After recent floods, Legislature must act now to strengthen climate resilience
These costs in life, property, and infrastructure are why the Massachusetts Legislature needs to take action now to build climate resilience. Governor Maura Healey's
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It includes elements to support biodiversity and food security, remove excess carbon pollution, and support other resilience measures. However, two key areas of the proposal need to be improved: strengthening building codes and funding property buyouts in flood-prone areas.
The state's building code does not adequately account for the risks posed by climate change. One way to address this in the Mass Ready Act is through a 'stretch' resilience code, like what the state has done with building energy codes.
In Massachusetts, cities and towns cannot adopt stricter building codes than the state, so the state offers incentives to cities and towns to adopt a stricter state 'stretch' code. Massachusetts adopted an energy stretch code in 2009 and strengthened it to support even higher efficiency standards in 2024. Since then,
Boston and Cambridge have already taken steps toward better flood resilience. Boston has created a special zoning district to ensure that new construction in flood-prone areas meets higher standards for flood protection. These measures include requirements for elevated buildings and materials that can withstand flooding. In February 2023, Cambridge adopted flood resilience
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Another component of the Mass Ready Act that needs strengthening is the approach to properties in flood-prone areas. The American way has been to act in defiance of extreme weather events, boldly stating, 'We will rebuild.' But it's time to consider that some places may no longer be safe to rebuild in.
A few US
Massachusetts has
The impacts of climate change are already here. The Mass Ready Act is a crucial step in combatting its effects, but it needs to be stronger and more comprehensive. The Legislature should act now, before the next disaster strikes.
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Hamilton Spectator
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San Francisco Chronicle
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Checkbook Chronicles Independent Can Company has raised prices twice this year already after Trump imposed 25% duties on steel in March, and then doubled them in June. July 26, 2025, 7:15 AM EDT By Emily Lorsch When Rick Huether strolls the floors of his four manufacturing plants — two in Maryland and two in Ohio — employees' typical greetings such as, 'Hey, how's the family?' have been increasingly replaced with, 'Hey Rick, should I be looking for a job somewhere else?' Huether, the CEO of Independent Can Company, has had to raise prices on customers twice this year and it's the third time since President Donald Trump's first term. 'It's frustrating,' Huether said of the Trump administration's ever-evolving tariff agenda, which now includes 50% import taxes on the foreign-made steel his company relies on. 'I can't run my business the way I want to run it.' Huether, a Republican, said he shares the administration's goal of reinvigorating American industry. 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The Belcamp, Maryland-based family business, in operation since 1929, makes the packaging for everything from Wegmans' brand of Virginia peanuts to the Santa Claus tins filled with chocolates or popcorn that hit grocery shelves around the holidays. The company manufactures cans and other containers for popular consumer brands including Swiss Miss, Zippo and Titleist. One of its newest customers is the lip balm maker Burt's Bees. Independent Can Company — whose annual sales have averaged $130 million in recent years — used to have more than 30 domestic competitors in specialty can making, Huether estimated, many of which were family-owned businesses. Today there are just a couple left, he said. The company employs about 400 people across its four plants. A fifth, in Iowa, closed in 2024 due to what Huether described as a combination of clients' shifting packaging needs and Trump's first-term steel tariffs. He secured some exemptions from those levies at the time but still had to raise prices in 2018 by anywhere from 8-16%, depending on the product. Independent Can Company's manufacturing process relies on a highly specialized material called tinplate, a very thin-gauge, flat-rolled steel with an electro-coated surface of tin. Developed as a corrosion-resistant material safe for food packaging, tinplate supplies are limited — the product makes up only about 2% of global steel production, Huether estimated, and it's only roughly 1% of the steel produced in the U.S. Up until about 2007, Independent Can Company bought most of its tinplate domestically but now sources most of it overseas — the majority from Germany, along with Taiwan and South Korea — due to foreign suppliers' quality, service and price. The business adopted more efficient production systems starting in the 1990s, which included a new printing line in 2000 that uses a larger sheet size, boosting efficiency. The issue: steel coils large enough for that system aren't available domestically right now, partly because American steel companies haven't kept up with manufacturers' needs, Huether said. In addition, the materials Independent Can Company uses are about twice as expensive in the U.S. than in Asia and about 20% more expensive than in Europe, Huether estimated. Tariff impacts The cost squeeze is weighing on Independent Can Company as it struggles to rebound from a rough two years, amid pandemic-related supply-chain issues and cost swings. Those challenges left the company with a lot of expensive steel that it had to sell at a loss. But after tens of millions in capital investments, including in automation, Independent Can Company is finally settling into a new normal that Huether expects to put the company back on surer footing this year, tariffs notwithstanding. Still, access to affordable tinplate is non-negotiable and remains a wild card. That material alone represents 50-75% of its products' prices, Huether estimated. With tariff exemptions removed in March, Independent Can Company began paying Trump's 25% levies on all its imported tinplate, a steep new expense that Huether said forced the business to hike prices on some products by 8-16%. After the duties were raised to 50% in June, the company imposed another round of 8-16% increases. 'This adjustment is necessary to ensure that we can continue to provide you with the high-quality products and service you have come to expect,' Huether informed clients in a statement on the company's website earlier this year. 'We've really absorbed the amount of the tariffs that we can absorb,' he told NBC News. 'It's going to be passed through.' Bringing the shine back to 'Made in America' Huether is relieved that Independent Can Company hasn't lost business yet since the price hikes, but that worry is ever-present. There's a risk that some companies will switch to cheaper packaging, he said, including options that may not be as safe or recyclable. But it's hard to know how things will shake out… 'You instantly go to: Well, is this going to happen, or is it a tactic to get somebody to do something else? Is it real or not?' he said. In the meantime, Huether doubts whether rewriting U.S. trade policy can bring back American manufacturing overnight, or even in a few years. Huether believes in expanding vocational training in schools and eliminating the stigma often associated with certain career paths. 'We do not have the skills in this country to manage it,' he said, nodding to a reality that companies and analysts across a range of industrial sectors have underscored since the trade war began. 'It takes one to five years to get a full manufacturing plant up and running,' Huether said. 'We need time to do this.' What's more, 'We need predictability and consistency,' he added. 'We need to understand what the rules are. If the rules are constantly changing, we don't know how to play the game.' Emily Lorsch Emily Lorsch is a producer at NBC News covering business and the economy.
