The Roadkill Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. In the wake of Earth Day we take a deep breath and checkout the damage from the wake of all those motor vehicles out there. Derek Yorks of the Linking Landscapes turtle mortality study joins us in the studio to talk roadkill mitigation. Of course, we revisit the multiple meltdowns in Fukushima, on this the 25th anniversary of the Chernoybl nuke disaster, that in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber as well as a look at some direct action down in DC. Back here at home we get a local response to Entergy's lawsuit against the state of Vermont in our E-Valley-uation segment and find out who this week's Fool-on-the-Hill might be, and who knows, maybe we'll even get to The Quote of the Week, but first it's time for...Revenge of the Critters! THE best squirrel attack ever! Tooooooo long for The Enviro Show, but we'll give you the Cliff Notes version. No roadkill for this squirrel. Instead, this squirrel kills.....well, actually, just wounds.

At the top of the Enviro Show Echo Chamber an E-Day must see: Democracy Now's Earth Day Special. Then, Bill McKibben rallies the troops at Powershift '11 in the belly of the beast but quite frankly we were more impressed with Rising Tide DC taking it to the Dept. of Interior. That's the same agency that's sucking up to Big Oil on the anniversary of the BP oil disaster in the Gulf! Speaking of government agencies that don't function so well, The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) certainly qualifies! And this: BP's 10 BILLION dollar tax break? Give us an f'ing break! Finally, you can stil take action to keep Big Wind out of our public waters.

This weeks Fool-on-the-Hill is our own Repugnican, Sen. Scott Brown. The League of Conservation Voters notes: "The good news is that all four reckless anti-clean air amendments failed to get a majority of the vote in the U.S. Senate. The bad news is that Senator Brown chose to stand with big polluters -voting to protect polluter profits and weaken public health protections." Perhaps Scotty isn't aware of Western Mass' infamous air pollution? Does he really care? Run Elizabeth Warren, run!

The Enviro Show Quote of the Week is from Alice Walker: "The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men."

In our E-Valley-uation segment: Earth Day action at VT. Yankee. Jean was there! Also, we checkout both Citizen Action Network's Deb Katz's response and the Vermont Gov's response to Entergy's lawsuit against Vermont regarding the proposed re-licensing of the Vermont Yankee nuke. Also this: the NRC sucks! Who knew! Beyond Nuclear knows, but they're petitioning the NRC anyway! Meanwhile Ed Markey (D-MA) comes up with some sane legislation. Will it pass in a world gone mad?? Finally, a Blog Bonus: tell the Gov to Stop the Biomess!

"We've got ourselves (a roadkill)" by Colleen Kattau takes us to our interview with Derek Yorks of the Linking Landscapes turtle mortality study. Then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday April 27,12:30-2pm, GREENWORK: THE WESTERN MASS GREEN ECONOMY WORKING GROUP. Brown Bag Lunch at Noon, Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield. Call: (413)732-7970

Thursday, April 28, 6:30, YMCA Community Room, Main Street, Greenfield. Follow-up panel discussion with co-sponsoring groups to share ideas on how we can all be involved in moving Greenfield and our region toward more sustainable energy use and food security. Part of Spring Film Series of Greening Greenfield and Friends.

April 28 - 30, 6 to 9pm. Public sessions for proposed Gateway development in Amherst. Large Activity Room, Bangs Community Center, Boltwood Walk, Amherst. More here and here.

Friday, April 29. Deadline for comments on the State's draft air permit for the proposed biomass incinerator in Springfield. Hampden County is already home to the dirtiest, unhealthiest air in the state. Springfield children have blood lead levels and respiratory disease rates twice that of the children of the state. You can make a difference! Please visit and make your comments.

Friday April 29, Noon-1:30. Takaaki Morikawa, a survivor of the Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima, will share his personal history of the event using a power point presentation and a film dramatically illustrating the devastating effects of the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the Sloan Theater Greenfield Community College.

Saturday, April 30, 7 - 9pm. "Bhopal....BP......Fukushima.....Should Corporations Get Away with Murder and Ecocide?" A conversation with Ward Moorehouse. Cohousing Common House is located at 24 Mountain Laurel Path in Florence.

Monday, May 2, 7-9:30pm. "Earth Day '11: Facing our Present and Future through Eco-poetry, Prose, and Song". Second Congregational Church, Court Square, Greenfield. Donation requested to cover costs. Contact: 413-625-6374 or johnpberk@gmail.com

Monday, May 2, 7:30pm Vandana Shiva: The Rights on Mother Earth. Paino Lecture Hall, Earth Sciences Building, Free and Open to the Public. Wheelchair Accessible.

