CLIMATE CHANGE is real. So too is a massive transformation underway of electric power generation markets and transmission networks. That transformation is largely driven by public policies focused on electrification of vehicles, buildings, and industrial processes. This electrification, to achieve climate goals, will depend increasingly on electricity from wind and solar resources. Implementing these policies […]
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Region’s aging nuclear power plants drawing interest
NUCLEAR POWER APPEARS to be making a bit of a comeback. For decades, the trendlines have not been good, as aging reactors have found it difficult to compete against power generated by natural gas and overcome resistance from environmental advocates. Vermont Yankee in Vernon, Vermont, shut down at the end of 2014. Pilgrim Nuclear Power […]
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How do floating wind farms work?
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA has some of the strongest offshore winds in the US, with immense potential to produce clean energy. But it also has a problem. Its continental shelf drops off quickly, making building traditional wind turbines directly on the seafloor costly if not impossible. Once water gets more than about 200 feet deep – roughly […]
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Teaming up to target the gender power gap
WE LIKE TO THINK of Boston as a bastion of progressiveness. The area hosts over 40 higher education institutions and hundreds of innovative and forward-thinking businesses are headquartered here. Yet, working women in Boston still earn, on average, 30 cents less on every dollar than their white male colleagues and Black, Latina, and Asian women […]
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Biotech’s next destination: Why not Lynn?
AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN as an industrial hub hundreds of years ago, Lynn became known as the “shoe center of the new world” by the 1800s, thanks to the establishment and growth of the first tannery in the US in the mid-1600s. The exponential economic growth led corporations, such as Edison General Electric, to move to Lynn […]
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Brady comments reflect growing disconnect about military life
EVERY DAY, as I walk by my bedroom’s threshold, I can see the autographed picture of Tom Brady throwing a pass in Super Bowl XXXVIII and I am reminded, by all accounts, how much of an unabashed fan I am of the greatest quarterback of all time. The NFL superstar, a sure-fire future Hall of […]
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Kriesberg named CEO of MassINC
JOE KRIESBERG, a community development leader for the last 29 years, is taking over as president and CEO of MassINC, the nonprofit that conducts research, oversees a for-profit polling firm, and publishes CommonWealthmagazine. The 59-year-old Kriesberg currently serves as president and CEO of the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations, a nonprofit that assists CDCs […]
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Question 4 won’t make roads any safer
SINCE 2014, 15 states and the District of Columbia have offered driver’s licenses to those in the country illegally. Three states, Washington, New Mexico, and Utah offered licenses in 1993, 2003, and 2005, respectively. Massachusetts and Rhode Island will begin issuing licenses on July 1, 2023. The primary reason offered by proponents has been that […]
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Question 4 is an investment in health
“WELL, I’M SCARED to drive to the appointment,” my patient Henry finally admitted over the phone. I heard him catch his breath and hold it. He hadn’t been in for a medical checkup in years. He had been pushed out of Chelsea when his rent was raised, and now lives a 45-minute drive from the […]
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Boston teachers contract lays groundwork for success
RECENTLY, MEMBERS of the Boston Teachers Union reached an important milestone on the path toward building the schools our students and communities deserve. Together, we overwhelmingly ratified a new three-year agreement with Boston Public Schools that represents significant progress for students and families, educators, democratically elected local leaders, local administrators, and community allies — all […]