The Annual Summer Solstice Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. It's that time of year again and The Good Green Witch returns to tell us why. Also, Lena Entin from Toxic Action joins us in the studio to talk about their latest campaigns.  As always we will take you to meet our Fool-on-the-Hill and, if you dare, to confront His Malignancy, The Mad King. Also, a side trip to The Enviro Show Echo Chamber may be in order as well as a little E-Valley-uation, but first it's time for...........Revenge of the Critters! Wild elephants return to the show, this time for lunch!

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who was elected to Congress this past fall. Banks recently stated: "“I believe that climate change in this country is largely leftist propaganda to change the way Americans live and create more government obstruction and intrusion in our lives”. Actually Jim, us North Americans could use a little lifestyle change, you especially! As for "obstruction", isn't that your party's specialty??

On to the Kingdom of the Grotesque! This week Dems in the House of Reprehensibles are circulating Articles of Impeachment for His Malignancy, The Mad King. Not surprisingly other Dems like corporate queen Nancy Pelosi are clutching their pearls in consternation. Watch this space! Meanwhile, out in the real world his Malignancy's Treasury Department is busy giving new meaning to the term "Wall Street reform". Does business-as-usual ring a bell? We mentioned previously how the present occupant in the White House has managed to move the Doomsday clock closer to midnight but we never documented that until now (who says bad news travels fast?). Now for the good news: "Over 11 States Sue [The Mad King] Over Energy Standards"  Like our own AG Healey (making it 12 states) said back in January: "See you in court!" Finally, Corporate America's fossil fools are feeling fully empowered by the present occupants in the White House to export fracked gas for fun & profits! Hear all about it Here and Now.

How about some E-Valley-uation? The Springfield Climate Justice Coalition has just met to review the first draft of the Springfield Climate Action Plan. There's still time for you to weigh in on this. For more information contact Jesse Lederman at 413-351-6785. Also, over in the far southwestern reaches of the Berks YOU are needed any day you can make it to monitor Kinder Morgan's trashing of Otis Sate Forest. Contact Priscilla at 413-522-5224. 

Our Quote of the Week calls for another journey in the old Wayback Machine:

"Then followed that beautiful season... Summer....
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood."
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Here in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we FINALLY find some of the usual suspects in the Flint, Michigan water crisis getting busted for manslaughter. Unfortunately the lead suspect is still at large in the Governor's office. "In a statement, Gov. Rick Snyder (R).... defended Lyon and Wells, saying they have his full confidence and would remain employed at the health department." We're thinking it's more than the water that needs cleaning up in Michigan. Meanwhile, climate criminals over at the far-right "Heartland" Institute are trying to brainwash your children with fake science. We're pretty sure that institute needs a heart transplant. Finally, our Enviro Show Blog Action link. This week: We thought Canadians and Japanese were painfully nice? Stop torturing horses! OK?


After our conversation with The Good Green Witch it's over to the Bus Stop Billboard:


Saturday, June 24, 10am. to 1pm. Celebration of Resistance. We will gather at Spectacle Pond in Sandisfield, MA and march in a funeral procession up to a view of the pipeline construction. After a speaker and music, in celebration of our resistance we will walk/ dance behind the musicians back to the pond. Optional potluck lunch gathering after the event. See: https://www.facebook.com/events/223645394821874/ 

Monday, June 26, 7 – 9pm. Unitarian Society of Northampton on Main St., Northampton.  Climate Action Now is a people powered, grassroots Western Massachusetts based organization dedicated to building a powerful, unstoppable climate justice movement. We work in our communities and in collaboration with diverse partners across the region to educate, advocate, and mobilize for climate action. Newcomers are welcome! Let’s work together to create an inclusive, unstoppable movement for climate justice! Go to: http://climateactionnowma.org

Saturday, July 1, 2 to 4pm.  The 2nd Annual Inter-Dependence Day Celebration World We Love Giant Puppet Parade performance and direct action. The Pachamama Puppets, Expandable Brass Band, Stephen Katz, Climate Action Now and Mother's Out Front and more invite you and your friends to gather in 4 locations in Noho at 1pm and then at 2pm to parade to the lawn of Memorial Hall near Pulaski Park for a performance by children and adults of the World We Love-It's in Our Hands! Go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/443760142658523/

 

OK, have an excellent Summer Solstice and until next time remember: Listen to your Mother!

