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The document describes a study using proxy data and sediment records to reconstruct Atlantic hurricane activity from 500 AD to the present. It finds that hurricane activity peaked during the Medieval period (900-1100 AD), rivaling current levels, and correlates higher sea surface temperatures with increased hurricane frequency.

The document describes a study using proxy data—statistical climate models and sedimentary records—to reconstruct Atlantic hurricane activity from AD 500 to the present. It finds that while there is a current peak in activity, a similar peak occurred during the medieval period (AD 900-1100), which was associated with warm Atlantic sea surface temperatures. The research indicates that hurricane activity decreased after AD 1500, coinciding partly with the Little Ice Age, before increasing again after 1850 and especially after 1980.

The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) urges Congress to implement a multi-pollutant policy to address the public health and environmental crises caused by power plant emissions. CATF proposes capping sulfur dioxide at 2 million tons per year and nitrogen oxides at 1.6 million tons per year, while requiring a 95% reduction in mercury emissions. The document highlights that current regulations are insufficient to prevent 30,000 annual premature deaths or allow ecosystem recovery from acid rain. It further argues that these pollution controls are necessary prerequisites for the effective operation of carbon capture technologies and should be linked to any free carbon allowances provided under climate legislation like the Waxman-Markey bill.

The document explains how wind energy integrates into the New England electricity grid to displace polluting fossil fuels, particularly natural gas, oil, and coal. It highlights the importance of siting turbines in high-wind areas to maximize pollution reduction and discusses policy mechanisms like cap-and-trade and renewable portfolio standards to accelerate the transition to clean energy.

The document advocates for wind power as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels and nuclear energy, particularly in New England. It details the severe environmental and health costs of conventional energy—including CO2 emissions, air pollution, water consumption, and land degradation—while positioning wind energy as a low-impact solution with minimal land footprints and no operational emissions.

The document identifies wind power as the most cost-effective near-term option for increasing renewable electricity in New England, noting that the region's onshore wind resources have the technical potential to supply approximately 60 percent of its current electricity use. It frames this within the broader need to transform the energy system to limit global warming, noting that the Northeast United States emits more CO2 than all but six countries globally. While other solutions like energy efficiency and carbon capture are discussed, wind is presented as more viable than solar, bioenergy, or geothermal power in the region due to cost and resource availability. The document states that if all currently proposed wind projects in New England were completed, they would generate over 5,700 gigawatt-hours of CO2-free electricity annually, representing about seven percent of the electricity used in the proposing states.

The document outlines the advantages of wind energy for New England, focusing on reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels, stabilizing energy costs, and generating local economic growth through taxes, lease payments, and jobs. It highlights specific projects in Massachusetts and Vermont to demonstrate positive community impact and environmental gains.

The document outlines the potential for wind energy in New England, emphasizing that the region has "excellent wind resources, particularly on mountain ridges and along the coast." It details the criteria for optimal siting—primarily wind speed, topography, and proximity to transmission lines—and highlights economic benefits such as tax revenues for towns and lease payments for landowners. The text addresses environmental concerns, noting that modern turbines cause significantly fewer bird fatalities than other human structures and that wind power does not reduce property values. It also discusses human impacts, including visual aesthetics, noise, and aviation lighting, while noting that 81 percent of surveyed Vermont residents find turbines "beautiful or acceptable."

The document outlines the environmental and economic benefits of wind energy in New England, noting that over 60 percent of the region's electricity was generated from fossil fuels in 2005. It explains how wind power integrates into the grid via ISO New England to displace more expensive and polluting plants, particularly oil-fired plants during winter peaks. The text highlights that 18 proposed wind projects with a total capacity of 1,890 MW could avoid millions of tons of pollution annually, including over 3 million tons of CO2. It also discusses the importance of siting for efficiency and the role of policy mechanisms like cap-and-trade and renewable portfolio standards in accelerating the transition.

The authors oppose a proposal by Colorado State Representative Carl Miller to increase coal use, arguing that coal plants are expensive, polluting, and slow to implement. They propose a transition toward energy efficiency, which could save up to 70% of current electricity use, and distributed energy resources including wind, solar, bio-fuels, and fuel cells. The text highlights the success of wind energy programs in Colorado, such as those by Holy Cross Energy and Public Service Company, as evidence of the viability of a free-market approach to clean energy.

The Union of Concerned Scientists identifies seven policy tools—Renewables Portfolio Standards, public benefits funding, net metering, fair transmission/distribution rules, fair pollution rules, consumer information, and green customer demand—to transition the US to renewable energy. It argues that deregulation risks favoring fossil fuels unless these mechanisms internalize the public benefits of renewables and remove market barriers.

The document identifies critical infrastructure barriers to the clean energy transition and details CATF's strategies to overcome them through policy advocacy, research, and stakeholder engagement, requesting $12 million in funding over three years to support these efforts.

The document highlights the environmental and health impacts of routine gas flaring in the US, noting that 538 billion cubic feet of gas was vented or flared in 2019. It argues that routine flaring is avoidable through better infrastructure planning and technology, citing New Mexico and Colorado as regulatory precedents. The text emphasizes the disproportionate health burden on environmental justice and tribal communities, specifically mentioning increased rates of preterm birth in high-flaring regions of Texas.

A study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force and conducted by Carbon Limits finds that finding and fixing natural gas leaks is a cost-effective strategy for reducing methane pollution. Based on data from over 4,000 inspections, the analysis shows that repairing most leaks is profitable for companies because the value of the conserved gas outweighs the repair costs. Quarterly LDAR surveys are estimated to abate methane at a net cost of less than $280 per metric ton, while monthly inspections at well sites and gas plants cost between $800 and $900 per metric ton—both figures remaining below the EPA's estimated societal damage cost of $970 per metric ton of methane. The document argues that current US federal regulations are insufficient, as only gas processing plants built since 1984 are required to perform leak inspections, and advocates for more robust federal rules based on the empirical evidence of low abatement costs.

The document analyzes the restoration of approximately 4 million hectares of forest in New England between 1880 and 2000, which occurred largely through the passive abandonment of agricultural land. It identifies market shifts toward Midwestern agriculture and the subsequent decline of small-scale regional farming as primary drivers. While ecological conditions and policy measures like the Weeks Act of 1911 supported this recovery, the report warns that current trends are reversing due to residential development, population growth, and ecological pressures such as deer browsing.

The guide outlines five 'lessons' from wildlife to help humans navigate winter, focusing on energy conservation, active engagement with the environment, heat retention, resource preparation, and migration. It details specific animal behaviors—such as the torpor of brown bears, the insulating layers of musk oxen, and the migration of monarch butterflies—to suggest corresponding human mindsets for the season.