"Beyond slashing carbon emissions, the grant-funded work will make living in these renovated units more comfortable"

Miriam Wasser (@MiriamWasser) posted on Tue, Nov 21, 2023:

"The first installment of Massachusetts' $50m grant to decarbonize affordable housing developments went out today.

The money will be used to electrify and retrofit over 700 units across the state. "

Full article -> https://t.co/sypqvNKjgq

Shared from -> https://twitter.com/MiriamWasser/status/1727087328181751961

MASS.gov press release -> https://www.mass.gov/news/healey-driscoll-administration-awards-27-million-to-decarbonize-affordable-housing-across-massachusetts

Mass. awards $27 million to help ‘decarbonize’ hundreds of affordable housing units

Starting with a bicycle story, we shift gears to cover climate topics around the region and cycle back to a key report (audio)

FM #1102 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1102 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 Monday, November 13, 2023.  

In this episode we cover multiple topics from the release of the Hopper Report, we run through a series of articles from around New England, and then back to MA, covering what has been happening recently to close with some quotes from the Hopper Report.

Links to the many articles we talk of are collected in one PDF doc linked to below.   

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 47 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Ted as we help ‘make sense of climate.’ Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1102-making-sense-of-climate-35-11-13-23

--------------

  

Links to articles referenced for this episode are collected in one PDF -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fYRQvznj3SB1YU4NqXOR7NslMPM2gArf/view?usp=drive_link

** See the page that collects all the “Making Sense of Climate” episodes -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html 

--------------

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 www.franklin.news/ or  www.Franklinmatters.org/ 

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!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

Starting with a bicycle story, we shift gears to cover climate topics around the region and cycle back to a key report (audio)

CommonWealth Beacon: "Let’s be honest about cost, challenges of electrification"

Consider the author's point of view: "Michael S. Giaimo is the director of the northeast region of the American Petroleum Institute" 

"You may have missed it, but there is a pervasive movement afoot to electrify everything: cars, trucks, buses, homes, offices, stoves, and appliances. It may sound easy, but it is a massive undertaking rife with challenges. Policies seeking to simultaneously electrify our transportation system, our homes, and commercial buildings will require an upfront investment of billions of dollars in preparing and expanding the power grid to accommodate this increased demand for electricity. That is just for starters.  

When policymakers discuss this issue, they focus on the perceived benefits of decarbonization but consistently gloss over the process and associated challenges. When they consider mandatory electrification, among the questions they leave unanswered are: How much power is going to be needed to preserve reliability? Where is that power coming from? How is the power going to get where it needs to go? And how much is this all going to cost?

Let’s start with the question about the amount of power needed. According to the 2023–2032 Forecast Report of Capacity, Energy, Loads, and Transmission (CELT Report) – the region’s demand for electrical power is projected to increase by a quarter over the next decade – and that prediction might be understated."

Continue reading the article online ->

https://commonwealthbeacon.org/opinion/lets-be-honest-about-cost-challenges-of-electrification/

Reports referenced in the article are also available via Franklin Matters:

• 2023–2032 Forecast Report of Capacity, Energy, Loads, and Transmission (CELT Report) (Yes, it is an Excel file)  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dlwPUid6Fi6Kuwa44n4ItREbYO1qE71I/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=101938843903614700481&rtpof=true&sd=true
• NationalGrid outlook ->   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dn0UzxmP5c8wWb7LwtIS_e9xIykVbac-/view?usp=drive_link
• Eversource outlook ->  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e170UznBm4OHedajXqOaAor5fVpyQAQu/view?usp=drive_link

Stay tuned into the "Making Sense of Climate" podcast series as we have these discussion about how we are going to get where we need to be. It will only happen with a concerted effort on the part of all involved ->   https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html

CommonWealth Beacon: "Let’s be honest about cost, challenges of electrification"

Boston Globe: "Boston’s plan to ban fossil fuels in new buildings goes up in smoke"

"Wu’s decision not to apply for the program came as a surprise to environmental advocates and legislators who have been trying to move the state away from heating and cooling new structures with fossil fuels. Constructing buildings that are only powered by electricity is considered among the low-hanging fruit of plans to decarbonize. Buildings account for roughly 70 percent of Boston’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The decision marks an abrupt departure from the mayor’s recent statements, delivered in press conferences and radio interviews, that the city intended to participate in the program and lead by example.

