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Acadia Center Summer Internships

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  Acadia Center is pleased to have provided three internship opportunities this summer.  The work of these exceptional students has proven beneficial to their learning and to our organization as a whole. We are grateful for their time and talent. Sarah Smith is a rising junior at Brown University studying political science. She is from Yarmouth, Maine and, as a Mainer, has a deep personal connection to and investment in the New England environment. Sarah has been researching the potential of mass timber as a substitute for concrete and steel in construction, and the subsequent environmental benefits. Using engineered wood in place of conventional construction materials can decrease the embodied carbon of the building as well as sequester carbon from the harvested trees. There are several high-rise mass timber projects in the works in the United States, and many more globally. Sarah has been distilling existing research and compiling next steps into a memo for the Acadia Center to have
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Increasing Participation for Equitable Outcomes in Climate Decision-making

  Climate policies are undeniably strengthened by the inputs of communities most likely to be impacted by such policies. Similarly, exclusion or lack of involvement of communities poised to suffer the detrimental impact of climate change and pollution unequivocally lead to ineffective policies. Communities of color and low-income communities often suffer the repercussions of flawed environmental policies. Hence, for communities to stay resilient in enduring the challenges of a changing climate, it is important to ensure that emerging policies are formed with inputs from the most impacted communities. Flawed environmental and climate policy decision-making that excluded the voices of vulnerable communities dates back to the 80s. In 1982, residents of Warren County in North Carolina, engaged in a protest to fight against the dumping of  40,000 cubic yards of PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) contaminated soil  in their community. PCB chemicals were banned in the United States in 1979 becaus
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The Climate Minute Podcast: Assembling the puzzle pieces for green and reliable electricity

  Melissa Birchard, Senior Regulatory Attorney with Acadia Center participates in The Climate Minute podcast for Mass Climate Action Network.  Listen to the episode  here .
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What’s the state of climate change legislation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts?

Where we are now Massachusetts has long positioned itself as a leader in the fight against climate change, with country-leading programs in energy efficiency and ambitious net-zero greenhouse gas reduction targets set in landmark legislation that passed in 2021. But with the climate crisis accelerating, Massachusetts can’t just rest on its laurels. The Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives have each passed climate bills with differing proposals to tackle the crisis, ranging from large investments in offshore wind to enhanced rebates for electric vehicles. This blog will highlight what was in both packages and what steps need to happen before July 31 st , the end of formal sessions for the legislature. The House climate package largely focused broadly on offshore wind. The bill did not increase procurement authorization for the Commonwealth, instead aiming to develop the industry. This legislation: Creates the Massachusetts Offshore Wind Industry Investment Trust Fund Requir
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LWVMA Climate and Energy Solutions Series- Barriers to Regional Decarbonization Webinar

  Regional cooperation is essential to meeting our clean energy goals. The road to decarbonization faces challenges from long-established regional rules that favor fossil fuel interests and stand in the way of clean energy. Acadia Center’s Melissa Birchard, Senior Regulatory Attorney, delivered a webinar on behalf of the League of Women Voters- MA and Elder’s Climate Alliance-MA on the basics of regional energy issues. Form more information about this series please visit the  League of Women Voters-MA  website. A recording of the webinar is available for viewing  here. Source URL:  https://acadiacenter.org/lwvma-climate-and-energy-solutions-series-barriers-to-regional-decarbonization-webinar/
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Climate Advocate Training: How to advocate for a strong Act on Climate plan

  Acadia Center’s Rhode Island Director and Senior Policy Advocate, Hank Webster, presented an advocacy training for over 160 climate activists, sharing tips on how to inject climate concerns into a plethora of state agency decisions. Joined on the panel by Dr. Carrie Gill from the state’s Office of Energy Resources and Professor Dawn King from Brown University, Webster provided a detailed look at key provisions of the 2021 Act on Climate law and encouraged attendees to engage in a wide variety of regulatory opportunities to demonstrate how climate action is required across all levels of government, from the Department of Transportation to the Building Code Commission. Webster also issued an open invite to all attendees join the ongoing Act on Climate Implementation group convened by Acadia Center last year to help guide the development of the 2022 Climate Action Plan. You can watch a recording of training  here  and view Acadia Center’s slides  here. Source URL:  https://acadiacenter.
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Massachusetts Proposed Three-Year Energy Efficiency Plan Would Deliver Record-Setting Benefits For a Modern Energy Economy

Massachusetts is on the verge of having another nation-leading Three-Year Energy Efficiency Plan, this time specifically aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reaching environmental justice communities. Thanks to the requirements of the   Climate Act of 2021   and the efforts of the Energy Efficiency Advisory Council (EEAC), on which Acadia Center is a voting member representing the environmental community, the proposed plan introduces new elements to energy efficiency planning in the Commonwealth that will deliver record-setting ratepayer benefits and drive meaningful greenhouse gas emissions reduction to help meet our state’s climate targets. The proposed plans call for a $3.94 billion investment in energy efficiency, which will provide around $13 billion in ratepayer benefits, the highest levels in New England. The Climate Act of 2021 set a greenhouse gas emissions reduction requirement for the plans for the first time ever. The expected reductions that this plan offers (84
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