Salem Sustainability, Energy, and Resiliency Committee

06/14/2026

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2026/06/heat-pump-group-deals-installation-savings/

If you're not in a rush, it'll save you some dough now—and throughout the gadget's lifetime.

06/13/2026

It's W**d Your Garden Day! If you're out in the garden w**ding today, be sure to find and destroy any invasives. Remember, a w**d is just a plant you don't want. Some may be edible or even beneficial! **dYourGardenDay

06/13/2026

Mariah Delaney Eskel and Sofia FloresQuero Llamas were in eighth grade when a civics class assignment at North Andover Middle School tasked them with trying to fix a public issue.

They chose climate change after realizing sustainability played a key part in their lives. For four years, Eskel and FloresQuero Llamas researched clean energy and greenhouse gas reduction in Massachusetts, hoping to find ways to expand renewable energy investment.

Now, the pair is pressing lawmakers to advance environmental legislation they helped shape. One bill aims to expand statewide research on battery energy storage to understand how these batteries can help reduce dependence on fossil fuels and lower long-term energy costs. The second bill proposes a tiered tax credit for renewable energy generation with the expectation of making clean energy solutions more financially realistic for businesses across the state.

“At the center of all this work has been one consistent belief,” Eskel said. “Young people and the general public as a whole are absolutely capable of contributing meaningful ideas, policy, and helping shape the future of their communities.”

Patrick McGravey taught Eskel and FloresQuero Llamas civics in eighth grade. His class was part of a statewide civics initiative established more than seven years ago under legislation signed by former Governor Charlie Baker. The law requires students to complete civics projects and encourages hands-on public policy engagement with the goal of enabling youth to become informed participants in government.

The course is meant to help students understand how they can enter the civic process, said McGravey, who was one of the 60 Commonwealth educators working with the Democratic Knowledge Project, an education initiative based at Harvard University, on piloting a civics curriculum and professional development for K-12 districts.

McGravey’s class has produced several civic initiatives over the years. In 2023, seven students, including Eskel and FloresQuero Llamas, petitioned at a North Andover town meeting to approve a measure acknowledging the historical mistreatment of William Symmes Jr. As a delegate to the 1788 Massachusetts Ratifying Convention, Symmes faced backlash and was forced to leave Andover after supporting the ratification of the US Constitution.

That experience, the teacher said, helped students gain confidence in their own student-led civics projects.

McGravey said that while most students in the class wanted to organize projects to raise awareness on local issues within their community, Eskel and FloresQuero Llamas chose to pursue decisive policy change.

They began by writing a proposal for renewable energy tax incentives. When an initial proposal had been drafted, they asked McGravey to connect them with state Senator Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester Republican who had been involved in the legislation behind the civics requirement.

“In the very first conversation, I agreed with the overall purpose of what they were proposing,” Tarr said.

During the initial talk, Eskel and FloresQuero Llamas were encouraged by Tarr to look deeper into grid battery storage. The two spent months researching the technology, then drafted their second legislative proposal.

They quickly learned how intensive and sluggish the legislative process can be.

Eskel and FloresQuero Llamas persevered through delays and hurdles, including when one point of contact went on medical leave. Eventually, Tarr sat down with them and agreed to work through their proposals.

“There’s a lot of districts where teachers reach out to local and state reps, and they don’t get anything back,” McGravey said. “But that’s not been the case. I’ve seen a number of kids make real change like Mariah and Sofia.”

Tarr said the students’ proposals needed refinement before they could be filed as legislation.

As a result, the trio worked together to improve Eskel and FloresQuero Llamas’s drafts of the two bills.

The grid battery storage innovation bill was sponsored and filed in the Senate by Tarr, with the students testifying virtually before the State House in favor of the bill. The other was filed under the students’ sole sponsorship.

“We wanted to give them the chance to speak directly to the Legislature, and that’s exactly what we did by filing both of the bills,” Tarr said.

Under the grid battery storage innovation bill, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center is expected to conduct a study in partnership with higher education institutions on battery technologies capable of increasing cost-efficient electricity to offer the state a cheaper power supply.

The bill was approved by the Joint Committee of Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy. The Senate Committee on Ways and Means will hear it next, Tarr said.

The other bill, on commercial renewable investments, aims to create a tax credit for Massachusetts companies that invest in renewable energy technologies, Eskel said.

The act was sent to the Joint Committee on Revenue, which will decide whether or not to move it forward later this month.

Eskel and FloresQuero Llamas, now 17 and rising seniors at North Andover High School and Groton School, respectively, say they’re just getting started.

