Another reason to hate Logan | The real deal on the energy transition | Big news from Contrarian Boston | Red flags for Wu | Trans coverage spat at Times | Covid lab bombshell | Quick hits |
News tips? Story ideas? Email us at sbvanvoorhis@hotmail.com
Party over for Wu? Tougher financial times loom for Boston
For Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, it was an exceptionally sunny first year in office.
Flush with federal relief cash and tens of millions in new revenue from real estate projects, Wu unveiled an array of new spending initiatives on affordable housing other key initiatives.
But the expiration date on the good times is fast approaching.
Construction of new housing has ground to a halt. And demand for new office towers has fallen off a cliff amid the shift to remote work, while there are even signs of trouble in the seemingly invincible lab market.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu
Meanwhile, Wu faces a potential budget buster in the form of the police union contract, which is now in arbitration after negotiations failed.
The last time that happened in 2010, an arbitrator handed out a 19 percent pay boost to city cops.
And that’s atop of last year’s teachers union pact, which will cost the city more than $140 million over three years.
All of which comes as Wu ups demands on developers, doubling fees on new lab projects and hiking costs on new housing by requiring more subsidized apartments and condos.
The next six months could prove very interesting indeed, as development trends become clearer and a decision comes down on the police union contract.
ATTENTION Contrarians! Subscription option coming March 15
Sustainable news organizations like Contrarian Boston need support to deliver the kind of insider news you value. While some content will remain free, starting March 15th the majority of CB’s content will be available by subscription only. It’s a big step for us, and we can’t take it without you. We hope you will continue to be a Contrarian… just like us.
For a more detailed view of what we’re up to, see the piece at the end of today’s newsletter.
Squeeze play: Airline deal driving up costs of Logan flights
Goodbye“ JetBlue effect,” and hello higher prices, less legroom and more air travel misery?
That’s the argument of a class action lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston that takes aim at the “Northeast Alliance” struck by JetBlue and American Airlines back in 2020 in the dark days of the pandemic.
The two airlines say they have used the deal to “coordinate” on flights out of Logan and other regional air hubs and improve service.
But in reality, the deal that has enabled the pair to put an end to their fierce rivalry, while doing nothing more than reducing flights out of Logan and other airports in the Northeast and paving the way for higher prices, according to a lawsuit filed by attorneys at Berman Tabacco on behalf of Boston-area resident Dianna Buehler.
The legal action piggybacks on an anti-trust case filed by federal regulators, which contends that the pact between JetBlue and American will cost air travelers nearly $700 million more a year, with business travelers and others traveling to and from Logan shouldering the brunt of those costs.
That’s compared to the $3 billion JetBlue previously estimated it had saved customers flying to and from Logan since 2004.
Short of a big victory in court for the feds, it looks like those days are long gone now.
Reality check: On the energy transition, are we being sold a bill of goods?
The transition to clean energy will be astronomically expensive, extremely complex, and likely more challenging in ways that no one can foresee right now.
It’s a harsh reality, yet it’s one the climate change zealots refuse to discuss and which elected officials would prefer to gloss over, each for their own reasons.
For the zealots, the point is the purity of the solution - they’ve demonized nuclear, hydro and green hydrogen, and want wind and solar at all costs.
And as for the pols, it’s far easier to engage in happy talk about a solar panel on every roof than risk the wrath of environmental groups.
All of which brings us to this great CommonWealth magazine piece by Arnold R. Wallenstein, an attorney who represents independent power producers.
Wallenstein points out that we have yet to figure out the means to achieve our ends in Massachusetts when it comes to the energy transition.
Going to all electric cars and buildings would double the load on the region’s electric grid. Yet the technology currently doesn’t exist to reliably keep the lights on, day in and day out, with just wind and solar.
Incredibly, the state’s decarbonization plan goes out to 2050, but does not include a cost estimate, Wallenstein notes.
But if New York’s own clean energy plan is any indication, it could be immense: The Empire State has pegged the price tag at $300 billion to $500 billion.
Maybe the Healey administration will crunch the numbers - clearly the Baker folks didn’t do it. But we are not holding our breath.
Former Globe editor takes center stage in Times spat over allegations of “anti-trans” coverage
We are not sure how anyone who reads The New York Times on a regular basis, let alone someone who works there, could come away with the impression that the religiously woke paper has a thing against trans people.
