Last week was a busy one in the news. The war in Gaza and Israel. The war in Ukraine. Election Day. The Republican debate. The Trump civil fraud trial in New York. The aftermath of the recent horrific mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine.
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I’m following two four-year-old little girls down the street in Brooklyn one afternoon as they walk home from preschool. One of them is my granddaughter. The walk is about three-quarters of a mile but can take up to a half-hour because the girls dawdle, stopping at every tree on the way to contemplate its climbability, the leaves beginning to sprout, the flowers at the base, or to challenge each other to a swing on a limb.
Read MoreThose of us who live in Massachusetts can get a bit self-satisfied, okay, smug, about our state’s superior progress and positions on important issues. Take, for example, the right to choose. The undoing of Roe v Wade will not overturn the legality of abortion in Massachusetts. Here, the right to choose to continue or terminate a pregnancy is assured. And then look at guns. Massachusetts outlawed the sale of AR-15-style guns and, in 2021, a bill was filed to prevent the manufacturing of such weapons in Massachusetts, thereby encouraging Smith and Wesson, the country’s second largest gun manufacturer, to relocate its headquarters in Tennessee.
Read MoreHot enough for you?
Get ready for more scorchers!
A new report by the Greater Boston Research Advisory Group (GBRAG) at UMass Boston, released last Wednesday, provides disturbing details about what we can expect in the not-too-distant future. The report, as described by WBUR, considers 101 towns and…
Read MorePresident Biden, as part of his effort to reach zero emissions economy-wide by 2050, has set a goal of 50% electric vehicle (EVs) sales by 2030. To reach this level of EVs will be a giant leap from last year, when electric vehicles represented only 3% of US new auto sales, but we already see the trend moving upward.
Read MoreThe term “climate change” sounds more benign than the truths held within it. In fact, the climate change we are experiencing — and will experience in the coming years — is an existential threat we can no longer ignore. And, since we are most attentive to what affects us most closely, we decided to take a look at the specific risks to the northeastern United States.
Read MoreIn more refreshing news from Washington, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled a revamped website on Climate Change Indicators last Wednesday, calling it a “comprehensive resource.” The Associated Press heralded the update, saying the site now “presents clear and compelling evidence of changes to the climate.” As we all recall, no new information was allowed to be posted on the site during the former administration, and the effects of climate change were regularly disputed and downplayed.
Read MoreNearly a third of all food produced in the United States is wasted. While this number is startling, in light of the fact that one in six children goes to bed hungry, it is also significant because of the effect that food waste has on climate change. When zero waste is achieved, and no food is sent to landfills, methane emissions and our carbon footprint are significantly reduced.
Read MoreThough the solutions to climate change require major disruptions in the current operations of large industry, our individual actions can still have positive effects on our personal and shared quality of life.
Read MoreWith May fast approaching, recent snowflakes notwithstanding, we look forward to spending more time outdoors enjoying the company of friends and family, all hopefully vaccinated. It has been a long hard winter – two long hard winters, in fact.
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