The duo is plotting their next initiative, dubbed Young Leaders in Politics Day, with members of Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey’s Cabinet, staff from Senator Elizabeth Warren’s office, and other academic leaders.

“The broader goal is to create a visible platform that recognizes the growing role of young people in shaping policy and encouraging more civic engagement,” FloresQuero Llamas said.

Eskel said she is considering a future career as a politician and wants to run for president of the United States.

“Age doesn’t have to be a barrier to public policy,” Eskel said. “The ability to contribute meaningful ideas isn’t limited by your title or your experience; it just begins with having the skills and being willing to learn and ask questions and stay persistent and just care enough to take that action.”

FloresQuero Llamas, meanwhile, dreams of becoming a doctor but wants civics to remain part of her education.

“There’s still so many years ahead,” FloresQuero Llamas said. “I’m really excited to see where college can take both of us, because I think we can definitely accomplish so much more than we have already.”

Starting in eighth grade, Mariah Delaney Eskel and Sofia FloresQuero Llamas went all-in on clean energy legislation. Now, the pair are going into their senior year in high school with two bills in the Senate.

06/13/2026

Two Salem beaches were among 16 across the state closed to swimming because of bacterial contamination as temperatures soared into the 90s late this week

Most of the beaches that close across Massachusetts each summer do so because of high bacteria levels caused by storm runoff and other means of f***l contamination. Water quality at public beaches in Massachusetts is required to be monitored by local public health departments.

El Niño 'Imminent,' Could Reshape Weather Patterns. Here’s What It Means For MA
When the water quality is unsafe, the beach must be "posted" with a sign indicating that swimming is unsafe and may cause illness.

Massachusetts beaches closed as of 2 p.m. on Friday include:

Ashby Damon Pond
Brewster Cliff Pond at DYS
Brewster Cliff Pond at Main
Concord Walden Pond East
Concord Walden Pond West
Natick Cochicuate State Park
Plymouth College Pond Day
Plymouth Fearings Pond Beach 1
Plymouth Fearings Pond Beach 2
Revere Beach Beach Street
Revere Beach Carey Circle
Revere Beach Oak Island Street
Revere Beach State Police Barracks
Salem Forest River Point
Salem Juniper Point
Shutesbury Lake Wyola

The bacteria used as indicator organisms to test the waters at beaches are Enterococci and E. coli. Marine beaches are tested for the presence of Enterococci. Freshwater beaches are tested either for the presence of E. coli or Enterococci. Enteric bacteria are indicator organisms found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals and humans, often associated with f***l contamination.

An elevated presence of these organisms indicates the water may not be safe for human or animal consumption or contact, and may cause symptoms ranging from gastrointestinal pain to eye and ear discomfort to flu-like symptoms.

Most of these symptoms are minor, but occasionally a more serious illness may occur. Children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems are at greater risk of developing serious symptoms.

Some beach areas may remain open for recreational activities, though any contact with the water is strongly discouraged.

The 16 beaches were off limits to swimming at temperatures soared into the 90s on Friday.

06/11/2026

When President Trump essentially declared war on renewable energy, halting offshore wind projects and scaling back support for solar, geothermal was largely spared.
By The Editorial Board

As building owners across the Commonwealth struggle with soaring energy bills, there’s a clean, limitless energy source right beneath our feet that could lower utility bills and help fight climate change. The challenge is how to make geothermal projects pencil out.

Governor Maura Healey and state representatives are on the right track, proposing legislation to encourage geothermal energy to heat and cool buildings, which now account for about 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions statewide.

Nationally, geothermal seems to be having a moment. When President Trump essentially declared war on renewable energy, halting offshore wind projects and scaling back support for solar, geothermal was largely spared. It helps that the industry has a lot of overlap with the oil and gas industry, sharing drilling equipment, workers, and investors.

There are two types of geothermal energy. The first involves digging deep underground, sometimes miles below the surface, into underground reservoirs to tap steam and very hot water that can be brought to the surface for electricity generation. Those opportunities are found typically near tectonic plate boundaries or volcanic hot spots. In the United States that means west of the Mississippi.

The kind of geothermal available in Massachusetts isn’t as hot, or as deep. Using geothermal energy to heat and cool a building involves taking advantage of the steady temperature below the ground’s surface, a year-round constant around 55 degrees. Pipes are buried underground, either in shallow horizontal or vertical loops often several hundred feet deep, with water and often antifreeze pumping through them. In winter, the warmed water flows to the surface and is transferred into a heat pump, which concentrates the heat and distributes it throughout the house. In summer, the process is reversed to cool us down.

