The Enviro Show Fish Story? We don't think so!

Greetings Earthlings. We "Listened to our Mother" and she said: "Fa' get about it!" Another winter storm warning, another Enviro Show down the tubes EXCEPT here in cyberspace. We we're going to talk Shad with Karl Meyer from "Shad for a Brighter Future". Of course, we'll still entertain you with hair-raising tales (some are recycled...very green!) from The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, our Quote of the Week and the E-Valley-uation segments, as well as our Fool-on-the-Hill offering, but only here on the blog. Anyway, first it's time for....
Revenge of the Critters! In case you missed it: Fox shoots hunter!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we toss in Green Is the New Red's take on all the hate speech coming out of Faux "News" and mean-spirited and the way phony former Gov of Alaska: If Sarah Palin were an animal rights activist, she'd already have been convicted of 'terrorism'. Hate speech? Time for an Enviro Show Rewind! Remember this: Tea Party climate change deniers funded by BP and other major polluters? Don't tell us you think there's just as much hostility coming from Left as from teabaggers and their enablers on Faux "News". In case you drank some of that Kool-aide check this out! Speaking of checking things out, someone passed on this website that gets skeptical about global warming skepticism. It's as easy as 1,2,3 to clue in your climate crisis denying neighbors. Maybe even Glen Beck?......well, maybe not. Our Enviro Show Blog Bonus concerns that awful White-nose syndrome taking out bats. Despite the overwhelming threat to bats from people entering caves, federal land managers across much of the West have failed to enact closures of caves and abandoned mines. Please Take Action to help save the bats. And this: Nantucket man busted for dealing in endangered whale parts We saved the best for last: Candy Dynamics of Indianapolis is issuing a recall of all Toxic Waste® brand Nuclear Sludge® Chew Bars,all flavors. Sorry kids.

Finally it's time to air our "Don't Move Politicians More than 50 Miles" PSA! That will take us to our E-Valley-uation segment where we recycle an Enviro Show Blog Bonus: go to Environment Massachusetts and click on "Take Action" to help protect the Quabbin watershed from clearcutting! Also this: WMECO plans a solar farm for Springfield and YOU are paying for it!

Our Quote of the Week comes from Obama's State of the Union address: "I’m asking Congress to eliminate the billions in taxpayer dollars we currently give to oil companies. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they’re doing just fine on their own. So instead of subsidizing yesterday’s energy, let’s invest in tomorrow’s". OK, Congress, how about it??

In our Meet the New Boss segment we find in one of the WikiLeaks that Obama's EPA was well-aware that the pesticide Clothianidin, marketed as "Poncho" by Bayer, posed some serious risks to honey bees. Remember on the Toxic 100 Enviro Show we found the Bayer Group (doesn't that sound nicer than corporation?) sitting on top of the list of worse air polluters ever? According to Change.org: "Bayer wants to keep expanding the pesticide's use. And the company's original registration was based on some seriously flawed science: they evaluated the wrong crop, with the wrong controls to assess the impact on bees. This all adds up to some serious questions about the government contributing to Colony Collapse Disorder as [the EPA] knowingly allowed Bayer to poison bees. And this is about a lot more than honey production ... native habitats, and as much as one-third of America's food supply, rely on the pollination provided by bees." And this: Obama's FDA intentionally withheld a damning report from the public that provided conclusive evidence that GMO salmon pose a serious threat to endangered Atlantic salmon if accidentally released into the wild. Never mind salmon in fresh water or in saltwater, what about when they're smoked! (that's another State of the Nation reference for all you wonks).

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill award goes out to incoming House Energy chair Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) who flipped from moderate on climate crisis issues to a hard-right teabagger after getting 20 grand from Koch Industries.

