New Year's Fears Enviro Show

 

New Year's Greetings Earthlings. Let's hope the next one isn't so.....um...fraught? May old acquaintances be forgotten in Washington and hope come alive in days to come. We are slimming down the blog as one of our New Year resolutions, inserting d.o.'s reading of his epic poem "2020 Hindsight" for a few of the usual segments. Karl Meyer will phone in with news of the river that runs between us and we will take you with us to witness our Fool-on-the-Hill and His Malignancy The Mad King and his enablers at their worst but first it's time for..........Revenge of the Critters!  New Hampshire Libertarians meet Black Bears....at their peril. 

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is Arkansas Repugnican Rep. Bruce Westerman who came under fire for proposing a “Trillion Trees Act” that would pair a commitment to planting trees with a plan to increase logging on public lands. We guess Bruce thinks he's planning ahead. 

Meanwhile at the other end of the Mall His Malignancy The Mad King is working on his sorry legacy. The League of Conservation Voters tell us His Malignacy's "...Interior Department has indicated that they are preparing to officially announce an expansion of offshore drilling near Southern California, Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, and a number of Mid-Atlantic states. The plan is being fast-tracked to ensure Trump can leave a legacy of opening up vast swathes of our coast to Big Oil."  So, The Mad King escapes DC after making threats about declaring marshal law, giving free passes to his partners in crime and threatening to shut the government down at the same time he stirs up his crazed lunatic fringe to challenge the Jan. 6 Congressional election results event. Stay tuned! 

After you hear from d.o. & Karl it's off to the Bus Stop Billboard: 

Wednesday January 13, 2021. Energy Commissions Networking Call.  MCAN is bringing together volunteer energy commissions to share insights and strategies for developing impactful local actions through the work of the commissions.  Please contact Rose if you would like to join this call (rose@massclimateaction.net)  

Thursday January 14,  9am. DCR Stewardship Council meeting. All meetings are from 9-11:30 a.m. via Zoom. Public comment is usually around 9:30 am, after approval of the minutes. Anyone can make a 2-3 minute comment to the Council about a topic related to their oversight of DCR. To get on the list for offering a public comment, send an email to Lisa Barstow at the beginning of the meeting. lisa.barstow@mass.gov     Zoom Meeting ID: 834 5403 8777  Password: 976809

Monday January 18, 2021 from 5-6pm. Social Media for Advocacy webinar.  We will be presenting best practices on how to use social media for advocacy campaigns.  Tips and tools will be presented. We want to make sure our advocates have these technology tools ready for the next legislative session! Please contact Rose if you would like to know more (rose@massclimateaction.net)  

 

Tuesday, February 2, 7:00 – 8:30p.m. Climate Action Now presents "Soil Health and Carbon Sequestration Series -Beyond Stopping Emissions: How Healthy Soil and Plants Can Help Restore Climate Balance". Carbon Farming: Impact of Agrochemicals on Soils and Climate . with Ed Stockman of NOFA & Regeneration MASS. Register HERE

OK, we'll see you (we hope) next year. Just remember to listen to your Mother, OK?

Winter Solstice 2020 Enviro Show

 

Winter Solstice Greetings Enviro Show listeners. Once again we celebrate the Return of the Light as well as the demise of the ill-advised biomass scheme at Dartmouth College. John Tuthill & Meg Sheehan, members of the Upper Valley Clean Air Committee will report to us on that victory. Like we've always said, woody biomass is a biomess and our Winter Solstice wish is for Palmer Biomass to follow Dartmouth's example. Lizzy Pereira of Sunrise Hampden County joins us to talk about just that as we approach a New Year and a light at the end of the tunnel that is not an on coming train. As always, we'll also take to to see this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and to witness the sorry machinations of that Loser-in-Chief His Malignancy The Mad King and his court of crazed evil clowns as they fade back into the swamp of their own making. All that and mnore but first it's time for.........Revenge of the Critters! A Winter Solstice Special: When penguins attack! 

