Massachusetts Needs a New Energy Law

The good news about the Senate energy legislation approved last week is that it means both chambers and the governor have now backed strong plans to help the Commonwealth break its dependency on fossil fuels. The bad news is that one of the few substantive differences between the chambers involves a hot-button issue that could derail a compromise if legislators allow it: Cape Wind.

Massachusetts needs a new energy law to help meet its deadline of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020. The state has made great progress, shedding coal and oil-fired generators in favor of cleaner-burning natural gas, but will not reach the goal without tapping renewable energy sources faster.

Cape Wind's Legal Victory Tainted by New Lawsuit

Cape Wind, potentially the country's first offshore wind farm located between the southern coast of Cape Cod and Nantucket, is celebrating the approval by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, upholding the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) approval of the Cape Wind project. However, Cape Wind is not in the clear when it comes to being sued.