After our fish story we head over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Thursday, Feb 3, 7:00 pm. The Committee for a Leverett Peace Commission presents: Michael Klare "Resource Conflict and Resource Innovation in the Search for Peace". Leverett Town Hall. Please stay for tea after talk. For more information call: Jim Perkins 367 9520 or Barbara Tiner 548 7919 or go to: leverettpeace.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, February 8, 7:30 pm. GRASSROOTS SOLUTIONS TO "CITIZENS UNITED V. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION" with John Bonifaz, Co-founder of http://freespeechforpeople.org/ Free Speech for People* and Legal Director of http://www.voteraction.org/ Voter Action*
First Congregational Church, http://maps.google.com/maps?q=906+Main+Street+Williamstown+MA+ 906 Main Street, Williamstown, MA


Wednesday, Feb. 9, 7:30 p.m. Barry Sanders, author of “The Green Zone: The Environmental Costs of Militarism” and professor emeritus of history at Pitzer College, will give a talk in Neilson Library Browsing Room, Smith College, Northampton. . The event is free and open to the public. Sanders will also give a public talk on Thursday, Feb. 10, at Greenfield Community College. Call: (413) 585-2190

Thursday, February 10 · 7:30pm - 10:30pm. Getting Biomass Right: Should We Be Generating Electricity From Trees? Williams College, Paresky Student Center Auditorium
Williamstown, MA.

Tuesday, February 15,7:00pm-9:00pm. Burning Vermont's Forests for Electricity? Marlboro College, Appletree Building. 2582 South Road. Marlboro , VT Call: (802)223- 5844

Thursday, February 17, 7 - 9pm. Climate change and water resources: expectations and uncertainties in natural systems. Join Timothy Randhir, Associate Professor of Watershed Management and Water Quality at the University of Massachusetts, to learn about the relationships between climate change and the hydrologic cycle. Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A., Turners Falls, MA 01376, Ph 413.863.3221

Saturday, February 26, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. (Snow date: Saturday, March 12). WINTER TRACKING EXPEDITION . Alan Emond, Little Cree Spy Excursions. Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst, Pre-registration required; please call 413-256-6006.

That is all. How about some more show? No? In any case, don't forget to listen to your Mother!

Restore the North Woods Enviro Show SHUTDOWN BY MOTHER NATURE!

Greetings Earthlings. Today's ice storm is keeping us from the studio but the show goes on here in cyberspace! Read on: Tired of all those two-leggeds and their endless failings? Let's talk four-leggeds with Michael Kellett of Restore the North Woods. We'll discuss their North Woods Wolf Recovery Project as well as issues regarding the Canada lynx and Atlantic Salmon. Of course, we'll entertain you with hair-raising tales from The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, our Meet the New Boss and the E-Valley-uation segments, as well as our Fool-on-the-Hill offering, but first it's time for....Revenge of the Critters! In case you missed it: Fox shoots hunter!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we toss in Green Is the New Red's take on all the hate speech coming out of Faux "News" and mean-spirited, way phony Sarah Barracuda: "If Sarah Palin were an animal rights activist, she'd already have been convicted of 'terrorism'". Hate speech? Time for an Enviro Show Rewind! Remember this: "Tea Party climate change deniers funded by BP and other major polluters"? Don't tell us you think there's just as much hostility coming from the Left as from teabaggers and their enablers on Faux "News". In case you drank some of that Kool-aide check this out! Speaking of checking things out, someone passed on this website that gets skeptical about global warming skepticism. It's as easy as 1,2,3 to clue in your climate crisis denying neighbors. Maybe even Glen Beck?......well, maybe not.

Our "Don't Move Politicians More than 50 Miles" PSA takes us to the E-Valley-uation segment where we have an Enviro Show Blog Bonus: go to Environment Massachusetts and click on "Take Action" to help protect the Quabbin watershed from clearcutting! And this: WMECO plans a solar farm for Springfield and YOU are paying for it! Also, we learn that Greening Greenfield has announced their Green Heroes for the month of January - the more than 900 households who have signed onto the 10% Challenge Campaign! We don't think the proposed Pioneer biomass incinerator folks signed on though.

