While Mayor Thomas Menino reprised his role as Boston’s Captain Planet this fall with his environmental initiatives that reached out to the very last bike rider, Gov. Deval Patrick was the Bay State’s Bill Nye, making Massachusetts a global cradle for life sciences, area environmentalists say.
Patrick proposed a bill that has been building steam in recent months to “both enhance the Commonwealth’s already nationally recognized assets in the fields of medicine and science, and fill gaps in federal funding to strengthen the state’s capacity to support life science progress” over the next 10 years, according to a July press release.
The bill includes a $1 billion dollar investment package to help the funding and expansion of the project, which includes investments in stem cell research, $500 million in capital funds for the construction of new science centers and $15 million for the Massachusetts Life Sciences Investment Fund, which will provide resources for research and training.
“Overall, the goal of the legislation was to position Massachusetts as a global leader in life sciences and to encourage job creation and long-term growth in the field of life sciences,” said Kofi Jones, spokeswoman for Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development State Secretary Dan O’Connell.
“The administration realizes that Massachusetts has far-reaching and existing strengths in the life science industry, and we wanted to ensure that we were playing off our existing strengths and position the commonwealth for long-term leadership in the industry,”
Former Skyfield Tropical owner Timothy Lane said his company, which grew organic fruits and seedlings, would have benefited from Patrick’s bill after it was forced to shut down when a 2006 rainstorm blew a roof off of his greenhouse. The company focused on the “biological integrity of soils and overall health and vigor of the plants,” according to its website.
Lane said he used as many natural resources as possible at each stage of production, including rain water for irrigation, but with no state aid and minimal insurance coverage, he was forced to abandon operations.
“I think environmental awareness affects everybody,” Lane said. “And in terms of Massachusetts being at the front of that, certainly. The more environmentally conscious everybody is, the better off we will all be. We are always using more than we need to use.”
Lane said after his greenhouse was destroyed, he searched in vain for grants or financial support and would have benefited enormously from Patrick’s program had it been introduced sooner.
On the other hand, Vicam Group of Waters Technologies, a Watertown life science company internationally recognized for agricultural biotechnology and food safety, says life science support is essential to Massachusetts, said Vicam research and development director Steven Powers.
“I not only think that Massachusetts has the potential to become a life science center, but in some ways it already is,” Powers said. “We have great institutions of higher education in this state, and a lot of that generates start-up companies.”
In Boston, Menino has created recycling projects in poorer sections of Jamaica Plain and Roslindale, and has called for increased solar and wind power efforts to make the city’s starkest sections a little greener.
Since September, the Public Works and Transportation Department’s “Recycle More, Trash Less” pilot program has reduced garbage tonnage by 16 percent and increased recycling tonnage by 53 percent in Jamaica Plain and Roslindale, according to the City of Boston website. The program has since expanded into the South End.
Boston ranks as the seventh-most sustainable city in the United States, Boston Environment and Energy chief James Hunt told The Daily Free Press in October. Hunt said the city has established a green taxi and tourism industry as well as the nation’s first green airplane terminal.
“We’re excited to see Boston’s hospitality industry take a leadership role in energy efficiency,” he said.
Local hotels have also joined the environmental effort, earning praise from the Environmental Protection Agency for their green initiatives. The Doubletree Guest Suites, Hyatt Harborside and the Royal Sonesta Hotel were all rewarded with Energy Star awards in an evaluation of area hotels, the Free Press reported in October.
Until recently, Massachusetts has not followed Boston’s lead toward greener pastures, though. The state earned a B-minus for its overall green initiatives, according to an Environment Massachusetts study last month.
Experts said the state was at its weakest with a low rating for plans to improve energy consumption and minimize greenhouse gas emissions, for which it ranked the lowest out of all 50 states.
“Plans in this area are mediocre at best and almost non-existent,” Katy Krottinger, clean energy coordinator for Clean Water Action, told The Daily Free Press last week.