Last week, the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA-MA) presented MAPC with two awards: the Social Advocacy Award for and the Metropolitan Mayors’ Coalition Regional Housing Task Force and the Outstanding Planning Project Award for MassBuilds, a visual database of development in the Greater Boston region. Earlier this month, MAPC’s Clean Energy team […]
Continue reading...Massachusetts has some of the oldest natural gas main infrastructure in the nation, with pipes averaging 60 years old. To replace this pipe and other underground infrastructure, utilities need to navigate a patchwork of paper permits to dig up roads across the state. But they’re not the only crews working on our roads – the […]
Continue reading...Adding electric, hybrid, and other alternative fuel vehicles to municipal fleets reduces carbon emissions while cutting spending on gasoline and diesel fuels – but the benefits and potential of these technologies aren’t widely known. Municipal fleet managers and departments of public works are wary about buying battery electric or hybrid electric vehicles for their fleets […]
Continue reading...On-line questionnaire and roundtable discussion to gather local feedback For Immediate Release: Friday, October 5, 2018 NEWTON – Are you interested in helping Newton address climate change? Join staff from the City and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) at an upcoming roundtable discussion on October 23, 2018, designed to gather citizen feedback and begin […]
Continue reading...Last year, the 2017 hurricane season was one of the most intense on record, with three Category 4 storms making landfall in the U.S. Last week, Hurricane Florence hit the Carolinas hard. The impacts of these storms can be devastating, including property damage, injury, and even death. September also happens to be National Preparedness Month, […]
Continue reading...It’s mid-July and the Boston Metro Region has already experienced several days over 90 degrees, including a heat wave at the start of July when there were five 90+ degree days. Visit Keep Cool at keepcool.mapc.org Climate science shows that these types of hot days will increase in intensity and number over the next few […]
Continue reading...In 15 days, on July 31, the formal session for the Massachusetts Legislature will end – meaning that the House and Senate have two short weeks to approve the FY2019 State Budget and pass important legislation. The Legislature continues to work on completing the FY2019 State Budget and is contemplating several pieces of legislation that […]
Continue reading...Written by Sabrina Pedersen and Patrick Roche. Each year, there’s a single hour – usually in the summer – in which the electric grid experiences its highest – or peak – demand. In order to ensure that there is enough electric “capacity” available on the grid to meet demand in future years, the grid operator […]
Continue reading...You may be most familiar with state energy efficiency programs like MassSave Program due to their ubiquitous branding – but did you know energy efficiency programs provide much more to cities and towns than free LED light bulbs for its residents and business owners? Massachusetts is ranked first in the nation for the quality of its […]
Continue reading...Across the Commonwealth, residents are starting to make the switch from gasoline powered vehicles to electric vehicles. However, some remain hesitant to make the switch due to the lack of public charging stations available. One of the biggest fears that electric car owners have is not being able to find a charging station when they […]
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