In our Meet the New Boss segment we find in one of the WikiLeaks that Obama's EPA was well-aware that the pesticide Clothianidin, marketed as "Poncho" by Bayer, posed some serious risks to honey bees. Remember on the Toxic 100 Enviro Show we found the Bayer Group (doesn't that sound nicer than corporation?) sitting on top of the list of worse air polluters last year? According to Change.org: "Bayer wants to keep expanding the pesticide's use. And the company's original registration was based on some seriously flawed science: they evaluated the wrong crop, with the wrong controls to assess the impact on bees. This all adds up to some serious questions about the government contributing to Colony Collapse Disorder as [the EPA] knowingly allowed Bayer to poison bees. And this is about a lot more than honey production ... native habitats, and as much as one-third of America's food supply, rely on the pollination provided by bees." One hand taketh away/one hand giveth: the EPA did have the good sense to go thumbs down on one mountain top removal project last week (how about the rest?). And this: Obama's FDA intentionally withheld a damning report from the public that provided conclusive evidence that GMO salmon pose a serious threat to endangered Atlantic salmon if accidentally released into the wild.

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill award goes out to incoming House Energy chair Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) who flipped from moderate on climate crisis issues to a hard-right teabagger after getting 20 grand from Koch Industries.

After our interview with with Michael Kellett of Restore the North Woods we checkout the Bus Stop Billboard:


Wed. January 19, 6:30-8:30pm, Bangs Community Center, 70 Boltwood Walk, Amherst ; Thurs., January 20, 6-8pm, Manhan Café, 72 Union St., Easthampton; Wed, January 26, 6: 30-8:30 pm, Studio Helix in Thorne’s Market, 150 Main Street, Northampton; Wed. February 2, 6-8pm, Greenfield Community Gardens, 57 Pray Dr., Greenfield: The Alliance to Develop Power / ADP, a leader of the Statewide Green Justice Coalition, with support from MASS ENERGY, invites all Massachusetts’ homeowners, renters and residents to community meetings with an opportunity to sign up for a free energy assessment, access weatherization funding, and free energy efficiency services through the MassSAVE program. Participants will also discuss and strategize how to help support the creation of an inclusive green economy that benefits all and creates family sustainable living wage jobs for Massachusetts’ residents. Call: 413-739-7233

Thursday, January 20, 7 – 8:30pm. Celebrate the Arctic National Wildlife refuge’s 50th anniversary. Linda Hickman, will present a program on her guided trip through Alaska, highlighting memorable and noteworthy natural and cultural resources and interesting information. Great Falls Discovery Center. 2 Avenue A., Turners Falls, Ph 413-863-3221

Friday, January 21, 7pm. "Wild View: New England Wildlife". Short hi-def films screened at the Wendell Free Library with the filmmaker, Christian Munoz-Donoso. For information call: (978)544-3559

Saturday, JANUARY 22, 10:45 - Noon, VIGIL FOR PEACE AND COMPASSION! AT THE CORNER OF MAIN AND KING STREETS. For the last 15 years the Northampton Committee has vigiled first against the murderous sanctions imposed by our government against the Iraqi people, then against war in Iraq and now against the wider wars and occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the last several months there has been a single counterprotestor with pro-war and anti-progressive signs who has stationed himself at the site of the vigil. Last weekend there were 3 counterdemonstrators with about a dozen signs filled with bigotry ("Arizona is Right!" "End the Killing of Unborn Babies, Not Terrorists." "Terrorists Love Peace Protestors.") They are from out of town and are members of Glenn Beck's 9/12 Project doing what they call a "standout". They are planning a "superstandout" in Northampton at one of the next few vigils. We think that it is important to stand up peacefully and nonviolently IN FORCE against the wars and for all human rights. We invite you and everyone on every one of your lists to join us this Saturday, a little bit early, with an appropriate sign (or you may use a Northampton Committee sign) on the corner of Main and King to say no to the war, violence, hate and bigotry that Glenn Beck and the 9/12 Project convey and yes to Peace and Compassion!


