Tagged: energy

More communities in Massachusetts are getting state  financial help with local energy projects. The funding awarded Monday comes courtesy of  landmark legislation passed four years ago that was designed to increase clean energy momentum.   WAMC”s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.

In a recently published interview, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation chairman Joe Martens says that the state’s review of the potential environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas – known as ‘fracking’ – remains a work in progress, despite the department having already produced about 4,000 pages on the subject.

Gov. Deval Patrick has signed an energy bill that requires Massachusetts utilities to buy more of their electricity in competitively bid, long-term contracts with renewable energy providers.

Patrick said Friday the new law will protect ratepayers while also helping the environment by requiring more use of clean energy sources.

Starting in 2016, utilities would be required to purchase 7 percent of their power from long-term renewable contracts, up from 3 percent.

James Howard Kunstler’s The Long Emergency, originally published in 2005, quickly became a grassroots hit. Kunstler’s vision of our post-oil future caught the attention of environmentalists and business leaders alike, and stimulated widespread discussion about our dependence on fossil fuels and on dysfunctional financial and government institutions.