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Keyword search: CLIMATE CHANGE

By BILLY SPITZER

We are all experiencing the impacts of climate change more each day, in our own communities and around the world. Recent data from the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication shows that 72% of Americans understand that climate change is real,...

By EMILEE KLEIN

SOUTH HADLEY — While lounging under a tree at Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School, middle school student Addison Gosselin felt the tickle of a critter crawling on her leg.Gosselin ushered the little bug onto her hand, and immediately...

By JACOB NELSON

Imagine this: It’s 10 a.m. and already near 90 degrees. The hot sun bakes the farm field where you and your coworkers are harvesting. With no clouds in sight or shade nearby, you wipe sweat from your brow and gulp down more water. It’s exhausting...

By SAMUEL GELINAS

WILLIAMSBURG — Local climate trends and energy resources will be the subjects addressed at a series of forums being held on four Sundays this fall at the Anne T. Dunphy School.According to Jean O’Neil, speaking on behalf of co-sponsors Indivisible...

By CHRIS LARABEE

SUNDERLAND — Two local farms opened their doors to Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer on Monday morning to talk about the challenges brought on by climate change, as well as opportunities for future investments in the industry.The state’s first-ever climate...

By EMILEE KLEIN

AMHERST — A University of Massachusetts professor has been appointed as the state’s fifth geologist, a position that involves directing the Massachusetts Geological Survey located on the Amherst campus.In this role, professor Brian Yellen will broaden...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — A small crowd of climate activists marched through the State House on Thursday morning, chanting about lawmakers’ failure to strike a deal on a clean energy bill deemed urgent and essential by the very lawmakers who could not agree on a...

By EMILEE KLEIN

SOUTH HADLEY — On a woody hillside in a 100-plus-acre private parcel, Phoebe Weinberg, her face blocked by a shield attached to her hard helmet, begins dismantling an autumn olive growing over a red oak sapling. The roar of the chainsaw covers the...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — More than 37% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions are produced by the billions of tons of concrete, asphalt, steel, glass and other construction materials used in buildings and other infrastructure projects, according to U.S....

By EMILEE KLEIN

SOUTH HADLEY — The Planning Department will establish an Affordable Housing Trust within the next year to support affordable and sustainable housing projects, an initiative being funded by grant money from the state’s Municipal Vunerability...

By CHRIS LARABEE and ALEXA LEWIS

With Massachusetts experiencing its seventh-wettest year on record in 2023 as torrential rainstorms ravaged roads, farms and homes, the federal government, the state and those here in the Pioneer Valley are turning their eyes toward future flood...

By EMILEE KLEIN

FLORENCE — Morey Phippen and Brian Adams’ yard looks nothing like the traditional blanket of green grass associated with suburban lawns.Instead, bumblebees and butterflies bob and weave around her destined for the nearby foxglove, pink primrose, red...

By EMILEE KLEIN

Regional planning groups and local municipalities remain wary of the looming implications on municipal jurisdiction should the state’s massive climate bill move ahead in the coming weeks with promises to reform the slow process of siting and...

By DOMENIC POLI

ASHFIELD — The town is seeking a “Climate Leader” designation from the state that would help it reduce emissions by increasing its use of equipment run on electricity rather than those requiring fossil fuels, and maximizing the efficiency of...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Signaling the potential for more change in the transportation and energy sectors, Senate President Karen Spilka revealed Monday that the Senate plans to tackle a major climate bill within the next three months.The Ashland Democrat said at a...

By EMILEE KLEIN

GRANBY — The trees along the roadsides in Granby keep disappearing.Resident Cheryl Funk first noticed the phenomena during daily trips past West Street Cemetery, where trees that had long greeted mourners were suddenly gone. Then she realized the tree...

By CHRIS LARABEE

Take a drive down Routes 5 and 10 and count the number of electric or hybrid vehicles you see. Compare those numbers to what you saw two years, five years or 10 years ago and you’re likely looking at a significant increase.Data from the Massachusetts...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — During a summer in which area farms dealt with significant rainfall and flooded fields, keeping agricultural drainage ditches cleared became essential to protecting crops by ensuring excess water could be removed.Often, though, farmers found...

By EMILEE KLEIN

Massachusetts’ solar development just had its worst year in over a decade in terms of new installations, but Greenfield Solar partner Claire Chang says her firm that does jobs throughout the Valley hasn’t experienced the same downturn.As a small...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

HADLEY — A changing climate’s impact on farms and their ability to raise crops will be the focus of a farmers’ roundtable taking place at Plainville Farm on Friday.The Hadley Climate Change Committee is partnering with farm owner Wally Czajkowski on...

By DOMENIC POLI

Residents have until Friday to submit their input regarding the process by which clean energy projects are permitted in Massachusetts.An online survey is soliciting public comment on how the state should protect health, safety and community livability...