Recent Streetsblog MASS posts about Environment

Pavement and motor vehicle waste heat are two of the major components of the "urban heat island" effect.

Exhaust Pipes Are Making Boston’s Heat Waves Much, Much Worse

By Christian MilNeil | Aug 20, 2019 | 1 Comment

The long-term climate impacts of the climate pollution from cars and trucks are well documented, but the daily short-term effects of the wasted heat energy radiating from engine blocks and exhaust pipes are making this summer’s heat waves much more miserable for city-dwellers. As anyone who’s walked or biked across a busy street knows, cars […]

City Councilors Michelle Wu (at podium) and Ed Flynn (behind, to the right) stand with social justice advocates at the Josiah Quincy Upper School in Chinatown at a press conference on the disparate impacts of air pollution to communities of color on Thursday, June 27, 2019.

Study: People of Color Suffer Higher Health Risks From Highway Pollution

By Christian MilNeil | Jun 28, 2019 | 5 Comments

Thanks to decades of planning decisions that routed highways through Asian, black and Latinx neighborhoods, and a lack of affordable housing in transit-accessible locations, air pollution from tailpipes is significantly more likely to harm communities of color across Massachusetts, according to a new study from the Union of Concerned Scientists. In the new report, Inequitable […]