The people who manage New England’s electrical grid seem to have rigged important auctions to favor fossil fuel interests. The alphabet soup of committees and commissions make it hard to understand, but ISO-NE should rescind the MOPR, and FERC should make them. Listen to hear an expert de-mystify that jargon. You can email FERC at [email protected]

What to do:

• Ask your governor to demand that ISO-New England adopt regional reforms to stop hindering state clean energy policy now, and to adopt accountability changes to increase transparency at ISO-New England.
• Ask your governor to increase transparency and accountability at the New England States Committee on Electricity (NESCOE), which chose not to oppose an additional two-year delay in eliminating the harmful Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR).  In the future, NESCOE should be required to make its positions and reasoning known publicly prior to key votes regarding regional energy reforms.
• Ask FERC to direct ISO-New England to eliminate the discriminatory Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) as quickly as possible.  You can email FERC at [email protected] now or submit an eComment after ISO-New England files its plan at FERC in early March.  Until ISO-New England files its plan at FERC, there will not be a docket number, but here is a description of how to file comments in another past proceeding: here is how to description of how to file comments, taken from a different recent past proceeding. It will be the same process here with a new docket number. 

The reading list:

• Acadia Center press release on the MOPR decision
• Acadia homepage
• Globe report on ISO-NE decision regarding MOPR
• Globe on reaction to the ISO-NE/MOPR ruling
• ISO NE's response
• the ISO-NE site, scroll down a little to see the organizational relationships of FERC, ISO etc
• WaPo on FERC's new guidance to include climate in policy

Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for a building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist the United States transform it’s energy sector, over the next decade, under a just and equitable plan, that uses regulations, investments and a price on carbon to safeguard our collective future.

Thanks for listening.

…Ted McIntyre

A new peer reviewed study shows that methane leaks in environmental justice communities take longer to repair than in other communities. What can be done to lessen this inequity? Listen to the report’s authors discuss some pragmatic recommendations.

The reading list:

• WBUR discusses the article on leaks and EJ communities
• PDF of the article itself.
• Dropbox link to a slide presentation about the study
• HEET discussion of the article.
• Boston Globe on the leadership at HEET and geo-mcro districts
• The Climate Minute on GSEP, MA's program for fixing gas leaks
• GreenRoots on the Chelsea substation

Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for a building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist the United States transform it’s energy sector, over the next decade, under a just and equitable plan, that uses regulations, investments and a price on carbon to safeguard our collective future.

Thanks for listening.

…Ted McIntyre

Gas leaks at the distribution level (that is, under your street) are related to overlapping issues. Activists recognize methane as a greenhouse gas leaking from long-lived infrastructure, but real people live with immediate impacts. By matching leak location data to a community’s population characteristics, a recent paper provides new facts. The observations are not surprising- environmental justice communities live with larger leaks that wait longer for repair. We speak to the authors of the paper to learn more.

The reading list:

• WBUR discusses the article on leaks and EJ communities
• PDF of the article itself.
• HEET discussion of the article.
• The Climate Minute on GSEP, MA's program for fixing gas leaks

Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for a building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist the United States transform it’s energy sector, over the next decade, under a just and equitable plan, that uses regulations, investments and a price on carbon to safeguard our collective future.

Thanks for listening.

…Ted McIntyre

Massachusetts released two revised climate policies recently. They are each meaningful even if somewhat imperfect steps forward. They should be viewed in light of the decade long process of making the 2030 climate roadmap a success. Climate activists need to pay attention to the proposals and provide good feedback to the state as it tries to follow the roadmap to a clean future.

The reading list:

• WBUR on the climate roadmap bill passed last year
• The Globe's new climate section
• Globe's Shankman on the new MassSave plan
• Globe's Noor on the details of the MassSave changes
• The MassSave website. Go here to book an appointment
• Globe's Shankman on the release of the new SMART solar regulations

Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for a building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist the United States transform it’s energy sector, over the next decade, under a just and equitable plan, that uses regulations, investments and a price on carbon to safeguard our collective future.

Thanks for listening.

…Ted McIntyre

Here in Massachusetts, the fossil fuel lobby is pursuing its annual scare campaign about methane supplies, conjuring up images of Texas style blackouts. If you look past the hyperbole, there is an industry desperate to maintain its profits at the expense of people and planet. On the other hand, a recent study confirmed a truly scary, if common sense, expectation: the gas stove in your kitchen is leaking, at least in the moment you turn on the burner if not continuously from loose piping connections. Pollution in your kitchen is more real and frightening than the freeze-in-the-dark scenarios painted by gas apologists.

The reading list:

• The Boston Globe parrots industry talking points about a Texas like blackout
• Readers push back on the scare tactic
• Commonwealth Magazine's unfortunate amplification of industry talking points
• Response in Commonwealth "Stop crying wolf"
• Pollution in your kitchen from cooking with gas
• Smithsonian Mag on leaky stoves
• WBUR on leaky stoves
• NYT on leaky stoves
• Lubber on what comes next
• Abraham says "Make natural gas unnatural"

Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for a building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist the United States transform it’s energy sector, over the next decade, under a just and equitable plan, that uses regulations, investments and a price on carbon that protects environmental justice communities.