Wu said, “it breaks my heart,” but that the city was not applying for the state program because it appears it was not actually intended for a city as complex as Boston, with its large population and already-strained electric grid. She said she had gotten “clear indications that Boston would not be chosen for the one available spot.”

Maria Hardiman, a spokesperson for the state Department of Energy Resources, said the challenge for Boston is that it’s “electrically similar” — meaning the age of the infrastructure and demands on the system are comparable — to several other cities or towns that have already been selected for the program, including Cambridge, Brookline, Newton, and Arlington. Those similarities “would have presented a challenge in the selection process” because the pilot program is aimed at getting data from a diverse group of communities."

Continue reading the article online ->    https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/11/13/science/boston-will-not-apply-to-ban-fossil-fuels/

Shared from Sabrina Shankman (@shankman)->    https://twitter.com/shankman/status/1723830814788518112

Boston Globe: "Boston’s plan to ban fossil fuels in new buildings goes up in smoke"

In this Making Sense of Climate episode we talk about tough choices on the climate roadmap (audio)

FM #1084 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1084 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 Monday, October 16, 2023.  

In this episode we cover the following topics

• Legal challenges tossed

• Inspector General editorial

• Brayton Point conundrum

Links to the articles we talk of are collected below.   

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 37 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Ted as we help ‘make sense of climate.’ Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1084-making-sense-of-climate-34-10-16-23

--------------

  

Links to articles referenced:

Legal challenges tossed

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/legal-challenges-by-fishing-groups-to-vineyard-wind-rejected/

Inspector General Editorial

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/government/push-for-electric-school-buses-faces-procurement-bump-in-the-road/ 

Brayton Point Conundrum

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/brayton-point-offshore-wind-prize-in-doubt/ 

Another conundrum arises as we go to press 

EV Charging challenges for condo owners vs. homeowners 

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/my-energy-efficiency-efforts-were-frustrated-by-mass-save/

** See the page that collects all the “Making Sense of Climate” episodes -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html 

--------------

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 www.franklin.news/ or  www.Franklinmatters.org/ 

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!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

In this Making Sense of Climate episode we talk about tough choices on the climate roadmap (audio)

"Current law complicates effort" How to transition a complicated matter

Via CommonWealth Magazine: 

"THE COMMONWEALTH HAS established itself as a national leader in addressing climate change by setting an aggressive goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. A host of strategies have been adopted and proposed to move us forward in meeting this goal. This is cause for celebration given that leaders in some states refuse to acknowledge climate change and are blocking any attempts to address it.

One such proposal is Senate bill 2218, filed by Sen. Brendan Crighton, calling for 100 percent of new vehicles purchased by the Commonwealth to be electric by 2026 and 100 percent use of zero emissions vehicles by public entities by 2035. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program is offering $5 billion in grants and rebates over five years to schools to electrify their bus fleets. (Five Massachusetts school districts received rebates through this program in 2022.)

Electrifying school buses as an immediate first step should be a no-brainer. They travel a known distance each day and are parked in a central location overnight, easing the logistics of route planning and charging. What’s more, electric buses are quieter and reduce students’ exposure to tailpipe emissions, which has been shown to be a leading cause of asthma.

However, current laws do not make this so easy. The heart of the challenge facing school districts is the requirement under current law that they procure fuel sources separately from vehicles. While that may seem like a minor bureaucratic detail, it runs the risk of greatly complicating districts’ move to cleaner bus transportation, and could lead to violations of procurement regulations and law."

