Sustainability
Why A Commercial Fisherman Turned To Restorative Ocean Farming
Bren Smith began his career as a commercial fisherman, but now is the owner of Thimble Island Oyster Farm, a 3D restorative ocean farm in Connecticut. He’s also the author of the new book, Eat Like a Fish: My Adventures as a Fisherman Turned Restorative Ocean Farmer.
Read MoreIn An Identical Simulator, Pilgrim Operators Prep For Shutdown
Five miles from the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, in a wooded, suburban neighborhood, in a nondescript office building, is a very unusual room. It looks a lot like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise from the original “Star Trek” TV series.
Read MoreRhode Island’s Approval Of A Second Offshore Wind Farm Reflects A Growing East Coast Trend. Here’s Why Some Are Concerned
Rhode Island regulators unanimously approved a contract to build the state’s second offshore wind farm. The Revolution Wind project will generate enough energy to power more than 270,000 Rhode Island homes a year. It’s just one of over a dozen offshore wind farms popping up across the Mid-Atlantic in what’s now been dubbed “The Saudi Arabia of Wind.” But some scientists and fishermen say the growth is too much too fast.
Read More“A Big Fugazi”: Why Fishermen Still Can’t Get Behind Offshore Wind
As 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 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 MoreMills, 2 Environmental Groups Back CMP’s $1 Billion Western Maine Transmission Project
Gov. Janet Mills and two environmental groups are signing on to Central Maine Power’s bid to build a controversial new transmission line through western Maine’s forests. That significantly broadens the coalition of interests supporting the project, but the deal is also drawing fire from other environmental groups, grassroots opponents and some renewable energy developers in Maine.
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