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INTO THE RED

Climate and the fight of our lives

The climate crisis is now an emergency. We believe solutions must begin here, in our communities, state, and region. Globe journalism will shine light on obstacles to decisive action, illuminate paths toward solutions, and hold to account elected leaders responsible for guiding us to a better future.

Latest climate stories

Is it still cheaper to fill up an EV versus a gas car? Yes, but it’s complicated.

A year ago, electric-vehicle drivers were saving a ton of money by avoiding the gas pump. Lately, the calculus has changed.
CHESTO MEANS BUSINESS

Healey administration gets serious about interstate approach to tackling energy issues

Governor Healey's new environmental chief wants Massachusetts to partner more with its neighbors on developing clean energy projects.

Inside the crazy, mixed-up world of electric-vehicle charger pricing

Charging outside of the home can be a headache for EV drivers, with inconsistent and sometimes high pricing policies, frequently broken equipment, and a lack of chargers in key locations for everything but Teslas.

How Massachusetts’ new DEP commissioner will bring ‘transparency and equity’ to the agency

Heiple's role will require her to juggle many issues. But equipped with her experience in energy and environmental law — and a proposed budget increase of 10 percent for the agency — she’s confident that she and her staff can manage it all.

The Gardner sidestepped a ‘guerrilla climate protest’ over the weekend, but area museums are on alert

“I don’t think there’s anything you can do to completely avoid those kinds of happenings from a security standpoint,” said Kurt Steinberg, chief operating officer at Salem’s Peabody Essex Museum.

Featured projects

As Earth’s temperature rises, Massachusetts residents’ sense of urgency on climate change declines

Despite increasingly urgent international warnings, fewer Massachusetts residents see the climate crisis as a very serious concern than they did in 2019, a new poll from MassINC and the Boston Globe shows.
The Lobster Trap: Part 1

The lobster trap

The plentiful catch that brought wealth to fishing families is at risk, as climate change warms the Gulf of Maine. A way of life is on the line, but lobstermen can't, or won't, imagine another.
Climate change on Cape Cod

At the edge of a warming world

The flexed arm of Cape Cod has challenged the power of the sea for centuries, but the contest has escalated. Climate change is altering our vacation paradise in myriad ways, perhaps forever. The message in the sand is clear — if only we will look.

Accountability

INNOVATOR Q&A

A R.I. startup diverts 1 ton of waste each month from landfills. They’re trying to get businesses to do the same.

Tess Feigenbaum co-founded Epic Renewal, which looks to provide low-cost composting services for homes, businesses, and events.

Video: Red Sox use helicopter to install new light fixtures at Fenway Park

The old Fenway lights were installed in 1982. They were removed after the NHL Winter Classic and Frozen Fenway in January. On Sunday, a helicopter carried the new fixtures to awaiting crews.

Scientific journal investigating UMass hydrogen study after revelations of gas industry influence

The study, by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, endorsed the use of so-called green hydrogen for heating buildings in Massachusetts and recommended the state consider adopting hydrogen as a clean fuel.

Study touting hydrogen — a technology favored by gas firms — was funded by gas interests, e-mails show

A study by researchers at UMass Lowell on hydrogen’s potential seemed innocuous enough. But hundreds of pages of e-mail correspondence now raise questions about the influence the gas industry may have had on the report.

Climate Science

This winter, haunting signs of climate change were everywhere
It was a weird and often warm winter in New England, the country, and around the world, with haunting signs of the climate crisis everywhere. Here's a look back at the season.

Allergies hitting early? Climate change may be to blame, report says.

An early climate warning lies in the paintings of JMW Turner and Claude Monet, new research shows

Politics and Policy

Is it still cheaper to fill up an EV versus a gas car? Yes, but it’s complicated.

A year ago, electric-vehicle drivers were saving a ton of money by avoiding the gas pump. Lately, the calculus has changed.

Inside the crazy, mixed-up world of electric-vehicle charger pricing

Charging outside of the home can be a headache for EV drivers, with inconsistent and sometimes high pricing policies, frequently broken equipment, and a lack of chargers in key locations for everything but Teslas.

