Greetings Earthlings. We seem to be running out of titles for shows focused on climate science and related stories. Given THE critical issue of our times, The Climate Crisis, is forever being updated and expounded upon perhaps it's a good thing we have to keep coming up with headlines or new titles. Shaina Sadai, a PhD Candidate at UMass Amherst studying climate change joins us for a conversation about her work in climate science and her activism as well. As always, we will also take you along to see this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and to remind anyone who has been in a coma for the past few decades that....."It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" That and more, but first it's time for............Revenge of the Critters! River Otter didn't care to share.
Here's a Fool-on-the-Hill we haven't featured in the past, not because we didn't know this fool was out there but since there are so many to choose from she got lost in the shuffle. That said, she stepped into it big time recently: "“The American people deserve to know the truth that Nancy Pelosi bears responsibility as speaker of the House for the tragedy that occurred on Jan. 6,” said Representative Elise Stefanik, Repugnican of New York and, now the party’s No. 3 fool.
Our guest will no doubt be much more diplomatic than us in reminding everyone that "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" But it's not just us with the reminders, NPR (of all people) recently noted July was the hottest month in all recorded history! And look what Rolling Stone came out with recently. The feature is focused on the Greenland ice sheet we've discussed on this show for years now in all its scary implications. Our guest's work is focused primarily on the Antarctic so we may as well go international on this show 'cuz the Climate Crisis knows no borders. On another note some of you older listeners may remember all the brouhaha back in the 1970s over The Club of Rome? "In 1972, a team of MIT scientists got together to study the risks of civilizational collapse. Their system dynamics model published by the Club of Rome identified impending ‘limits to growth’.. that meant industrial civilization was on track to collapse sometime within the 21st century, due to overexploitation of planetary resources." Back then, radicals and liberals alike trashed the study and those, like Henry Kissinger (of all people!) who supported it. The political left, which saw the study as a scam by the elites designed to trick workers into believing that a proletarian paradise was a pipe dream. Flash forward 50 years and read THIS from Vice. The study was uncomfortably close to today. Who knew! Finally, we find Scientific American reminds us of the natural carbon capture potential of the world's oceans.........without mentioning the growing threats of acidification on that potential?
Time for some Backslidin' with Biden we guess? We're not sure how much the Prez had a hand in those subsidies for the fossil fools and corporado loggers in the "bipartisan" Infrastructure bill voted out of the Senate, now in the House, but Reuters reported recently the Biden administration is supportive of a production tax credits for existing nukes. "This would increase costs for consumers and delay the uptake of cheaper, cleaner renewables." And This: Did you see The Prez driving around the White House last week in an all-electric Jeep? That big....umm....rollout? took place at the same time as this was reported by the Center for Biological Diversity: "The Biden administration is proposing new tailpipe emissions standards today that are weaker than what automakers agreed to with the Obama administration nearly a decade ago. Today’s proposed rules were supposed to deliver on President Biden’s climate pledges by reining in the country’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, carmakers successfully lobbied for loopholes that will allow them to keep making polluting cars, SUVs and trucks, escaping pollution controls through lavish credits for electric vehicles and other technologies." 😠
Time for another Enviro Show Quote of the Week. This one is germane to the theme of this show:
"We are the first generation to feel the sting of climate change, and we are the last generation that can do something about it."
- Governor Jay Inslee
After our conversation with Shaina it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:
Friday September 3, 11am. Stop Funding Fossils and Commercial Logging, Expand Medicare, and Expand Union Rights. Currently your taxes are funding the climate crisis and fossil fuel industry profits. They also pay to line the pockets of companies destroying the earth’s lungs. As Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Neal will play a key role in ending these practices and passing the Reconciliation Budget package in the House. For the next four weeks we will show up at Rep. Neal’s office to tell him it is time to stand up to the fossil fuel dinosaurs and climate criminals. The climate crisis is urgent and demands a far reaching solution. Richie Neal could make that happen! Office of Rep. Richie Neal, 300 State Street, Springfield, MA 01105. Go HERE.
Wednesday September. 8, 7:30pm. .Join WMass Extinction Rebellion to hear about recent actions and plan for our next steps toward regenerative culture and action against fossil fuel infrastructure. Place TBA. Go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/2984852311835948
Thursday September 9, 11am. Stop Funding Fossils and Commercial Logging, Expand Medicare, and Expand Union Rights. Currently
your taxes are funding the climate crisis and fossil fuel industry
profits. They also pay to line the pockets of companies destroying the
earth’s lungs. As Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Neal
will play a key role in ending these practices and passing the
Reconciliation Budget package in the House. For the next four weeks we
will show up at Rep. Neal’s office to tell him it is time to stand up to
the fossil fuel dinosaurs and climate criminals. The climate crisis is
urgent and demands a far reaching solution. Richie Neal could make that
happen! Office of Rep. Richie Neal, 300 State Street, Springfield, MA 01105. Go HERE.
Friday September 17, All Day. The radical change we need will only come from lots of ordinary people taking action. We must find the means to enter the public discourse where the truth and the extent of climate action required to avert climate catastrophe, biodiversity loss, and minimize the risk of social and ecological collapse can emerge. Treat this year like it’s Do or Die for the planet by standing with us. New York City (specifics coming soon). Go HERE.
Monday September 20, All Day. National Day of Action - Congress Bring it Home. This fall, Congress has the opportunity to demonstrate their power to improve people’s lives by passing a robust climate centered infrastructure package that includes a Civilian Climate Corps and bold investments towards public housing, schools, transit and renewable energy – a historic piece of legislation that will kick off the Decade of the Green New Deal. Find or hold an event HERE.
Wednesday, September 29, 7:30-8:30 pm. (Audience Q&A from 8:00-8:30) Community Solar: A Brief Introduction. There's a lot of info out there about solar panels for individual homes,
but what about community solar projects? Tom Michelman, Senior Director
at Sustainable Energy Advantage,
will talk about the definition(s) of Community Solar and how it varies
across the country. With an emphasis on northeast US execution, his
presentation will focus on how Community Solar is being implemented in
practice, as well as its benefits and costs (including societal /
environmental costs). Register here.
That's all folks. Untiul next time remember to do....what? Yes, listen to your Mother!
