Environment
Smoke from Western Wildfires Worsens Local Air Quality
As major wildfires burn out West and in Canada, the air quality in much of Massachusetts has ranged from “unhealthy for sensitive groups” to outright “unhealthy” — and experts warn that climate change will make the problem even worse. “This week, while somewhat of an anomaly — we’re not used to experiencing this kind of…
Read MoreCoastal Entrepreneurs Continue To Ramp Up Maine’s Production Of Kelp
Coastal entrepreneurs continue to ramp up Maine’s production of kelp, and a processor that’s seeded the young sector’s growth is responding by opening a 27,000 square foot plant in Biddeford, Maine. Atlantic Sea Farms CEO Briana Warner says that in the last two seasons, the 24 farmers who supply kelp to the company have increased…
Read MoreWhite Mountain Forest Steps Up Wildfire Prevention Efforts In High-Risk Neighborhoods
The warming climate is raising the risk of wildfires across the entire U.S., even in states like New Hampshire. Now, forest managers in the White Mountains are stepping up their efforts to prevent major damage, and warning neighbors: It could happen here. On the edge of the White Mountain National Forest in Conway, public lands…
Read MoreA Former Mill Town Takes Control Of The Future Of Its Power Supply
In May, the small town of Harrisville, N.H. started to write the next chapter for its energy future. Harrisville voters approved the second community power plan in the state (the neighboring city of Keene was first). With a community power plan, the town will purchase power on behalf of residents and businesses. Advocates say this…
Read MoreNew Bedford’s Harbor Is a Billion Dollars Cleaner, But Long-term Impacts Remain
Stephen Theberge grew up a few blocks from the New Bedford harbor, and his memory of the waterway in the 1980s isn’t pretty. “It was abysmal,” said Theberge, recalling the sight (and smell) of raw sewage and garbage lapping the shores where he used to fish. One image still sticks with him: “The striped bass’…
Read MoreFishing Industry Feels Stranded As Offshore Wind Gathers Momentum
On a clear morning in early June, cotton sacks filled with shucked scallops hit the scale at Gambardella’s dockside warehouse in Stonington, Connecticut. They’re being offloaded from the Furious, a scallop boat just back from a 12-day trip. Owner and longtime fisherman Joe Gilbert runs four scallop boats out of this dock. Up in the…
Read MoreWindfall: The Birth of a New American Industry
The United States is poised for the birth of a brand new industry, one that will invest tens of billions of dollars in our economy, reshape our coastal communities, and one that could be one of the sharpest knives in our fight against climate change: offshore wind. It may also represent the first time truly…
Read MoreElectric Ferries, Controlled Growth: Environmentalists Push Steamship Authority for Sustainable Future
This summer, a Steamship Authority ferry will depart the terminal in Woods Hole 31 times a day. So on a recent Sunday morning, the surrounding area was packed with buses, taxis, and travelers sitting on luggage as they waited to board. “So the buses are diesel. You can smell them a little bit,” said Doug…
Read MoreDeep Sea Corals Off Coastal Maine Gain Permanent Federal Protection
Fisheries regulators in the Northeast are permanently putting some 25,000 square miles of seafloor off-limits to some types of commercial fishing, in an effort to protect sensitive deep-sea corals. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a final rule this week that bars mobile bottom-trawling gear from vast deep-sea areas along the outer continental shelf…
Read More‘Absolute Nightmare Scenario’: Caterpillar Outbreak Defoliating Northeast Trees
The emergence of the 17-year cicadas has dominated bug news of late, but in the northeastern parts of the U.S. and Canada, another cyclical menace has emerged that has the potential to do more lasting damage. Several weeks ago, Mark Boltz-Robinson started noticing that a couple of red oaks on his Vermont property were thinning…
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