Author: Rob A. DeLeo

From inadequate testing to a widespread shortage of personal protective equipment, the United States government’s response to COVID-19 has been plagued by a series of critical missteps. And while it is premature to pinpoint the exact cause of all of these failures, one thing is abundantly clear: Chronic underinvestment in emergency preparedness has undermined the…

With more than 600 cases in the United States alone, the media has begun to speculate about the potential impact of the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) on the 2020 presidential election. President Trump recently called his response “terrific,” adding that his management of the crisis will “help, not hurt” him in November. History, however, suggests otherwise….

Last night’s Democratic presidential debate ended without a single question—not one—about climate change. The omission has already drawn the ire of a number of presidential hopefuls, including Julian Castro and Tom Steyer who questioned why CNN and The New York Times, the debate’s two host organizations, overlooked such a vitally important issue. To be fair,…

Disaster preparedness has historically been little more than an afterthought for elected officials. Between 1985 and 2008, the national government spent nearly 11-times more on disaster relief programs than disaster preparedness, despite the fact that every $1 spent on preparedness translates to roughly $15 in savings from the future damage it mitigates. The lack of…

Roughly two months after its introduction, GreenWorks (H. 3987) passed the Massachusetts House with a unanimous vote on Wednesday. Although the bill makes a number of important investments in clean energy programs, it places special emphasis on climate adaptation and resilience. To achieve these goals, it authorizes the state to borrow $1.3 billion, which will…

On Friday Massachusetts House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo unveiled a plan that, if adopted, will allocate more than $1 billion to help municipalities fund renewable energy, energy efficiency, and climate resilience projects. The aptly named GreenWorks program will invite cities and towns to apply for competitive grants administered by the state’s Executive Office of Energy…

Less than 48-hours after President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) released non-binding resolutions in the House and Senate calling for “zero-net greenhouse-gas emissions” in the United States by 2030. The resolutions represent the latest iteration of the Green New Deal, an ambitious policy framework…

For the first time in nearly a decade, climate change has seemingly reemerged as a key component of the Democratic agenda thanks in large part to progressive newcomers’ promotion of the Green New Deal. The Green New Deal outlines a series of sweeping policy goals to combat the effects of climate change, including a vast…

While the 2018 election season has been marked by spirited debate over an array of issues, few have garnered more attention from candidates running for office in Massachusetts than the environment and, more specifically, climate change. David Abel of The Boston Globe deemed climate change one of the central topics in the gubernatorial election, adding…