Will Worcester join Massachusetts’ fossil fuels ban pilot?

FOSSIL FUELS: In Massachusetts, Worcester’s chief sustainability officer frustrates climate activists after insinuating that the city won’t join a state pilot seeking to ban fossil fuels in new construction. (Worcester Telegram & Gazette)

CLIMATE:
• After the majority of residents in a Staten Island coastal community took advantage of a managed retreat program, the few remaining households say city services are dwindling and impairing their way of life. (Grist)
• New Jersey officials release a new report describing the various ways that climate change will harm public health, including poorer air quality, cardiovascular conditions and cancers. (NJ Spotlight)
• New York officials designate two new towns as ​“climate smart communities” for their efficiency and renewable energy measures. (Rochester Beacon)
• A Vermont farm discusses how it adapts to a changing climate and handles extreme weather swings. (VTDigger)
• Connecticut kicks off a new grant program to help communities plan and prepare for climate resilience and mitigation, with 40% earmarked for vulnerable populations. (news release)

AFFORDABILITY:
• A Maine gas utility seeks higher rates, leading some residents to call attention to the company’s failure to follow through with its pledge to connect 15,000 homes or businesses to gas. (Portland Press Herald)
• A New York county repeals its energy tax to mitigate the sting of higher energy prices this winter. (Rockland/​Westchester Journal News)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: An empty retail store in Marlborough, Massachusetts, is poised to become a work site for an electric vehicle battery tech company. (Patch)

INCINERATION: The entities trying to restart a Maine trash incineration plant still say they can get the facility back online next year despite two companies exiting the project. (Bangor Daily News)

BUILDINGS: A childrens’ nonprofit plans a carbon-neutral redevelopment of its location in New York City’s Astoria area that will include renewable energy educational programming. (QNS)

BIOGAS: A northern New York dairy farm undergoes a major expansion project that will include a $20 million renewable methane gas project. (NNY360)