Wild & Scenic Film Festival 2012

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Tara Holmes

The Wild and Scenic Film Festival returns to Boston on March 31st! Hosted locally by e-inc, the day long film festival, which includes food, networking and discussion, was started eight years ago in California and changes every year depending upon participant submissions. The national Festival also boasts the reputation as the largest environmental film festival in the United States.

Designed to inspire awareness and activism, the films showcase themes from across the planet on a wide array of pressing environmental issues ranging from energy resources to species and land conservation. e-inc, a Boston-area environmental education center, has hosted the Wild and Scenic Film Festival for a number of years and continues to draw crowds for this event. Get your tickets early and enjoy the show!

EPA report cracks down on hydraulic fracturing

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Tara Holmes

The clean energy revolution has never been more critical. In a report released December 8th, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made a direct link between the controversial drilling practice known as hydraulic fracturing and groundwater contamination. For years, hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” a method to extract oil and gas from underground deposits that uses a mixture of sand, water and chemicals to fracture shale rock and release the gas, has been taking place across the country, mainly unabated and unquestioned by politicians and industry professionals.

Now however, it’s official: fracking has been correlated to tainted groundwater that is often entirely undrinkable by area residents and wildlife alike. The EPA report specifically notes high concentrations of benzene, xylene, gasoline and diesel fuel in groundwater supplies linked to wastewater pits and deeper fresh water wells. This indicates the difficulty in tracking all fracking-related chemicals as the gas industry is not required to reveal all chemical elements, a product of a loophole commonly referred to as the “Halliburton Loophole.”

While this particular EPA report focuses on the town of Pavilion, WY; Dimock, a town of 1400 people in northeastern Pennsylvania, has made recent national headlines as well over the question of drinking water quality. In fact, last week residents and nonprofit groups from neighboring areas, including New York City, drove to Dimock to supply fresh drinking water to its residents as the PA DEP had decided to ignore the issue altogether. Cabot Oil and Gas, the company responsible for fracking in Dimock, had recently ended daily deliveries of clean water asserting that “Dimock’s water is safe to drink.” The PA DEP gave Cabot permission last month to stop paying for clean water and a judge, who sits on the state’s Environmental Hearing Board, “declined to issue an emergency order compelling Cabot to continue the deliveries.”

Never has the need for clean energy alternatives been more necessary. Fracking is a national energy dilemma: on one side energy companies stand to gain considerable profit on harvesting natural gas, while on the other citizens, eager to make quick money, learn only too late the harsh environmental and health-related risks related to the industry.

The EPA report comes at a critical time. As the U.S. is steamrolling hundreds of new fracking sites each month, we are still hesitant to embrace cleaner, renewable technologies. Fracking is a dangerous practice that is clouded by many political and industry interests. The EPA report is a good place to start for stronger regulation and awareness of a very questionable method of extracting this domestic energy source.

Biomass Blues

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Tara Holmes

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s stance on biomass has recently changed its tune from one of skepticism to one of acceptance as a state-wide “clean” energy policy. Why the sudden switch? State environmental groups, the same groups who helped lobby to get him into office, are wondering the same thing and are now turning against Patrick’s newfound position at large.

According to a recent article in the Boston Phoenix, the Patrick administration will release a document in the next few weeks that will contain the final regulations for the state’s biomass subsidies. According to environmental groups, the Administration is planning to reverse its original position as a nod towards a handful of developers who stand to make money off of biomass production.

These regulations will come at the expense of ordinary electricity-utility ratepayers who will be forced to pay extra to subsidize a practice that negatively impacts the environment and opens the way for clear-cutting of forests and increased carbon emission (carbon emissions from biomass are particularly concentrated).

Susan Reid, vice-president and director of the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) of Massachusetts stated that, “It is deeply troubling that the Patrick administration would jettison good policy and good science.” James McCaffrey, director of the Massachusetts Sierra Club stated: “We will be very disappointed and very upset” if the Administration doesn’t reverse course. “It is going to indicate that the industry had a real hand in weakening these regulations.”

In an effort to determine whether biomass was as dirty as projected, the Administration commissioned the so-called “Manomet Report.” The study cast serious doubt on whether woody biomass is clean at all. Based on the Manomet Report (pdf), the Administration issued a letter to draw up regulations allowing woody biomass to qualify for subsidies only if it met certain efficiency standards. These regulations are the very regulations environmental groups are waiting anxiously for this fall.

In addition to state-wide policy, biomass has created tension throughout municipalities and local townships. In Greenfield, for example, many homeowners have placed anti-biomass signs on their lawns as western Mass will face the brunt of production given the vast natural resources that exist in that region of the state.

