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Providing accurate and timely information about what matters in Franklin, MA since 2007. * Working in collaboration with Franklin TV and Radio (wfpr.fm) since October 2019 *
Saturday, August 12, 2023
MassCEC Opens Third Year of Funding for the EmPower Massachusetts Program!
Thursday, July 20, 2023
Boston Globe: "Massachusetts is building a green economy, but does it have the workers to do so?"
"It’s going to take 38,100 workers to help Massachusetts transition to a clean energy state.That’s according to a report published Wednesday by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), a quasi-public agency that supports the state’s green energy industry. The paper forecasts thousands of new jobs by 2030 in order to meet the state’s decarbonization goals. And as of now, we’re not ready to fill them.The report classifies a worker as a “clean energy worker” if they are working in renewable energy, energy efficiency, alternative transportation, or other decarbonization efforts. These jobs include electricians who install electric panels, insulation workers who help maximize the efficiency of heating and cooling systems, or construction workers who help install electric vehicle charging stations.According to the center’s analysis, Massachusetts needs its clean energy workforce to expand by 37 percent from its current size of 104,000. However, the report also reflects the current challenges of filling those positions today. For example, 88 percent of companies that responded to MassCEC surveys said they have difficulty hiring workers for clean energy jobs."
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A new report highlights the need for more electricians and other workers skilled in clean energy-related trades to fill an expected 38,000 jobs in Massachusetts by 2030.DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF |
Get your own copy of the MassCEC report here -> https://www.masscec.com/sites/default/files/documents/Powering%20the%20Future_A%20Massachusetts%20Clean%20Energy%20Workforce%20Needs%20Assessment_Final.pdf
Saturday, July 15, 2023
MassCEC Seeks Participants for Decarbonization Pathways Pilot
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Friday, March 10, 2023
CommonWealth Magazine: "The dirty truth of Northfield Mountain’s ‘clean’ energy"
"ON FEBRUARY 11, CommonWealth published a commentary by FirstLight Power CEO Alicia Barton bragging of the Christmas Eve grid-rescuing heroics of her company’s Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage Station. She went on to describe Northfield as a “zero-emissions” power plant that helped save New England from a natural gas energy squeeze. There were holes in her contentions, and she failed to mention all the other elephants in the room.Northfield Mountain, located on the Connecticut River in northwest Massachusetts, is actually a gas-powered plant. It’s a massive, net-power-loss electric machine, run off ISO-New England’s imported natural gas and nuclear-dominated energy grid. Its daily use halts, cripples, and reverses miles of the Connecticut River. Its turbines annually kill hundreds of millions of eggs, larvae, and juvenile and adult fish, and other assorted aquatic species in a four-state river system."
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CommonWealth Magazine: "The dirty truth of Northfield Mountain’s ‘clean’ energy" |
Monday, January 30, 2023
From the clean heat report to decarbonization, Ted helps in this Making Sense of Climate episode #22 (audio)
FM #929 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 929 in the series.
This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist via the Zoom conference bridge Tuesday, January 24, 2023.
In this episode we covered the following topics:
End of year reports, status recap
The MA roadmap
Commission on Clean Heat issued report on Nov 30, 2022
The Boston Foundation Climate Report Card
story of three chairs
Myths about appliances… trust science! Or ?
This discussion continues our journey understanding the MA roadmap toward net zero and while it helps me “make sense of climate”, we hope it helps with your understanding as well.
If you have climate questions or Franklin specific climate questions, send them in and we’ll try to answer them in a future session.
The conversation runs about 38 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Ted McIntyre as he helps me ‘make sense of climate’ Audio file -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-929-making-sense-of-climate-23-01-24-23
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Links to articles referenced:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1arTnyvQxTrOeV-Kdkxu7XldIWV3TLcqu/view?usp=share_link
See the page that collects the “Making Sense of Climate” episodes -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html
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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like something here, please let me know
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
Tuesday, January 3, 2023
CommonWealth Magazine: "Mass. shows interest in financing Maine wind project"
A 1,000 MEGAWATT onshore wind project planned for northern Maine and an associated transmission build-out “would provide benefits to Massachusetts and the region,” the Mass. Department of Energy Resources said as it determined that it makes sense to have Bay State ratepayers cover 40 percent of the project costs as part of a multi-state clean energy effort.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission selected the two projects — Longroad Energy’s King Pine 1,000 MW land-based wind generation project and LS Power Base’s 345 kilovolt (kV) transmission line project — in October to fulfill that state’s clean energy law requirements. The anticipated net cost of the two projects is $1.7 billion over 30 years, but the Maine PUC directed its staff “to look to other states to assess if there are partnerships that could reduce the costs to Maine.”
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CommonWealth Magazine: "Mass. shows interest in financing Maine wind project" |
Friday, December 9, 2022
MassCEC Seeking Applicants for Triple Decker Retrofit Pilot
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Wednesday, November 30, 2022
"The decision clears another hurdle"
"MASSACHUSETTS MADE some headway on its clean energy goals on Tuesday, but moving forward on key offshore wind and hydro-electricity projects remains an uncertain process.A Massachusetts-financed transmission line carrying hydroelectricity from Quebec into Maine cleared another legal hurdle on Tuesday as the Maine Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision that had blocked the state from leasing 32.4 acres of public land for the line.The Maine Supreme Court held that the Bureau of Parks and Lands acted within its authority in granting the lease to Avangrid and concluded the public land would not be “substantially altered” by the project."
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A photo of new work done on New England Clean Energy Connect after the referendum that shut down the project. All work was subsequently halted. (Photo taken November 12 by Edwin Buzzell) |