January 28-30. People's Music Winter Gathering 2011. Hartford, Connecticut. The People's Music Network for Songs of Freedom And Struggle, See registration page for additional information at: http://www.peoplesmusic.org

Friday, January 28, 7:15pm - Show begins at 8:00pm. "Ciclovida: Lifecycle" Q&A and discussion following the film featuring the filmmaker brothers Matt and Loren Feinstein as well as local organizations, including Grow Food Northampton, CISA, and more. There will be opportunities to learn about and connect with local groups working for a healthier and happier community and planet. Go to: www.ciclovida.org

Friday, January 28, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. WILD WINTER FUN. Ages 7-9 (1st to 4th grade) Join the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst for this special day off from school exploring nature in winter. We will look for tracks and signs of animals, try our hand at building shelters, play in the snow, and learn about snowflakes and the technology and adaptations of winter survival. Warm clothes required, boots, snowpants, hats and gloves! Bring snack, lunch, a water bottle, and a full change of clothes. Space is limited. Pre-registration is required; please call (413) 256-6006.

Thursday, February 10 · 7:30pm - 10:30pm. Getting Biomass Right: Should We Be Generating Electricity From Trees? Williams College, Paresky Student Center Auditorium
Williamstown, MA.

Over & out. Next time it's "Shad for a Brighter Future" with Karl Meyer. Until then remember: listen to your Mother!

Is the Tea Party's Over Now?

We here on The Enviro Show have been taking the so-called Tea Party to task not only for their anti-planet mindset, but also for their over-the-top rhetoric. Last summer one of our Bus Stop Billboard entries concerned the weekly peace vigil in Greenfield and the fact that Massachusetts teabaggers and folks from the Glen Beck 912 Project planned to "show-up in mass and surround them". As it turned out, the hostile Beckians were hopelessly outnumbered and ended up two blocks away in a pathetic little clutch. That's how we hope all teabaggers will end up after what has taken place in Tucson with the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others by Jared Loughner, someone who apparently shares many of Glen Beck's views.

Our producer and co-host, D.O. has posted a short screed on his own blog that pretty well sums up the political crisis we are engaged in these days and the inflammatory language used by teabaggers that has led to this tragedy. We re-post it here for you and invite you to make your comments.

It's official: The inmates are in charge of the asylum

As you have no doubt heard, the U.S. House of Representatives, already a snake pit of Kafkaesque proportions, is now under the control of perhaps the most bizarre collection of sociopaths ever to set foot on Capitol Hill. Regardless of their own sketchy personal histories, from thug to torturer, to bible-banging crackpot, the new Repugnican majority in the crazy House are not only proof that the human species is highly flawed, but that they are also dangerous to our health.

Wasn't it Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) who refered to elected Democratic officials as the "enemy," and to keeping her supporters "armed and dangerous"? And wasn't it Glenn Beck who spoke on national TV of a coming "civil war" led by militias (Beck said he "believes we're on this road") and questioning whether the U.S. military would follow the President's orders to stop the violence? And wasn't it Tucson teabaggers who held a shooting event with shooting victim Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in mind? Guess who has left a trail of Glen Beck talking points in his internet wake? Jared Loughner, the guy who shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. I'll grant you that Loughner is a bit of a paranoid nutcase, but he is just the sort of nutcase that is enabled by the crackpots listed above and their like-minded ideologues.

My hope is that this tragic incident that took place in Tucson will be the last gasp for the likes of Glen Beck and the so-called Tea Party. I trust that Repugnicans in Congress who may still be in control of their senses will pull the reins in on their more volatile colleagues and try to restore some sanity to the crazy House. My hope is that my hope isn't just wishful thinking.