The Old Growth/New Climate Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. We've returned the Enviro Show blog to our old Blogspot space due to new problems over at Wordpress. Soooo, it's up with old growth and hope the new climate gets fixed! Old Growth guru, Bob Leverett returns to the show in the wake of his "State of Our Forests" presentation in Northampton. As always we will also take you to meet this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and to cast more aspersions at His Malignancy The Mad King. Of course, we'll still allow you into The Enviro Show Echo Chamber as well but be warned: It's not pretty in there. However, first its time for...........Revenge of the Critters! Another trophy hunter taken out. Elephant gives her life so that others may live!

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is Rep. Bob Gibbs, a Repugnican from Ohio. Gibbs sponsored a "measure reversing an Environmental Protection Agency requirement that those spraying pesticides on or near rivers and lakes file for a permit." The fool claimed "the permit requirement places an unnecessary burden on farmers and local health officials fighting mosquito-borne diseases." We're not exactly sure what the burden is but our own Rep. Jim McGovern certainly knew where Gibbs b.s. beholden is: "Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said in a floor speech that pesticide-maker Dow Chemical wrote a $1 million check to help support President Donald Trump's inaugural festivities. The company's chairman and CEO, Andrew Liveris, has been a staunch Trump supporter who now heads a White House working group on aiding manufacturing." We guess Gibbs is just another Trump Chump doing his best to do the worst.

On to His Malignancy, The Mad King! This week we find His Malignancy bailing from the Paris Climate Accord, allegedly so he can negotiate a better deal for our Great Nation. Of course, we all know the real reason is he wants to ramp up his cred as the Climate Criminal-in-Chief. His Malignancy's move prompted his own ambassador to China to quit (why would anyone sign-on in the first place??). On the other hand there's his cohort climate criminal, Scotty over at the EPA taking The Mad King's move for a.....spin! Meanwhile, the Veep is baffled about all the concern! We are, however, glad to repeat the refrain: The World Will Fight Back! And it seems our Gov has thrown in with others to go our own way with the U.S. Climate Alliance. And here's another piece on The Mad King's Budget from Hell. This one scorches the planet. This next one comes as no surprise given it comes straight out of Smokey the Bear's butt: His Malignancy's U.S. Forest Service denies climate change. Surprise!

Here's our Enviro Show Quote of the Week. It takes only a brief hop in the Wayback Machine:

"A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people."      - FDR

Time to check out the Echo Chamber! Finally there's a petition that actually counts. It's right HERE as our Enviro Show Blog Action. And this! News from the Future.

After our conversation with Bob we head over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

 

Friday, June 9, 7pm. (Community Potluck Dinner at 6pm). “POWER STRUGGLE”

Film Screening and Discussion with Harvey Wasserman. Wendell Town Hall

6 Center Street (on the Wendell Common), Wendell, MA.

 

Saturday, June 10, 11:00AM. Join us on June 10th to demand that our local elected officials #ActOnClimate. We will join those who are already taking climate action seriously and push those who aren't, to do more. Together, we have an opportunity to drive our collective outrage into local action, and show the world a unified national response to Trump’s dangerous decision to reject the Paris agreement.

 Location: Great Barrington Ma Town Hall corner of Main and Castle Streets, Great Barrington, MA 01230 Go HERE.