Thanks for listening.

…Ted McIntyre

Putin’s saver rattling on the Ukrainian border is tied up with climate issues like the use of methane gas.

The reading list:

• NYT on petrostates
• InsideClimateNews on the Nordstream-2 pipeline
• Aronoff in New Republic on the bill in Congress
• Friedman in NYT on Biden's tundra remarks

Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for a building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist the United States transform it’s energy sector, over the next decade, under a just and equitable plan, that uses regulations, investments and a price on carbon that protects environmental justice communities.

Thanks for listening.

…Ted McIntyre

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently issued a statement saying that they “likely erred in siting the Weymouth Compressor Station” but that there was no “legal basis to prevent the Weymouth Compressor Station from entering service.” Wut? How did we get here? And what comes next? We talk to a longtime activist for the full story.

The reading list:

• FERC's statement
• Commonwealth Magazine on the FERC statement
• No Compressor dot com, the home of the Weymouth resistance
• https://www.ferc.gov/

Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for a building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist the United States transform it’s energy sector, over the next decade, under a just and equitable plan, that uses regulations, investments and a price on carbon that protects environmental justice communities.

Thanks for listening.

…Ted McIntyre

Natural water systems-like brooks, streams creeks or even rivers- exist in most urban areas. Over decades of city growth, these waterways have often been buried in culverts or underground pipes. This burial has been done in the service of flood control or the creation of more buildable land. In the age of climate change, there are several reasons to “day-light” these lost watercourses and let them return to something near their natural path. The benefits run to both the city and the soul. We speak with Miles Howard, a local journalist, author and urban hiker, about this new trend.

The reading list:

• Miles Howard in the Globe Ideas section on setting underground rivers free.
• Howard's "Mind the Moss" substack on buried rivers in Fall RIver
• The Climate Minute interviews Howard on hiking the Emerald Necklace
• The Climate Minute interviews Howard on the treasures of urban hiking
• The Climate Minute interviews Howard on EV sharing (Ep 7 of Lithium Series.)
• The Universal Hub on Stony Brook, Boston's Stygian River
• Some popular info on the River Styx in mythology
• Miles Howard website
• Follow @MilesPerHoward on twitter

Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for a building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist the United States transform it’s energy sector, over the next decade, under a just and equitable plan, that uses regulations, investments and a price on carbon that protects environmental justice communities.

Thanks for listening.

…Ted McIntyre

The use of hydrogen in the energy transition is both an opportunity for corporate greenwashing or for the implementation of positive, democratizing technology. Using hydrogen to store grid electricity is a concept that is still in the formative stages. Hear an expert lay out one vision that ought to be considered.

The reading list:

• What is an electrolyzer?
• What is a fuel cell?
• Real time electricity prices from ISO-NE
• What is energy democracy?
• Sierra Club on H2 storage
• The Climate Minute: It matters where your H2 comes from
• The Climate Minute: How to use your green hydrogen
• EarthJustice on H2
• @NathanPBoston
• #GridHydrogen

Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for a building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist the United States transform it’s energy sector, over the next decade, under a just and equitable plan, that uses regulations, investments and a price on carbon that protects environmental justice communities.

Thanks for listening.

…Ted McIntyre

If you make hydrogen from natural gas, it is dirty because of all the CO2 emissions from the conversion process. At both the Federal and Massachusetts level, policies push to support use of dirty hydrogen for home heating. We talk to two experts, who say this is just a way to keep utilities in business and that it is is both dangerous and polluting. They propose a different path to achieve the goal of sustainable home heating for all.

The reading list:

• The Climate Minute on H2 safety
• Gas Leaks Allies Homepage
• Gas Leaks Allies Hydrogen Working Group
• Why H2 for heating is a false solution
• Fact sheet on H2
• H4081 Renewable Thermal
• Climate Reality , Boston
• Gas Leaks Allies site describing the Future of Heat Act
• HEET on Geo-microdistricts
• Report on DPU 20-80
• Mothers Out Front
• HEET
• The Climate Minute with Ania Caramago on The Future of Heat
• The Climate Minute with Ania Caramago on a vision of clean home heating
• The Climate Minute with Dorie Seavy on repairing gas pipeline
• The Climate Minute with Dorie Seavy on understanding your gas bill The Climate Minute with Dorie Seavy on the GSEP mega-project no one knows about
• The Climate Minute with Maria Belen-Powers on the EJ implications of GSEP
• The Climate Minute with Sen Barrett on the State response to the GSEP report
• The Climate Minute: It matters where your H2 comes from
• The Climate Minute: How to use your green hydrogen

Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for a building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist the United States transform it’s energy sector, over the next decade, under a just and equitable plan, that uses regulations, investments and a price on carbon to safeguard our collective future.

Thanks for listening.

…Ted McIntyre