Currently in Boston — June 24th, 2022

A weekend to head to the beach

The weather, currently.

After another comfortably warm day temperatures overnight will fall back into the 50s and lower 60s. This will set the stage for more sunshine Friday to conclude the work week. Highs will reach from 75°F to 82°F inland. We haven't had a lot of beach weather yet this summer, but this weekend is going to be ideal. It won't be so hot you can't enjoy the beach but it will be hot enough that you'll want to go there. Highs will be near 90°F or a little above inland staying in the upper 70s to mid 80s at shoreline roads. We do need rain and we'll get a little bit here Monday into a very early Tuesday before dry weather returns.

—Dave Epstein

What you need to know, currently.

The Biden Administration is currently weighing the relative risks of banning new offshore oil and gas leases, according to the New York Times. The Outer Continental Shelf Leasing Act (OCSLA) is renewed every five years and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland expects to have a draft ready by the end of June.

The argument for expanding oil and gas leases at the moment is fairly nonsensical. Inflation is high, gas prices are exorbitant, and Democrats are worried that a ban will hurt them in the polls, but issuing new licenses will do essentially nothing to alleviate the burden on consumers. It takes years to drill, man, and bring an oil rig online — by the time these new leases bear fruit, the United States should be well on its way to transitioning to clean energy sources.

The IPCC has repeatedly warned that countries need to move away from fossil fuels in order to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change. The oil and gas industry currently has 11 million acres leased offshore, most of which are not in use.


Gas prices are high because oil and gas executives are keeping them high out of greed, not because of a scarcity of oil rigs. Should the government issue these new leases in a deranged gesture towards bipartisanship, it will be nearly impossible for us to keep warming under 1.5°C.