Still Another Autumn Equinox Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. We hope you all have a timely Autumnal Equinox this time around and that you don't fall back on anything too hard, all things being equal (sorry). Our old friend the Enviro Show roving reporter bardic insurgent, singer-songwriter Tom Neilson returns to the show for a premier performance of his latest album "Give Trees a Chance". This abbreviated version of the show will feature many of our favorite cuts on the album along with our conversation with Tom. Of course, we can't forget to bring you along to meet this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and maybe some other of the usual segments, but first it's time for.........Revenge of the Critters! It's said "You can't fix stupid!" but maybe if you just add a bit of alcohol and a highly poisonous snake? 

We have a dastardly duo for a special Fools-on-the-Hill this time. Of course Repugnican Margie Greene is no stranger to this segment but this time she's teamed up with the Minority Leader of the House, Kevin McCarthy who is more crime boss than fool and he surely hasn't been fooling around in his ugly defense of fellow domestic terrorists. In any case, Forbes ran a story on the dastardly duo's attempt at extorting telecommunications companies from honoring congressional requests: "In a complaint filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington president Noah Bookbinder, the watchdog group points to McCarthy’s statement on Tuesday that Republicans, if they retake Congress, “will not forget” if the companies comply, vowing to hold them “fully accountable under the law.” It also highlights Greene stating in a Fox News interview, “If they go along with this, they will be shut down,” suggesting both comments violate House rules requiring members to “behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House.” Or maybe seem a bit....um...thuggish? 

Since Tom's new album is dedicated to the Trees it seems fitting we fall back on The Enviro Show Echo Chamber for this one from The Guardian titled "Anti-logging protest becomes Canada’s biggest ever act of civil disobedience". This sustained action has been going on for many months now but it never got any traction here in the States (Surprise!) "A string of protests against old-growth logging in western Canada have become the biggest act of civil disobedience in the country’s history, with the arrest of least 866 people since April. The bitter fight over the future of Vancouver Island’s diminishing ancient forests – in which activists used guerrilla methods of resistance such as locking their bodies to the logging road and police responded by beating, dragging and pepper-spraying demonstrators – has surpassed the previous record of arrests set in the 1990s at the anti-logging protests dubbed the 'War in the Woods'."  Naturally, our listeners well know that it's yet another front on The War Against Nature.And This from Grist: "More than 230 publications said unchecked climate change could have “catastrophic” and irreversible consequences for global health." These journals report that the Climate Crisis is “greatest threat to global public health,” 

On that note, how about we check out The Enviro Show Quote of the Week for a seasonal note:

"As Summer into Autumn slips
And yet we sooner say
"The Summer" than "the Autumn," lest
We turn the sun away,

And almost count it an Affront
The presence to concede
Of one however lovely, not
The one that we have loved -

So we evade the charge of Years
On one attempting shy
The Circumvention of the Shaft
Of Life's Declivity."

                 - Emily Dickinson 

After our conversation and listening session with Tom it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard

Tuesday October 5, 7pm.  The Climate Emergency & Nuclear Power.  Register here to receive the zoom link: https://sierraclub.zoom.us/.../tJckcuyoqzwuHdxiL9NC1RX6AU...  Please join a conversation among climate and anti-nuclear activists hosted by Citizens Awareness Network. The purpose of this  event is for people from both "wings" of the environmental movement to hear each other's perspectives and find ways to unite for a carbon-free, nuclear-free energy future.   Please go here for more detailed information  

Wednesday October 6, 7:30pm.  WMass XR Meeting. At our last General Meeting, we heard from several of our members about regenerative culture plans as well as upcoming action against fossil fuel infrastructure, including Line 3, Eversource's planned pipelines, and coal use. Please mark your calendars for our next chapter meeting. (link to come) 

October 11-15, All Day . President Biden: Build Back Fossil Free. Fossil fuel pollution and climate disasters are already disrupting millions of lives. We deserve a world beyond fossil fuels: a world in which workers’ rights, community health, and our shared climate come before corporate profits. That’s why we are coming together to ensure Biden becomes the climate president he promised to be before attending the global climate talks this November. Indigenous people, pipeline fighters, water protectors, young people, scientists, faith leaders, and more are saying enough is enough: it's time to finally place people over fossil fuels. [Wait! what about the Trees??] Go HERE.  

October 17 & 18.  Faiths 4 Climate Justice.  As people of faith, we believe that the Earth and all people are sacred.  UU Ministry for Earth and Side With Love are joining with thousands of other faith groups and community organizations around the world for a global, multi-religious action on October 17 and 18.

That's all folks. Until next time remember to  do....what?  Yes, listen to your Mother!

 

Save the Woodlands Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. We talk a whole lot about saving forests on this show but how about those woodlands that are smaller and maybe closer to home? Nathaniel Thomas and Mimi Turchinetz of the Crane Ledge Woods Coalition joins us to discuss saving "the largest unprotected urban wild remaining in Boston". And speaking of wild, how about we take you to meet this week's Fool-on-the-Hill as well as remind anyone who was busy being raised by wolves out in the Wild that "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" Also, we'll check in with the Prez to see if there's any Backslidin' with Biden and maybe come up with an Enviro Show Quote of the Week but first it's time for............Revenge of the Critters! Do you ever wonder if racehorses get sick & tired of the race?

