Covering Climate Change

A new report says New Hampshire’s state government has cut back its fossil fuel and energy use in the past 15 years, but still falls well short of the goals set by a 2016 executive order.

New Hampshire is facing a lawsuit for permitting landfill expansions without having an updated plan for reducing solid waste.

The suit, filed Thursday in Merrimack Superior Court, comes from the Conservation Law Foundation. 

A bill that would require New Hampshire to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 got a first hearing in a state legislative committee Friday, earning support from state officials and the public, but meeting with skepticism from some members of the Republican majority.

Hampton Beach officials will hear from a range of climate change scientists at a symposium next week as part of their work on a coastal resilience piece of a new town master plan.

Heavier rain, more storms and higher tides are already causing more frequent low-level flooding on the streets of the oceanfront community. Roads were closed due to standing tidewater as recently as last week, in the wake of a nor’easter.

The state Site Evaluation Committee will decide whether to hold a special approval process for a proposed solar farm in Milford, after receiving petitions from nearby residents.

The proposed array, from a local subsidiary of New York-based Olivewood Energy, would have a capacity of 16 megawatts – about half the size of the normal minimum for SEC consideration.

A community group called Brox Environmental Citizens – named for the piece of land where the solar farm would be built – wants the SEC to step in and decide whether to review the project anyway. 

Lebanon’s city council voted Wednesday evening to join a coalition of towns and cities that want to provide electricity to residents from renewable energy sources, at potentially lower costs than utilities can offer.

State officials say ice fishermen should use caution this weekend, with frozen conditions still touch-and-go on New Hampshire’s lakes and ponds despite bitter cold in the forecast.

Escrito por Daniela Allee y Annie Ropeik, Traducción de María Silvia Aguirre

Defensores en New Hampshire dicen que tienen un sentimiento de alivio -- y de cauto optimismo -- luego de que el presidente Joe Biden firmó algunas órdenes ejecutivas relacionadas a inmigración y cambio climático el día miércoles 20 de enero. 

Advocates in New Hampshire say they’re feeling a sense of relief -- and cautious optimism -- after President Joe Biden signed several executive orders Wednesday related to immigration and climate change.

The landmark Supreme Court ruling known as Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency held that greenhouse gases were pollutants that could be regulated by the executive branch, and defined de facto federal climate policy in the United States for a decade.

Could it soon be reversed? 

State senators are working on a bill that would have New Hampshire spur the development of major offshore wind projects and other renewable energy in the region.

The bill comes from state Sen. David Watters, a Dover Democrat. He previewed it at a late-December meeting of a bipartisan Senate wind commission, and said the aim is to create new zero-carbon energy and bring jobs to the state.

This past year was another of the hottest years on record in New Hampshire, as the warming trends of climate change continue -- faster in this region than many others, especially in winter. 

From January to November of 2020, New Hampshire saw its fourth-hottest average temperatures since the late 1800s, according to state climatologist and UNH associate professor Mary Stampone.

Portsmouth is the first community in the state to ban some single-use plastics as of Thursday, but the city’s new rules won’t be fully enforced just yet.

The city council voted last year to bar most restaurants and businesses from distributing polystyrene cups and containers, beginning at the end of 2020.

The state Public Utilities Commission says it needs more time to decide on the future of New Hampshire’s energy efficiency programs, meaning no immediate changes to residents’ utility bills.

Renewable energy advocates say they expect to be playing defense on perennial policy debates in next year’s Republican state Legislature.

A health-focused commission on reducing New Hampshire’s greenhouse gas emissions has finished its work with one recommendation: for the state Legislature to do more formal study of the issue next year.

NHPR’s new climate change reporting project, By Degrees, begins in the midst of a global pandemic, mass protests against systemic racism, a presidential transition and an economic crisis. 

The incoming Biden administration has promised to combat climate change, while New Hampshire lags behind its neighbors on similar legislation. In many ways, climate change has taken a backseat as governments deal with the social and economic costs of the coronavirus.

We need your help to tell new stories about how Granite Staters are experiencing climate change at this historic moment. How has climate change affected your life, and how have you responded? In what ways are you observing climate change in New Hampshire? What questions do you have?