Groundwater: Ian Bowles's Response

Published Apr 19 2007, 09:00 PM by David S. Bernstein

In last week's issue I ran a story about Boston's groundwater problem, asking whether the state and city are doing enough to ensure the long-term preservation of the city's homes and architecture. In the article, I quoted from testimony given by Ian Bowles, secretary of energy and environment, but I did not interview him directly on the topic. Bowles sent a letter in response to the article, which the paper was unable to run this week in print; however, we have it up on the web site and I encourage you to give it a read. I've always liked Bowles, and he certainly deserves a chance to defend his office's actions.

Of course, the whole discussion is moot if rising ocean levels put Boston's filled tidelands underwater, so kudos to Bowles and the Patrick administration for announcing plans yesterday to reduce state agencies' energy consumption 20 percent, and greenhouse gas emission 25 percent, by 2012. You can check out other stuff they're doing at the EOEEA web site.