Brayton Point power plant sits across the Taunton River from Fall River’s South End.

Brayton Point is by far the worst emitter of greenhouse gases in New England, according to a new list released by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The coal-fired plant has been outfitted with more than $1 billion worth of new equipment to comply with existing and pending environmental guidelines since owner Dominion bought it in 2005. But in the data released this week, the Somerset plant produced far more harmful emissions than any other source in New England or New York.

Betty White celebrated her 90th birthday this week, and the veteran actress is still going strong. Between appearing as Elka Ostrovsky in the TV Land sitcom “Hot in Cleveland,” working with animal organizations and winning awards, she is one busy woman.We figured she must have some secret to living a long, full and productive life that the rest of us need to know. So we talked to Howard Friedman, coauthor of “The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study” (Hudson Street Press, 2011) to find out what lessons we can learn from White. Friedman is also a distinguished professor of psychology at UC Riverside.

The Longevity Project is a study begun in 1921 to track the lives of 1,500 people to determine why some people live healthy lives into old age, and others don’t. Friedman and Leslie Martin, a research psychologist at UC Riverside and professor of psychology at La Sierra University, eventually took over the research.

We know that White has worked pretty consistently throughout her life, and today is part of a sitcom. How much does work — especially work we enjoy — factor into longevity? She’s also an animal-rights and -welfare advocate. Is working for a cause, even as a volunteer, the same as paid work? Can it offer different benefits to older people?

The Longevity Project, which started about the year Betty White was born, discovered that those who persisted and worked the hardest lived the longest. The responsible and successful achievers thrived in every way. This was especially true if they were dedicated to things beyond themselves. So Betty’s significant involvement in animal welfare likely had a very beneficial effect on her health, as did her interest in entertaining others. When we help others, we help our own health. Even if people do not need to or are unable to continue paid work, it is important to stay involved in volunteer efforts. Such dedication to things beyond ourselves naturally brings the good social relations and the steady physical activity that are key to healthy aging.

At a big celebrity birthday bash recently, many of White’s friends and colleagues showed up to lend support. Does a strong support network matter as people age? Why?

Yes, we found that good social relations are a core component of staying healthy as we get older. In addition to keeping you involved and focused, good friends help solve the myriad challenges of daily life, keeping you on the right, healthy path. A funny observation is that some of our participants who are still alive (and are more than 90 years old) are on Facebook!

White has had three husbands but is not currently married. Does being married matter for older people in terms of living longer, and is it different for women than for men?

The project found that marriage was health-promoting primarily for men who were well-suited to marriage and had a good marriage. Women who got divorced or stayed single or even were widowed often thrived, just like Betty. It seemed as if women who got rid of their troublesome husbands stayed healthy. Of course, women who found an excellent marriage did benefit. But men who got and stayed divorced were at really high risk for premature mortality. You won’t find very many 90-year-old men who were divorced and widowed three times. They’re dead.

How much does genetics play a party in longevity? Is it pretty much the luck of the draw, or is it a mix between genes and your lifestyle?

Good genetic endowment is important to health and long life at very old ages but not as much as most people imagine. Perhaps a third of the variation in longevity is due directly to the genes we are born with. A lot is due to how we proceed, step-by-step through the years, a process that depends on community. One of the most eye-opening findings of the Longevity Project is that the protective shields do not occur in isolation, but bunch together in patterns. Good things early on bring more so-called “good luck” later, but it is not luck, and many participants did alter their trajectories to grow healthier and healthier.

Compared to the state as a whole, obesity — and related conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol — has struck SouthCoast particularly hard.The Associated Press

• On the heels of a national report showing rates of obesity appear to have leveled off, local professionals say SouthCoast’s weight problem remains as big as ever.