Continue reading the article online

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/government/push-for-electric-school-buses-faces-procurement-bump-in-the-road/

(Photo via Creative Commons/Flickr by ThoseGuys119)

 

"Brayton Point offshore wind prize in doubt

Divided Somerset grapples with ship electrification mandate"

"ONE OF THE BIGGEST prizes of the emerging offshore wind industry – an onshore subsea cable manufacturing facility providing jobs, tax revenue, and the beginnings of a US supply chain – is in danger of slipping away at Somerset’s Brayton Point because of a dispute over a zoning condition.

Prysmian Group, based in Italy, is proposing to build a $250 million factory employing nearly 300 people and generating local taxes of $9 million, which would represent about 12 percent of Somerset’s current budget. The factory would supply transmission cables to offshore wind farms up and down the Atlantic Coast and help reduce the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels.

President Biden recognized the symbolic importance of the Prysmian facility in July 2022, when he used Brayton Point – the former site of one of New England’s largest coal-fired power plants — as the backdrop for a speech outlining his vision for addressing climate change. He described Brayton Point and the Prysmian cable manufacturing plant as being “on the frontier of clean energy in America.”

 Continue reading the article online

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/brayton-point-offshore-wind-prize-in-doubt/

A rendering of the Prysmian subsea cable manufacturing facility proposed for Brayton Point in Somerset.

Voices of Franklin: Ted McIntrye on "Luke, Frodo, and you"

It is winter, 2023, in Franklin MA. The Shaw’s parking lot is bare of snow. As you begin the long march into the store, you see a fellow shopper in shorts and a light vest. If it all seems surreal, you are right to trust your spidey-sense. Winters in Franklin are getting warmer.  In fact, local scientists say "The climate I lived in as a kid is long gone." Boston Globe reporter Billy Baker notes that due to climate change, this winter is a bust, and “our very identity is at stake… We pride ourselves on being “true” New Englanders … it is a story of hardiness, and hardiness is earned in winter; it is the story we use to keep ourselves warm.” Our stories about keeping warm are easier to tell this year.

In the 1880’s, Mark Twain is reported to have said: “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” Times have certainly changed, and we humans in the 2020’s have, in fact, managed to change the weather! The big question is if - having dangerously upset the weather systems - we are heroic enough to face the challenge of reducing the risk from climate change. On that front, the New Year brings good news. 

Massachusetts recently elected a new Governor, one who seems to correctly accept the reality and implications of climate change. Governor Maura Healy is off to a good start. In her Inaugural speech she said “Let’s build a Climate Corridor that stretches from the Berkshires to Barnstable harnessing research, innovation and manufacturing. We’ll create thousands of new jobs in clean tech and blue tech, coastal resiliency, and environmental justice.” Then she appointed a first-in-the-nation climate chief thus “ensuring that climate change is considered in all relevant decision-making.” This is a critical step because the state already has a clear roadmap but also an alphabet soup of agencies (DOER, DPU, DEP, DOT, MBTA) that are not always aligned to the same goal. 

What is the “climate roadmap,” anyway? Once you accept that the climate science is accurate, the concept of a climate roadmap is pretty simple. It is a guide to what the state needs to do over the next 27 years (from 2023 right up to 2050) in order to reduce carbon pollution to safe levels while maintaining a thriving economy. This is a big job (sometimes called “decarbonization”), and there are lots of uncertainties about how we will do this. The roadmap lays out CO2 emission reduction goals for 2030 and 2050, with intermediate goals every 5 years.  For example, we need to reduce our annual CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030.  Right now, our job is to figure out how to reach that target. 

