Gov Baker talks climate change in DC
"In testimony before a U.S. House committee Wednesday, Gov. Charlie Baker told Congress to set politics aside and follow Massachusetts’ lead on adapting to a changing climate and preparing to deal with more powerful weather, including setting specific targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
The Republican governor has made climate change adaptation and resilience a central part of his agenda as he begins a second term in office. Last month, he proposed raising a real estate transfer tax to pay for a $1 billion, decade-long program to help Massachusetts cities and towns prepare for and clean up after the impacts of climate change.
The governor told the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee that states “need strong federal leadership and a bold bipartisan vision on climate change.” He said climate policy is not a partisan issue in Massachusetts because “we understand the science and know the impacts are real because we are experiencing them firsthand,” and called on federal lawmakers to row in the same direction.
“The magnitude of the impacts from climate change requires all of us - at the federal, state and local levels - to put politics aside and work together. That is the path we have taken in Massachusetts,” Baker said."
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https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190206/baker-talks-climate-change-in-dc
Housing crisis leads to homelessness
"Looking out her window, Kristen McCorquodale reflected on eight years of chasing affordable housing to avoid homelessness.
It was a January afternoon and temperatures the day before fell below zero degrees.
“This isn’t May. This isn’t like the last time,” she said, referencing a few years prior when her family lived out of a Ford Expedition.
McCorquodale, 35, is from Somerville. But over the last decade, she and her husband, Dan, along with their three children, have lived in Beverly, Gardner, Worcester, Marlborough, Dorchester and – most recently – Fitchburg. Their homes during that time included apartments, basements, shelters and a small Boston unit with two families and no working toilet."
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https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190205/housing-crisis-fuels-homelessness-in-massachusetts
