David Abel, The Boston Globe

David Abel

The Boston Globe

Boston, MA, United States

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Recent:
  • Unknown
Past:
  • The Boston Globe
  • Nieman Reports

Past articles by David:

A decade after Concord’s landmark ban on bottled water, plastic pollution remains a scourge

Concord passed a landmark plastic bottle ban 10 years ago, but its effect since then hasn't been what its proponents intended. → Read More

As scientists learn more about the intelligence of cephalopods, wildlife advocates are urging regulators to do more to protect them

The qualities that make octopuses such valuable research subjects have also made them increasingly controversial. → Read More

Major breakthrough in fusion is a game-changer for clean energy

Officials in the Department of Energy on Tuesday are set to announce “a major scientific breakthrough” that the long-awaited promise of nuclear fusion — considered the holy grail of unlimited clean energy — is no longer hypothetical. → Read More

In Vermont, a call to end logging in the Green Mountain National Forest

Environmental groups have long battled the timber industry over the sanctity of national forests, but the stakes in those perennial battles have risen in recent years. → Read More

Floating wind farms are planned for the Gulf of Maine to tap huge amounts of potential wind power far off shore

At millions of dollars apiece, the colossal structures must be able to withstand gale-force winds, thrashing waves, and the worst storms. But unlike other offshore wind turbines, they’ll float. → Read More

To speed the end of fossil fuels, local researchers are designing a cheaper, safer battery

Researchers and companies around the world are racing to solve the problem of storing clean energy when the sun isn’t shining on solar farms or the wind isn’t turning turbines. → Read More

Railroad company bulldozes thousands of trees, enraging residents worried about the impact on water supply

“This is an environmental nightmare for our town,” said David Sarkisian, whose property abuts the cleared land. → Read More

MIT scientists say they have found a way to increase the energy output of wind farms

Scientists at MIT have come up with a way that they say could increase significantly the amount of energy produced by the world’s wind farms, without requiring new turbines or other expensive equipment. → Read More

Boston could see up to 18 days of high-tide flooding next year, NOAA says

Boston this year could have more than three times the number of days with high-tide flooding than the city experienced in 2000, according to a new report by federal scientists. → Read More

A bellwether of climate change, puffins are struggling to survive in a warming Gulf of Maine

“There are real red flags — warning signs — right now for these puffins,” said Donald Lyons, director of conservation science at the National Audubon Society’s Seabird Institute in Bremen, Maine. → Read More

Scientists, lawmakers say N.H. company spewed more ‘forever chemicals’ than acknowledged

The company that has accepted responsibility for cleaning the contaminated drinking water of thousands of residents in Southern New Hampshire allegedly withheld critical information from state regulators about the amount of toxic chemicals its Merrimack plant spewed into the air. → Read More

When organic is toxic: How a composting facility likely spread massive amounts of ‘forever chemicals’ across one town in Massachusetts

State officials say the PFAS likely spread through ground water from the 240-acre composting facility, which has been accepting tens of thousands of tons of organic waste every year and selling it as loam, potting soil, and mulch. → Read More

Inflation and supply chain problems blunt efforts to ramp up renewable energy

Damage to the economy has spread to renewable energy, blunting the Biden administration’s efforts to promote a source of power that would protect the country from spikes in oil and gas prices and reduce pollution. → Read More

Boston cuts down mature trees in Roxbury park, despite local criticism

The city has laid out an ambitious vision for Roxbury’s Malcolm X Park as part of a $9 million renovation currently underway. But some of the construction details have many neighbors seething. → Read More

What’s next for carbon emissions regulation in the US?

Government officials and environmental law experts say there are any number of options still on the table, despite losing one of the most powerful when the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Environmental Protection Agency cannot force the national energy market to move to cleaner power sources without express authorization from Congress. → Read More

Supreme Court ruling to reduce EPA’s authority to regulate carbon emissions draws ire, praise

The Supreme Court’s ruling on Thursday limited the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gases from power plants. → Read More

State sues chemical companies for pollution from ‘forever chemicals’

More than a dozen manufacturing companies are responsible for millions of dollars in damages to communities across Massachusetts by “knowingly contaminating” drinking water sources, groundwater, and other natural resources, the lawsuit alleged. → Read More

As pollution worsens on Cape Cod, some are investing hopes in a new type of septic system

A coalition of groups in Cape Cod is pressing local and state officials to consider installing a new kind of septic system that they say would curb the vast majority of nitrogen that leaks from traditional systems. → Read More

More energy storage is needed to support wind and solar power, MIT study finds

The authors of the report estimated that the costs of transforming power grids in the Northeast, Southeast, and Texas will range between 21 percent and 36 percent higher than if nothing was done to promote storage-backed renewable energy. → Read More

The declining size of North Atlantic right whales threatens the endangered species, new study finds

Smaller female right whales don't raise as many offspring, according to a new study. Previous research found the whales may be shrinking because of fishing gear entanglements. → Read More