2022 was a year of progress, and saw the passage of Next Generation Climate Roadmap law, under the able leadership of our own Jeff Roy. The new law lays out specifics about how we will reach the 2030 roadmap goals. The year 2023 will see the implementation of many aspects of the law. As a town, we should be proud to have elected such a visionary leader as Rep Roy.  2022 also saw the release of the Clean Heat Commission report. It delivered a strong proposal for real progress on decarbonization, and will be useful throughout 2023 as our legislators consider next steps along the roadmap. If you want to learn more about the roadmap, how it is being implemented and how it impacts Franklin, turn to Franklin Matters. The podcast series Making Sense of Climate is there to help you understand.

The Massachusetts Climate Roadmap is more than a plan. It is an epic quest that we have embarked upon, which will lead us to a new and exciting future. Our journey along the roadmap is nearly mythical, and ranks with the tales of Ulysses, Luke Skywalker and Frodo Baggins for audacity and daring. As a state, we have collectively embarked on a heroic mission, not to find Princess Leia, or to destroy the Ring, but to save the future. There will be hard work, difficulties and setbacks along the way. The journey will require all the New England hardiness we can muster, but in the end we will have transformed our state into a better, more sustainable and more human place. 

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-clean-energy-and-climate-plan-for-2025-and-2030

World’s biggest investment fund warns directors to tackle climate crisis or face sack | Sovereign wealth funds | The Guardian

"Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s single largest investor, has warned company directors it will vote against their re-election to the board if they do not up their game on tackling the climate crisis, human rights abuses and boardroom diversity.

Carine Smith Ihenacho, the chief governance and compliance officer of Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages more than 13tn Norwegian kroner (£1tn) on behalf of the Norwegian people, said the fund was preparing to vote against the re-election of at least 80 company boards for failing to set or hit environmental or social targets.

Established in the 1990s to invest surplus profits from Norway’s huge oil and gas reserves, it is the world’s largest sovereign fund, controlling an average of 1.3% of 9,338 companies across 70 countries. Large holdings include Apple, Nestlé, Microsoft and Samsung.

“We all know, we live in a world with a climate crisis, and we have a role to play and then companies have a role to play,” Smith Ihenacho said. “So we have stepped up our expectations towards the companies when it comes to setting targets to get to that net zero [emissions] by 2050 target. And we will push the companies more in setting targets and understanding how they’re going to get there.”

Continue reading the article online(subscription may be required)

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/03/worlds-biggest-investment-fund-warns-directors-to-tackle-climate-crisis-or-face-sack

Melting glaciers and ice sheets around the world are causing concern over the changing climate. Photograph: Hollandse Hoogte/Rex/Shutterstock

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

--------------

  

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 

--------------

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!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

https://www.mass.gov/doc/massachusetts-commission-on-clean-heat-final-report-november-30-2022/download

Debunking some appliance use myths, some practical info on energy savings

"When I was a kid, my dad followed behind me, shutting off the incandescent lights I left burning around the house. “You’re wasting energy,” he’d scold as I tried to slip out of the room. He was right, of course. In the 1980s, 5 to 10 percent of an average household’s electricity bill went to keeping the lights on. So when my own son was born last June, my dad joked he was waiting for the day when his grandson would exact his revenge on my utility bill.

Luckily for me, this day will never come. I’ve been rescued by LED lights, now the primary lighting source for about half of U.S. homes. LEDs are wafers of semiconducting material that emit as much light as incandescent bulbs while using about 10 percent of the electricity. Later this year, incandescent bulbs will disappear from store shelves for good as new federal efficiency standards take effect. If it isn’t already, your home lighting will soon be a rounding error on your energy budget.

Yet many people still sound like my dad. When you ask Americans how they save energy at home, “turn off the lights” has been at the top of the list since the 1980s. But when it comes to actual savings, it doesn’t even crack the top 10. Like most conventional wisdom about how to reduce household energy and emissions, much of what we believe about our homes and appliances is wrong."

Continue reading about some home appliance myths that linger (subscription maybe required) ->  https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/01/24/home-appliance-myths-energy-saving-tips/ 

Don’t pre-rinse. Run your dishwasher.