Wednesday, May 4, 7:30pm at Amherst Cinema, come see the powerful new documentary "Queen of the Sun: What Are The Bees Telling Us?", followed by me reading my poem "Honeybees: This Century's Canary in the Coal Mine?" and discussion of film.

Saturday May 7, 10:00am -1:00pm. The City of Holyoke is hosting a City Wide Clean Up Day. SEIU Local 888 rep Scott Burns says: This is an excellent
and fun opportunity for us to give back to the community. The city will provide pizza and refreshments afterward at Heritage State Park. Contact: sburns9960@aim.com

Sunday, May 13. 5 - 8pm. Art Bike Show & Auction Fundraiser to benefit the Holyoke Community Bike Shop. Holyoke Health Center Art Gallery: 230 Maple Street, Holyoke. Call: 413-534-5631 x114

Tuesday, May 17, 4:30 pm. Springfield City Council will hold a hearing at Springfield City Hall to consider amending or revoking Palmer Renewable Energy's permit to construct a biomass incinerator in Springfield. ALL OUT TO STOP IT! The Chicopee City Council, meanwhile, passed a resolution last Tuesday by unanimous vote, opposing the proposed biomass plant in Springfield. Go to: www.springfieldincinerator.info/actions.html

Saturday, May 21, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. From the Grassroots Up: Stop Incentives for Incinerators. A strategy meeting for activists working to stop biomass and waste burners. Doyle Center, Leominster MA. RSVP: Biomass Accountability Project at 800-729-1363 or stopbiomassburning@gmail.com

Sunday, Sunday, May 22, 10am. Manhan Rail Trail Grand Opening Ceremony and Rolling Party. Bike riders and walkers are invited to explore the new rail trail and art spots along the way. Riders can meet at 10am at Millside Park in Easthampton for bagels and musical performances, and then at 11 ride to the Route 10 Bridge. At 12, Mayor Higgins and Mayor Tautznik will cut the ribbon on the Bridge, and afterwards the procession will make its way to a concluding lunch at Veteran's Field in Northampton.

Next time it's Barking Up The Enviro Show with Michael Wojtech. Until then remember: LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER! (sorry, didn't mean to yell).

A River Runs Through The Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Those sketchy old nukes in Japan, the same kind as the Vermont Yankee reactor just up river from us, continue melting down. But, let's practice some of that good old fashioned all-American media denial for a spell and focus on the Connecticut River as it exists before Entergy utterly destroys it. Karl Meyer of "Shad for a Brighter Future" finally joins us to talk about our finned relations and the Connecticut. We visit our E-Valley-uation and Meet the New Boss segments, The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and ,who knows, maybe even our Fool-on-the-Hill offering, but first it's time for.... Revenge of the Critters! Don't pee in this river. The fish do not like it, guys.

In our E-Valley-uation segment we find that the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, which sits on the banks of the Connecticut River, has been operating under the terms of a zombie discharge permit that expired five years ago. The Connecticut River Watershed Council petitioned Vermont to conduct a review in order to protect the Connecticut River from the thermal discharge from the plant. BTW, here's an Enviro Show Blog Bonus about Vermont Yankee as well as a story about some of their non-submersible electrical cables discovered underwater! Gosh, electricity & water.....together! Also this: American Rivers is partnering with the Town of Greenfield, Connecticut River Watershed Council, Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration, NOAA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Deerfield Watershed Association on a Green River Ecosystem Restoration Project. They're talking dam removal here, folks, once considered a radical idea only promoted by the likes of your friends...(ahem!) at Earth First! Meanwhile over in Amherst, the Fort River is in the news for having no dams! O, and this: Cowls goes for big solar in the woods?

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber let's repeat Environmental Action's call to action for Congress to defund nukes! AND Beyond Nuclear.org's petition to Obama to build a nuclear-free future for our children NOW! Maybe your thinking we don't need a nuke-free future 'cuz TEPCO, the NRC & the nuclear industry are leading you to believe everything is under control at Fukushima? Silly human. Speaking of under control? Remember THE worst oil spill disaster in history? Our own Rachell Maddow does too! Finally, we don't know what to think about this. Do you?

Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week comes from inside the French nuclear industry where an unnamed executive VP stated with regard to the Fukushima multiple meltdowns: "Clearly we are witnessing one of the greatest disasters in modern times". Hmmm, where's the media on that?

On that note, it's time to Meet the New Boss......again. Obama's recent energy speech finds him continuing to keep the bed warm for the nuclear industry and Big Oil. However, given the ongoing multiple meltdowns at Fukushima his nuke boosts are really scary and...um...tone deaf? Do you think this is no laughing matter?

