The Old Growth Enviro Show

With the Winter Solstice behind us and the New Year just ahead we thought it wise to check-in with the Valley’s own old-growth guru, Bob Leverett on the state of our rooted senior citizens. Also, maybe John Dingell’s not so great after all AND other news, but first it’s time for....Revenge of the Critters! D.O. is not here tonight but we have one of his blasts from the past Earth First! Radio commentaries on disc. Check this out: it’s "Revenge of the Trees"!

In the news: Looks like the honeymoon definitely IS over w/the Dems. Grist does one ominous interview with John Dingell, the new chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The man from Big Auto seems to think the climate crisis isn’t much of a crisis after all! ALSO, We were wrong: King George really is an environmentalist! (groan). The boy emperor actually signs the New England Wilderness Act. There really IS a Santa Clause...he’s just a little...er...lame? (not to mention out-of-control & dangerous). AND how about some local forest issues, huh? Maybe Glen, Jean & Bob can get into some of that.

Dave Rovics' "Song for the Earth Liberation Front", from the Behind the Barricades disc, will hook you up with the elfs at work (very timely, we must say), and bring us to an extended interview w/Bob.

Then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Thursday, January 4, the opening day of Congress. World Can't Wait is organizing a rally from 12:00 noon to 1:30 at Upper Senate Park, north of the Capitol. The rally will demand impeachment. The Bush Regime has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity; they have to go. Start the investigations, start the impeachment. Contact: 866-973-4463 ; http://www.worldcantwait.net/

Saturday January 6; SIREN TEST DIE IN; Noon, Brattleboro VT. Sirens to warn people that a serious accident has occurred at Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor are tested in Brattleboro VT the First Saturday of the month at Noon. In the Brattleboro area, activists are participating in a die-in protest whenever possible by freezing in place, standing silent or falling down "dead" when the sirens go off. For the full 3-5 minute test, people commit each month to stop their activities and reflect on what it would mean if this were not a test but the real thing. Info: Citizens Awareness Network 339-5781, mailto:can@nukebusters.org; www.nukebusters.org.

Saturday, January 13-15; Winter Retreat for Earth Lovers; Sliding scale of $150-$250 includes food, lodging, and workshop fee. "In a cozy and rustic setting surrounded by the deep stillness of winter, participants will come together with kindred spirits to laugh, cry, breathe, dance, sing, drum, journey, and play. Skilled facilitators will lead us through processes that invite people to share their stories, release their pain, embrace each others' passion, and heal the separateness from each other and the Earth." [a little woo-woo so you might want to wear yur' activism hat and spread the...um...gospel? -ed]. Registration: E-mail info@sacredearthnetwork.org or call 978.724-0120



Sunday January 14; PETER BARNES: "CAPITALISM 3.0: A GUIDE TO RECLAIMING THE COMMONS"; 3pm, Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St (Routes 116 at 47), in the Village Commons, S Hadley, 534-7307 or 800-540-7307

That's about it until next year. Until then remember: Listen to your Mother!

That Pesty Enviro Show

It was time to step on the toes of our sister show, Farm to Fork, with an interview with Roberta Spitko of New England Fruit Consultants, an independent agricultural consulting firm. We looked at some of the Toxic Tales of Chemical Agriculture. You all know there’s no real line between the environment and agriculture, right? Given that a sizable portion of some of the best bottomland in the nation has been paved over or turned into suburban barbecue zones here in the Happy Valley it seems sane to protect what little is left, no? Also, the DEP and the EPA: are they just useless acronyms or can they be made to work again? But first.......It was time for Revenge of the Critters! Orca performance slave says: ENOUGH ALREADY!

There’s that theme again! Glen, what’s the countdown? When do Bush & Cheney leave DC and crawl back down to the Underworld? Whenever, the Bush regime is about to discover a holiday gift from We the People: the new chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, John Dingell is no Kris Kringle, but he is gonna’ find out who’s naughty or nice in the White House! Speaking of far-right enemies of the Earth or Fools on The Hill, can we gloat once again over Sen. James M. Inhofe, FORMER chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, emptying out his desk?

Also, the boy emperior's EPA considers getting the lead out.... from the list of air pollutants, that is. They have other really bad ideas down at EPA as well, such as shredding the books! And speaking of bureaucratic b.s., Glen pulled out of his hat: The Massachusetts DEP has for nearly a decade allowed hundreds of industries to discharge 1.4 million gallons of toxic wastewater per day into the Commonwealth's municipal sewage plants. Where do we get these people???

As always, we took a peek at the Bus Stop Billboard before the PVTA takes down all those unsightly fliers:

Saturday, 16 December 2006, 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM. The next monthly planning meeting of Five Rivers Council. Greenfield Community College downtown center, 270 Main St.
Wednesday December 13, 7pm, JOHN NICHOLS: “THE GENIUS OF IMPEACHMENT” Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St (Routes 116 at 47), in the
Village Commons, S Hadley, 534-7307 or 800-540-7307


Thursday, Dec. 14 & 21, 4-5 pm Weekly Green Energy Vigil. Wells Fountain, Junction of Linden and Main, Brattleboro, VT. We will be here every week until Vermont Yankee is closed. Come join US!! for more info 802-387-4060

Thurs, Dec 21, 5:30-6:30 pm Anti Nuke Caroling, Downtown Greenfield, MA
Start at the Greenfields Market. Come Sing in Joyous Protest
These wonderful, funny, serious anti-nuke lyrics to traditional christmas carols!!

Friday December 15, 5pm, “AMERICA, PRAY FOR WAL-MART TO CHANGE” CANDLELIGHT VIGIL. Wal-Mart parking lot, 337 Russell St (Rt 9), Hadley. Join WakeUp Wal-Mart, Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO, and WMass Jobs with Justice in a candlelight vigil with several religious speakers praying for affordable health insurance for Wal-Mart workers. Info: Tyrone Housey, 732-6209 x17 To which we add a prayer for sustainable consumption,of course!


Week of December 17 “THINK BEFORE YOU BUY” NATIONAL WEEK OF HANDBILLING AT WAL-MART STORES. JwJ needs many to help handbill throughout the week. Please contact Tyrone Housey, 732-6209 x17,or
mailto:thousey@ufcw1459.com.

Friday, Dec. 29, 7pm Advertising and the End of the World, The Northampton Committee Peace and Justice Film Series.
The implications of advertising on sustainability: a presentation by UMass professor and Media Education Foundation executive director Sut Jhally. Media Education Foundation, 60 Masonic Street in Northampton. Enter via Woodstar Cafe, at the front of the building. The venue is accessible.

Next time Bob Leverett, THE old-growth guru of Turtle Island joins us to talk old trees. Happy Solstice!