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Healey shares $2.9B ‘Swiss Army knife’ plan to fund environmental reforms

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Healey shares .9B ‘Swiss Army knife’ plan to fund environmental reforms


Massachusetts could pump billions of dollars into climate resilience improvements, land conservation efforts, clean water and more under a policy-heavy borrowing bill Gov. Maura Healey unveiled Tuesday in Braintree.

Flanked by local officials and environmental activists who praised the measure’s wide scope, Healey rolled out a more than $2.9 billion environmental bond bill packed with reforms she and her deputies said would touch topics ranging from wildfires to flooding impacts on home insurance to dams and culverts.

Highlights of the 51-page bill include funding for upgrades to Department of Conservation and Recreation properties, flood control projects, clean water infrastructure and food security programs, as well as policy reforms such as streamlining environmental permitting with an eye toward speeding up housing development.

Healey pitched the proposal as especially necessary at a time when President Donald Trump and Republicans who control Congress are pursuing significant spending cuts.

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“We cannot count on the president or Congress to be there to make the investments that we want to see made in Massachusetts, in our communities. They’re, in fact, doing the opposite, and taking away from and undermining important investments on a whole bunch of fronts,” Healey said. “In the face of that, [it’s] all the more important that we take action like the action that we’re taking today.”

New data from UCSD and the Scripps Institute shows a record-high concentration of CO2, rising faster than ever. Meteorologist Chase Cain talks with the lead scientist about the acceleration of climate change and the future of this critical data.

Healey’s office rolled out the bill with a detailed set of summaries, outlining its borrowing proposals and several of the most significant policy reforms it envisions.

The five-year bond bill Healey proposed calls for $764 million in borrowing to fund upgrades at Department of Conservation and Recreation properties, $401 million for dams and flood control projects, $315 million for the Municipal Vulnerabilities Preparedness program, and $304.5 million for land stewardship and conservation.

Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper said about 200 of the state’s 3,000 dams are in “poor condition,” and warned that many of the 25,000 culverts and small bridges sprinkled across Massachusetts “are too small for the kind of rain that we are now getting.”

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“This bill gives cities and towns the help they need. It removes old, unsafe dams and replaces broken culverts before disasters hit,” she said.

Data from the National Inventory of Dams paints a picture of how many dams in Massachusetts pose a significant danger to human life and what condition they were in when last inspected

Other major funding proposals include $505 million for clean water infrastructure and addressing contamination from PFAS, sometimes referred to as forever chemicals due to how long they take to break down, and $125 million for food security programs.

The bill would also launch a “Resilience Revolving Fund” that would provide “low-interest loans to communities so they can invest in resilience projects that reduce risk and protect people and property,” Healey’s office wrote in a summary.

Healey wove some policy changes into the bill, too. Several focus on speeding up permitting involving waterways and environmental reviews, including with removal of MEPA environmental impact report requirements for some housing and natural restoration projects, according to a summary.

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“The Mass Ready Act saves people money and jumpstarts housing, culvert repairs and other infrastructure projects by streamlining the permitting process,” Healey said. “That was a charge to our team: streamline those regulations, streamline the permitting. We’ve got a lot to do, and we’ve got to get after it and get it done as quickly as possible.”

Another section calls for increased disclosure of past flooding and flood risk to homebuyers.

Steve Long, director of policy and partnerships for The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts, called the wide-ranging bill “the whole package.”

“This bond [bill] provides the most holistic approach I’ve seen across four environmental bonds that I’ve lobbied on since 2008,” he said. “It’s like a Swiss Army knife that provides multifaceted funding and policy solutions. Mass Ready funding will provide a return on investment that will boost climate resilience by restoring natural systems to reduce heat, prevent flooding and cut community costs.”

Beacon Hill typically approves an environmental bond bill once every several years to authorize state borrowing for near-term projects. Gov. Charlie Baker signed the prior iteration, a $2.4 billion package, in 2018.

