The State budget for college education has been cut, leading to higher tuition fees. This reports various ways to make higher education debt free in the state.

Numerous federal and state judicial decisions have established that environmental impact statements under the National Environmental Policy Act and its state equivalents should examine the impact of proposed projects on emissions of greenhouse gases. Administrative agencies and court settlements are now establishing the guidelines for the conduct of these examinations. This column surveys the emergence of these new guidelines, which is occurring against a backdrop of accelerated activity in both Congress and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, leading towards federal regulation of GHGs. The column looks at these guidelines on the federal level as well as within New York, California, Massachusetts, Washington, and Hawaii.

The ordinance requires the City to annually disclose energy and water use in all its facilities for the previous calendar year. All large and medium buildings or groups of buildings are required to report annual energy use, water use, and greenhouse gas emissions through Energy Star Portfolio Manager or an equivalent mechanism. The requirement would first apply to non-residential buildings 50,000 square feet and up in 2014 for the 2013 calendar year, and then to residential buildings 50,000 square feet and up, in 2015, non-residential buildings 35,000 square feet and up in 2016, and residential buildings 35,000 square feet and up in 2017. The City would make energy and water use per square foot, Energy Star ratings, greenhouse gas emissions, and other identifying and contextual information for individual buildings available on the Internet. Buildings not demonstrating high energy performance, continual improvements or other appropriate exemption criteria would be required to conduct energy assessments or actions every 5 years to identify opportunities for energy efficiency investment. Building owners would not be required to act on their energy assessments. Failure to comply with reporting requirements will result in fines for building owners. The development of regulations and implementation of the ordinance are overseen by the Air Pollution Control Commission.

Economic inequality remains a reality in MA. To balance the situation, improving working conditions, raising wages are needed.

Economic inequality remains a reality in MA. To balance the situation, improving working conditions, raising wages are needed.

Reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is vital to mitigate climate change. To date reduction efforts have primarily focused on minimizing the production of carbon dioxide during electricity generation, transport, and other activities. Going forward, to the extent that carbon dioxide continues to be produced, it will need to be captured before release. Research is currently being undertaken into the possibility of injecting carbon dioxide into the seabed. One study aims to identify possible injection sites in the seabed along the northeast coast of the U.S. It is anticipated that, following identification of suitable sites, a demonstration project will be undertaken to assess the feasibility of offshore CCS. This paper outlines key regulatory requirements for the demonstration project and any subsequent commercial operations.

This act requires businesses providing goods or services to the city to follow hiring guidelines that limit questions regarding criminal history, except for certain positions.

The state's Film Tax Credit provides generous subsidy and costs alot each year. Most of jobs benefit non-resident but not residents.

The state's Film Tax Credit provides generous subsidy and costs alot each year. Most of jobs benefit non-resident but not residents.

The report lists the cities in Massachusetts with numbers of workers directly affected, indirectly affected and amount of wages affected by minimum wage increase.