The Two Flags Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Have you ever noticed the Massachusetts state flag? Chances are if you happen to be Native American you are well aware of the colonial sword over the head of the indigenous man on the shield. David Detmold returns to the show to talk about Change The Mass Flag  along with Amalia Four Hawks joining us in the studio as well. Also, our friend Karl Meyer raises a red flag about what's going on with the Connecticut River, the Canadian FirstLight Hydro Generating Company and those tiresome bureaucrats at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC Don't Work!) As usual, we will also take you to visit this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and to witness The Mad King and his enablers at work destroying everything we hold sacred. We may even have time for a Quote of the week but first it's time for.........Revenge of the Critters! If humans are busy trashing the climate they have to expect some unusual visitors at their door.

Our Fool-on-the-Hill, along with most of his Repugnican climate criminals seems to have a problem with the Green New Deal. Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois,  the House Environment and Climate Change subcommittee's ranking Repug, called it "radical." He denounced "top down government requirements to rapidly decarbonize" as little more than "wealth transfer schemes." We guess he missed the memo about Life on Earth having little more than a decade to decarbonize?

On to His Malignancy The Mad King. Our friends at Grist tell us His Malignancy's "National Emergency" wall isn’t just "an expensive [and dangerous] political maneuver; its construction poses a threat to Tohono O’odham Nation land and culture, as well as biodiversity, wildlife refuges along the border, and endangered species. Case in point: One study shows that the wall threatens 93 endangered species." Speaking of National Emergencies, His Malignancy is reportedly "organizing a new committee to examine whether climate change poses a threat to national security, to be led by notorious climate change denier, Princeton University professor emeritus William Happer...William Happer has long claimed increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will actually benefit humans[!] He has compared the fight against climate change to the Holocaust, saying, “The demonization of carbon dioxide is just like the demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler.” OK, meanwhile, The Mad King's EPA is getting ready to wipe out Obama era protections for wetlands and drinking water, in another giveaway to corporate polluters. One of the first things @EPAAWheeler did as acting administrator was begin a process to gut safeguards for communities from #CoalAsh. The public will have until April 15 to comment on the proposed change. And this: More than a dozen Republican senators and even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have supported The Kigali Amendment to reduce the use of potent greenhouse gases in air conditioning and refrigeration. Guess who hasn't? Yup, the Climate Criminal-in-Chief whose Interior Department might better be described as the Inferior Dept. even after Lyin' Ryan is history! Finally, Grist reports His Malignancy "imposed tariffs against imported solar panels, along with two key materials — steel and aluminum. Companies, uncertain about exactly how these tariffs will work, have put the brakes on operations. By last June, companies had canceled or delayed the construction of $2.5 billion worth of solar facilities, according to Reuters." Maybe The Mad King would prefer more coal power to make America great again?

Time for our Quote of the Week:

"The science that we are doing is a threat to the world’s most powerful and wealthiest special interests. The most powerful and wealthiest special interest that has ever existed: the fossil fuel industry. They have used their immense resources to create fake scandals and to fund a global disinformation campaign aimed at vilifying the scientists, discrediting the science, and misleading the public and policymakers. Arguably, it is the most villainous act in the history of human civilization, because it is about the short-term interests of a small number of plutocrats over the long-term welfare of this planet and the people who live on it."

                                                                                                             -climate scientist Michael Mann


On to "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!"  Your Climate Crisis denying neighbor might want to know about this one: "This should be at the top of every news bulletin and every government's agenda around the world." It's enough to make a body want to get back in the garden......if it weren't for all the ticks. Have you joined the Youth Legal Action for a Safe Climate yet? You can start HERE. 

The Enviro Show Echo Chamber is back. Our friends organizing around that sketchy Pilgrim Nuke over in Plymouth are asking if you "Will you send a letter today to make sure Pilgrim is closed safely?"  

