These Are Interesting Times

Barack says America is ready for change. While it might be easy to take his statement with a grain of salt (you know, politics and all; how many times have we heard presidential candidates say the same thing in our lifetime?), at least in the area of global warming, there really does seem to be a lot going on. I haven't even seen An Inconvenient Truth. But maybe you have. And then there's all the pictures of polar bears sitting on floating blocks of ice, doomed. The Mass. v. EPA decision that the Supreme Court handed down a few weeks ago. Ethanol and other alternative fuels. Cape Wind. And now a new development in Massachusetts - using land use / local laws to get at problems that the state and federal governments are either too slow to get to, or have to jump several legal hurdles to get to. The most interesting part of this is that there is "no legislative approval" required.

Mass. steps up climate rules for developers
Pollution, traffic to be assessed

By Stephanie Ebbert, Globe Staff | April 22, 2007

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 .

Click here to continue reading.