While the struggle for a clean energy economy continues to envelop both Massachusetts and national politics, the debate over biomass remains clear: do state residents wish to see increased clear cutting across the state in return for dirty energy? In a world that is faced with the daunting impacts of climate change, perhaps we should instead focus our policy efforts on coupling energy efficiency efforts with renewables such as wind, solar and geothermal. Trees act as carbon sinks absorbing excess carbon out of the atmosphere; going forward, it would be wise policy to instead preserve as many carbon sinks as possible.

Western MA Tornado Relief: ReBuild Western Massachusetts

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Tara Holmes

Image by Tara Holmes

On June 1st, three tornadoes touched down in western Massachusetts during a surprise series of storms, leaving a wake of destruction and confusion. Massachusetts, not known for tornadoes, is now beginning to rethink state policies surrounding severe weather preparation and emergency response.

ReBuild Western Massachusetts, a program developed by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and administered in partnership with the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), was announced on August 4th and will distribute more than $8 million to help building owners affected by the tornadoes rebuild using energy efficiency practices and renewable energy technologies. Eligible participants include those who can document damage caused by the June 1 storms, and who own buildings in communities in Hampden and Worcester Counties, including: Agawam, Westfield, West Springfield, Springfield, Wilbraham, Monson, Brimfield, Southbridge and Sturbridge.

The program will offer incentives for solar PV and solar thermal systems, as well as for renewable heating and hot water systems. Zero-interest loans and grants for building with energy efficient windows, doors, attic and wall insulation, and heating equipment will be offered to homeowner victims. Later this year, offerings will include energy efficiency and renewable energy assistance for other building owners, including businesses and municipalities. “There is now a package of incentives for these communities to rebuild cleaner, greener and more efficiently than ever before,” said DOER Commissioner Mark Sylvia. “For homeowners and businesses these programs bring significant reductions in energy costs and deep energy efficiency savings. These measures will also cut energy consumption, cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce our dependence on imported energy sources.”

It is important to note that of the approximately $22 billion Massachusetts spends annually on energy, 80% – or nearly $18 billion – goes out of the state and the country to purchase coal, oil and natural gas from Canada, the Middle East and South America. ReBuild Western Massachusetts aims to encourage building owners to rebuild using cleaner energy alternatives thereby helping to keep energy sources local while decreasing GHG emissions.

Mt. Tom Station Cleans Up?

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Tara Holmes

Mt. Tom Station in Holyoke, MA has been a thorn in the sides of local environmentalists for many years. Sitting on one of the most pristine mountain ranges in western Massachusetts, the coal burning power plant has, according to the Conservation Law Foundation, violated clean air standards thousands of times from 2005 to 2010, despite $55 million worth of pollution-control equipment that was installed from 2007 to 2009.

Now, however, the plant plans to comply with more stringent air-quality standards, install air-monitoring equipment, and hire an outside consultant to correct air pollution problems under a settlement announced by the state Attorney General’s Office. In addition, FirstLight Power Resources, the station’s owners, and GDF Suez North America have agreed to pay a $25,000 penalty to the state of Massachusetts and $70,000 for an education program targeting owners of old wood stoves and wood-fired boilers in the greater Holyoke area. It’s important to note however that while burning wood remains a common heating and power option for those living in remote areas, it’s not a clean energy source.

The arrangement between the state and Mt. Tom Station settles allegations that Mt. Tom violated clean air standards in 2009 and 2010, yet there is still much to be done and this story is far from unique. Hundreds of other coal-fired power plants across the U.S. face identical concerns, namely outdated design and poor oversight. It’s thereby critical that the EPA along with local and state environmental agencies increase monitoring and random site checks on all coal-fired power stations to ensure safety and liability until they can be brought offline.

Unfortunately however, in today’s world of increasing energy demand, fossil fuels like coal remain a standard power producer. Growing sectors such as natural gas are advertised as a “clean” domestic alternative to coal, but that too comes at a large price with hydrolic fracturing, or fracking, leading to many questionable health and environmental concerns. Until the clean energy revolution makes a cheaper, mainstream splash in the U.S., stories like Mt. Tom will remain all too common.

Google Pushes for Solar Panels

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Tara Holmes

Google, a company that continues to invest in and push for clean energy technology, has recently announced its newest, and potentially biggest, capital venture: funding a no-cost installation solar panel program for homeowners. While already investing in other mammoth clean energy projects across the US, such as a $100 million investment in the world’s biggest wind farm, the company is now creating a $280 million fund to finance SolarCity‘s residential solar projects. Google essentially aims to erase any initial economic burden thereby moving more rapidly towards installation. Given many homeowners today struggle with the up-front costs of putting up solar panels on their roofs, even with state-funded rebate programs and incentives, such a program comes at an opportune time.

