The Climate Minute

In September 2024, the MBTA released its Climate Assessment, taking stock of its climate commitments and work undertaken to date. It articulates a vision for sustainability and resilience at the MBTA. Listen in to a recent MCAN Network meeting where officials from the MBTA discuss the report. 

On Beacon Hill, important climate legislation is being finalized this week. Listen in to hear the details of what currently is in-or out-of the bill and what you can do (right now)  to help get the good stuff in and the bad stuff out. Call your representative and ask them to talk to the conference committee members, or send a postcard, or take a trip to Beacon Hill next week! We have all the detai...

We get an update on the Massachusetts Legislature's Climate Bill.

XR Boston has sponsored a year long ‘standout’ in front of the statehouse, demanding that no new fossil fuel infrastructure be built. We had a chance to talk with them.

At the last minute, a public session to review the Hanscom Jetport Expansion’s Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR)- a session which was originally to be held in a school auditorium- was moved to be ‘on-line only.’ The change was so sudden it stranded a few participants in the parking lot as they waited to enter the building. Listen in to hear what they had to say.

A Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) on the proposed expansion of jet traffic at Hanscom Field is open to your comment through June 14. We talk to a lead organizer about what is in the DEIR and how you can help out.

The Massachusetts Legislature is headed to the end of it’s session in July. The time is right to contact your legislators to improve the ‘Climate Omnibus’ bill-because it is being finalized right now. Listen to hear what policies need to be in the Omnibus and some specifics about how you can help get them there.

The term “embodied carbon” describes the CO2 emissions associated with a building that came from the manufacture, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of building and infrastructure materials- even before the building was constructed! It is an important piece of the CO2 reduction puzzle in Massachusetts. We talk to an expert to find ways to understand this rapidly developing fie...

In the fifth of our series of episodes with understandable discussions about how to ’decarbonize’ your home, some of our earlier guests meet together to share stories and insights about their own efforts.

Strangely enough, a lot of people who are concerned about climate issues do not turn out to vote when the time comes. The Environmental Voter Project has a plan, backed up with researched insight, to get those folks to the polls. Listen in to find out how you can get involved. 

In the fourth of our series about the nitty-gritty of decarbonizing your home, we talk with someone who has done a little bit of everything.

In the third of our series about the nitty-gritty of decarbonizing your home, we talk with a renter facing the challenges of decarbonizing.

In the second of our series about the nitty-gritty of decarbonizing your home, we talk with a homeowner who had an oil burner in the basement.

Does that creepy feeling you get from seeing strange weather foretell our doom? But what is "doom" and who are "we?" Plus updates on the Healy Admininstration's plans for coordinating climate planning.

We try to make sense of the SOTU, decarbonization, eclipses and other timely climate topics. 

Hearing about climate action from trusted leaders in a community is a good strategy for progress. The non-profit MassEnergize seeks to support that path, community by community. Listen in as we hear the details.

Widespread use of electric bikes would be a great way to reduce carbon emissions and provide accessible transportation options to more people. A program in Worcester is helping the state of Massachusetts to learn more about how e-bikes can help us address climate change.

Wherever you live, you are probably using fossil fuel to warm your dwelling, heat your water or cook your food. Doing that without emitting carbon dioxide pollution is called 'decarbonization.' Everyone's path to decarbonize is a little bit different, so hearing about the ups and downs of other's efforts will sharpen your own understanding of what to do. Listen in to the first of an occaisonal ser...

A visit to Uganda provides a chance to consider climate issues from a bigger perspective.

Over the last few decades, large fossil fuel companies have profited while creating huge amounts of carbon dioxide pollution. A new Massachusetts bill would "Make Polluters Pay." If enacted, the money would pay for climate actions the state must take anyway, and it would support real progress on environmental justice. LIsten in as we talk with an expert on this exciting new proposal.