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Massport CEO might want to think again about ‘green’ airline fuel – The Boston Globe

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Massport CEO might want to think again about ‘green’ airline fuel – The Boston Globe


Jon Chesto’s recent Bold Types item on Rich Davey, new CEO of the Massachusetts Port Authority, cites Davey’s vision for sustainable aviation fuels (“Ex-state transportation chief takes over at Massport,” Business, Oct. 29). SAFs are biofuels touted as environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional jet fuel. However, through their production and use, SAFs result in a considerable release of greenhouse gas emissions.

Massachusetts has set the goal of net zero by 2050. Transportation, including aviation, is responsible for about 40 percent of Massachusetts’ total greenhouse gas emissions, yet I have seen no decarbonization targets established for aviation.

In an October 2023 report, state climate chief Melissa Hoffer directed Massport to develop a plan to use alternative fuels. However, a footnote in her report cites a 2016 Carbon Brief article, “Analysis: Aviation could consume a quarter of 1.5C carbon budget by 2050,” that contradicts this recommendation: “Complete replacement [of jet fuel by SAFs] by 2050 would require around 170 new large biorefineries to be built every year. … If progress is initially slow, and then picks up after 2035,” the approximate cost would be $29 billion to $115 billion per year.

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The article cites the view of one observer who says that “what all these industry-led analyses refuse to acknowledge [is] that the only reliable means by which to control aviation emissions is to manage — i.e., curtail — demand growth.”

Davey has his work cut out for him.

Anne Buxton Sobol

Lincoln

One of Rich Davey’s priorities as the new CEO of Massport, according to reporter Jon Chesto, is making Logan Airport “a convening ground for the study and adoption of more sustainable aviation fuels.” SAFs are crops or agricultural waste mixed with conventional jet fuel. Aviation proponents claim that this makes SAFs more sustainable than conventional jet fuel. However, there is strong evidence that crop-based biofuels are more carbon-intensive based on their full life cycle. Characterizing them as a green solution is misleading.

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Municipalities across Massachusetts are working hard to reduce their carbon footprint, yet the aviation industry is planning for continued annual growth. Because their disproportionate greenhouse gas emissions aren’t good optics, they promote SAFs to persuade policy makers and the public that continued growth of aviation is acceptable because it’s “sustainable.” But that’s not the case. On the contrary, if SAFs were successful, they would hijack land necessary for food production, leading to increased hunger and the destruction of forests and wetlands.

Instead of looking to SAFs as a feel-good solution for growing a polluting industry, Massport should plan scenarios to decrease aviation over time, especially private aviation.

Janet Rothrock

Concord





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Massachusetts

Top Places to Work in Massachusetts: Explore the winners lists and more – The Boston Globe

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Top Places to Work in Massachusetts: Explore the winners lists and more – The Boston Globe


Day-to-day work can be a grind — the same slog to the office or job site, the same bad coffee, the same Zoom squares.

But the world of work itself is ever changing.

Employers must constantly make room for a new generation of workers, the current crop of whom are complex: technology whizzes who yearn to lead but are seemingly unafraid to skip out on jobs they’ve already been hired for.

At the same time, the number of older workers is on the rise, including three 80-plus-year-old salesmen at the Newton Highlands restaurant wholesaler Boston Showcase Co. who help younger co-workers understand the difference between what customers want and what they need.

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We’re also trying to figure out how to deal with the explosion of meetings that has turned office workers into Zoom zombies while grappling with our cellphone addictions, which are admittedly a welcome distraction during all those meetings.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives have taken a beating in recent years, despite the fact that many of these efforts are simply about making everyone feel more welcome at work. Leaders at Entrada Therapeutics in Boston adjusted slide presentations to accommodate people who are colorblind while Boston online auto retailer CarGurus provides nonalcoholic beverages during work happy hours to make nondrinkers feel more comfortable.

The best employers know how to consider the many ways work changes — and stays the same — and keep people happy all the while. Kymera Therapeutics in Watertown, for example, takes employees on deep-sea fishing trips. At another Watertown biotech, C4 Therapeutics, employees are entered into a drawing each quarter to win two weeks of extra paid time off.

This year, 175 companies made the Globe’s annual Top Places to Work list, including 39 newcomers. In all, the employee engagement company Energage, based in Exton, Pennsylvania, invited more than 8,000 organizations with employees in Massachusetts to participate. Nearly 68,000 workers at 323 companies rated their employers on leadership, values, training, benefits, and other metrics. The rankings are broken down into four size categories: small (50-99 employees); medium (100-249); large (250-999); and largest (1,000 or more).

The data for these rankings are based on company profiles at the time the surveys were conducted earlier this year.

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Winning employers are well aware of the balancing act required to meet employees where they’re at while keeping them engaged and motivated. And they know a few extra weeks off or a deep-sea fishing trip never hurts.


Explore the winners’ lists (by company size) and more:

TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 2025 TOP PLACES TO WORK SURVEY: Visit bostonglobe.com/nominate


Katie Johnston can be reached at katie.johnston@globe.com. Follow her @ktkjohnston.





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Massachusetts

Board explores allowing 3-year bachelor’s degree for colleges in Massachusetts

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Board explores allowing 3-year bachelor’s degree for colleges in Massachusetts


Board explores allowing 3-year bachelor’s degree for colleges in Massachusetts – CBS Boston

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Leaders in Massachusetts are weighing whether to allow colleges to offer three-year bachelor’s degrees. WBZ-TV’s Penny Kmitt reports.

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Wind advisory for 3 Massachusetts counties until Thursday night

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Wind advisory for 3 Massachusetts counties until Thursday night


A wind advisory was issued by the National Weather Service on Wednesday at 3:54 a.m. valid from 7 p.m. until Thursday 10 p.m. for Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket counties.

The weather service comments, “Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts 40 to 50 mph possible.”

“Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result,” says the weather service. “Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Use extra caution.”



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