  Saturday, June 10, 1 to 4:00pm. CET Speaker Forum: What Can You Do About Climate Change? The Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 845 West Street, Amherst, MA. This new event will feature three experts from our community, Ezra Markowitz, Nancy Nylen, and Solomon Goldstein-Rose, who will speak on locally relevant environmental issues. The speakers will discuss innovative and practical solutions to various challenges associated with climate change through psychological, political, and community-based strategies. This event is free and open to the public! Please click here to register. Call: 413-256-6006

Monday, June 12, 6pm. Place TBD. Mass Clean Energy Future Tour of Senators stop in Springfield at Western New England University’s School of Law — J. Pellegrini Moot Court Room, 1st floor, Springfield, MA The Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change is hosting hearings throughout the Commonwealth to get input from you on pressing issues in clean energy and climate. How do you think the legislature should keep our state healthy, sustainable and strong? Go to: https://malegislature.gov/cleanenergyfuture


TUESDAY June 13, (TBD). The Campaign for a Clean Energy Future is inviting you to participate in our first big lobby day of the year on  at the Statehouse in Boston. We will meet at the CABA/CXC office at the Old West Church at 131 Cambridge Street in Boston.  We will be looking to identify new supporters in the legislature and mobilize our current supporters to take action in advance of our eventual hearing date.  To accomplish both goals, WE NEED YOU THERE!  To train for the lobby day and set our strategic agenda for the rest of this year, we’ll be hosting our GRASSROOTS SUMMIT on SATURDAY, June 10th (location TBD). Fill out this form to sign up for these events! MCAN is proud to be a member of the campaign for a clean energy future and believes that putting a price on carbon is a key tool we have to cutting climate change impacts.  If you have questions please contact Andrew Gordon (andrew@betterfutureproject.org) or Amenda Sebert (asebert@cleanwater.org).

Saturday, June 17th, 9am to 5pm. Direct Action Non-violence Training. The Sojourner Truth School for Social Change Leadership will be held at 40 Center St. Northampton. To register go to: www.truthschool.org. These are appropriate for Sugar Shack folks and others wishing to learn the skills and foundations of non-violence in order to consider taking arrest in non-violent actions. Paki Wieland and Jeff Napolitano are the trainers.

Saturday, June 17, 9 pm – late night.  6th Annual Moth Ball!  Join ABNC president Dave Small and naturalist Lula Field at Dave and Shelley’s house, 1542 Pleasant St., Athol, to search for Lunas, underwings, silkmoths and other night flying insects. Participants are invited to bring their tents, snacks to share and favorite moth baits. (Don’t know what those are? You’ll find out!) Info: Dave Small, 978-413-1772 or Dave@dhsmall.net.

Saturday, July 1, 2 to 4pm.  The 2nd Annual Inter-Dependence Day Celebration World We Love Giant Puppet Parade performance and direct action. The Pachamama Puppets, Expandable Brass Band, Stephen Katz, Climate Action Now and Mother's Out Front and more invite you and your friends to gather in 4 locations in Noho at 1pm and then at 2pm to parade to the lawn of Memorial Hall near Pulaski Park for a performance by children and adults of the World We Love-It's in Our Hands! Go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/443760142658523/

That's all folks! Next time the Good Green Witch returns  for our annual Summer Soltice Enviro Show. Until then remember.........Listen To Your Mother!


 

HEY! OVER HERE.....

Due to ongoing problems we've had using the new Blogspot format we've pretty much given up and moved over HERE

Dear Angry White Guys,

Now that the presidential election is behind us and all the obscene amounts of corporate money was needlessly spent and all the energy that could have been used to rebuild our crumbling roads and bridges has been wasted, can we come together and clean this place up?  We truly hope you don't continue to carry on about so-called socialists and "apology tours" when we need your help putting the country back together (the country you love so much). We all have been looking at the God-awful pictures of devastation on the east coast, right? How about we roll up our sleeves together and pitch-in? We know you still may think that the Climate Crisis isn't real or that it isn't human-caused, but the mega-storm that destroyed so much of New York and New Jersey was very real and we need to deal with the results, together.  Maybe after we've done all we can to repair the damage we can sit down and have a reasonable discussion about who exactly is promoting the idea that climate change doesn't exist and why they are spending so much more money to spread their highly compromised information. Hey, we'll even pick-up the bar tab!

