IPS correspondent Tharanga Yakupitiyage spoke to Robert Scholes, ecologist and co-chair of Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service (IPBES) assessment, about land degradation and efforts needed to halt and reverse the catastrophe. Land degradation caused by human activities is occurring at an alarming rate across the world, and the cost will be steep…
Climate activists Protest Back Bay Tower’s Pipeline
On Saturday, April 21, over 100 protesters rallied against the construction of an incoming natural gas pipeline by marching from Boston Public Library to the base of 1 Dalton Street, a 742-foot skyscraper in the middle of Boston’s Back Bay. The tower is the one known customer of a planned 4,100-foot National Grid pipeline, approved…
The Environmental Protection Agency announced that they intend to weaken Obama-era fuel-efficiency standards for cars and light trucks, but environmental groups are preparing to fight back. The standards, finalized in January 2017, require new cars to average 50 miles per gallon by 2025. Bowing to pressure from manufacturers, the Trump administration now says it will…
Coalition Pushes for Clean Water and Justice in Massachusetts Prisons
Photo: Beth Prendergast On the morning of Nov. 28, a small group of people gathered in front of the Suffolk County House of Correction at South Bay. With them, a banner depicted a tidal wave rushing toward a line of prison cells. The words “#DeeperThanWater”—the group’s name—occupied the bottom of the banner, painted in prison-uniform…
Bay State Consumers ‘Overcharged’ Billions by Utilities?
Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons A new report says two utility companies have inflated their energy costs for customers in Massachusetts and other New England states. The allegations are being made in a new white paper by the Environmental Defense Fund. Craig Altemose, master of public policy for the group 350 Mass for a Better Future,…
Cape Downwinders Oppose House Plan to Revive Nuke Dump Plan
A bill reviving plans to ship thousands of tons of highly radioactive waste thousands of miles by road, rail and barge may come up for a vote in the House this month. HR 3053 passed the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee last week, breathing new life into cancelled plans for a controversial nuclear waste repository…
NODAPL protest draws local Native Americans to Boston Common
Standing Rock protesters marched through the streets of Boston against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline last Friday afternoon. The rally was organized by Medicine Wheel Solidarity Network, a coalition of groups supporting the NODAPL movement, in order to support the All Nations March at Washington D.C. Several Native American speakers were invited to…
Divest! Harvard Students Challenge Their University’s Fossil-Fuel Investments
By Brian Hoefling Harvard students spent the last week hungry. From Oct. 20-24, a group called Divest Harvard sponsored a fast aimed at persuading the school to sell off its shares in fossil fuel companies. According to Sidni Frederick, a Harvard sophomore and one of the fast’s co-coordinators, over two hundred students participated. Many others…
Climate Crisis: 400,000 March in New York to Urge Action from World Leaders
On September 21, over 400,000 people marched through Manhattan demanding global action against climate change. The People’s Climate March was planned as a response to the United Nations (UN) Climate Summit on September 23 and became the largest climate march to date. Thousands of other activists around the world also took actions in solidarity with…
Six-State Environmental Agreement Leaves State Bill in Shambles, Causes Resignations
BOSTON, Mass.—Almost a month after three members of Governor Patrick’s environmental advisory committee resigned, protesting policies in the Clean Energy Resources Bill, Governor Patrick has pledged to further assess the problems behind the embattled bill. In July, the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) filed appeals in Massachusetts regarding the withholding of documents on the development of…