 This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is Congressman Mike Johnson (again), repugnican from Louisiana who circulated an email from his personal account to GOP members asking them to join a friend-of-the-court brief to be filed in support of an effort to subvert electoral democracy spearheaded by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (who himself is under investigation for corruption).  126 House repugs joined Johnson in his brief backing Texas' case which argued governors, state courts and election officials from other states usurped the constitutional authority of state legislatures by certifying President Elect Biden's victory over The Mad King.  So, it's actually 106 Fools-on-the-Hill......sorry.  

His Malignancy The Mad King Loser-in-Chief continues to deny he lost the election in November and continued to send in carloads of evil clown lawyers at every possible chance to present their baseless conspiracy theories even his recently packed Supreme Court rejected. And yet, The Mad King and his criminal underlings still had time to continue their assaults on the planet and its inhabitants, of course.  For instance, His Malignancy's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finalized a proposal to roll back vital Endangered Species Act protections for the iconic Gray Wolf which were nearly exterminated in the mid-20th century due to predator control policies in the Lower 48 states.You can take action about that HERE. Also, Gizmodo reports: "the White House announced this week that [The Mad King] was appointing a climate denier to serve on the committee that chooses recipients of the National Medal of Science.That person is David Legates, who in the span of a few months has gone from the crank circuit of climate denial to a role in shaping the most important climate report the federal government puts out." Of course, once were rid of His Malignancy next month that guy will be back on the crank circuit doing his worst. And, even while there's some good news to report with a win for the wild Arctic in which a federal appeals court on Monday rejected the Trump administration's approval of what would have been the first offshore oil-drilling development located fully in federal Arctic waters, there's still the bad news The Mad King is rushing through a process to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's coastal plain to lease for oil drilling. The Bureau of Land Management has announced the official sale date for drilling rights in the Arctic Refuge will be January 6th, 2021. Hopefully the new occupants in the White House will reverse that madness and a lot more. 

Finally, how about another Enviro Show Quote of the Week? 

"When you listen to the President, these are the musings of an imbecile. An idiot. And I don't use those words to name call. I use them because they are the precise words of the English language to describe his behavior. His comportment. His actions. We've never seen a level of incompetence, a level of ineptitude so staggering on a daily basis by anybody in the history of the country whose ever been charged with substantial responsibilities. "    - Steve Schmidt, founder of The Lincoln Project.

On to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Monday December 28, 7 to 9pm. Monthly Climate Action Now! Gathering. We’ve been have wonderful virtual gatherings via ZOOM during the time of COVID closure. Look out for zoom registration details before the next meeting in our newsletter or on facebook. https://www.facebook.com/ClimateActionNowMA 

Wednesday January 6, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm. The Green Industry’s Black Thumb: Plastic Pots. Plastic horticultural pots are the primary vessels used in horticulture and landscaping. Without them, the Green Industry would not have grown to be the multi-billion dollar industry it is today. Primarily after single use, billions of plastic plant pots are disposed of annually in the United States. A staggering 98% end up in landfills and are not recycled. Join Marie Soulliere-Chieppo for this enlightening expose and learn more about ways to mitigate this disposal problem. Read more and register

Wednesday January 13, 2021. Energy Commissions Networking Call.  MCAN is bringing together volunteer energy commissions to share insights and strategies for developing impactful local actions through the work of the commissions.  Please contact Rose if you would like to join this call (rose@massclimateaction.net) 

Monday January 18, 2021 from 5-6pm. Social Media for Advocacy webinar.  We will be presenting best practices on how to use social media for advocacy campaigns.  Tips and tools will be presented. We want to make sure our advocates have these technology tools ready for the next legislative session! Please contact Rose if you would like to know more (rose@massclimateaction.net)  

 That's it for now, more event listings later. Remember to listen to your Mother & Happy Winter Solstice!