We're done with celebrating this election now. It's time to get on with the business of putting things back together. We hope you'll join us.

Sincerely,

The Enviro Show

The Vote for the Earth Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Here in the Northeastern U.S. we're just catching our breath after yet another "hundred year storm" (with yet another on the way?) and now it's almost Election Day. Of course, on the national level we get to choose between the Green who'll never be elected, the Dem who plays the game to pretty much stay the same, and the Repugnican corporado who will do all he can to destroy the planet once and for all. Great choices, huh? We do have some state and local issues that are interesting.  Johanna Neumann, Regional Director for New England Environment America fills us in. Our roving reporter and strolling troubadour, Tom Neilson also joins us to discuss that and more. As always, we check into The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and our E-Valley-uation segment. We'll see who this week's Fool-on-the-Hill is and maybe Meet the New Boss, but first it's time for...Revenge of the Critters! It's a post-Halloween Revenge from a loyal listener: Bees return awful candy to the humans!

If the polls are still open (or soon to be) when you read this, we may as well do some E-Valley-uation on a few of the ballot questions (that is if we can figure them out). In it's eternal wisdom, the state has taken a page from Kafka and made sure that the referendum numbers change in various Valley towns, as well as making it illegal to name some of the questions. Have fun with that! One of the referendum we call the "Move to Amend" question, says: "Shall the state senator be instructed to vote in favor a  resolution calling upon Congress to propose an amendment to the US Constitution affirming that corporations are not entitled to the constitutional rights of human beings [and that] both Congress and the states may place limits on political contributions and political spending.” Well.......yeah. What have we been talking about here for......ever! Another ballot question may be called the "Budget for All" referendum that you can read about here. It's all about redirecting our tax dollars to sane things like education, health care, renewable energy and transportation, not that too many pols in DC really care about such things. A ballot measure that actually has a name is The Massachusetts "Death with Dignity" Initiative which would establish an "Act Relative to Death with Dignity".  The human-life-is-oh-so-sacred crowd (as opposed to other life forms) is out in the streets about this one. They want us all to hang on to the bitter end no matter the pain and degradation (and maybe give them time to baptize or convert us or God knows what?).  Given that there are far toooooo many people on the planet, we say go for it! Besides, who runs your life anyway??  We'll get into some of the candidates and there positions on the environment as well when we talk with Tom and Johanna.

We're devoting our entire Enviro Show Echo Chamber to the Climate Crisis and it's effect on the Northeast in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.  First, the relief effort. Besides the usual Red Cross and other mainstream groups listed here, there are grassroots efforts like Occupy Sandy, Food Not Bombs, and Sandy's List that are on the ground in the New York metro area providing food, warm clothing and other needs. By now you've all probably seen the photos of the devastation to the infrastructure and people of New York City. This catastrophe, though it is not nearly as devastating as the mega-monsoon flood in Pakistan in 2010 or Katrina's devastation in New Orleans, may well be a, dare we say, bellwether in the desperate need for responding to climate change. Seeing as New York City is the capitol of finance and media for most of the nation, and that the timing of this particular crisis on the eve of a presidential election adds long awaited emphasis to the greater issue of climate, there's an outside chance that climate crisis deniers and the Repugnicans will become as irrelevant as skate keys. In the days following the disaster the corporate media has rediscovered the climate crisis without the obligatory spotlight on flat-earth climate change deniers. Meanwhile, the environment as a whole in the Metro region has been impacted by Sandy as well as various species. They need help too.  A sidebar here: interestingly, part of all that flooding can be attributed to long-ago filled-in swamps, (there were once 300,000 acres of absorbent wetlands, now only 15,500) sort of a Halloween Revenge of the Swamp Thing! Finally, here's our Enviro Show Blog Bonus Special: tell the corporados to pony up for the mega-storm they created.

