Our non-profit organization is committed to educating people about climate-friendly behaviors and technologies. We're also advocates for excellent climate policies in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Here are our most useful and popular blogs and webinars of 2021.
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When we launched our Drive Green program back in November 2016, if you wanted an electric car, your only option, essentially, was to buy a new car. Yes, there were some older Nissan LEAFs available, but not many, and they didn’t have a whole lot of range. Fast forward five years and things have changed – there are more electric vehicle (EV) models on the market, and more and more of them are coming off three-year leases, which means, finally, a used EV market is growing. If you’re looking for a used EV, we have a new tool to help you find it.
If you know Green Energy Consumers Alliance, you know we are really into wind power. That’s because wind power is abundant and the lowest cost, zero-emission energy available. Today, the talk is all about huge off-shore wind farms. But to get to this point, things had to start in the beautiful coastal town of Hull, Massachusetts. And with an amazing character named Malcolm Brown. Sadly, Malcolm passed away recently. But he remains in my memory and if you’re into wind power, please read on.
People often ask us about the raw materials in electric vehicle (EV) batteries, their implications on human rights and the environment, and what’s being done to lessen the impact. We are also concerned about these issues. As an organization doing state-based work, we are not experts in the global supply chain questions at the heart of these concerns. However, we are determined to educate ourselves and share what we learn. As a first foray, we’ve taken a deep-dive into one metal – cobalt – since it is the focus of most of the questions we receive. Here is what we’ve found.
Green Energy Consumers Alliance has been working closely with our friends on the West Coast, a nonprofit called Coltura, on policies to phase out gasoline. That’s serious work for grownups. But Coltura has also produced a great new children’s book, “Sparky’s Electrifying Tale”.
The Transportation & Climate Initiative (TCI) is a multi-state effort to phase down our dependence on gasoline and diesel fuels and to kickstart investments for cleaner, more affordable transportation options. In November 2021, the governors of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island pulled out of the program. We're disappointed because without TCI, it's unclear how the states will achieve the emissions reductions needed to meet their climate goals.
The program is not dead – TCI can move forward any time three states agree to move forward – but the delay is a huge setback for climate action. To learn more about TCI itself, check out this webinar from February 2021.
This blog post is the first of a series to explore what's at stake if MA and RI don't come up with a Plan B to fund a cleaner transportation system.
Don't miss Green Energy Consumers staff have been posting videos all week leading up to Giving Tuesday (November 30th)! Videos on important climate news and solutions will be posted on this blog, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and on greenenergyconsumers.org/donate all week.
This summer I moved from Massachusetts to Colorado and decided I was going to make the move in its entirety with just my electric vehicle (EV). I’ve had a 2019 Chevy Bolt for two years now and this was the longest trip I had ever done with it. It was a new experience for me, visiting places I had never been before, and it put the feasibility for long-distance road trips with an EV to the test. Acknowledging the gaps in public knowledge surrounding the logistics of driving an EV, never mind a 1,900 mile road trip, it was evident that sharing this experience could be useful to others. So here we go!
Earlier this week, we learned that Connecticut Governor Lamont withdrew his support for the regional Transportation & Climate Initiative (TCI). When that news hit, we knew it was going to put pressure on the governors of Massachusetts and Rhode Island to follow suit. On Thursday, a spokesman for Governor Charlie Baker said that Massachusetts will not move forward with TCI because there is no longer a multi-state commitment. We haven’t yet heard from Rhode Island Governor McKee, but we anticipate a similar statement.
There’s so much climate-related news right now that it’s hard to keep up: from the negotiations in Glasgow to the details of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the still-to-be-determined future of the Build Back Better Act. But here’s one piece of good news you don’t want to miss: a recent poll demonstrates that the public gets it. We have to phase out gas-powered cars.
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