Stories
At least 60 people showed up to a protest Sunday urging the retirement of New England’s last running coal plant, the Merrimack Station in Bow. The gathering was complete with cake and dancing, according to organizer Kendra Ford. “Because it’s long overdue for that coal plant to retire, we had a retirement party to live…
Read More
The smoke from Canadian wildfires didn’t just block the sun and make the air unhealthy to breathe in much of New England this week. It also blunted solar power production and made it harder to forecast electricity demand in the region, according to the regional grid operator. “At a simple level, the smoke is is inhibiting the…
Read More
As climate change fuels extreme weather and rising sea levels in the U.S. and across the globe, parts of New England could become havens of safety for those fleeing fires, heat, and floods. Making room for more people was the theme of a conference held in Keene this week, where academics, municipal officials, and advocates…
Read More
The U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency proposed new rules for power plants Thursday that would set emissions limits for carbon dioxide from power plants. It’s part of an effort to cut down on the greenhouse gases that further climate change, which are already making New Hampshire hotter and wetter. In New England, the proposal could mean more…
Read More
Being a farmer has always been hard and stressful work, but there’s now a growing awareness that the demands of the job and its increasing unpredictability from climate change is taking a rising toll on the mental health of those who work in agriculture. As a result, the state launched a program to train farmers…
Read More
As the climate changes, New Hampshire is getting warmer and wetter. A new study from Dartmouth shows how that could impact local waterways — and how much there still is to learn. The study explored how things like snowfall, winter rain and springtime snowmelt impact streamflow – the amount of water moving through streams. Being able to project…
Read More
Employees of the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Connecticut are in an alcove out back by the river, building greenhouses — hammering, sawing and drilling. “Cutting PVC to shape, cutting greenhouse plastic and assembling these one-meter-volume cubes,” said Justin Susarchick, the aquarium’s projects director. His colleague Rebha Raviraj fires up a power saw and cuts a…
Read More
To understand silvopasture, imagine you’re a cow grazing under full sun on a hot August day. It’s 95 degrees and the humidity is brutal. “Do you want to be out there eating a full buffet?” asked Joe Orefice, a beef cattle farmer at Hidden Blossom Farm in northeastern Connecticut. “You don’t want to do that. As a…
Read More
Keene was one of the first cities in New Hampshire to adopt commitments to 100% clean energy, in 2019. But then came the challenge of following through. “The city of Keene, we have a limited number of levers that we can use to effect change,” said Mari Brunner, a senior planner with the city’s community…
Read More
Summertime in New England is when people demand the most electricity from the grid because of air conditioner use. At those high-demand times, utilities turn to so-called peaker plants to supply the extra power. They’re often older, more polluting facilities, and they are expensive to run. But a project in Beverly, Massachusetts offers an alternative…
Read More