Another All Consuming Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. It's another year and another Stop Shopping Day is upon us but we're not going to simply go on and on about all that conspicious consumption at the mall or on so-called Cyber Monday.  No, this time we're going big picture and talking about humans consuming the entire planet! Bob Massie, candidate for governor of the Commonwealth calls in to discuss his environmental platform and his concerns about Big Biomass. [UPDATE: Here's the audio link from this show] Bob wrote this to us recently: "Charlie Baker's labeling of large-scale biomass, as a form or renewable energy, is misleading at best.  Using combustion to wood products to generate heat and power is not much different from burning coal.  Both add to the already damaging high level of green house gases in our atmosphere that are affecting climate today.  In fact, burning wood pellets creates slightly more (3% more) greenhouse gases than a cogeneration plant."  We couldn't agree more.  As always we'll also take you for a holiday season visit with His Malignancy The Mad King and this week's Fool-on-the-Hill, as well as a stop off to The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, but first it's time for............Revenge of the Critters! Nobody likes going to the dentist, right? Maybe this turkey was one of those disgruntled patients in another life? Turkeys and life at Thanksgiving time? Try this!

Speaking of conspicuous consumption let's see what The Mad King is up to these days. We guess His Malignancy wants us to burn more coal and build more nukes 'cuz that was about it for U.S. participation in the 23rd United Nations climate change conference where reps from those industries held one event and then hid in a tiny little office, maybe under their desks? A Mother Jones reporter noted: "When I visited again on Monday, a US representative stepped out of the office, noticed a group of journalists (me included), and ducked back inside." Yes, the optics are like comedy but hey, isn't it a.....CLIMATE CRISIS!!  But, on the subject of dark comedy, did you witness the cringe worthy confirmation hearing for Kathleen Hartnett White, His Malignancy’s nominee to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality? We already reported on Kathleen's climate crisis denial but as Grist reports: "Senator Sheldon Whitehouse....quizzed Hartnett White over how much excess heat in the atmosphere is absorbed by oceans. “I believe there are differences of opinions on that,” she said, “that there’s not one right answer.” For the record, the number is about 90 percent." BTW, that coal and nuke panel The Mad King's creepy clown car riders setup at the UN climate conference was totally disrupted by the Valley's own Dineen O'Rourke and others from the group SustainUS. Finally, articles of impeachment were introduced in the House of Reps on Wednesday. 

Ready to meet our Fool-on-the-Hill? We have a surprise for you! Grist tells us:  "In a joint subcommittee hearing held on Wednesday, House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chair Lamar Smith said the technology “could have positive effects on the Earth’s atmosphere” and “reduce global temperatures or pull excess greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere.” What?? We thought this fool didn't believe in those things?

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we rerun multiple reports of a We-told-you-so! 200,000+ tar sands oil leak in the infamous TransCanada Keystone pipeline. So.........WE TOLD YOU SO! Common Dreams just reported out on this nightmare and Bill McKibben has put out a call to Promise and Protect!  Here's a video story from the BBC on Facebook regarding Garbage Island down in the Caribbean (book your stay early and avoid the rush!). Our Enviro Show Blog Action Link concerns the Mad King's nominee for head of Council on Environmental Frivolity (above). Go HERE to register your protest. 

We have Breaking News! Longtime Enviro Show listeners may be familiar with this. We read excerpts from the original World Scientists Warning to Humanity on our very first show and again on the 20th anniversary of the Warning. Now it is 25 years and counting so we all get a second notice. 

A bit of E-valley-uation here. In case you wonder why we tend to refer to our regional utility as Evilsource, get a load of this headline from the Berkshire Edge: "Utilities manipulated natural gas supplies, causing artificial shortages, soaring energy prices, study finds" . Class Action lawsuit anyone?

