Recent Streetsblog MASS posts about Environment

The Boston Cyclists Union sponsored a pop-up park along the Centre Street bike route in Jamaica Plain for Park(ing) Day 2019.

Photos: It’s Park(ing) and Climate Strike Day

By Christian MilNeil | Sep 20, 2019 | 1 Comment

And we've got another new Orange Line train.

Massachusetts greenhouse gas emissions by source since 1990. Courtesy of the Massachusetts Dept. of Environmental Protection.

Memo For the #ClimateStrike: Cars and Trucks Generate Most of New England’s Pollution

By Christian MilNeil | Sep 19, 2019 | 1 Comment

To survive the climate emergency, Massachusetts needs to put an end to the failed, climate-baking highway engineering of the 20th century, and instead start building for a future with fewer cars.

Pavement and motor vehicle waste heat are two of the major components of the "urban heat island" effect.

Exhaust Pipes Are Making Heat Waves Much, Much Worse

By Christian MilNeil | Aug 20, 2019 | 1 Comment

The long-term climate impacts of the climate pollution from cars and trucks are well documented, but the daily short-term effects of the wasted heat energy radiating from engine blocks and exhaust pipes are making this summer’s heat waves much more miserable for city-dwellers. As anyone who’s walked or biked across a busy street knows, car […]

City Councilors Michelle Wu (at podium) and Ed Flynn (behind, to the right) stand with Chinatown social justice advocates at a press conference on the disparate impacts of air pollution from traffic to communities of color on Thursday, June 27, 2019.

Study: People of Color Suffer Higher Health Risks From Highway Pollution

By Christian MilNeil | Jun 28, 2019 | 6 Comments

Thanks to decades of planning decisions that routed highways through Asian, Black and Latinx neighborhoods, and a lack of affordable housing in transit-accessible locations, air pollution from tailpipes is significantly more likely to harm communities of color across Massachusetts, according to a new study from the Union of Concerned Scientists. In the new report, Inequitable […]