Geothermal engineering designs can be quite complex, and one size does not fit all as challenges vary from project to project. But technologies continue to improve and knowledge of best practices advances with each blueprint.

Similar to nuclear energy, geothermal is relatively inexpensive per unit of energy produced once a system is operational. The biggest barrier to entry, however, remains upfront costs.

Consider Boston University’s state-of-the art geothermal system at its Duan Family Center for Computing & Data Sciences building, commonly known as the “Jenga building.” That contains 31 bore holes extending 1,500 feet underground, about twice as deep as the John Hancock is high. The building, which cost $305 million to construct, uses no fossil fuels to warm or cool it.

The geothermal system added less than 1 percent to the total construction cost but is expected to pay those costs back in less than a decade, according to Dennis Carlberg, BU’s chief sustainability officer.

For some schools with big endowments, building new facilities and investing in geothermal is a sound long-term investment. Still, expecting other institutions to follow BU’s lead is asking a lot, especially if their projects require retrofitting existing buildings.

To help overcome upfront costs, the governor and House are proposing legislation to allow gas companies to own the heat loops beneath large buildings at places like universities and hospitals, which is not currently permitted. If a building owner agrees to a partnership, the gas company could recoup costs through tariffs — rate structures, fees, and rules — designed for that specific customer. Utility customers who aren’t part of the geothermal project would not pay for it, but its existence could lower energy bills for nearby homeowners and renters, as large buildings converting to geothermal would decrease overall energy demands.

The governor touts her plan as a job creator for people working in the gas industry whose jobs could be threatened if natural gas usage declines.

Geothermal work is slowly ramping up in Massachusetts. Currently, about 20 state-owned buildings have converted or are converting to geothermal heating and cooling. Additionally, two dozen K-12 schools in Massachusetts are installing or have installed geothermal systems.

The clock is slowly ticking if building owners want to take advantage of federal tax breaks. Through President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, many geothermal energy projects became eligible for investment tax credits. Trump’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” got rid of incentives for residential customers but preserved credits of up to 30 percent for commercial properties. Those phase out starting in 2033 and sunset after 2034, unless extended. That might seem like a long ways off, but complicated design projects take a long time.

“You gotta get going now,” said Dano Weisbord, chief sustainability officer at Tufts. He helped coordinate a project at Smith College to convert the 147-acre campus in Northampton entirely to geothermal energy for heating and cooling, which will take about seven years from concept to complete build out. “To get the economics right, you have to experiment with design parameters.” (Weisbord added that a 2033 deadline is plenty of time for less ambitious geothermal projects.)

The other challenge with any geothermal conversion lays within old buildings themselves. BU’s Jenga Building was a blank slate. But many of New England’s buildings are still warmed by steam heat delivered through old clunky radiators, a 19th-century technology. Ripping cast iron radiators out and replacing them with heat pumps and duct work would be cost prohibitive for many projects.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is facing that challenge, said UMass professor Erin Baker, who researches mathematical modeling of energy decisions. She says for geothermal to make sense economically, policy makers may need to provide “some extra funding for the first movers, for the people that are initially doing it.”

Or large institutions just have to “bite the bullet” and retrofit the building, Baker said. “Then for decades, you have very low operating costs, you have very clean energy.”
Salem SAFE

When President Trump essentially declared war on renewable energy, halting offshore wind projects and scaling back support for solar, geothermal was largely spared.

