On Sat, April 21, 2007 1:36 pm, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > I read on another list that Home Depot will be giving away (free) 1 > million CFLs on Earth Day....
-------------- Thanks for letting us know about that inspiring development. Another one just happened in Massachusetts. I wept out of profound hope at this news from today's (Sunday 4/22) Boston Sunday Globe. In fact, the man who brought me this article read it out loud to me because I couldn't open my eyes. The killer words (which he repeated several times) were "effective immediately." Marcia Poulsen ---------------- MASS. STEPS UP CLIMATE RULES FOR DEVELOPERS Pollution, traffic to be assessed In a major change to Massachusetts environmental policy, private developers will now be required to estimate the greenhouse gases their large-scale projects will produce and reduce them with measures such as energy-efficient lighting, alternative fuels, or commuter shuttles. Effective immediately, developers planning projects large enough to warrant a state environmental review will have to assess how the projects contribute to the pollution that leads to global warming, Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian A. Bowles told the Globe. Not only will the state look at direct emissions from smokestacks and heating with fossil fuels, but it will consider the indirect effect of thousands of workers driving to a new office park. Large housing developments, office projects, and mixed-use developments that combine retail, industrial, and residential uses will be affected. The change by Governor Deval Patrick also applies to factories and power plants that require state air quality permits and to buildings constructed or at least partly funded by the state. "This policy puts greenhouse gases into the mainstream of environmental policy and regulation," Bowles said Friday. "We can no longer be indifferent to greenhouse gas emissions -- any more than we are to any other form of air pollution." As a policy change, the measure goes into effect immediately, and requires no legislative approval. However, beginning Tuesday, an advisory committee made up of air quality consultants, environmental engineers, and state environmental officials will begin shaping a protocol for how developers can measure their anticipated greenhouse gases and take steps to reduce them. Those guidelines should be complete by July 1. Developers submitting plans until then will be given broad latitude to comply, said environmental affairs spokesman Robert Keough . State officials believe they will be the first in the nation to consider greenhouse gases as part of developers' environmental impact reviews. Three years ago, Mitt Romney proposed to do so as part of his Climate Protection Plan as governor . But the state never implemented the provision, acknowledged Sonia Hamel , formerly a special assistant to the secretary of the Office of Commonwealth Development. The initial reception from the development community was positive, with some leaders saying Patrick's plan coincides with growing interest in use of "green" design and construction and does not appear to be too onerous. State officials could not estimate how many projects would be affected in a given year. The change follows this month's Supreme Court ruling in which the justices decided that greenhouse gases are pollutants that can be regulated by the federal government; the Bush administration had refused to limit these emissions from new autos and trucks, preferring voluntary actions with less economic impact. Massachusetts was a lead plaintiff in that case, and is among the states sprinting past the federal government in efforts to control the gases that contribute to global warming. Romney developed regulations to limit carbon dioxide emissions from Massachusetts power plants, and Patrick joined a pact with eight other states creating a market-based trading system to contain emissions from power plants throughout the region more broadly.... Whole article: www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/04/22/mass_steps_up_climate_rules_for_developers _______________________________________________ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
