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Keyword search: CLIMATE CHANGE

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — During a summer in which area farms dealt with significant rainfall and flooded fields, keeping agricultural drainage ditches cleared became essential to protecting crops by ensuring excess water could be removed.Often, though, farmers found...

By DOMENIC POLI

ASHFIELD — The town is seeking a “Climate Leader” designation from the state that would help it reduce emissions by increasing its use of equipment run on electricity rather than those requiring fossil fuels, and maximizing the efficiency of...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Signaling the potential for more change in the transportation and energy sectors, Senate President Karen Spilka revealed Monday that the Senate plans to tackle a major climate bill within the next three months.The Ashland Democrat said at a...

By EMILEE KLEIN

GRANBY — The trees along the roadsides in Granby keep disappearing.Resident Cheryl Funk first noticed the phenomena during daily trips past West Street Cemetery, where trees that had long greeted mourners were suddenly gone. Then she realized the tree...

By CHRIS LARABEE

Take a drive down Routes 5 and 10 and count the number of electric or hybrid vehicles you see. Compare those numbers to what you saw two years, five years or 10 years ago and you’re likely looking at a significant increase.Data from the Massachusetts...

By EMILEE KLEIN

Massachusetts’ solar development just had its worst year in over a decade in terms of new installations, but Greenfield Solar partner Claire Chang says her firm that does jobs throughout the Valley hasn’t experienced the same downturn.As a small...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — A changing climate’s impact on farms and their ability to raise crops will be the focus of a farmers’ roundtable taking place at Plainville Farm on Friday.The Hadley Climate Change Committee is partnering with farm owner Wally Czajkowski on...

By DOMENIC POLI

Residents have until Friday to submit their input regarding the process by which clean energy projects are permitted in Massachusetts.An online survey is soliciting public comment on how the state should protect health, safety and community livability...

By CHRIS LARABEE

DEERFIELD — With the help of a $50,000 grant, the town will explore the feasibility of a geothermal heating and cooling system for the proposed town campus project.Over the next year, Deerfield will explore the possibility of using the earth below...

By EMILEE KLEIN

AMHERST — Before acclaimed environmental activist Catherine Coleman Flowers said one word about herself at the outset of a talk at UMass on Thursday night, she expressed gratitude to marginalized communities across the country who trusted her to share...

By EMILEE KLEIN

With the state dealing with catastrophic consequences of climate change, the debate around forest management continues to make headlines as Massachusetts policymakers discuss the best way to maximize carbon sequestration in forests.Trees and other...

By PATRICK WHITTLE

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — After back-to-back storms lashed the Northeast in January, rental properties Haim Levy owns in coastal Hampton, New Hampshire, were hammered by nearly two feet of water, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage...

By EMILEE KLEIN

AMHERST — UMass Amherst will lead a new $11.9 million center on offshore wind education, research and outreach to expedite development of offshore wind energy and train a national workforce to install and maintain the clean energy...

By EMILEE KLEIN

The influential lobby group Mothers Out Front took aim at the natural gas industry this week, using its monthly climate action call to encourage people to push for a future without gas.Each month, the statewide group with local chapters in the Pioneer...

By EMILEE KLEIN

EASTHAMPTON — Ryan Pickard recalls the care and passion in Paula Garcia’s detailed emails.Pickard, a former fourth grade teacher at the now-closed Maple Street School, collaborated with Garcia on an anti-idling campaign in 2019. But truth be told, she...

By EMILEE KLEIN

AMHERST — As debate continues over how best to develop solar throughout the state to help meet an ambitious net-zero emissions goal, representatives from Mass Audubon and Harvard Forest are touting a recently completed report that details how solar...

By EMILEE KLEIN

AMHERST — Three faculty at the University of Massachusetts are joining the state’s new Climate Science Advisory Panel, a group of 21 experts who will attempt to bridge the communication and knowledge gap between policymakers and scientists. The UMass...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — The climate crisis is fueling a steady growth in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather, and Massachusetts cities and towns face an increasingly common conundrum trying to respond to those emergencies.Many of the disasters that have...

By CHRIS LARABEE

A trend of warm years further cemented itself in 2023, as Massachusetts experienced, on average, its warmest year on record, according to new data from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.The average temperature around Massachusetts for the year...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — The city is hoping to join seven other Massachusetts municipalities in a new state pilot program that would require all future construction and major renovations to be free of fossil fuels.The pilot program, established by the state’s...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — A pair of reports made public this week illustrate the variety of efforts that are underway to position Massachusetts to live up to its legal requirement to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.In addition to a minimum 50%...