The Wild and Scenic Film Festival returns to Boston on March 31st!  Hosted locally by e-inc, the day long film festival, which includes food, networking and discussion, was started eight years ago in California and changes every year depending upon participant submissions.  The national Festival also boasts the reputation as the largest environmental film festival in the United States.

Designed to inspire awareness and activism, the films showcase themes from across the planet on a wide array of pressing  environmental issues ranging from energy resources to species and land conservation.  e-inc, a Boston-area environmental education center, has hosted the Wild and Scenic Film Festival for a number of years and continues to draw crowds for this event.  Get your tickets early and enjoy the show!

The clean energy revolution has never been more critical.  In a report released December 8th, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made a direct link between the con­tro­ver­sial drilling prac­tice known as hydraulic frac­tur­ing and ground­wa­ter contamination.  For years, hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” a method to extract oil and gas from under­ground deposits that uses a mix­ture of sand, water and chem­i­cals to frac­ture shale rock and release the gas, has been taking place across the country, mainly unabated and unquestioned by politicians and industry professionals.

Now however, it’s official: fracking has been correlated to tainted groundwater that is often entirely undrinkable by area residents and wildlife alike.  The EPA report specifically notes high con­cen­tra­tions of ben­zene, xylene, gaso­line and diesel fuel in groundwa­ter sup­plies linked to waste­water pits and deeper fresh water wells. … [view entry]

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s stance on biomass has recently changed its tune from one of skepticism to one of acceptance as a state-wide “clean” energy policy. Why the sudden switch? State environmental groups, the same groups who helped lobby to get him into office, are wondering the same thing and are now turning against Patrick’s newfound position at large.

According to a recent article in the Boston Phoenix, the Patrick administration will release a document in the next few weeks that will contain the final regulations for the state’s biomass subsidies.  According to environmental groups, the Administration is planning to reverse its original position as a nod towards a handful of developers who stand to make money off of biomass production.

These regulations will come at the expense of ordinary… [view entry]

Image by Tara Holmes

On June 1st, three tornadoes touched down in western Massachusetts during a surprise series of storms, leaving a wake of destruction and confusion. Massachusetts, not known for tornadoes, is now beginning to rethink state policies surrounding severe weather preparation and emergency response.

ReBuild Western Massachusetts, a program developed by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and administered in partnership with the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), was announced on August 4th and will distribute more than $8 million to help building owners affected by the tornadoes rebuild using energy efficiency practices and renewable energy technologies. Eligible participants include those who can document damage caused by the June 1 storms, and who own buildings in communities in Hampden and Worcester Counties, including: Agawam, Westfield,… [view entry]

Mt. Tom Station in Holyoke, MA has been a thorn in the sides of local environmentalists for many years.  Sitting on one of the most pristine mountain ranges in western Massachusetts, the coal burning power plant has, according to the Conservation Law Foundation, violated clean air standards thousands of times from 2005 to 2010, despite $55 million worth of pollution-control equipment that was installed from 2007 to 2009.

Now, however, the plant plans to comply with more stringent air-quality standards, install air-monitoring equipment, and hire an outside consultant to correct air pollution problems under a settlement announced by the state Attorney General’s Office. In addition, FirstLight Power Resources, the station’s owners, and GDF Suez North America have agreed to pay a $25,000 penalty to the state of Massachusetts and $70,000 for… [view entry]

Google, a company that continues to invest in and push for clean energy technology, has recently announced its newest, and potentially biggest, capital venture: funding a no-cost installation solar panel program for homeowners.  While already investing in other mammoth clean energy projects across the US, such as a $100 million investment in the world’s biggest wind farm, the company is now creating a $280 million fund to finance SolarCity‘s residential solar projects. Google essentially aims to erase any initial economic burden thereby moving more rapidly towards installation.  Given many homeowners today struggle with the up-front costs of putting up solar panels on their roofs, even with state-funded rebate programs and incentives, such a program comes at an opportune time.

Of course, Google also expects to make plenty of return… [view entry]

On June 5th, roughly 600 activists and marchers began a five day 50 mile hike from Marmet, West Virginia to Blair Mountain in protest of mountain top removal (MTR), a destructive and highly contested form of strip mining. Blair Mountain, one of the last, originally standing mountains in that region of Appalachia to avoid MTR, is also an historical site with battle fields and artifacts dating back to the Civil War and before.  It’s also, like many of the pristine mountains in that region, loaded with coal reserves.  Unfortunately, for the residents of states such as West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia, MTR is an all too common reality.  Current data show that as of 2010, an area the size of Delaware has been mined using MTR techniques and there is,… [view entry]

Bringing people together from a wide range of fields to make new strides in environmental change

While the environmental movement is nothing new, dating back almost a century, the approach of activists, organizations and policy makers is continuously evolving. The Garrison Institute is taking measures to contribute to this evolution by creating the Climate, Mind, and Behavior Program. The CMB program looks to combine a number fields to solve environmental issues.

The Garrison Institute holds a CMB Symposium where leading scientists and thinkers from the fields of environmental advocacy, neuro-economics, behavioral and evolutionary economics, psychology, social networking, policy-making, investing and social media together to focus on new approaches to reducing emissions on a large scale. The event has been held in March annually since 2010.… [view entry]

The Boston Globe recently reported on an important issue: the perception of the threat of climate change by Massachusetts residents.  While the article pointed out that a majority of Massachusetts residents believe climate change is happening – and is caused by human activity – the article also pointed out that many residents remain apathetic on how to address the problem. The MassInc survey, entitled “The 80 Percent Challenge: A Survey of Climate Change Opinion and Action in Massachusetts” was sponsored by the Barr Foundation.

Interestingly, the survey, found that 77% of those surveyed say climate change has probably been happening and 33% believe climate change is very serious and is caused at least partially by human activity. Another 26%, however, believe climate change is real and caused somewhat by humans,… [view entry]

This is a busy week for the Earth.  One year ago today, the BP Deepwater Horizon spill took place, killing 11 rig workers while leaving a massive wake of environmental and social devastation, impacts of which are still being felt today.  What have we learned one year after such a monumental tragedy?  Friday, April 22nd, marks the 41st anniversary of Earth Day and I’m honestly not certain how much we’ve learned.  BP’s profits are strong and plans to resume deepwater drilling in the Gulf continue while many in Congress adamantly deny climate change even exists.  In fact, just last week, the US Senate and House of Representatives stood at a near stand-still over budget cuts to public programs, like the EPA.

Still, all hope might not be lost for the… [view entry]