Our Quote of the Week comes from none other than the Rombot himself: "President Obama promised to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family." Sooooo, our family isn't involved in the planet?

Time to visit the Fool-on-the-Hill and guess who's baaaaack? Yes, appropriately it's the chief flat-earth climate crisis denier, Sen. James Inhofe who, upon receiving the Rubber Dodo Award from the Center for Biological Diversity used the occasion to continue his anti-science odyssey into oblivion (but not soon enough for us!). While we're here we have an interesting No Fool: New York City Mayor Bloomberg endorses Obama as the one who can deal best with the Climate Crisis (that is, unless Jill Stein or the Batman are actually available)

Let's Meet the New Boss, whomever that may be. We're praying to the Goddess that it's not the Rombot (who will drive the last few nails into the biosphere's coffin) and since it won't be Jill Stein we are stuck with the present boss who at least has returned to using the C-word (no, not that) and may well set in place some more planet saving programs to...um...stem the tide? Sooo, we're not big fans of The One but we'll fight like hell to keep the Repugs from stealing another election. With that in mind we direct you to No More Stolen Elections where you can join  such eminent progressives as Noam Chomsky, Jill Stein, Thom Hartmann and a whole host of others in pledging to act in the event of another stolen election. FIGHT!

After our interviews it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Thursday, November 8, 7 to 8:30pm. Quebec’s Plan Nord: Towards a New Global Model for Sustainable Development.  Mat Jacobson presents Plan Nord, covering 1.2 million square kilometers of the boreal region of Quebec, the concept has brought together aboriginal and other government leaders, industries, and conservationists to balance economic development with conservation.  Small fee. To register for a current program, contact Jessica Schultz, Center Coordinator, at (413) 256-6006 or jessica@hitchcockcenter.org.

Saturday, November 10, 6pm. Arise for Social Justice 25th Anniversary Celebration & Reunion. Panache Ballroom, 827 State Street, Springfield. Call: (413)734-4948

Sunday, November 11, 3pm. Tom Neilson in concert. RSVP (413) 253-7934. Small entry charge. 185 Middle Street, Amherst.

Tuesday, November 13, 7-9 pm.  VERMONT YANKEE MELTDOWN? MORE LESSONS FROM FUKUSHIMA. The third in a series of Community Forums presented by Citizens for Emergency Preparedness.  Speaker:  Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer with 40 years experience who has coordinated safety projects at 70 nuclear power plants.  He has recently returned from Japan with lessons from Fukushima.  Discussion to follow. Contact: Marian Kelner  413-773-8401. All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, corner of Main and Hope, Greenfield, MA 

Friday, November 16, 10:30 to 11:30am. "Gobble, gobble". Have you ever wondered about wild turkeys? Just how did they get associated with Thanksgiving? What do they look like? Where do they spend their winter? What unique behaviors do they have? Young children 3-6 and their parents are invited to explore these questions through story, crafts and games.Great Falls Discovery Center, Avenue A, Turners Falls. Call: (413)863-3221

Saturday, November 17th Our Energy Future is Vermont's Choice march and rally. 12:30 pm: Gather at Montpelier city hall; 1 pm: March to the VT Statehouse; 1:30 pm: Rally at the VT Statehouse. Organized by the Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance (VYDA) and Citizens Action Network (CAN), Co-sponsored by Safe and Green Campaign, SAGE Alliance and others. Contacts: Deb Katz 413 339-5781, Chris Williams 802 767-9131

Now we elect to sign off. Be sure to remember to do what? Right! Listen to your Mother.

A Rather Haunting Enviro Show

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Greetings Earthlings. All Hallow's Eve is nearly upon us so it's time to bring Michelle, our favorite house witch, back to remind us what it's all about. Also, given that spirits of the departed may be lurking upon the Earth and its environs, we hear from Tania and Brenda of Chicopee Paranormal Investigators, the Valley's own ghost busters. This and more scary stuff in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, our Fool-on-the-Hill and New Boss segments and who knows what all, but first it's time for...Revenge of the Critters!  Squeamish about cockroaches? Not this guy (but maybe he should have been!)

