spate of strange and fierce weather always prompts a question to scientists: does this come from climate change? The usual answer from wary researchers: Well, no one weather event can...

Relative's illness spurred reporter

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 14:05:30 GMT

By Beth Daley Globe Staff The call came while I was riding my bike. I have awful news, my husband said as I struggled to hear him while undoing my helmet strap. Andrea was dead. I sunk to sit on...

Fifteen-year-old educates others about Lyme disease

Tue, 28 May 2013 01:57:47 GMT

Lyme disease can be a hard journey, but one 15-year-old Cape Cod teenager has turned her experience with the disease into a passion to educating others about it. Marissa Freeman, who first got Lyme at age 9, recently received...

The root of Boston's tree planting problems

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:58:11 GMT

By Doug Struck Globe Correspondent Boston will become cool and green by planting 100,000 trees before 2020, Mayor Thomas M. Menino promised in April 2007. He said it will make people feel better about where they live. So, halfway to...

New Spaulding hospital learns haunting lessons from Katrina

Thu, 02 May 2013 00:30:53 GMT

By Doug Struck Globe Correspondent Hurricane Katrina had finally spent its fury and died, when I stepped cautiously through the broken doorway of a brick building in New Orleans called the Lafon Nursing Home of the Holy Family. Inside was...

Who is afraid of Sea Level rise?

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:23:43 GMT

By Doug Struck Globe Correspondent The scenes of Hurricane Sandy rampaging through New York City last October stunned city planners on the East Coast, posing a question of whether to withdraw from the waterfront. It was, oh my god,...

What would Thoreau do? A closed dump, a proposed bus depot and a dream of protected land

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:55:16 GMT

By Doug Struck Globe Correspondent CONCORD -- Henry David Thoreau took walks. He called it sauntering around Walden Pond, where he wrote about living in the wilderness between regular strolls into nearby Concord to deliver his dirty laundry to his...

Ending the nightmare on elm-lined streets: scientists using survivors to breed tougher generation

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 18:11:14 GMT

(Christian Marks/TNC) Majestic American elm trees in New England that have survived decades of a ravaging disease are being called upon to help create a genetic armor to help future generations resist the diseases devastation. Scientists from The Nature...

Tracking right whales: Aquarium talk March 28

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:05:00 GMT

One of the hardest things about protecting endangered whales is finding them as I recently found out when reporting a story on North Atlantic right whales. But now, the New England Aquarium is using GIS to track the leviathans...

Mass. League of Environmental Voters welcomes new chairman, directors

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:52:14 GMT

The Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters, a non-partisan, non-profit advocacy group, has a new chairman and four new directors on its governing board. Board member Chuck Anastas, of Westborough, was elected Chairman of the Board. Chuck replaces Tom McShane, a...

Markey introduces revamped bill to fight fish fraud

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 18:18:08 GMT

U.S. Rep. and Senate candidate Ed Markey Wednesday introduced a new version of bill to combat seafood fraud by tracking fish from a boat to a diners plate. Markey amended earlier legislation he filed in July to reflect input...

Narwhals: New book unlocks the secret of the sea unicorn

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:19:04 GMT

(photo by Todd McLeish) Some people still question if narwhals the worlds most northernmost whale with its seven-foot long spiral tusk - still exist. They do although the mysterious creatures are facing an uncertain future as their icy...

Mass. rebates for wood pellet boilers

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 23:31:43 GMT

This press release just in from the state: Massachusetts Clean Energy Center CEO Alicia Barton and Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Mark Sylvia today announced the launch of a new $475,000 incentive program to help residents install high-efficiency wood...

2020 Action asks for 20 minutes a month for change

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:21:59 GMT

For a quarter century, 2020 Action, based in Amherst has carried out a big mission: Helping change US environmental and peace-related policies. The group reaches about 3,000 people with a monthly postcard that helps them craft a personalized, effective...

Butterflies fluttering earlier in warm years

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 01:07:23 GMT

As climate change takes root in New England, butterflies are taking wing earlier, new research led by a Boston University researcher shows. By looking at ten short-lived butterfly species known as elfins and hairstreaks, the researchers found that the...

Environmental groups plan to sue state over expired air pollution permit

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 11:34:52 GMT

Two environmental groups are planning to sue the state Department of Environmental Protection for failing to renew an expired air pollution permit in a timely fashion for a Springfield coal burning plant that they say is likely violating air quality...

Nemo lobs thousands of clams onto Revere Beach

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 22:35:25 GMT

(Photo by Dung A. Doan) When Gordon Burns glanced out of his window onto Revere Beach Sunday morning, he saw what looked like thousands of black shimmering rocks on the beach stretching for miles in either direction. But he...

Pilgrim nuclear plant shuts down in storm

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 12:38:45 GMT

Pilgrim Station nuclear plant automatically shut down in the thick of the storm Friday night after losing power, according to a statement by Entergy, the plant's owner. Authorities said there is no danger and backup diesel generators are powering...

Northeast pact to dramatically lower greenhouse emissions for power plants

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:37:59 GMT

By Beth Daley GLOBE STAFF Massachusetts and eight other Northeast states are nearly halving the amount of carbon dioxide power plants are allowed to emit - a dramatic reduction that is expected to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars...

Mass. to announce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 20:11:05 GMT

Massachusetts and eight other states will announce significant cuts Thursday in allowable carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, according to a press advisory released by Massachusetts officials. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative announcement comes four years after the nine-state...

Ipad and Kindle cases made from old fleece jackets

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 04:25:46 GMT

Jennifer Feller and Sam Palmer met in 1995 working at Patagonia on Newbury Street, and now their lives have come full circle- running a business together that repurposes old Patagonia fleeces into hip, protective Kindle and iPad cases. Their company,...

Local green blogger helps lead fight to get chemical out of Tide

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 13:12:25 GMT

Lori Alper, a Boston-area based blogger and founder of Groovy Green Livin had a significant role in a recent California court agreement by Procter & Gamble to substantially reduce the levels of a chemical linked to cancer found in...