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is Michigan Dem Debbie Stabenow who seems to have hitched a ride on the Repugnican crazy train going off the rails on the climate crisis. Jump Deb!

"Head of the River"by Elliot Bronson from '101 Subtle Ways' takes us to our interview with Karl Meyer. Then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday, April 13, 4:30 p.m. Northampton Cheers to Clean Air. The Sierra Club and the Western Mass Green Consortium invite you to raise a glass for clean air at the Northampton Brewery, 11 Brewster Ct, Northampton. Contact: peter@petervickery.com

Sunday, April 17, 2 to 4 p.m., Organizing meeting for "Bike Week 2011" at Studio Helix, on the 3rd floor of Thornes Marketplace in downtown Northampton.

April 18, 1pm at the End of Powershift Rally (scheduled from 10am-1pm) Rising Tide North America invites all residents, students and youth to join the Reclaim Power.
Reclaim Power March & Creative Direct Actions, Lafayette Square (H St NW & Jackson Pl NW); Washington D.C. CONTACT: extraction@risingtidenorthamerica.org

Thursday April 21st,11:00 AM - 2:00 PM (2nd floor), The State House, Boston. Earth Day celebration, environmental fair, and lobby day, The Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow is teaming up with environmental groups in Massachusetts this Earth Day. Every person that comes to Earth Day 2011 will be asked to visit their legislators and urge them to support funding in the state budget for environmental programs and the pro-environment bill(s) of their choice. Please come and ask your legislators to support the Safer Alternatives Bill (H-1136 & S-397) to protect our health from toxic chemicals in our workplaces, consumer products, homes and communities. Call 617-338-8131

Thursday 4/21, 7:30, Weinstein Auditorium, Wright Hall, Smith College Barry Sanders speaks on The Environmental Costs of Militarism.

Friday, April 22, 6:30 - 9:30pm. "Earth Day '11: Facing our Present and Future through Eco-poetry, Prose, and Song". Unitarian Universalist Society, 220 Main St., Northampton in the wheelchair-accessible Social Hall downstairs (b.y.o. pillows for plastic chairs. Donation requested to cover costs). D.O. will be reading. Contact: 413-625-6374 johnpberk@gmail.com

Saturday, April 23, 10a.m.-4:00pm Northampton's Earth Day celebration in Pulaski Park. Look for the giant Earth Ball made by students out of single use plastic bags. Also, an Earth Day film festival next door at the Academy of Music with special episodes of "Martha Speaks" at 11:30 am, "Nova-Power Surge", Now’s David Brancaccio’s fiim, ?Fixing The Future", and a special screening of "Carbon Nation" at 7:30 pm. Call: 413 584 3237


Saturday, April 23, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 2nd Annual Amherst Sustainability Festival. Held on the Amherst Town Common and around town. The festival combines The Renewable Energy Fair, Amherst Grows Green, and Arbor Day. There will be tree pruning and tree climbing demonstrations. Sustainable product suppliers, local artisans, consumer information regarding energy efficiency, and renewable energy providers will be on hand on the Town Common.

Monday, April 25, 7pm. "Voices of Chernobyl" Reading performance. Grace Church Parish Hall, Spring Street, Amherst. Call: (978)249-9400

Tuesday, April 26, 7pm. Same event at the Unitarian Society, 220 Main Street, Northampton. Call: (978)249-9400

Thursday 4/28, 6:30, YMCA Community Room, Main Street, Greenfield. Follow-up panel discussion with co-sponsoring groups to share ideas on how we can all be involved in moving Greenfield and our region toward more sustainable energy use and food security. Part of Spring Film Series of Greening Greenfield and Friends.

Saturday, April 30th, from 9:00a.m. to noon the Northampton Tree Committee in recognition of Arbor Day, will distribute approximately 120 street trees to Northampton residents at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, located at 80 Locust Street. The goal of the program is to have the trees planted near the public way or within public view. It is essential that trees not be planted under utility wires. Twelve different species—all on the NTC’s pre-approved species list—will be available. The trees will be in large seven to ten gallon containers. To receive a free tree, individuals and families must register by April 20 at www.ntcfreetree.eventbrite.com. Questions about the program can be e-mailed to nohotrees@gmail.com

Monday, May 2, 7-9:30pm. "Earth Day '11: Facing our Present and Future through Eco-poetry, Prose, and Song". Second Congregational Church, Court Square, Greenfield. Donation requested to cover costs. Contact: 413-625-6374 johnpberk@gmail.com

Time to flow on out of here 'til next time. Until then remember: listen to your Mother, OK?