But in a case of nitpicking on steroids, a group of Times scribes recently joined advocacy groups in protesting a pair of articles that the nation’s leading mainstream news organization recently ran.
One of these articles, “When Students Change Gender Identity and Parents Don’t Know,” delves into the dilemma school districts face when students change gender identity without their parents’ knowledge. Conservative groups have lobbied to require school districts to notify parents.
A letter signed by Times contributors and other advocates, written in response to the article, noted that the story didn’t identify the groups behind the various disclosure efforts, which activist groups contend are anti-trans.
It’s a legitimate criticism, the likes of which news organizations field all the time, but it’s hardly a capital offense; nor does it invalidate the issues that the article highlights around parental knowledge and consent.
Kathleen Kingsbury, an editor at the Times, has played a prominent role in the paper’s defense of its story. Kingsbury and the Times have both drawn a line in the sand when it comes to its journalists criticizing colleagues’ work or teaming up with advocacy groups to pressure the paper on coverage.
A former deputy editorial page editor at the Globe, Kingsbury won the Pulitzer Prize for a series of editorials digging into the too-often meager pay of restaurant workers.
“We do not welcome, and will not tolerate, participation by Times journalists in protests organized by advocacy groups or attacks on colleagues on social media and other public forums,” stated Executive Editor Joseph Kahn and Kingsbury, the Times’ Opinion Editor, in an email cited by the New York Post.
Big deal: Covid likely came from Wuhan lab leak, federal report says
That’s the bombshell just dropped on Sunday by The Wall Street Journal.
The paper is citing a classified intelligence report by the U.S. Department of Energy that was recently provided to the Biden administration.
Still, it doesn’t definitively settle the debate over the origins of Covid-19, with the FBI having come to the same conclusion, but with other agencies arguing that the virus originated in animals before infecting humans.
Why Contrarian Boston is launching paid subscriptions starting March 15
We launched Contrarian Boston in November 2021 with the hope of shaking things up a bit.
Tired of what we saw as oftentimes conformist local journalism, we were intent on filling a void in our local media ecosystem by offering critical, consistent, common-sense, and fair coverage of our local corporate, governmental, and media institutions.
At Contrarian Boston, we have focused our coverage on the issues that demand more thoughtful reporting. Reflecting our journalistic background, Contrarian Boston has indeed focused on regional development, real estate and housing issues.
But we’ve also tackled other stories, such as our crumbling transportation infrastructure, our changing energy needs, our underperforming educational system, and the rise of ideological extremists in our state political parties.
What we have found has been heartening: An appetite for a new source of news, analysis and opinion that does its best to call things as they are, irrespective of whether it annoys the players in our state’s insider-dominated political culture.
Our list of potential stories is overflowing with tips from readers, more than a few of whom we have gotten to know over the past 15 months. Our stories and reporting have been cited by The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CommonWealth Magazine, and State House News Service.
To date, Contrarian Boston has been a labor of love, but like you, we need to pay the bills as well.
The reporting, writing and editing needed to produce Contrarian Boston two to three times a week has essentially become a full-time job.
We could use your help.
A subscription of $8 a month, or a discounted $80 per year, will keep CB going.
Some content will remain free, while paid subscribers will have full access to everything we produce, including a forthcoming online chat thread.
Committed Contrarians can also pledge $150 or more to become a member of the Founders Lounge, where we will gather via quarterly Zoom calls so you can tell us what issues, and people you want us to pay attention to, and for us to provide you with updates on developing stories.
Contrarian Boston needs your support to keep delivering a point of view that is sorely missing from the news these days. If you have other questions or ideas, don’t hesitate to email us.
Sincerely, Scott Van Voorhis
(sbvanvoorhis@hotmail.com)
Quick hits:
Remember Silber Shockers? Interesting piece by the daughter of the late BU chief: “John Silber, my father, never caved” Rachel Silber Devlin/CommonWealth Magazine
Sneaky layoffs - companies forcing remote workers back to office, engineering cross-country transfers, to force employees to quit: “How Companies Can Lose Workers Without Imposing Layoffs” Wall Street Journal
Big story: “Fort Point Channel floodgate idea advances, but how to pay for it?” Jon Chesto/Boston Globe
Crucial week for Gov. Maura Healey, with first budget, and tax cut plan expected Wednesday State House News Service
A trend we love - independent bookstores having a moment: “Where did all these bookstores come from?” Boston Globe