After we talk with our guests it's time for the Bus Stop Billboard:

Monday, March 11, 1pm. Fukushima Anniversary Vigil.  Paula Sharaga was organizing a demonstration at the Japan Consulate in Boston.  In her memory, Boston Downwinders have asked we all join together on that day for the vigil from noon to one o'clock. We then plan to go to the state house to meet with representatives and lobby if the Pilgrim bills have been assigned to committees by then. Go to:   http://www.capedownwinders.info


Thursday March 14, 6:30pm. Pollinators! Silent Spring & Rachel Carson's Legacy. Jon Zon Community Center, 35 Pleasant Street, Greenfield, MA. Learn about effects of pesticides on Pollinators. Contact Pat Hynes, Traprock Center for Peace and Justice board
http://traprock.org


 Friday March 15, 8am to 3pm.  MA Youth Climate Strike!  Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon St, Boston, Massachusetts 02108. As part of the global movement, youth from across Massachusetts will be striking on March 15 to fight for our futures & demand that our lawmakers put an end to climate change. #YouthStrikesUSA #ClimateStrike #YouthClimateStrike #GreenNewDeal Why should we go to school and learn to prepare ourselves for our future when our future is not being protected by our country's lawmakers? Why should we go to school to learn information and facts, when facts are clearly not valued by our country who fails to look at the facts and take action against climate change?

Saturday, March 16, 1 – 4pm. Celebrate the Struggle - 100 Years - 100 Signs! What better way to celebrate and honor Frances Crowe on her 100th Birthday than to show up with a sign about the issues- ones you care about and work for and ones Frances cares about. Our goal is to get you and 99 others- 100 people- holding 100 signs. We will march from 33 Hawley St. and up Main Street, then back to Hawley St. and inside for a proper celebration! Let us know you're coming at the new Facebook event, and please check there for updates at we get closer! https://www.facebook.com/events/378001776116409/


 Monday March 18, 2019 - 6:30 to 8:30pm. Inter-Tribal, International Forum on Indigenous Resistance, Environmental Struggle and 21st Century Survival. Bernie Dallas Room, Goodell Hall, UMass, Amherst, MA.
 


That's it for now. Remember to.....what? LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER!

The Love & Protect All Beings Enviro Show

 

Greetings Earthlings. We are back and just a few days before Valentines Day when we are all supposed to generate love rather than sales. We here on The Enviro Show have tried for well over a decade to help others to feel the love when it comes to Planet Earth and her inhabitants (with some exceptions) so why stop now? Mara Silver of Save Our Swallows joins us in the studio to discuss the Barn Swallow issue at the Fort River Division of the Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge in Hadley, MA. We love Swallows, they're like the stunt pilots of the avian world without all the noise. Also Wendell Tree Warden Corine Baker joins us to celebrate the Trees. As usual we will also take you on a visit to see this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and to join with us in witnessing His Malignancy The Mad King and his enablers destroying all we hold sacred. We will also be making the point that...."It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" and more, but first it's time for............Revenge of the Critters! Moose wanders into a hospital in Alaska maybe to complain humans are making her sick? 

Our Fool-on-the-Hill is Repugnican Representative Jason Smith of Missouri who, like any brain dead Repug, shouted “Go back to Puerto Rico” as Democratic Repsentative Tony Cárdenas, who is of Mexican descent, waited to address the U.S. House of Representatives. Wait, are you sure that wasn't some kid from junior high school? Talk about a class act!

 Onto His Malignancy The Mad King! Here's a great headline to start us off: "Trump Says He’s Too Intelligent to Believe Climate Change Report".  Of course, his entire Intelligence community refutes The Mad King's dangerous and ignorant comments as does the vast majority of scientists around this troubled planet. O wait, did we forget to mention his own court soothsayers?   And this just in from Friends of the Earth: His Malignancy "just announced he will nominate David Bernhardt, a former high paid oil lobbyist, to run the Department of Interior. As Secretary, Bernhardt will be responsible for fossil fuel leasing on our public lands and waters and implementing Trump’s plan to gut the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. If confirmed, you can imagine what will happen next -- Bernhardt could use his position to help his Big Oil friends dismantle basic protections like the Endangered Species Act and allow the fossil fuel industry to destroy our public lands and waters." Meanwhile, The Mad King's wall-of-shame has some other drawbacks going against it besides overt racism and general inhumanity. More than 2,500 scientists from around the world have endorsed a study that concluded the U.S. border wall will be devastating to local animal species. So, it appears His Malignancy is the enemy of the people and the critters. Back in the day there was a special go-to for rulers like The Mad King, yes? Finally, His Malignancy can't very well be the Enemy-of-Earth-in-Chief without hacking down as many trees as possible, right? Of course, he says increasing logging in our forests will, like raking leave, help prevent forest fires but who believes anything The Mad King says??

