Massachusetts

Mass. Senate Pres. To Hand Deliver Pipeline Testimony In DC

September 3, 2015 Mary Serreze, www.masslive.com Resist! Massachusetts, Oil & Gas, Pipeline

Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, said Tuesday he will travel to Washington to hand-deliver testimony gathered from Massachusetts residents on Kinder Morgan's proposed Northeast Energy Direct natural gas pipeline. Rosenberg said he will meet with Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur on Sept. 30. "I can't think of anyone better to speak with about the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline, the concerns of western Massachusetts residents, and energy policy in general. I certainly appreciate her willingness to meet with me," Rosenberg said in a statement. The public testimony will be that delivered at a Sept. 10 session at Greenfield Community College. Rosenberg organized the public hearing after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission refused to reschedule its own session concerning the environmental impact of the pipeline.

Spectra Sues Boston Over West Roxbury Gas Line

July 5, 2015 Jack Newsham, www.bostonglobe.com Resist! Gas, Massachusetts, Pipelines

By Jack Newsham for the Boston Globe. The owners of the biggest natural gas pipeline in New England have sued the city of Boston for standing in the way of a controversial pipeline extension through West Roxbury. Spectra Energy Corp., the Houston company that is expanding Algonquin pipeline network, filed suit against the city in federal court on Wednesday alleging that the city would not sell the easements, or rights-of-way, that the company needed to bury its pipeline. Boston politicians have resisted the company’s efforts to build a pipeline spur through part of West Roxbury, siding with neighbors who say the gas line’s proximity to a gravel quarry in the neighborhood poses a threat to public safety. Federal regulators have dismissed those concerns. But Mayor Martin J. Walsh, city councilors, and Congressman Stephen Lynch, a Democrat whose district includes West Roxbury, have appealed that decision and asked regulators to halt pipeline construction until its appeal is heard.

143 Mile Hike Protests Kinder Morgan NE Energy Direct Pipeline

April 10, 2015 Kelsey Erickson, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! Climate Change, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pipelines

The Pipeline Pilgrimage is a Quaker-led trek along the proposed route of Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct pipeline in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It began in Pittsfield, MA on April 1st and will end in Dracut, MA on April 12th, a total of 143 miles. The purpose of the pilgrimage is to foster spiritual growth in a community to catalyze a force for change. As the pilgrims travel, they are meeting local people who will be directly impacted by the pipeline, many of whom are farmers and many of whom have young children. The health and safety hazards of the Kinder Morgan pipeline would threaten their livelihoods and increase fracking operations in communities residing over the Marcellus Shale. The implications of an increase in fracking go far beyond the desecration of people's drinking water. A surge in methane emissions will seal a future of climate chaos at which point we will be powerless to remedy the wreckage we've inflicted on our planet.

Mass. Leads On Protecting Rights For Domestic Workers

April 10, 2015 The Editorial Board, www.bostonglobe.com Organize! Law, Massachusetts, Worker Rights and Jobs

LAST SUMMER, Massachusetts became the fourth state in the nation to enact a bill of rights for domestic workers, establishing labor standards and granting basic protections to nannies, housekeepers, and other in-home caregivers. The law, which went into effect on April 1, is broader in scope than similar laws in California, New York, and Hawaii. As other states consider cracking down on what essentially is an unregulated underground economy, Massachusetts’ leadership, by empowering domestic workers, stands out and deserves praise. The new law is the result of four years of organizing work by the Massachusetts Coalition of Domestic Workers, which campaigned on behalf of the estimated 65,000 domestic workers in the state.

Town Sues FERC, Claims Acts Are Unconstitutional

February 5, 2015 Tom Relihan, www.recorder.com Organize! FERC, Massachusetts, Oil & Gas

The town of Deerfield plans to file a negligence claim against the United States government today in its fight against the planned natural gas pipeline through Franklin County. The tort action claims that a 2005 change in the federal Natural Gas Act that gave the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authority to regulate the transportation and sale of natural gas destined for sale overseas is unconstitutional. Filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which gives private parties the right to sue the federal government for damages if they are injured due to the negligence of one of its employees, the claim takes aim at Tennessee Gas Co.’s proposed 36-inch diameter natural gas pipeline and is the latest salvo in the town’s battle to keep the pipeline from passing through its limits.

No More Backroom Deals

November 20, 2014 Dan Clawson, www.jacobinmag.com Resist! Education, Labor Unions, Massachusetts, Teachers

To the causal observer, Massachusetts may seem like an unlikely place to open up a new front in the assault on teachers. The state has the highest test scores in the nation, and just this year the National Education Association named its chief executive “America’s Greatest Education Governor.” But on October 20, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) unveiled a draconian proposal that would tie teacher performance, narrowly defined, to teacher licensing. Thousands of educators knew an unmitigated attack when they saw one, and responded accordingly. Late last week, after a massive backlash organized by the Massachusetts Teachers Association — under the leadership of Barbara Madeloni, the recently elected president of the 113,000 member union — the proposal was withdrawn.

Nuclear Plant Depresses Property Values

September 1, 2014 Chris Burrell, www.enterprisenews.com Organize! Anti-Nuclear, Law, Massachusetts, Nuclear Energy

PLYMOUTH – Encouraged by a decision in the Massachusetts Land Court, anti-nuclear activists are forging ahead with a lawsuit, arguing that the Pilgrim nuclear station in Plymouth and its storage of spent nuclear fuel have hurt property values in the area. The plaintiffs – 11 residents who live within two miles of the 685-megawatt nuclear power plant owned by Louisiana-based Entergy Corp. – are challenging Entergy and the Plymouth officials who approved a permit for the company to build concrete pads for storing nuclear waste in concrete casks. “A project that has these threats and dangers and such a huge impact on the community should be subject to the highest level of oversight by local boards,” said Meg Sheehan, a Cambridge lawyer representing the residents. Sheehan said that Plymouth’s building inspector and zoning board wrongly approved the building permit for Pilgrim and should have required a special permitting process and a public hearing.

Obamacare’s Founding CEO Wants Single Payer In Massachusetts

February 6, 2014 Sahil Kapur, www.talkingpointsmemo.com Organize! Health Care, Massachusetts

On his first day as governor of Massachusetts, Donald Berwick promises to set up a commission tasked with finding a way to bring single payer to the Bay State. It'll have report back to him within a year -- ideally sooner. Having run Medicare and Obamacare in Washington for 17 months, he has concluded that the existing hybrid system is too cumbersome and expensive, and that single payer is the right fix. And he's the only candidate in this year's contest who dares to go there. Berwick is an underdog candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2014 elections -- the most outspoken progressive in the race. A pediatrician, Harvard health policy professor and former health care executive, his talent for -- and obsession with -- health management caught the eye of President Barack Obama, who in 2010 appointed him to be the Administrator of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services. "I would claim that I'm the boldest progressive in the race," Berwick told TPM. "We've not minced our words. I say what I believe. I'm the only candidate to support single payer. I'm the only candidate opposing that law that allows casinos in the state." He worries about being seen as the health-care-only candidate when it's not the top concern of Massachusetts residents -- 98 percent of whom have insurance -- and insists he'll also prioritize education reforms and "repairing our very flawed transportation system."

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