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Nearly three months into Trump, here’s where Massachusetts’ climate work stands – The Boston Globe

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Nearly three months into Trump, here’s where Massachusetts’ climate work stands – The Boston Globe


What it also means is that the state’s aggressive climate goal to effectively zero out its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as state law demands, will be harder to achieve without a willing partner in the White House.

So, where are we?

“We now find ourselves in a completely different world when it comes to federal climate policy,” state Senator Cindy Creem said Tuesday at the opening of a hearing of the Senate Committee on Climate Change and Global Warming.

“But we are not powerless,” she said. “In Massachusetts, we may have to change our course, to recalibrate our plans to reflect a lack of financial or regulatory support from the government, but we’re still pressing for reaching our net zero emissions [target].”

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Over the course of two hours of testimony on Tuesday, experts from the state and climate advocates presented that new reality — what’s been lost, what’s been regained, and what’s being done to adjust.

Here’s what they said.

Trump’s first-day executive orders attempted to gut much of the progress that Massachusetts has made on climate, largely by trying to claw back the funds awarded via President Joe Biden’s signature piece of legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act. That Act, passed by Congress, directed hundreds of billions of dollars toward kick-starting the clean energy transition, while seeking to create jobs and address historic inequities.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell and a coalition of her counterparts from other states fought back, successfully restoring much of that funding, but not all of it, according to Kathryn Antos, state undersecretary for decarbonization and resilience.

“This has been a rapidly evolving situation, with the fate of some of our most important climate grants remaining uncertain,” she said.

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That includes a $389 million grant from the federal Department of Energy that would upgrade and expand two electric substations in Massachusetts and Connecticut. That work would accommodate enough power to support 2 million households, and would support the development of the region’s first multi-day battery storage system, which is planned for Maine.

Another grant that remains frozen: $378,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help address the riskiest dams in the state. The funds would go to creating a new tool to help prioritize risk — a critical step as the state considers how to repair and remove dams while keeping infrastructure resilient, Antos said.

And while federally funded work to install a fast-charging network for electric vehicles is still moving ahead, a $14.4 million grant for slower chargers at select park and ride and MBTA transit parking lots has been put on hold, according to Andrew Paul, director of strategic initiatives at the state Department of Transportation.

Ever since he was out on the campaign trail, it was clear that offshore wind would be a major target of President Trump. That has borne out.

A day-one executive order to pause all leasing for offshore wind in federal waters and review existing leases has sent shivers up and down the industry, putting projects still in need of permits on hold and delaying progress in the state.

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“Without all the federal permits, projects planned for New England waters cannot begin construction, even if projects do have all of their federal permits,” said Kelt Wilska, offshore wind director for Environmental League of Massachusetts. “These actions send an immensely negative market signal to developers.”

As of now, the state is on track to have just three offshore wind projects completed by the end of this decade — Block Island Wind and Revolution Wind, off the coast of Rhode Island, and Vineyard Wind 1 south of Martha’s Vineyard. That adds up to just under 2 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, Wilska said — far short of state’s goal of 6 gigawatts.

It’s not just state-level grants that have been eliminated. Federal grants on climate that had been awarded to local and regional groups have also been subject to freezes (and, in some cases, thaws).

The Association to Preserve Cape Cod was unable to access funds from two federal grants for six wetland restoration projects in January — work that would make the area more resilient to rising seas. By mid-February, that funding had been restored, said Andrew Gottlieb, executive director of the association. But, he said, it’s hard to trust it.

“We’re spending money not knowing with any certainty whether or not we’re going to continue to be able to access reimbursement, and whether or not the local contractors who actually did the work on good faith are ultimately going to get getting paid,” Gottlieb said.

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A $500,000 grant for the Mystic River Watershed Association, meanwhile, was eliminated last week, according to Patrick Herron, executive director of the association. Those funds were intended to address extreme heat in Chelsea, Malden, and Everett caused by the urban heat island effect, when highly urbanized areas experience worse heat than outlying areas. Those cities can be 10 degrees hotter than their neighbors.

And at the Charles River Watershed Association, executive director Emily Norton said that the organization won’t be receiving a million dollars in federal community project funding it had been expecting, nor will it get the $30,000 from the EPA it had applied for after the entire grant program was eliminated. Other projects — to address water quality or make the area more flood resilient — are also likely to suffer, Norton said.

“These are the sort of areas that the federal government has been providing services that a lot of people probably aren’t aware of, but we are going to notice the cuts,” Norton said.

With all these setbacks, it’s the state’s job to figure out where it can step in and keep progress moving, Creem and others said.

That means looking for creative ways to beef up funds for climate work — whether through an expanded green bank to provide financing for clean energy projects, increased incentives for electric vehicles, or other creative solutions, according to other experts at the hearing.

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“Mass. law requires us to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and that hasn’t changed,” Creem said. “If we’re going to comply, we can’t have time to be in despair. We have to work immediately.”


Sabrina Shankman can be reached at sabrina.shankman@globe.com.





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Massachusetts

Two stranded dolphins rescued from Massachusetts marsh

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Two stranded dolphins rescued from Massachusetts marsh


It swims in the family.

A mother and calf wandered off the beaten path and got stranded in a Massachusetts marsh, forcing an emergency mammal rescue crew to save the wayward dolphin pair.

On Dec. 8, the Wareham Department of Natural Resources responded to a report of two stranded dolphins in the area of Beaverdam Creek off of the Weweantic River, a 17-mile tributary that drains into Buzzards Bay, which directly connects to the Atlantic Ocean.

