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By MICHAEL P. NORTON

BOSTON — Massachusetts has more than enough solar energy potential to support the decarbonization requirements enshrined in state laws, according to a report officials released Thursday.The Department of Energy Resources report found the state’s land...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — A national research group continues to see Massachusetts as ahead of the curve and improving when it comes to electric vehicle adoption, even though the Bay State has a long way to go to meet its own rollout goals.The American Council for an...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON—Following years of a piecemeal approach to PFAS contamination and more than a year after a task force unanimously recommended 30 steps to deal with the problem, environmental groups, consumer advocates, firefighters and the attorney general’s...

By Sophie Hauck

BOSTON—Time’s up for single-use plastics.Or at least that remains the hope of representatives from 10 environmental organizations who gathered this week on Beacon Hill to promote bills that would ban the distribution of plastic shopping bags at retail...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

The Healey administration moved Wednesday to draft the state’s forests into the effort to address climate change, announcing a new initiative to invest in conservation, develop updated guidelines for state lands, and provide incentives for landowners...

By MAX BOWEN

It all began with one person. Now, dozens have donated supplies or their time to help Justin Holden of Orange make a cleaner community. For the last four months, Holden has been up at 4 a.m. to clean different sections of the town, inspired by the...

By GREG VINE

ATHOL – Like a commanding officer, Al Benjamin stood over a map of Athol with streets highlighted in red with notations of which volunteers were assigned to those neighborhoods. The map and names gave organizers of Saturday’s Green Clean Athol an idea...

By EMILEE KLEIN

GREENFIELD — For the past 30 years, the construction industry has incorporated renewable energy, increased efficiency of heating and cooling systems, engineered air-tight installation and pursued other efforts to reduce greenhouse gasses emitted from...

By BELLA LEVAVI

TURNERS FALLS — With Friday marking the deadline, FirstLight Hydro Generating Co. has filed its Flows and Fish Passage Settlement Agreement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).FirstLight, which previously submitted its Amended Final...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — From fish being reeled in by anglers in Taunton to the drinking water at an elementary school in New Salem, so-called forever chemicals known as PFAS are everywhere, the questions and comments from lawmakers from various corners of...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — What’s the first step in dealing with an overflowing bathtub?That’s the question MASSPIRG legislative director Deirdre Cummings asks to make her pitch for a sweeping new bill aimed at wrangling the presence of PFAS chemicals in food...

By CHRIS LARABEE

DEERFIELD — U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern and Sen. Ed Markey reintroduced a bill Wednesday that would begin the process of designating the Deerfield River as a National Wild and Scenic River.First introduced by McGovern, D-Worcester, in a July 2022...

By GREG VINE

ATHOL – Lee Gersch, a member of the town’s Energy Committee, took the town’s Selectboard to task for failing to name a representative to the recently-formed Municipal Decarbonization Task Force and that the vacancy is delaying its efforts. Gersch made...

By MICHAEL P. NORTON

Coyotes are present in every Massachusetts city and town, according to state wildlife officials, who are out Tuesday with new tips to prevent rare “negative coyote encounters” during their ongoing mating season.“Whenever you see a coyote in your yard,...

By CHRIS LARABEE

While campaigning, one of Gov. Maura Healey’s climate priorities was to place a moratorium on commercial logging on state-owned forest land, a move that foresters and environmental advocates say would be detrimental to forest health, the state’s...

By JULIAN MENDOZA

WHATELY — While winter’s warmest days remind us that our climate’s future could be bleak, the future generation reminds us that it may not have to be.Stephanie Apanell’s fourth grade class at Whately Elementary School joined forces with Amherst’s...

By GREG VINE

ATHOL — The town of Athol, according to Town Manager Shaun Suhoski, was an early convert in the campaign for municipalities to operate in a way that causes less harm to the environment, both locally and regionally.Recently, the town has begun...