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However, like other bond bills, not all of the approved dollars actually get deployed because the state faces a lower cap on annual borrowing. The most recent state capital investment plan for fiscal years 2025 through 2029 lists a five-year bond cap of $1.26 billion for energy and environmental affairs.



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‘No way to leave’: Mass. families stuck in Middle East amid war in Iran

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‘No way to leave’: Mass. families stuck in Middle East amid war in Iran


Massachusetts families are stuck in the Middle East amid the war in Iran, and Democratic Sen. Ed Markey says the State Department needs to do more to get them home.

The Trump administration is telling Americans to leave the region, and families would love to, but they haven’t been able to get out.

Stacey Schuhwerk of Hingham has been sheltering in place in a Doha hotel since Saturday.

“We hear the missiles outside,” she said. “We can see them.”

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The Hingham mother and her son are among nearly 1,600 Americans trapped in the Middle East with no way to get home.

“Airspace is shut down. There’s no planes,” said Schuhwerk. “There’s no way to leave.”

Flights between Boston and the Middle East are canceled or delayed as travelers express anxiety over the conflict.

At first, U.S. officials told people to shelter in place and register with the State Department — something Schuhwerk did days ago.

“There’s no help there. The last time we called was 20 minutes ago, and they continue to say that ‘We don’t know anything about any plans for government help to get people out,’” she said.

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Embassies and consulates across the region — including the U.S. Embassy in Israel — have now suspended services, saying they simply can’t get Americans out.

“They did not have a plan to conduct this war, and they clearly did not have a plan as to how to evacuate innocent families,” Markey said.

The senator says his office is hearing from Massachusetts families, and he’s pressuring the Trump administration to come up with an evacuation plan fast.

“We are going to apply that pressure on the State Department until every American who wants to leave that region is out,” he said.

Back in Doha, Schuhwerk keeps watching the war outside her window.

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“The talk here is ‘How much defensive ammunition’s left?’ Good question, you know, because the missiles aren’t stopping,” she said. “So how long are we going to be safe here?”

With no clear end to this conflict, she’s worried she could be stuck there for weeks.



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Snow, ice, rain to impact roads in Massachusetts – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

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Snow, ice, rain to impact roads in Massachusetts – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News


Happy Tuesday! While today started off dry, we’re already looking at snow out there across the area. While this event will primarily stay as rain on the Cape and islands, it will be an icy mix of snow, ice and rain for the rest of us.

The rain/snow line will continue to advance from the south to the north as the evening progresses. Before the changeover, there will be a quick coating to 2 inches for most of our area.

The threshold between the snow and rain will feature sleet and freezing rain, leading to that icing.

For the rest of the night, there will primarily be rain with continued pockets of freezing rain, leading to increasing spotty ice accretion. Be extremely careful on roads, especially since switching between rain and freezing rain can wash off any road salt.

The rain and freezing rain will exit by 6 a.m. Wednesday, but temperatures will still be close to freezing during the morning commute, so watch out for some spotty black ice.

The rest of Wednesday will be really nice! Highs will warm up to the mid 50s with the help of ample sun.

Thursday we start off in the mid 20s and top off in the mid 40s. We’ll be partly sunny with another chance for some wintry weather Thursday night. This primarily looks like some rain and freezing rain, rather than the triple threat with snow too. We’ll keep an eye on that for you.

That will continue into Friday morning. The rest of Friday: cloudy with a chance for a spot shower and highs cooler again in the upper 30s. Saturday will be dry, breezy and cloudy but gorgeous near 50 degrees! There’s a chance for some rain showers Saturday night. Don’t forget to set your clocks forward an hour before you to go bed!

Sunday we start the day mild in the 40s and make it all the way into the upper 50s with more sun. Monday and Tuesday both look bright and in the 60s! Stay tuned.

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Massachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks

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Massachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks




Massachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks – CBS Boston

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Poya Sohrabi hasn’t heard from his family since they took shelter from attacks in Tehran. WBZ-TV’s Mike Sullivan reports.

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