Of course, Google also expects to make plenty of return on its investment. Rick Needham, Google’s Director of Green Business Operations and Strategy, believes that SolarCity is “attractive enough for us to invest given the risks of the project.” Furthermore, Google will reap a 30% federal tax investment credit for installed solar systems. In addition, SolarCity’s CEO Lyndon Rive expects Google’s funding will allow the company to install between 7,000 and 9,000 new rooftop systems. “This is one of the first corporate investments into distributed solar. Historically, most of the investments have been made by the banks. These have a limited amonts of capital that they can distribute, which is a constraint for solar adoption,” says Rive.

SolarCity hopes Google investment will encourage other corporate investment in the solar panel market. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, less than 0.1% of U.S. homes have rooftop solar panels today, however, that number is expected to increase to 2.4% by 2020. Investments like Google’s are important market drivers in the demand for clean energy and renewable technologies and it will be interesting to see how much of an impact Google continues to have in this arena. Countries like Germany, for example, have already pioneered the rapid installation of resident solar panels through widespread government subsidies and incentives and China is not far behind. The US, however, continues to shift between the push for cleaner energy and our continued reliance on fossil fuels. Corporate investments, such as Google’s, may be just the message the US needs in order to help kick-start a sluggish national clean energy economy.

The March on Blair Mountain

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Tara Holmes

On June 5th, roughly 600 activists and marchers began a five day 50 mile hike from Marmet, West Virginia to Blair Mountain in protest of mountain top removal (MTR), a destructive and highly contested form of strip mining. Blair Mountain, one of the last, originally standing mountains in that region of Appalachia to avoid MTR, is also an historical site with battle fields and artifacts dating back to the Civil War and before. It’s also, like many of the pristine mountains in that region, loaded with coal reserves. Unfortunately, for the residents of states such as West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia, MTR is an all too common reality. Current data show that as of 2010, an area the size of Delaware has been mined using MTR techniques and there is, tragically, no end in sight given our insatiable demand for coal-fired power.

The March on Blair Mountain aims to draw attention not only to the environmental devastation plaguing Appalachia, but to the countless union jobs lost as a result of MTR. Before MTR became standard practice, union laborers mined for coal in these same mountains using traditional deep-mining methods. Today however, the mechanization of MTR has made the mining process more “efficient” thereby cutting half the workers that deep mining traditionally employs. In Boone County, WV the state’s most heavily mined county, 2,053 miners working in underground mines produce more than 10 million tons of coal a year, while 1,086 surface miners produce 12 million tons. One local miner was quoted as saying, “MTR is a job killer, it is not a job creator.”

While coal mining alone remains a contested topic for both energy policy and environmental policy, what’s currently taking place in Appalachia is complete annihilation of million-year old mountains and the associated streams and ecosystems that sustain life in that region. Tens of thousands of acres of land have already been demolished – if not irreparably – and water tables are now laden with coal runoff and other debris impacting the health of local residents and wildlife alike. At the same time, energy demand continues to rise, while the Earth’s precious resources remain finite. And mountain top removal is just one of the high-impact energy extraction industries; the Alberta tar sands, hydrolic fracturing (“fracking”) and deep-ocean drilling are all loosely regulated, dangerous and environmentally damaging businesses.

We need a cleaner, renewable revolution for our pressing energy woes and we need clean, green job alternatives and training options for those pushed out of archaic industries, such as coal mining. This revolution also comes in the form of energy efficiency behavior changes at home and renewably sourced energy options from utility providers. The Earth simply cannot sustain current energy demand without an alternative (and immediate) solution on a global scale. Please visit The Last Mountain to learn more about action points you can take and to see clips of the new documentary film coming out this month about Blair Mountain.

A New Lens on Environmental Change

Posted on May 25, 2011 by mdlittlehale

Bringing people together from a wide range of fields to make new strides in environmental change

While the environmental movement is nothing new, dating back almost a century, the approach of activists, organizations and policy makers is continuously evolving. The Garrison Institute is taking measures to contribute to this evolution by creating the Climate, Mind, and Behavior Program. The CMB program looks to combine a number fields to solve environmental issues.

The Garrison Institute holds a CMB Symposium where leading scientists and thinkers from the fields of environmental advocacy, neuro-economics, behavioral and evolutionary economics, psychology, social networking, policy-making, investing and social media together to focus on new approaches to reducing emissions on a large scale. The event has been held in March annually since 2010.