How Massachusetts’ new DEP commissioner will bring ‘transparency and equity’ to the agency

Heiple's role will require her to juggle many issues. But equipped with her experience in energy and environmental law — and a proposed budget increase of 10 percent for the agency — she’s confident that she and her staff can manage it all.

‘Wakeup call’: Braintree chemical fire, Ohio derailment show need for stronger emergency planning, experts say

The fire at a waste disposal facility in Braintree, coming on the heels of the Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, showed how towns left to clean up the mess from chemical accidents are not always prepared.

An interactive look into climate change

How Massachusetts feels about climate change in 12 graphics

The percentage of Massachusetts residents who believe climate change is as a very serious concern has decreased since 2019. That’s just one finding from a new poll conducted by MassINC Polling Group for the Boston Globe.

Maps: These parts of Boston, Revere, and Quincy are vulnerable to rising sea levels

One measure of a warming planet and human-caused climate change is rising sea levels, which Massachusetts’ coastal towns are increasingly grappling with.

Boston’s ‘heat islands’ turn lower-income neighborhoods from hot to insufferable

In a recent city report, officials noted that temperatures in leafier neighborhoods are often significantly lower than in more densely populated areas.

Into the Red: How the Globe will cover climate change

To report on the most pressing issue of our time, the Globe’s climate team is expanding and rethinking its coverage.

The Globe's climate team wants to hear from you

Share your thoughts and questions about the impact of climate change in your community.

How-Tos

Difficulty measuring methane slows plan to slash emissions

Northeastern researchers have a plan to protect Boston from rising sea levels: floating vegetation mats they call the ‘Emerald Tutu’

ENVIRONMENT

DEM: ‘Substantial’ solid waste from Woonsocket sewage plant released into Blackstone River daily

More Climate stories

Following a dismal global climate report, could Massachusetts push up its net-zero goal?

An alarming new report on climate change raises a difficult question for Massachusetts, already ahead of most states on climate policy. Is it even possible to move faster?

RI POLITICS

Unions, environmentalists call for ‘decarbonizing’ R.I. public schools

Climate Jobs Rhode Island coalition urges passage of legislation aimed at shifting schools from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.

This winter, haunting signs of climate change were everywhere

It was a weird and often warm winter in New England, the country, and around the world, with haunting signs of the climate crisis everywhere. Here's a look back at the season.

World on ‘thin ice’ as UN climate report gives stark warning

Humanity still has a chance, close to the last one, to prevent the worst of climate change’s future harms, a top United Nations panel of scientists said Monday.

Inside the weird, wonderful world of ‘Buy Nothing’ groups

The offbeat giveaway groups on Facebook flourished during the pandemic, with membership numbers more than tripling.

‘Wakeup call’: Braintree chemical fire, Ohio derailment show need for stronger emergency planning, experts say

The fire at a waste disposal facility in Braintree, coming on the heels of the Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, showed how towns left to clean up the mess from chemical accidents are not always prepared.

With new commissioners, Healey aims to reshape an agency seen as critical to climate reforms

This week, in what Governor Maura Healey said is a first move in overhauling the department, her administration named two pointedly climate-friendly commissioners to the three-person commission that leads the DPU.

Education is missing from Massachusetts’ climate plans, advocates say

Without a plan for climate education, young people won’t be prepared to take on roles in climate policy when they grow up — or even to simply live in the warming world that they’ll inherit, advocates say.

Opinion

IDEAS | JENNIFER NASH

A flock of birds gripped my hand — and pulled me back into the fight against climate change

After devoting my career to the environment, I began to hide from bad news about it. I had to learn to feel all over again.
Leila Philip

Let beavers get busy fighting fires — and climate change

Carroll Muffett

The world can’t recycle its way out of the plastics crisis

Michael E. Mann and Wanjira Mathai

UN IPCC report can lead governments to the climate action door, but they must walk through

Bill McKibben

Heat pumps could help ease the climate crisis — and the war in Ukraine