Apparent Horizon
BROKEN MEDIA, BROKEN POLITICS
THERE WILL BE NO OUTSIDE WORLD TO HELP US
Boston’s global warming plans must prepare region for worst case scenarios
In a couple of recent columns—and several others over the years—I’ve looked at some of the specific ...
TERROR AT 50 FEET
Acrimony over Seaport gondola plan speaks to need for expanded MBTA service
Much ink has been spilled in the Boston press over a plan by luxury developer Millennium Partners and its subsidiary Cargo Ventures to spend $100 million to build an aerial gondola system from South Station up Summer Street across Fort Point Channel to the ...
YOUR MOVE, BOSTON
Only a massive protest movement can stop government giveaways to megacorps
Boston politics—in both its state and local variants—seems to consist largely of backroom deals between government officials and major corporations punctuated by rituals of representative democracy that are increasingly put on just for show. Perhaps ...
CRISIS AVERTED
MBTA bus mechanics beat back privatization… at a cost
Unionized bus mechanics represented by the International Association of Machinists Local 264 won an important victory last week when they agreed to a four-year contract with the MBTA—effectively ending a two-year effort by the transportation authority’s ...
“WON’T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!”
Moral panic hamstrings promising North Andover cannabis farm deal
Last fall, I wrote about the history of Osgood Landing—a large industrial facility in North Andover—as part of a column (“An Andover North Andover ...
SEA LEVEL RISE IS JUST ONE OF BOSTON’S WORRIES
As Earth approaches several catastrophic global warming “tipping points”
Before writing more columns examining Boston city government’s emerging plans to cope with the effects of global warming, I think a quick review of what area residents are likely to face in the coming decades is in order. Because it’s important to disabuse ...
THE SEAPORT FLOOD IS JUST THE BEGINNING
Unless Boston builds proper defenses against global warming-driven sea level rise
So, Boston’s Seaport District flooded early this month during a bad snowstorm in the midst of several days of arctic temperatures. And nobody could be less surprised than me. Because I’ve spent a lot of the last quarter century ...
ON MAKERSPACES AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Making can be cool, but conscious making is cooler
For many of us living in and around Boston in recent years, it has become common to see lots of communications from makerspaces around holiday time. Which is totally understandable. Such creative centers produce neat things year-round, so it’s only natural ...