The program approach is to use recent developments in understanding human behavior and human nature combined with the fields of psychology, evolutionary theory and apply it to environmental and climate change issues. The goal is to come out with new tactics to tackling environmental issues across the board, from reducing emissions to clean water, and everything in between.

Another important aspect of the CMB program, in conjunction with the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC), is the envisioned “behavioral wedge.” A goal for individuals to make simple behavioral changes to eliminate a giga-ton of greenhouse gas emissions. The “behavioral wedge” looks to make an early difference because regulatory changes, investment, research, and other new approaches take some time to implement. This CMB/NRDC research hopes to provide for progress to be made during the lull as other initiatives from the CMB program take shape.

By aligning climate change solutions with the way people think and behave, the Garrison Institute looks to produce much more effective and efficient solutions to solve our environmental problems. To track progress, The Garrison Institute’s website keeps a blog for updates on the CMB program, as well as a wealth of other resources and information related to the project.

MA Residents Chime in on Climate Change

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Tara Holmes

The Boston Globe recently reported on an important issue: the perception of the threat of climate change by Massachusetts residents. While the article pointed out that a majority of Massachusetts residents believe climate change is happening – and is caused by human activity – the article also pointed out that many residents remain apathetic on how to address the problem. The MassInc survey, entitled “The 80 Percent Challenge: A Survey of Climate Change Opinion and Action in Massachusetts” was sponsored by the Barr Foundation.

Interestingly, the survey, found that 77% of those surveyed say climate change has probably been happening and 33% believe climate change is very serious and is caused at least partially by human activity. Another 26%, however, believe climate change is real and caused somewhat by humans, yet do not view it as a serious threat. In addition, 24% of residents are unsure climate change is real, or believe it is driven by natural causes, while another 17% say they do not believe climate change is real. Nonetheless, 56% of residents said the federal government should do more to address the issue and 47% said state government should. The survey also broke down responses by demographic and income.

Ben Forman, research director at MassInc, stated that “In order to meet the … state target of 80% reduction of greenhouse gases by 2050 … there will need to be a far greater sense of concern on the part of Massachusetts residents … what is needed in Massachusetts is a real culture of climate protection that fosters action across all sectors of our Commonwealth.”

While Massachusetts remains one of the more progressive states on the topic of climate change, sadly, the U.S. as a whole lags far behind many other countries that consider climate change a real and immediate concern. With this in mind, it’s important to learn all the facts and understand the bigger picture, especially considering the broad, oftentimes overwhelming scope of climate change. What we can do, no matter what, is be aware, be frugal in our energy and water useage and partake in public transit options and car-share options as much as possible. Whether you believe climate change is real, or not, it’s happening all around us and now’s the time to take a positive stand and alter our behavior accordingly. I, for one, would like to live on a prosperous, stable planet. It’s the only one we’ve got!

BP, Tar Sands and Earth Day

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Tara Holmes

This is a busy week for the Earth. One year ago today, the BP Deepwater Horizon spill took place, killing 11 rig workers while leaving a massive wake of environmental and social devastation, impacts of which are still being felt today. What have we learned one year after such a monumental tragedy? Friday, April 22nd, marks the 41st anniversary of Earth Day and I’m honestly not certain how much we’ve learned. BP’s profits are strong and plans to resume deepwater drilling in the Gulf continue while many in Congress adamantly deny climate change even exists. In fact, just last week, the US Senate and House of Representatives stood at a near stand-still over budget cuts to public programs, like the EPA.

Still, all hope might not be lost for the Earth. A group of 10,000 inspired youth activists who believe positive change is still possible, descended on Washington, DC last weekend for three days of lobbying, speakers and events organized by Powershift 2011. Armed with outreach, outrage and a passion for a cleaner, healthier world, social and environmental activists from all parts of the US united to demonstrate the power of peaceful action. Bill McKibben, Tim DeChristopher and the EPA’s Lisa Jackson were among the keynote speakers. The rally did not receive mounting national press, yet the message was clear: the Earth needs our help. Fracking, tar sands and increased oil and natural gas exploration are just a few of the dangerous, and dirty, growing energy sources in the US and beyond. Given the rate that climate change is occurring and given that tar sands release two to four times the amount of CO2 into the atmosphere as conventional oil production, this is a dire environmental situation that needs immediate attention not just by our legislators, but more importantly, by the public.

That’s where you come in. The Cambridge Energy Alliance, like many prominent environmental groups, advocates for energy efficiency and simple behavior changes. Go to cambridgeenergyalliance.org to learn more about what you can do today. With just a little bit of effort, we can all make a big impact. So, as Earth Day 2011 approaches, reflect on how you want to celebrate – no effort is too little, especially now.

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