Speaking of fools let's do as promised on the last show and go straight to Rachel's gallery of Fools-on-the-Hill: Would you believe these guys are on the House Science Committee? Yes, it is truly scary..........but surprising? Nah! Not on THAT Hill!

Did someone say science? In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we get the Union of Concerned Scientists take on Faux News' war on science!  And this: it's not just the far-right propaganda machine that's dumb as a post, checkout these....err...sorry excuses for humans? Here's our Enviro Show Blog Bonus: some Federal agencies are still censoring scientists. Tell them to back off!

Our E-Valley-uation segment gets off the ground with our house witch, Michelle followed later by a call-in from the Chicopee Paranormal Investigators. Witches! Ghosts! What's Halloween without them??

Meet the New Boss here: Whomever the New Boss will be, neither seems to think the climate crisis is a big issue. What were we saying about science now?

"All you Zombies", by the Climate Change Zombies takes us to our interview with Chicopee Paranormal Investigators. Then we close with a walk in the dark of night to the presumed safety of the Bus Stop Billboard:


Tuesday, October 23rd through Tuesday, October 30th. The Vigil to End Climate Silence at Government Center in Boston.  It's time to break the silence on climate in the Massachusetts Senate race. We ask that candidates for federal office in Massachusetts spell out their positions on climate change between now and the election, particularly at the October 30th debate. We need to know whether the candidates acknowledge the climate crisis as the biggest issue of our time. Contact: team@350actionfund.org

Wednesday, October 24, 11:00 a.m. Please join Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine members to help end Hartford Hospital’s use of live pigs in trauma training courses. The entrance of Hartford Hospital between Jefferson St. and Zwieback St. at 80 Seymour St., Hartford, CT  Contact: gmazur@pcrm.org

Wednesday, October 24,12 pm - 1:30 pm. GreenWork Roundtable - Creating a Sustainable Public Transit System. Pioneer Valley Central Labor Council, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield. Bring a brown bag lunch and join the conversation. GreenWork consists of advocates for a Green Economy which serves local communities; guarantees workers' rights to organize; and promotes community-owned sustainable projects. Call: (413)565-2381 

The Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation is offering weekly drop-in autumn nature classes for preschoolers at its Sheep Hill property on Monday afternoons beginning Oct. 15th. The weekly classes will include nature explorations focusing on how nature prepares for winter. Come to all or just a single class. 

Sunday, October 28, 8:30am-11:30am. Field Walk Series: Bear Swamp. Join John Green for an autumn exploration of this cool rocky habitat circling a pond with diverse plants and wildlife. FREE • Space is limited • Registration required at The Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street Amherst, MA. Call (413) 256-6006

Monday, October 29, 6 to 8pm. SAGE Alliance dinner & forum. at the Congregational Church on Main Street in Brattleboro. The purpose of the forum is twofold:  to help us all prepare comments on Entergy Vermont Yankee's license extension for two November public hearings by the Vermont Public Service Board. We have invited speakers from groups that are parties to the license extension application to speak on the issues the PSB will be considering. And to organize volunteers to make phone calls to get people out to the public hearings. Contact safeandgreencampaign@gmail.com

OK, we hope none of this keeps you up at night (what was that noise?). All that's left to say is....remember to listen to your MOTHER!

The Occupy Monsanto Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. It's time to revisit the genetically engineered insanity of Monsanto. Adam Eidinger of Occupy Monsanto checks in with news of the "Call to Action for a Non-Hierarchical Occupation of Monsanto Everywhere"!  Also, we get a rewind of the Indigenous Peoples' Day weekend banner drop actions here over I-91 about shutting down that frightening old nuke up the river in Vernon, Vermont.  If that's not scary enough for you, we'll also visit The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and the Fool-on-the-Hill amongst other things, but first it's time for.......Revenge of the Critters! Warning: something's fishy about farmed salmon! 