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is Rep. Madison Cawthorn, (Repugnican-N.C) who, while once again repeating the Big Lie about the presidential election at a gathering at the Macon County Repugnican Party headquarters, also said: “If our election systems continue to be rigged, and continue to be stolen, then it’s going to lead to one place, and it’s bloodshed, I will tell you, as much as I am willing to defend our liberty at all costs, there is nothing that I would dread doing more than having to pick up arms against a fellow American.” Riiiiiiight! We're thinking the veil on that threat is so thin one can't help but see right through it. Once again, another dangerous fool for the FBI's domestic terrorist watch list. 😒

Time now to remind everyone "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" Here's more proof (as if you needed it), a recent NOAA report comes up with yet another eye-popping historical reference: "Atmospheric CO2 Levels Haven't Been This High in 800,000 Years". Biologically speaking that's when your ancestors were running for their lives from giant sabre-toothed cats.  Moving on, remember when everyone was so squeamish about mentioning climate change when talking about hurricanes? OK, that was back when they were also going on about Beanie Babies but not anymore, check this out: "Climate change is now an ingredient in every storm, including Ida."  Hey, times change. Wanna buy some Beanie Babies? And this: Let's remember dirty biomass is decidedly NOT clean renewable energy and should NOT be classified as such by the State of Massachusetts.  Let's revisit our friend, State Senator Jo Comerford on What Gets Defined As Renewable Energy?.

We have to give props to The Prez for finally pulling the plug on the Nation's longest war in history in The Graveyard of the Empires (doesn't anyone learn from history?) but he still has us Backslidin' with Biden when it comes to our War on Nature and the like. It seems, "President Joe Biden’s administration is sticking by the decision under former President Donald Trump to lift protections for gray wolves across most of the U.S" so that iconic keystone species will be mercilessly slaughtered by cowboys and girls. However, on the bright side, Biden's EPA has FINALLY banned Chlorpyrifos pesticide so d.o. won't have to continue trying to pronounce it.  😉

Here's our Enviro Show Quote of the Week, but you'll have to jump into the Wayback Machine with us in order to hear it...

"I went to the woods because I wish to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."  

                                     -  Henry David Thoreau

After our conversation with our guests we head over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

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.

Friday September 17, 3 p.m. Zoom interview with Prof. Bill Moomaw.  "The Critical Role of Forests and Trees in a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency.  Go HERE.  

Saturday September 18, 11am to Noon. CT River Bridge Action. This is a river undefended and left for dead these last 50 years.  Northfield Mountain is an energy-wasting killer. DEMAND the only river cleanup that matters. Tell FERC, ISO-New England, US Fish & Wildlife Service, MA Fish & Wildlife and MA Dept. of Environmental Protection:
“NO FIRSTLIGHT-FERC LICENSE TO KILL!!” Turners Falls/Gill-Montague Bridge over the river, just off Rt.2.  Bring friends, family, kids—anyone, and take just ONE HOUR at a critical moment to stand up for a living ecosystem and future generations. Bring your mask--maybe make a sign or help hold a banner, but show up!  

Saturday September 18, 1:30 PM  Climate Change Solutions - MA Takes the Leads. So how are those of us in Franklin County instituting these changes?  That is what we are asking Rep Paul Mark and Joan Meschino!  (Masks required,  Bring a chair)  Outdoors at Greenfield Energy Park, Miles Street across Main St. from Green Fields Food Coop.  Street parking is free on Saturdays. in Greenfield.

Saturday September 18,  1pm.  Celebrating Old Growth: Robin Wall Kimmerer, Robert Macfarlane, & David Haskell. In August 2021, Orion Magazine released Old Growth, an anthology of essays and poems about the lives of trees. It's a dynamic cross section of Orion's long history of engagement with arboreal culture. These authors bring a unique perspective on the legacy of trees in deep time, which they explore in their recent books Braiding Sweetgrass, Underland, and The Song of Trees,respectively. 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. 

Tuesday September 21, 6pm. Pulling the curtain back on The Hydrogen Hoax. Cathy Kristofferson, from the Pipe Line Awareness Network for the Northeast, tackles one of climate change's most popular misconceptions about using hydrogen as an energy source (and how industry is hyping false solutions) and the future of clean renewable energy for Massachusetts.  Go HERE. 

Tuesday September 21, 8:00 pm. The Truth about Old-Growth Forests, Climate and Wildfire.  This month's speaker is Chad Hanson, PhD, forest ecologist, director of the John Muir Project, and member of the Sierra Club’s Board of Directors.  Chad will speak on "Debunking Disinformation about Wildfire: Research Tells Us What Works and What Doesn't." Go HERE. 

Friday September 24, All Day. Global Climate Strike! (See map) Fridays for Future (FFF), is a youth-led and -organised global climate strike movement that started in August 2018, when 15-year-old Greta Thunberg began a school strike for climate. In the three weeks leading up to the Swedish election, she sat outside Swedish Parliament every school day, demanding urgent action on the climate crisis. She was tired of society’s unwillingness to see the climate crisis for what it is: a crisis. Action Map: https://fridaysforfuture.org/action-map/map/ More info 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. 

October 11-15, All Day . President Biden: Build Back Fossil Free. Fossil fuel pollution and climate disasters are already disrupting millions of lives. We deserve a world beyond fossil fuels: a world in which workers’ rights, community health, and our shared climate come before corporate profits. That’s why we are coming together to ensure Biden becomes the climate president he promised to be before attending the global climate talks this November. Indigenous people, pipeline fighters, water protectors, young people, scientists, faith leaders, and more are saying enough is enough: it's time to finally place people over fossil fuels. [Wait! what about the Trees??] Go HERE. 

That's all folks. Untiul next time remember to  do....what?  Yes, listen to your Mother!