06/11/2026

You’ve heard that gas stoves pose a health risk. But new research indicates that the threat may extend to your whole gas system.
A Boston University study found that low levels of natural gas may be seeping into many New England homes with gas heat. The gas contains pollutants including benzene, a known carcinogen, raising concerns that residents are breathing in small quantities of toxins around the clock.
“There’s no lower limit to what’s considered to be safe for some of those compounds,” said Nathan Phillips, a Boston University physiological ecologist and the study’s lead author.
Experts cautioned that more research is needed to establish whether these leaks jeopardize human health. Homeowners can look for leaks and plug them up, though some are difficult to address.
Phillips said the paper, published in May, provides one more reason for the state to consider transitioning off natural gas altogether. The study was funded by ZeroCarbonMA, a climate advocacy group based in Brookline, and published in PLOS One, a peer-reviewed journal of the Public Library of Science, a nonprofit that publishes free scientific research, including on climate and sustainability. The American Gas Association, a trade group, disputed the findings, but other scientists interviewed thought the study appeared sound.
Scientists tested the natural gas used in kitchen stoves around Boston. They found dangerous chemicals.
State charts a new energy future for Mass., beyond natural gas
The study arrives amid a debate over the future of natural gas in Massachusetts, where policy makers are weighing the state’s climate goals against concerns about rising energy costs. Though regulators previously laid out a framework to transition away from natural gas, Governor Maura Healey has signaled an openness to bringing more of it into the state. Natural gas remains the dominant heating source for Massachusetts homes.
The researchers measured the concentration of methane, the primary component of natural gas, in the air of nearly 200 homes across Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Methane, which is considered safe to breathe at low concentrations, can be tested more cheaply and easily than the pollutants in the gas.
They found that more than 90 percent of residences that used gas had elevated levels of methane — even in newer builds — indicating the presence of leaks. The concentrations were so small that it can be difficult for homeowners to smell the gas.
A 2022 paper led by a researcher at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and coauthored by Phillips found that unburned gas delivered to homes throughout the Greater Boston area contained a slew of hazardous air pollutants, including benzene, which the World Health Organization considers to be a carcinogen for which no safe level of exposure can be recommended.
Lindsey Burghardt, the chief science officer at Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child, who was not involved in either study, said further investigation of the leaks is needed to understand the health impacts.
“We spend more than 90 percent of our time indoors, so the quality of the air in that space is an important influence on our health, especially during pregnancy and infancy,” she wrote in an email.
Rob Jackson, an environmental scientist at Stanford who was also unaffiliated with the study, said that while the leaks are a cause for concern, the health risks posed by cooking with gas are likely even greater.
When natural gas is burned, it releases pollutants such as formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, and nitrogen dioxide, a gas that can worsen respiratory issues. These appliances have been linked to premature deaths and pediatric asthma. Gas-powered furnaces and water heaters, which also combust fuel, are required to be vented outdoors.
“For most of us, it’s the flame you need to worry about even more than the gas leaks for day-to-day, month-after-month exposure,” Jackson said.
The American Gas Association, a trade group, disputed the findings. Richard Meyer, vice president of energy markets, analysis, and standards, said the study was “methodologically limited,” including by not using a random sampling of households, and overstates what the data can support.
“Bay Staters deserve well-founded research that will allow them to make fact-based decisions rather than politically driven headlines that are not backed up by sound science,” he said.
Phillips said the researchers made sure they had homes that represented a range of housing stock, including different types and ages.
The gas association also identified an error in a table in the study. Meyer said the issue “calls into question the analytical rigor” of the project. Phillips acknowledged the error and said the research team requested a correction. The gas association and the authors agreed that the conclusions of the study were not affected.
Still, climate and health advocates said the study adds to the growing body of concerns associated with using natural gas. In addition to the health risks, the fuel is notorious for larger leaks across its supply chain that send methane, a superheater greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. They also argue that the state’s reliance on gas has driven up energy costs.
The advocates have notched big wins in recent years. A climate bill signed by governor Charlie Baker in 2022 launched a pilot program in 10 cities and towns banning the use of fossil fuels in new buildings.
The next year, state officials issued an order laying out a new regulatory strategy to move the state “beyond gas,” including discouraging further expansion of the natural gas system and supporting residents switching to electric alternatives.
Healey, however, has embraced an “all of the above” approach to energy — including signaling an openness to more natural gas. She backed a plan from Eversource increasing the gas supply in Massachusetts, stating that it would lower bills.
Ann Boland of Mothers Out Front, a Boston-based climate justice organization, said she still wants to see the state ditch natural gas. But she said residents can transition their homes to electrical appliances to eliminate the home leaks.
“This is something that people can, depending on their income level, do something about,” she said.
Bob Ackley, a paper coauthor and the owner of Gas Safety Inc., a methane consulting firm that carried out the testing for the study, said that if you suspect a gas leak, you should call 911 and your gas company to rule out a big leak that could cause an explosion.
Ackley said testing for smaller leaks is not easily available to homeowners — in part because there is no demand for it. If you smell gas at a particular location, he said, you can apply a soapy solution and watch for bubbles to see if the gas is escaping. As a “last resort,” he said, his company would also be open to testing homes for a fee.
Phillips had to contend with a leak himself. Not long ago, Ackley walked into his house and immediately said, “I smell gas.”
“I don’t have a poor sense of smell, but I was completely oblivious to it,” Phillips said.
With further investigation, Phillips determined the leak was in his basement at a faulty pipe connection. He sealed it with putty, and the problem was solved — for now. But he is in the process of transitioning his home off gas appliances entirely.

