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The Northeast’s New Year’s Resolution – Get Serious about Climate Change

Category: Blog

January is a great time to start fresh. Whether it’s signing up for a new gym membership or cutting back on social media, the New Year is an opportunity to envision a better future and eliminate bad habits. And the Northeast has one that can’t be ignored for another year: an ongoing, dangerous reliance on fossil fuels. In 2020, Acadia Center’s resolution is to help the region break up with dirty energy. The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) served up a harsh reality check: the world has until just 2030 to act to avoid the
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Connecticut could be known for a modern transportation system, instead of asthma

Category: News

A recent Acadia Center report shows that by capping transportation carbon dioxide emissions, auctioning allowances, and investing proceeds — much like Connecticut already does for power plants emissions — the state could generate $2.7 billion in auction proceeds through 2030. Reinvesting these funds across the state’s transportation system would generate 23,000 long-term jobs; $2.2 billion in new wages; $7 billion in new business sales; and $4.3 billion in other benefits, including reduced air pollution. Read the full article from the Hartford Courant here.

Maine should take part in regional effort to cut transportation pollution

Category: News

The Transportation and Climate Initiative will deliver economic, health and environmental benefits. As Mainers take to the roads, skies and tracks for the holidays, ‘tis the season to contemplate resolutions for the New Year and beyond. While most envision exercising more, quitting smoking or spending more time with loved ones, Gov. Mills, the Maine Legislature and the Maine Climate Council are grappling with how to reduce the state’s climate pollution and transportation costs in an economical, efficient and equitable manner. Read the full article from the Portland Press Herald here.

Electric car rebates returned for Bay State motorists on Jan. 1

Category: News

The Legislature had rejected amendments to the annual budget that would have provided more funding for the five-year-old program, and officials from the Acadia Center and Conservation Law Foundation were calling on public officials to find new sources of funding. Read the full article from the Worcester Business Journal here.

Eastern States Introduce a Plan to Cap Tailpipe Pollution

Category: News

“When we’re going backward at the federal level, for states to step up and take action on climate, take steps to modernize our transportation system, it’s just an unprecedented opportunity,” said Jordan Stutt, carbon programs director at the Acadia Center, a research and public interest group in New England that is pushing for cleaner energy. “If designed well, this can be the most significant sub-national climate policy ever.” Read the full article from The New York Times here.

Maine undecided on joining regional plan to reduce vehicle pollution

Category: News

The transportation program is based on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a 2009 agreement to cap and trade power plant carbon emissions in nine Northeast states including Maine. Since its inception, CO2 emissions from power plants fell 47 percent, according to an analysis by the Acadia Center, a clean energy research group. Read the full article from Central Maine here.

Park City Wind

Category: News

Bridgeport looks to become a hub for offshore wind in Connecticut, with its Park City Wind project expected to deliver 14% of the state’s electricity supply. That is, if the offshore wind farm can get federal approval. Our guests: Jan Ellen Spiegel, energy and environmental reporter, Connecticut Mirror David Arconti, representative, D-Danbury, and chair, Energy and Technology Committee, Connecticut House of Representatives Deborah Donovan, senior policy advocate and Massachusetts director, Acadia Center Michael Passero, mayor, City of New London Listen to the episode from The Full Story here.

Climate change is no longer a future threat: it’s a crisis today | Opinion

Category: News

RGGI has been in effect since 2008, and a recent review by the Acadia Center of the program’s first 10 years found that: CO2 emissions from RGGI-covered power plants have fallen by 47 percent outpacing the rest of the country by 90 percent, while reductions in other air pollutants from these plants have resulted in over $5.7 billion in health and productivity benefits Electricity prices in RGGI states have fallen by 5.7 percent, while prices have increased in the rest of the country by 8.6 percent The combined economies of the RGGI states have grown by 47 percent, outpacing growth
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2/3 Voters: Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Firms Should Pay For Pollution

Category: News

“The poll shows that people across the region want proactive leadership to address our transportation and climate challenges. We need bold solutions to make the shift to a clean transportation future, and an ambitious TCI program can jumpstart that transition.” — Jordan Stutt, carbon programs director, Acadia Center. Read the full article from ValueWalk here.

Acadia Center Applauds Regional Coordination to Reduce Tailpipe Pollution, Urges Ambitious, Equitable Action

Category: Press Releases

TCI Announcement Demonstrates Benefits of Transition to Clean Transportation, Highlights Need for Strong Program BOSTON — Today, 12 states and the District of Columbia announced the details of a new, regional program to cut tailpipe pollution while delivering much needed investment in clean, equitable, modern transportation options. Working together through the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI), these jurisdictions[1] have developed a multi-state cap-and-invest program to address rising transportation emissions and the need for greater investment in a clean transportation future. Launching this program will be a major accomplishment at a substantial scale: the TCI region, were it a single country,
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