After our conversation with Bob Massie we take you over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Saturday November 18, 10:30am -  12:00pm. Uphold Paris, Uphold MA's Climate Legacy

Boston Common (directly behind the Robert Gould Shaw & the 54th Regiment Memorial, across from the Massachusetts State House) Map.  Join us on November 18th to make history -- literally. During this interactive, inspiring, and family-friendly event, we'll record in a Time Capsule what Bay Staters love and are fighting to protect from climate change. We'll hold up the people and places most at risk from climate change and we'll ask Governor Baker to leave a climate legacy we can all be proud of by banning new fossil fuel infrastructure and committing us to a 100% renewable energy future! 

Tuesday, November 21, Noon to 1pm.  Weekly TD Bank Vigil to pressure TD to divest from Dakota Access Pipeline. 324 Main Street, Greenfield, MA. Contact Hattie at 978-790-3074

Monday November 27, 7:00pm -  9:00pm. Climate Action Now Monthly Gathering. Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst, 121 N. Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA.  Coming together once a month to meet each other, plan, and imagine how to contribute, in our corner of the world, to the urgent fight against climate change . They love to meet newcomers, whether you are brand new to activism or have been doing this a long time. Go to: http://climateactionnowma.org

Saturday December 2, 1:00pm -  3:00pm. Sustainability Social, Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary, 127 Combs Rd., Easthampton, MA  01027 Map. Join Northeast Solar, Center for EcoTechnology, HeatSmart Northampton, and Mass Audubon for a Sustainability Social at Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary. We will have electric cars on view, heating and cooling efficiency experts, solar power representatives and home energy savings pros on hand to discuss many aspect of sustainable living.

Saturday, December 2, 10am - 12:30pm. Action Workshop - Eliminating Nuclear Weapons. With Trump's finger on the nuclear button, now is the time to take action before it is too late. This workshop will explore how residents, students and others in the Northampton-Amherst area can start right now implementing the new Treaty - on college campuses, at town meetings and in many other places. Northampton Friends Meeting, 43 Center St., Suite 202, Northampton

Tuesday, December 5, 4pm - 6:30pm. Action Workshop - Eliminating Nuclear Weapons, 145 Integrated Science Building, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, MA. [see above]

Wednesday, December 6, 7- 8:30pm. Air Source Heat Pumps – The Latest in Efficient Heating & Cooling. Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 845 West Street | Amherst MA.
FREE, Registration appreciated. An air source heat pump is a system which transfers heat from outside to inside a building, or vice versa. Air at any temperature above absolute zero contains some energy. An air-source heat pump transfers (‘pumps’) some of this energy as heat from one place to another, for example between the outside and inside of a building. This can provide space heating or cooling. A single system can be designed to transfer heat in either direction, to heat or cool the interior of the building in winter and summer respectively.

That's all  folks! Until next time remember: Listen to your Mother, OK?

We go out with Tom Neilson's "Biomess" about the biomass scheme we drove out of Greenfield, Massachusetts not all that long ago. The song could use a bit of updating but certainly applies to the struggle we still face today in protecting our forests from the Biomess! 

An Enviro Show Special: It's the Trees, Stupid!

Greetings Earthlings. We know, we know: "When will they ever stop talking about the trees", right? How about never? Does never work for you? The fact of the matter is, without protecting and preserving the trees and forest soil climate chaos will be even worse than your worse nightmare. But don't just take our word for it (even though Glen is a soil scientist) listen to William R. Moomaw, Professor Emeritus of International Environmental Policy at the Fletcher School, Tufts University. We'll be devoting the entire hour to Bill's presentation last month at GCTV in Greenfield. Of course, here on the blog we'll still engage in the usual fracas with the Fool-on-the-Hill and the Mad King, as well as a raucous trip to The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, but first it's time for.............Revenge of the Critters! Another listener suggested winner: Rhino takes down poacher!!

