Sign up

Help protect the places we love,
the values we share

In our emails, sent once or twice a week, you'll receive:
• alerts on new threats to Massachusetts' environment
• opportunities to join other Bay Staters on urgent actions
• updates on the decisions that impact our environment
• resources to help you create a cleaner, greener future

Donate

Protect the Cape Cod National Seashore

Congress has already slashed protections for the Cape Cod National Seashore, and now they want to make further cuts—putting beaches, plants and animals at risk. Learn more.

Click here to help protect the Cape

Through Environment Massachusetts, thousands of citizen members are teaming up with a professional staff to stand up for the places we love and the environmental values we share.

Join us. Take action for Massachusetts' environment.

Updates

Massachusetts moms for clean air.

In October, Environment Massachusetts staff members Ben Wright and Lauren Randall brought four mothers from Needham, Belchertown, Brookline and Boston to meet face-to-face with Sen. Scott Brown and urge him to oppose attacks on the Clean Air Act that are supported by polluters and their allies in congress. During the meeting, the mothers asked Sen. Brown to oppose Sen. Rand Paul’s (Ky.) legislation, which would have allowed out-of-state polluters to continue to shirk their responsibility for the pollution they cause—pollution that leads to thousands of childhood asthma attacks in Massachusetts alone. On Nov. 10, both Sen. Brown and Sen. Kerry stood with Massachusetts’ kids and voted against Rand Paul’s dirty air act.

News Release | Environment Massachusetts

Cambridge City Council promotes solar power in MA

Fourteen Massachusetts communities have all endorsed a bill that would expand the use of solar energy in the Commonwealth. Cambridge is the most recent community to sign on this week, joining Greenfield, North Adams, Otis, Williamstown, Egremont, Cummington, Ashfield, Charlemont, Conway, Heath, Monterey, Great Barrington, and Salem. These fourteen communities have all signed onto a coalition letter in support of the bill.

News Release | Environment Massachusetts

Obama Administration Moves to Protect Forests

Boston – Today, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack issued an interim directive protecting pristine forests from new logging and drilling. The directive requires his personal approval for any new logging, drilling, or roadbuilding in nearly 50 million acres of our most pristine national forests. The measure does not protect roadless areas in Idaho.

News Release | Environment Massachusetts

Over 230 Million Pounds of Toxics Discharged into American Waterways

Industrial facilities dumped 12,727 pounds of toxic chemicals into Massachusetts’ waterways, according to a report released today by Environment Massachusetts, Wasting Our Waterways: Industrial Toxic Pollution and the Unfulfilled Promise of the Clean Water Act. The report also finds that toxic chemicals were discharged in 1,900 waterways across all 50 states.

News Release | Environment Massachusetts

Patrick Administration Responds to Environmental Concerns Around Water Withdrawals

On October 8th, 2009, the Patrick Administration’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced a major shift in their interpretation of the Massachusetts Water Management Act, resulting inadequate environmental considerations and a lack of protection for our rivers. The interpretation set standards at the bottom of the barrel and would have allowed our water resources to be depleted to drought conditions year-round. This decision came just before permit reviews allocating water withdrawal for the next 20 years.

News Release | Environment Massachusetts

Alewife Reservation Leading the Way in Clean Water: Federal Legislation Would Extend Protections to All Wetlands

Cambridge, MA - In 1972, the Clean Water Act was passed in a historic promise to make all of our lakes and rivers safe for fishing and swimming by 1985. Today, 38 years later, our waters still lack the protections they need: nearly half the waters in the U.S. are considered too polluted to be safe.

A bill in Congress would strengthen the Clean Water Act to make good on its promise. “We need clean water now, and we need the federal government to act to protect our health and our environment” said Eleanor Fort, Preservation Associate for Environment Massachusetts.

Pages