In our E-Valley-uation segment  we review the hundred mile long anti-nuke banner drop sponsored by the SAGE Alliance during the Indigenous Peoples' Day weekend (you know, the one we used to call Columbus Day?). And this: though we're sure we can do waaaaayy better, it seems Massachusetts scores numero uno on energy efficiency, two years in a row.  Finally, since we're focused on Monsanto here, lets have a look at genetically modified organisms (GMOs) over at Whole Foods! O wait, we can't have a look, Whole Foods had YouTube take down the video! 

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber there's some....um...interesting news? Would you believe the folks at Grist if they told you there might be....LIFE ON MARS!!  Then (after we calm down)  we refer you to Vandana Shiva's Seed Freedom site. It's a place Monsanto would just as soon you didn't visit. Speaking of places, checkout this killer lake.......really! And, speaking of killing, can you believe they're still out there looking to turn polar bears into rugs? (Yes, you can believe it, right?). Well, how about we try and do something about it!  And this pre-Halloween Special: Entergy isn't just a scary threat to our bucolic Valley, how about to the entire New York Metro region! We close with this tidbit from Grist: you think Weyerhaeuser or the U.S. Forest Service were bad players in the woods? How about actual gangsters? 

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is making a return visit after a year and a half hiatus. It's not that Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown has been making nice with the planet all that time, it's just that we think the present moment is appropriate for pointing out that Scotty is....well...not only into posing in the buff, but also in bed with Big Oil and ol' King Coal!  Hell, even Mass Sierra Club is done with him!

Time for our Quote of the Week. This one from one of our most favorite enviros:
"It is absolutely imperative that we protect, preserve and pass on this genetic heritage for man and every other living thing in as good a condition as we received it."    -  David R. Brower

After our interview with Adam Eidinger we move on to the Bus stop Billboard:

Wednesday, October 10, 6-8pm. MassDOT Kicks Off Statewide Transportation Conversation Meetings to be Held to Help Determine Future of Transportation in MA. Final meeting to be held at UMass Amherst Campus Center -Room 168C, 1 Campus Center Way, Amherst. Those who are unable to attend the meetings but wish to submit comments can do so at yourvisionourfuture@dot.state.ma.us

 Monday, October 15, 7 pm. Do you want a federal budget that meets our country’s needs, that supports the 99% instead of the 1%? Come hear Congressman James McGovern, National Priorities Project Executive Director Jo Comerford, and State Representatives Peter Kocot and Ellen Story discuss the Budget For All, which puts Americans back to work in green jobs and so much more?. Join us in the Northampton High School Auditorium. For more information, contact Western Massachusetts AFSC at 413-584-8975. 

Friday and Saturday, October 19 & 20, 5-8:30pm. Enchanted Forest. This popular two-night event comes alive with five characters performing skits along pumpkin lit trails. Each year a theme is chosen to focus on a particular habitat or animal adaptation or characteristic. The Enchanted Forest’s theme this year is “50 Something” in honor of our 50th Anniversary. You may meet a spotted salamander with 50 spots or a 50-year old Eastern Box Turtle.  Fun for all ages. Games, activities, and a fortune-teller are provided indoors while walks are held every 15 minutes. Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street Amherst, MA. Call: (413) 256-6006

October 24,12:00 pm - 1:30 pm. GreenWork Roundtable - Creating a Sustainable Public Transit System. Pioneer Valley Central Labor Council, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield

Bring a brown bag lunch and join the conversation. GreenWork consists of advocates for a Green Economy which serves local communities; guarantees workers' rights to organize; and promotes community-owned sustainable projects. Call: (413)565-2381  

That's about it for now. Remember: while you're out there reveling in the glory of Autumn.....listen to your Mother.