Wicked Local
TO THE EDITOR:
The Weston League of Women Voters will sponsor a Candidates Night on Thursday, April 29 at 7:30 p.m. on Zoom. We have invited the candidates for the contested board seats to participate Chris Houston and Keith Johnson for one seat on the Select Board; Ken Newberg, Tricia Liu and Attia Linnard for two seats on the School Committee; Jennifer Kickham, Heidi Wyle and James Bradner for one seat on the Board of Health; and Melissa Crocker, Marcy Dorna and Peter Hill for two seats on the Recreation Commission.
If you have a question for a candidate, please submit it in advance to tackc@aol.com. There will be no live questions, but we will pose as many questions as time allows. The link for the event will be made available a week in advance.
OPINION: Next steps crucial on Massachusetts’ new climate law
State Sen. Mike Barrett
Bill signing for the “Act Creating a Next-Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy” took place in the library of the State House, otherwise empty due to the pandemic.
“I have heard words used to describe this piece of legislation, words such as sweeping, landmark, far-reaching, ambitious, bold and nation-leading,” said Senate President Karen Spilka. “I believe it is all of these things.”
Well put. We’re the first state to keep attention riveted on climate by setting emissions limits every five years instead of every 10. The first state to mandate emissions sublimits on the most important sources of greenhouse gases transportation, buildings and electric power. The first state to overhaul the charter of its electric power and natural gas regulator to include, alongside price and system reliability, reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
A Berkshire Environmental Action Team campaign Put Peakers in the Past is demanding that the three peaking power plants located in Berkshire County revert to only renewable and clean alternatives. Peaking plants are used to meet periods of high energy demand. The decades-old plants at Pittsfield Generating Co. on Merrill Road, the Eversource substation on Doreen Street and the EP Energy plant on Woodland Road in Lee run off fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil, and kerosene. Pittsfield Generating is a co-generating plant that also provides steam energy. Rosemary Wessel, program director for BEAT s No Fracked Gas in Mass campaign, said this sparks concern from environmentalists because the fuels emit excess nitrogen oxides and contribute to the region s greenhouse gas emissions.
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Steps you can take now to save on next season s heating bills
Now is the time to start making home energy improvements to save money in the next heating season
Alec O’Meara
The recent cold snap is a reminder that bitter temperatures have a major impact on monthly heating and electric bills. With the cold weather almost in our rearview mirror, there is a tendency to back-burner energy efficiency improvements.
Everyone is busy and it’s easy to put off energy improvements that won’t pay off until later. However, making energy improvements take time, and we encourage customers to take steps now to reduce next winter’s energy bills.
After passing a landmark climate law, Mass. officials now face the hard part: how to wean the state off fossil fuels
By David Abel Globe Staff,Updated April 6, 2021, 1 hour ago
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David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
Over the coming decades, the stateâs largest utilities have plans to spend billions of dollars upgrading a vast network of aging pipes and mains that distribute natural gas, after billions theyâve already spent in recent years.
But much of those plans clash with a landmark bill that Governor Charlie Baker signed last month that requires the state to effectively eliminate its carbon emissions by 2050.