Infrastructure
Coal Is Dirty. Amid Protests, Why New England Is Still Burning It For Power
On a freezing night in December, about a dozen climate activists stood on the train tracks in a wooded section of West Boylston, Mass. They huddled together, headlamps and flashlights pointing south towards an approaching coal train. The light from the train’s headlights got brighter, and the horns blared louder and longer, but the activists…
Read MoreWhat It’s Like To Switch From Car Travel To A Daily Train Commute
Heather Brandon used to drive from her home in Hartford, Connecticut, to work in Springfield, Massachusetts. It would take her anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on traffic. But this summer, she committed to taking the train. Producer Morgan Springer talked to her about the commute while Brandon, who works at New England…
Read MoreTo Combat Climate Change, Do We Need The Nuclear Option?
Future? In Massachusetts, nuclear power is history. Last spring, Massachusetts’ last nuclear power plant — Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station — shut down after nearly 50 years. Repairing the aging plant was too expensive, and it couldn’t compete against cheap natural gas. Nuclear opponents like Mary Lampert, founder of the citizens’ group Pilgrim Watch, say “good…
Read MoreAs Pilgrim Powers Down, Some Worry It Will Leave Behind Too Much Radiation
Like all nuclear power plants, Pilgrim releases small amounts of radioactive gases and liquids as part of its normal operations. These emissions are controlled by the plant, and monitored by federal and state regulators to protect public health.
Read MoreHistoric Plymouth Looks To A Future Without Pilgrim
Beneath a towering granite pavilion, in the smallest state park in Massachusetts, is an unassuming gray boulder with outsized historic and economic importance: Plymouth Rock. The Rock draws a million visitors a year. Tourism is a powerful economic engine for Plymouth, employing 4,000 workers and generating $30 million annually in local taxes.
Read MoreThis Vermont Town Took A Big Hit When Its Nuclear Plant Closed
At the end of May, the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth will permanently shut down. Forty-six years ago it began generating electricity, high-paying jobs and intense controversy over safety and environmental impact. Pilgrim went into service just one day after its sister plant: Vermont Yankee. Both reactors were the same make and model: a GE Mark I reactor. And since 2002, they have been operated by the same company: Entergy.
Read MoreIn A Win For CMP, Maine Utility Regulators Approve 145-Mile Transmission Line
Maine’s top energy regulators handed a win to Central Maine Power Thursday in its bid to build a controversial power line through western Maine.
Read More‘It Has Not Been Fun’ — CMP Transmission Project Divides Western Maine Communities
To get to the backwoods homestead where Duane Hanson started his family four decades ago — deep timber territory, 16 miles from the Canadian border — you have to snowmobile sometimes more than 8 miles in from Spencer Road in Jackman. Eagles and other raptors patrol the air above.
Read MoreIn Connecticut, The Costs And Benefits Of Shared Solar Are Tough To Calculate
Renewable energy projects have been growing across New England in recent years. And while offshore wind and grid-scale solar have gotten lots of the attention — a smaller, more community-oriented way of getting power has been steadily taking hold: “shared clean energy.”
Read MoreBringing Hydro Power From Canada To Massachusetts: Comparing Northern Pass And New England Clean Energy Connect
We’re going to take you on a journey. It starts in frigid Québec, where a gigantic, decades-old project that dammed rivers and forced native people off their land and has become a source of provincial pride, and a lot of power. Power-hungry Massachusetts saw Hydro-Québec’s big dams as a zero-carbon answer to their prayers.
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