Op-Eds & Columns

Every once in a while there’s a lightning bolt. A clarion call to action. A brave, galvanizing force, capable of moving mountains. (Or legislatures.) Enter 10-year-old Sammie, a miracle of a [...]

Massachusetts is often celebrated nationally as a leader in health care. But if we look closely, we see another painful reality — chasm after chasm of racial and ethnic health inequities in the [...]

The governor should follow science and not politics. By Marjorie C. Decker and Jo Comerford We are concerned about rising COVID-19 cases, the predominance of the aggressive Delta variant, and a [...]

This week, our air turned hazy as winds blew in wildfire smoke from the west coast, a stark reminder that when it comes to climate change, we’re all in this together. On Friday, I’ve been invited [...]

3% revenue increase each year not fair to ratepayers By Rep. Natalie Blais, Sen. Jo Comerford, and Daniel Sosland Electrifying buildings and appliances that now run on gas, oil, and other fossil [...]

I never imagined writing to you about mosquitos. About integrated pest management. About chemicals so toxic that one part per million could make an entire drinking water source nonpotable. But [...]

In words unchanged since 1780, the education clause of our state’s Constitution reads that “[i]t shall be the duty of legislatures and magistrates, in all future periods of this commonwealth, to [...]

People sometimes ask me to point to a moment in my life that set me on a path to public office. The following is one of those moments. In the early 1970s, the doorbell rang in a sprawling Sisters [...]

Last week, the Massachusetts Legislature passed two bills — a sweeping piece of legislation to tackle climate change and one laser-focused on economic recovery. These bills have more in common [...]

We’ve faced the ravages of a global pandemic and economic crisis for over a year, marshaling as much courage and patience as humanly possible. Municipal leaders, health care and frontline [...]