Here's our Quote of the Week in keeping with the theme of our show: 

“We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that the animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect them and love them as we love ourselves.”

― Cesar Chavez 

OK, no more Mr. Nice Guy. It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!....OK?  When you read "The [Greenland] ice sheet is adding more to sea level rise than any time in the last three and a half centuries, new research suggests. Could it be nearing a tipping point?" what do you think? We've been talking about the Greenland ice sheet for years on this show, how its meltdown will raise the sea level so much more than the melting at the Poles. Our favorite strolling troubadour and roving reporter even wrote a song about it.  The Green New Deal was launched in DC on Tuesday even though it's a work in progress.  The Deal now mentions forest protection and aforestation, the former of which we were able to get in the 11th hour (special thanks to the Boston Sunrise Movement.) Read the text of the (for now) non-binding resolution HERE. We're working on that as are some important allies. Stay tuned! 

After we speak with our guests it's time to head over to the Bus Stop billboard:

Sunday, February 24, 2 – 6pm. Climate Change Postcard Writing Event. We'll have postcards, experts, and sample messages. Also food and beverages, no need to bring anything. Please come and write some postcards for your legislators. Bring friends. 6 Ryan Hill Road, Leverett, MA.  Questions? Call Ann Ferguson at 413-367-2310.

Monday, February 25, 2019 at 5:30 – 8pm. Forum  on the Green New Deal. The Green New Deal has captivated the attention of people around the country. It puts forth a plan to decarbonize our economy and produce millions of jobs along the way. Learn more about what a Green New Deal could look like at the federal, state, and local levels.

Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Ave, Pittsfield, Massachusetts 01201. Go HERE for info. 

Monday February 25, 7 to 9pm. Climate Action Now Monthly Meeting. First Churches of Northampton, 129 Main Street, Northampton, MA.  Come at 6:45 for Special Gallery Viewings. Go to: climateactionnowma.org 



Tuesday February 26, 4 to 5pm. Sunrise Movement Tells Rep. Neal : Time to Get Onboard with the Green New Deal. We met with Rep. Neal on 2/13 and asked him to co-sponsor the Resolution on a Green New Deal. If he does not sign on by the 26th he must need to hear from some constituents to let him know we all want a GREEN NEW DEAL!! So we are going to turn out in force to his office in Springfield. This might be the biggest Sunrise Action in MA ever! Join us am make your voices heard! Go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/2540018672738551/ 



Thursday February 28, 7 to 8:30pm. Biomass, Why Should We Care?  Hitchcock Center, 845 West St, Amherst. Registration and donations appreciated. Mary Booth will discuss her extensive research about Biomass.  Biomass energy is booming because in theory, biomass energy is renewable and “carbon neutral” and can reduce carbon emissions that accelerate global warming. Because it is considered renewable it is eligible for multiple tax credits, subsidies, and incentives. In practice, however, wood-burning biomass is the biggest carbon polluter of all, per unit of energy generated. It is worse than coal, worse than oil, and worse than natural gas, both because of the low energy to carbon ratio inherent in wood, and also because biomass facilities generally operate at considerably lower efficiencies than fossil fueled facilities.



 Friday March 15, 8am to 3pm.  MA Youth Climate Strike!  Massachusetts State House

24 Beacon St, Boston, Massachusetts 02108. As part of the global movement, youth from across Massachusetts will be striking on March 15 to fight for our futures & demand that our lawmakers put an end to climate change. #YouthStrikesUSA #ClimateStrike #YouthClimateStrike #GreenNewDeal Why should we go to school and learn to prepare ourselves for our future when our future is not being protected by our country's lawmakers? Why should we go to school to learn information and facts, when facts are clearly not valued by our country who fails to look at the facts and take action against climate change?

That's all for now, folks. Please remember to listen to your Mother, OK?