EPA Releases Yearly Report

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BOSTON — The Healey-Driscoll Administration released the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) 2025 Annual Report, highlighting key milestones and accomplishments from its agencies.

Over the past year, EEA's organizations have engaged residents and partners across the state through intentional environmental initiatives. These efforts include legislation to lower energy costs for families, investments in extreme weather preparation, and strategies to protect nature. Together, this work has contributed to creating more resilient and sustainable communities in Massachusetts. 

"Our agencies are at the forefront of protecting our natural resources, making energy affordable, building resilient and prepared communities, and expanding outdoor accessibility," said EEA Secretary Rebecca Tepper. "I extend my heartfelt gratitude to our commissioners and the over 3,000 dedicated staff members who tirelessly serve the residents, ecosystems, and wildlife of Massachusetts." 

This year, Governor Maura Healey released an Energy Affordability Agenda, as well as filed the Energy Affordability, Independence & Innovation Act to reduce costs for residents and businesses. The proposed legislation saves customers money, brings more energy into Massachusetts, and drives innovation. Key reforms included eliminating and reducing certain charges on the bill and reducing barriers to new nuclear technologies. An independent analysis found the legislation could save customers $13 billion

In addition to increasing energy affordability for residents, this year the Healey-Driscoll administration introduced the Mass Ready Act, a historic bill proposing $3 billion to strengthen infrastructure and protect communities from extreme weather events. This legislation aims to upgrade roads, dams, and bridges, and establishes a Resilience Revolving Fund for similar projects. It also streamlines permitting for priority housing, culvert replacements, and restoration projects that protect communities from flooding. Additionally, the bill invests in farming and coastal economies and provides communities with resources to reduce flood and heat risk.  

The Massachusetts Department of Fish & Game, alongside many partners, has developed a 25-year plan to protect and restore nature, sustain farms and fisheries, boost local economies, and connect people with nature. Likewise, the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) released the ResilientCoasts Plan, a statewide strategy to support coastal communities in preparing for storms, flooding, sea level rise, and erosion. The plan aims to save taxpayers billions by guiding smart coastal management decisions and preserving natural buffers to reduce flood risks. 

In 2025, EEA and its agencies distributed more than $237.9 million in grants across 70+ programs, supporting over 1,600 individual awards statewide. Investments supported programs for environmental justice, recycling, outdoor recreation, farmland preservation, drought management and much more.

Read the full end of year report. Printed copies are available upon request.  

 


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Musician Brings Music of Terezin Concentration Camp to Tanglewood

By Alan PetrucelliSpecial to iBerkshires

Mark Ludwig founded the Terezin Music Foundation in 1991. The musician and Holocaust scholar will present at Tanglewood this Saturday. 
LENOX, Mass. — One day in 1988, while rummaging through a used book shop in New York City, Mark Ludwig found a biography of 20th-century German rabbi and scholar Leo Baeck. Something caught Ludwig's eye: Baeck, who had survived imprisonment at the Terezin concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, noted that despite the inhumane conditions, inmates produced an impressive and important output of music.
 
Ludwig, who at the time was a tenured violist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, decided to explore the history of music written (and performed) during the Holocaust.
 
The next time he was in Europe, Ludwig stopped at an archive in Prague, where he was given sheet music written by Terezin inmate Gideon Klein, who had been murdered by the Nazis at 25.
 
"I opened the score and started playing it in my mind's ear," recalls Ludwig. "And the beauty of it was astounding. It opened up a whole new world to me in terms of music."
 
The obsession continues. A car accident stopped Ludwig's career with the BSO, so he devoted his time to Terezin, about 30 miles from Prague.
 
"One door closed, another door opened," said the Boston resident who is founder and executive director of the Terezin Music Foundation. 
 
On July 18, he hosts "I am Alive Because of Music," his fifth presentation at Tanglewood featuring live music from Terezin and World War II. Here, we speak to the Holocaust scholar, who also teaches Jewish Studies at Boston University.
 
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