A Boston University study found that low levels of natural gas are leaking into many New England homes.

06/10/2026

Solar provides more than twice the share of electricity it did five years ago.

06/08/2026

🐬 Oceans of hope. Protecting our marine world.

06/08/2026

National Best Friend Day is for celebrating those who have made a difference in our lives and are always there for us.

06/08/2026

Lush wetland habitats once lined the Fort Point Channel, the narrow waterway that flows under the Summer Street Bridge. Native species thrived in and around the then-marshy waterway. But the habitat was destroyed in the 1830s when the city lined the channel with stone seawalls to allow for infill to help expand Boston’s footprint.

Now, there is a desire to restore that natural habitat, both to bring back some natural beauty to a largely commercial area and also to help bolster climate resilience.

Those granite stones are too large and too expensive to move. So to restore those crucial ecosystems, harbor advocates and ecologists turned their attention to the top of the water. Last month, a team installed a floating wetland on Fort Point Channel.

Right now, it’s not much to look at: a floating patch of mud speckled with green seedlings. But it’s loaded with all the needed materials to nurture a self-sustaining wetland habitat. Those seedlings, planted by staff at Save The Harbor, will eventually flourish into a mix of native plant species that will support native wildlife.

“It’s important that we have ... islands of ecological coherence up and down the coast,” said Galen Fulford, managing director of Biomatrix Water, the Scottish company that constructed the floating wetland. Wetlands, he said, are “one of the most important environments that we have.”

Fulford and his team have built hundreds of similar structures around the world to restore green spaces in cities that have lost them.

The structures are built to suit urban environments: The rafts are packed with a base made of clay and woody debris. To keep them buoyant and flexible with the tides, a series of nontoxic floats and hardware suspend the organic mixture, dipping plants in and out of the water to mimic their natural habitat.

As the budding plants grow, their roots will dive deeper into the water, renewing lost habitats for native fish species. Fulford says bugs and crustaceans will have a place to live, feeding the fish that nibble on them. On top, he says the new surface area could give birds a resting place while plant life supports native bugs that only lay eggs on specific plant species.

Since the 1980s, Save the Harbor, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring and protecting the Boston Harbor, has pushed for a cleaner waterway for Bostonians to enjoy. Now that the harbor is clean, Emilly Schutt, a staff scientist with Save the Harbor, sees the new wetland, along with outdoor seating and communal space, as another way to attract locals back to the channel.

“It’s going to draw people here so people are aware of the resources that are available to them,” Schutt said.

The benefits of the waterway aren’t just hopeful projections — a successful pilot project for another wetland can be observed on the Charles River.

About the size of a standard apartment, what floats in the Charles River is Biomatrix’s first wetland raft in the Boston area. With support from the Charles River Conservancy, the nearly $40,000 structure, paid for by sponsors, was built in 2020 and has flourished ever since.

“We’re really excited to see another wetland in Boston, and kind of grow this practice overall,” conservancy executive director Laura Jasinski said.

Along with providing an interesting plot of green space in the city, wetlands also help clean the water. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, wetlands help clear excess phosphorus in the water produced by urban runoff. That’s important because too much phosphorus leads to an overgrowth of algae that can harm humans and pets.

Jasinski says those buildups worsen in the summer, as increased storms wash in more nutrient pollutants that help the algae spread. With the creation of the man-made marsh, the conservancy has a little more help clearing algae out of the Charles River.

The wetland on the Charles also serves as a living classroom for Boston and Cambridge public schools.

Over the summer, students in kayaks get hands-on with the wetland, growing their awareness of local ecology.

“What’s really cool is when you get out there and you see the roots ... and touch the roots and really kind of see the whole plant structure,” Jasinski said. “It’s been a really effective [and] engaging way to talk to community members ... about what’s happening in our river, how we can help it be healthier.”

Christine Liu, a spokesperson for the conservancy, said it hopes to one day line the Charles River with verdant wetlands for community members to enjoy.

Schutt says she hopes for a similar future on Fort Point Channel: paddle boats and kayaks floating down a marsh-framed waterway.

Until then, Fulford of Biomatrix Water continues to dream of a greener, but still urban, future.

“I want to live in a world where we can have nature and urban environment integrated together,” Fulford said. “Where we have green roofs, green walls, and living water.”

Right now it’s not much to look at: a patch of mud speckled with green seedlings floating along the water. But it’s loaded with all the needed materials for nurturing a self-sustaining wetland habitat.