On to His Malignancy The Mad King who is trying to reverse 52 environmental rules during his brief rein; yes, one for each week of the year. We'll call it The Year of Our Discontent. Apparently, His Malignancy's  "budget proposal would slash the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s budget by 16 percent, including 6 percent from the National Weather Service" according to our friends at Grist. Meanwhile, The Mad King's fellow climate criminal over at the EPA has now blocked expert scientists from the agency's advisory boards even as the government's own Climate Assessment refutes all the administration's climate denial!  We guess Pruitt and the flat-Earth crowd only wants advice from their friends in Big Oil. And this:"Trump recently nominated coal industry lobbyist Andrew Wheeler to fill the number two spot at  the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), doubling down on his anti-climate agenda and his dangerous campaign promise to prop up the failing dirty coal industry." There's an action link here. Finally, it looks like The Mad King's pick for Secretary of Health comes straight out of Big Pharma. At least His Malignancy is consistent in placing corporados in high places, no? 

We have Breaking News! The air is..........too clean?? 

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill would also fit nicely above in The Mad King's segment.....except he's already been there recently As His Malignancy's pick to head NASA (in spite of the fact this guy has zero experience in science or engineering). Yes, it's another Oklahoma enemy of the Earth, Rep. Jim Bridenstine, a Repugnican climate criminal who just got trashed for his flat-Earth mentality and inexperience for the job at a nomination hearing. Watch the accompanying video on the link for some of the fool's previous remarks. We recommend you bring along a hot air sickness bag, just in case.

Our Quote of the Week fits nicely into the theme of this show on trees. It's from Jim McCaffrey formerly of  MA Sierra Club: 

"Many of you may remember fighting for strong biomass regulations for electricity production. Thanks to grassroots action, we won battles to shut down biomass plants in Greenfield and Russell, and to adopt the strictest standards in the nation for Massachusetts’ Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard.

Now the MA Department of Energy Resources is trying to push through even weaker biomass regulations for heat generation that will encourage more dirty biomass boilers to be built in communities across the state."

If Enviro Show listeners want to do something to stop this madness please go HERE. 

On to The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and this post-Halloween scare from Grist. Speaking of frightful things we read recently that the MA Department of Cut & Run .......err, sorry, Conservation? and Wreckreation? whatever, has considered actually poisoning beech trees in some of our state forests! 

On to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Saturday, November 4, 10 AM – 1 PM. It’s easy to take trees for granted if you see them everyday, but our region still holds some historic forests. Come walk among one of the Valley’s examples of old growth forest, guided by old growth forest expert and educator, Bob Leverett. You’ll learn what the mature forests on Mount Tom reservation contribute ecologically, historically, culturally, aesthetically, and even from a human health perspective. Space is limited and registration is required. Rain date: November 5.  Fee: Free (Donations appreciated) RSVP: Required online  

Sunday, November 5, 5:30pm. A climate march with candles and banners from Northampton High School on Elm Street to City Hall. This is a replay of our hopeful march 2 years ago when we demanded that President Obama stand up for the future of the world in Paris at the 2015 UN Climate Conference. We will rally with people young and old, elected officials and religious leaders and demand that that hopeful future be reclaimed. Contact: <martygjf@comcast.net> 

Monday, November 6, 12:15 to 12:45pm. A  stand out in front of Charlie Baker’s Office at Dwight Street in Springfield. We will demand that he Stand Up to Reclaiming Our Future. We will deliver a list of demands to make Massachusetts a fossil fuel-free model for the country and ask him to meet with us. Contact: <martygjf@comcast.net> 

Thursday, Nov 16, 12:15-12:45. Reclaiming Our Future event #3.  Protest Rally in Springfield  in front of State Office Building 436 Dwight St. Springfield. We'll be showing up outside Gov Baker's Springfield office at lunchtime. We have an executive order which we think Governor Baker should sign. This day marks the start of this year's international climate conference. Reclaiming Our Future March & Protest Rally in Northampton on the Eve of the Bonn Climate Talks.  We are protesting the policies even in our own state of Massachusetts that keep us on the path toward climate breakdown. The Trump administration withdrew USA from the 2015 Paris Climate agreement, making us one of only 2 countries in the entire world who have not agreed to work together to reduce emissions. Contact: <martygjf@comcast.net> 

That's  all for now. Remember to do what? Listen to your Mother, of course!