Massachusetts’ popular electric vehicle rebates are about to shrink
To reach these ambitious numbers, it is essential to implement measures to help consumers of all income levels go electric, activists said.
“We absolutely need to take new steps to improve access to electric vehicles to low-income residents,” said Mark LeBel, staff attorney at the Acadia Center, a Boston-based nonprofit that promotes the development of clean energy economies.
Offering larger rebates to lower-income buyers and expanding the program to include used vehicles could help achieve this goal, LeBel said. Financing options that offered low or no-interest loans could also be useful, he said.
Read the full article from Energy News Network here.
Cap-and-Trade for Cars Is Coming to the Northeast
“This is a great step forward for a region that desperately needs a more modern transportation system,” said Jordan Stutt, the director of carbon programs at the Acadia Center, a Boston-based environmental group. “I think this is a reflection of the kind of process we want to see more of when it comes to climate and economic policy.”
Others pointed to the additional benefits associated with cutting carbon emissions from cars and trucks, including cuts to other pollutants that are harmful to public health.
Read the full article from Scientific American here.
In landmark agreement, Mass., eight other states vow to cut transportation emissions
One group that has long called for a regional agreement on transportation emissions estimated it could raise more than $5.5 billion over a decade and generate more than 50,000 jobs in Massachusetts.
“A cap-and-invest program could unleash billions of dollars to deliver the overdue improvements this region needs,” said Jordan Stutt, carbon programs director for the Acadia Center, an environmental advocacy group in Boston.
Read the full article from the Boston Globe here.
Connecticut efficiency program turns focus to smaller commercial buildings
Poor energy performance is not unique to Stamford; the whole state is grappling with energy efficiency. Connecticut continues to have some of the highest energy costs in the country. Though Connecticut has made progress over the last two decades — primarily through its Conservation and Load Management energy efficiency program — it now risks falling behind other states in New England. According to the Acadia Center, a nonprofit advocating for a clean energy future, Connecticut invests in cost-effective electric efficiency at “roughly half the levels pursued in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.”
Read the full article from Energy News Network here.
Cars, trucks, boats, planes add most emissions in Maine
Kathleen Meil, Maine policy advocate for the nonprofit Acadia Center, which focuses on clean-energy issues, called the transportation sector’s contribution to the challenge “astounding.”
“As other sectors become less carbon-intensive, the piece of the pie for the transportation sector has grown,” said Meil. “The other part of it is we have not taken the (concrete) initiatives with transportation emissions that we have with other sectors.”
In a recent report titled “Building a Stronger Maine: Memorandum to the Next Governor,” the Rockport-based Acadia Center said modernizing Maine’s transportation system could create up to 8,700 new jobs with more than $1 billion in new wages. The Acadia Center has recommended Maine work toward goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent by 2030 by, among other things, using 500 electric-powered buses and moving toward 17 percent of passenger cars running on electricity.
Read the full article from Central Maine here.
CT’s clean energy battles transition from Malloy to Lamont
Acadia Center, among the top tier of regional environmental advocacy groups, had no representative on the committee, but put together its own priority plan – a memo to the incoming governor.
That plan offers specific prescriptions, bolstered by data, for how to achieve changes in five key areas: transportation, including infrastructure and adoption of electric vehicles which while steady, has been slow; transition to cleaner more resilient local power; improving energy performance and emissions reductions in buildings; reforming rules for the grid; and improving community and individual energy choice – essentially the ability to use more distributed and flexibly designed generation.
“We’re taking an approach that’s not just about clean energy. We’re taking an approach that’s about economic competitiveness,” said Amy McLean Salls, Acadia’s Connecticut director and senior policy advocate. “We also need to put into place the policies and the personnel who also can be thinking innovatively and not looking at the past as the way to the future.”
Read the full article from the CT Mirror here.
Advocates tell Janet Mills that clean energy and better roads will add good jobs
Maine could gain 13,500 jobs and receive a $6.5 billion boost to its economy by shifting toward cleaner energy and upgrading its transportation infrastructure, a clean energy research and advocacy organization said in a memo Wednesday to Gov.-elect Janet Mills.
Acadia Center of Rockport said that modernizing the state’s transportation system alone could produce more than $3.8 billion in new economic benefits, add 8,700 new jobs and create $2.3 billion in public health and other benefits.
Read the full article from Bangor Daily News here.
Acadia Center: Connecticut economy would get big boost from clean energy efforts
Acadia Center’s analysis, which officials with the organization called “Memo To The Next Governor of Connecticut,” was released Monday. Daniel Sosland, Acadia Center’s president, said the analysis focuses on five transportation and energy reforms “that will have the most direct impact on Connecticut’s economy while also enhancing quality of life for its people and communities.”
“The recommended reforms are achievable, the benefits are concrete, and the time is now to build a stronger Connecticut,” Sosland said in a written statement. “Making Connecticut’s transportation infrastructure and its energy system work better for all state residents and businesses is smart economic strategy.”
Read the full article from the New Haven Register here.
State backs Millstone bid to compete as zero-emissions player in energy auctions
Environmental advocates also have questioned Millstone’s need for state action.
Emily Lewis, senior policy analyst at the Acadia Center, a clean energy advocacy group, said Millstone “plays an important role in the energy mix” because it does not produce carbon dioxide. But policymakers should not “throw money at Millstone that could be used for renewables” such as solar and wind power, she said.
If and when the plant is retired, the power it generates should be replaced by offshore wind, Lewis said.
Read the full article from the Hartford Courant here.
Op-Ed: No panels? No problem. The secret to solar in the city
[…] Instead of buying and installing solar panels on your home or property, you subscribe to a piece of a large local solar project nearby, often along with a few dozen to a few hundred other people who live in the area.
A portion of the electricity generated by these projects gets credited directly to your utility bill, you get a discount on electricity, and you don’t have to pay anything to join.
Read the full article from Crain’s here.