When crews arrived, two common dolphins were located alive and active, but partially out of the water stranded in the marsh, according to the Wareham Department of Natural Resources.

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Responding authorities alerted the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Marine Mammal Stranding Response Team, based in Cape Cod.

IFAW team members put the dolphins on stretchers and brought them to safety, where they conducted preliminary tests on the wayward dolphins.

The IFAW team placed the dolphins onto stretchers to bring them to safety. Wareham Department of Natural Resources

“Our teams were easily able to extract the animals and transport them via our custom-built rescue vehicle,” Stacey Hedman, senior director of communications for IFAW, said.

The dolphins were weighed; the smaller of the two weighed approximately 90 lbs, and the larger mammal around 150 lbs.

Upon further analysis, it was revealed that the dolphins were an adult female and a socially-dependent juvenile female, a mother and calf pair.

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The small dolphin weighed 90 lbs, with the larger one coming in at roughly 150 lbs. Wareham Department of Natural Resources
Upon further analysis, it was revealed that the dolphins were an adult female and a socially-dependent juvenile female, a mother and calf pair. IFAW

According to Hedman, IFAW had some concerns over the mother’s decreased responsiveness and abnormal blood work, though it was deemed the pair was healthy enough to release back into the ocean at West Dennis Beach in Dennis, Mass.

“By releasing them into an area with many other dolphins around, this would hopefully increase their chances of socialization and survival. Both animals have satellite tags that are still successfully tracking,” Hedman said.



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Man seriously injured after being thrown from moving vehicle during domestic dispute

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Man seriously injured after being thrown from moving vehicle during domestic dispute


A 19-year-old Massachusetts man was seriously injured after he was thrown from a moving vehicle he had grabbed onto during a domestic dispute Thursday morning.

Duxbury police said they responded to a report of an injured male who might have been struck by a vehicle on Chandler Street around 5:22 a.m. and found a 19-year-old Pembroke man lying in the roadway with serious injuries.

Through interviews with witnesses, officers learned that the man had gone to his ex-girlfriend’s residence on Chandler Street to confront her current boyfriend. An altercation ensued, during which police said the 19-year-old appears to have jumped on the hood of a vehicle and was then thrown from the moving vehicle.

The incident remains under investigation, police said. At this time, they said no charges have been filed.

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Massachusetts man dies from deadly lung disease linked to popular kitchen countertops

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Massachusetts man dies from deadly lung disease linked to popular kitchen countertops


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Massachusetts health officials announced Tuesday that the state has confirmed its first case of an incurable lung disease linked to exposure to certain countertop stones.

The disease is particularly associated with quartz, which has become increasingly popular in recent years for its practicality and aesthetic, according to health officials.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) said a 40-year-old man, who has worked in the stone countertop industry for 14 years, was recently diagnosed with silicosis, a condition that can cause death. 

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“The confirmation of this case in Massachusetts is a tragic reminder that silicosis is not just a distant threat. It is here, and it is seriously impacting the health of workers in Massachusetts,” Emily H. Sparer-Fine, a director at DPH, said in a statement.

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Kitchen with a quartz countertop Nov. 15, 2017, in Ballston Lake, N.Y. (John Carl D’Annibale/Albany Times Union)

The unnamed patient reportedly performed activities such as cutting, grinding and polishing, which can generate crystalline silica dust. When inhaled, this dust scars lung tissue and can lead to silicosis, DPH said.

The disease is preventable but irreversible and progressive, officials said. Symptoms include a persistent cough, shortness of breath, fatigue and chest pain. Because there is often a long latency period between exposure and symptom onset, diagnoses are frequently delayed, according to DPH. 

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As the disease progresses, it can result in serious complications, including lung cancer, tuberculosis and even death, the department added. 

Officials added that “most cases of silicosis are work-related – it is very rare for silicosis to occur outside of workplace exposure.”

CDC REPORTS 19TH CRUISE SHIP NOROVIRUS OUTBREAK THIS YEAR AFFECTING PASSENGERS AND CREW

father and son install quartz countertop

A father and son set up a quartz countertop at a booth in Albany Sept. 15, 2011.  (John Carl D’Annibale/Albany Times Union)

Officials said the risk exists when handling natural stones, such as granite, but is especially high when working with engineered stone, such as quartz. While natural granite typically contains less than 45% silica, engineered stone can contain more than 90%, DPH reported.

“In recent years, the disease has become more prevalent among stone fabrication workers due to the rise in popularity of countertops made from engineered stone (also known as quartz or artificial stone),” DPH reported. 

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An employee applies a sealant to sheets for countertops May 14, 2014. (Craig Warga/Bloomberg)

The department noted that, while this is the first confirmed case in Massachusetts within this industry, more cases are expected due to the disease’s long latency period and the rising popularity of engineered stone.

Other states have also reported cases of silicosis. In a 2023 study, California researchers identified 52 quartz countertop workers with silicosis. Twenty of them had advanced disease and 10 died.

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Despite the disease’s potential severity, there has not been an outright ban on quartz in U.S. kitchens. By contrast, all work involving engineered stone has already been banned in Australia due to the severe risks it poses to workers. Other countries are also pushing for more regulations.

The DPH emphasizes that silicosis is “absolutely preventable” through proper workplace controls. The alert urges employers in the stone countertop fabrication industry to implement effective safety measures, such as wet cutting and proper ventilation, to minimize silica exposure and protect workers.

“Silicosis is a devastating, life-altering disease and one that is also absolutely preventable,” Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein said in a statement.



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