Another Biomass is a Biomess Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. On our last show we had a look at some forest related bills on Beacon Hill. This week we drill down into some biomass bills like S.2197/H.3333  "An Act to prevent biomass energy to protect the air we breathe" and S.2186/H.3362  "An Act ensuring a healthy future for environmental justice communities".  James McCaffrey, New England Legislative Director of The Partnership for Policy Integrity joins us. Jay leads PFPI’s activities in the MA legislature to remove biomass from the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard and the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard. As always we will also take you along to meet this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and to see if we are still Backslidin' with Biden, as well as giving you our Enviro Show Quote of the week and more, but first it's time for.........Revenge of the Critters! Predatory arachnids unleashed by climate chaos!

She's baaaaack! Yahoo news reports: "Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Saturday slapped down colleague Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), reminding her that federal infrastructure funds she called “communist” built the nation’s highway system. Greene viciously slammed the 13 House Republicans (including Kinzinger) who voted to pass the Biden administration’s $1.2 trillion Infrastructure and Jobs Act on Friday. She claimed in a tweet late Friday after the vote that they “handed over their voting cards ... to pass Joe Biden’s Communist takeover of America via infrastructure.”   😏

 While Backslidin' with Biden we gladly give you this report: "A federal court on Wednesday rejected the Biden administration’s effort to dismiss a lawsuit aimed at protecting critically endangered right whales from being run over and killed by ships and boats in U.S. waters." But can anyone tell us why on Earth Biden's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is on the wrong side of history here? Recently scientists announced that the Right Whale population had dropped to only 336 individuals in 2020 — an 8% decline from 2019 and the lowest population number for the species in nearly 20 years. “At this juncture, the fact NMFS hasn’t already addressed deaths due to vessel collisions is beyond incomprehensible,” said Erica Fuller, a senior attorney at Conservation Law Foundation. “We hope this [ruling] will force the agency to take emergency action rather than wait until next spring to start a new rule-making process. That kind of delay does little to protect the [whales] traveling up and down the coast now.”  However, on the bright side: "After the Center for Biological Diversity and our allies went to court, some of the world’s rarest whales have been granted a reprieve from the torment of getting tangled up — and often killed — in fishing gear. A judge has reinstated federal restrictions on lobstering in 997 square miles of the Gulf of Maine to save North Atlantic Right Whales from buoy lines."

 

It looks like it's time to remind The Prez that "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!"  Professor William Moomaw and colleagues remind us: "The UN climate summit in Glasgow ended with more words than actions as global emissions are the second-highest on record and the world is on track for an increase of another 16 percent by 2030. Alarmingly, global deforestation is occurring at a rate of 27 football fields every minute of each day. Recognizing this loss, President Biden pledged that the United States will “help the world halt natural forest loss and restore at least an additional 494 million acres by the year 2030.” As it stands, the Biden administration’s climate plans say nothing about ending forest losses right here at home by protecting climate-saving older forests and trees on federal lands. It’s a glaring omission that needs to be fixed. As scientists who have been studying forests and the climate for, collectively, more than a century, we urge Biden to safeguard mature and old-growth forests on federal lands as part of the United States’ commitment to tackling the climate crisis." 

How about another visit to The Enviro Show Echo Chamber?  This week Mongabay caught our attention with this headline: "New meteorological theory argues that the world’s forests are rainmakers" wherein we are told,  "..the still little-known biotic pump theory postulates that forests are the driving force behind precipitation over land masses." Perhaps that seems intuitive but according to the article "it has faced stiff resistance from some meteorologists and journals. " Here's is a short video from The Dogwood Alliance you might want to share with anyone who thinks industrial logging is a good thing.   

 

Time for our Enviro Show Quote of the Week:

“Cutting down forests to burn to generate electricity is not in any way ‘green’ or carbon neutral – and in fact, creates a large amount of air pollution. Even if the trees are replanted, not all survive – and those that do will take decades or centuries to grow to the same size, and therefore the same carbon dioxide absorbing potential of the trees that were eliminated.”

-  Patrick Anderson, co-author of  “Dirty Deception."

After our conversation with Jay we move over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

December. Phone calls make a difference. Officials pay special attention because phone calls indicate commitment by their constituents. Call the Chairs and Vice Chairs of ENRA and say (to a staff person or in a voice message):  "I’m a MA resident and I’ve written my state legislators to let them know I support H.912 and H.1002. These bills will protect MA forests and help reduce climate change. I’m calling to urge you to report these bills favorably out of your ENRA joint committee."

• Becca Rausch, Senate Chair: (617) 722-1555         @BeccaRauschMA
• Jamie Eldridge, Senate Vice Chair:  (617) 722-1120         @JamieEldridgeMA
• Carolyn Dykema, House Chair: (617) 722-2680         @CarolynDykema
• Mindy Domb, House Vice Chair:  (617) 722-2400         @MindyForMA

Friday December 10,  2:30 to 3:30pm. Springfield Standout “No” to proposed Eversource pipeline.  A brand new gas pipeline Right under our street? Oh come on, Eversource,

Gas is so obsolete!  NO PIPELINE!  Parking directions here. Contact Verne for more info: 413-439-3324   vernemca@gmail.com

Sunday December 12,  7:15pm.  Protecting Shutesbury Land & Water While Building Solar. Trees & Solar, We Need Both! Forum on Shutesbury Industrial Solar . Register HERE.  

Monday, December 13, 11am.  Please sign up for a district lobbying meeting to help remove biomass from Massachusetts' ratepayer funded clean energy programs!  If you live in Springfield, Chicopee, or Longmeadow, please join a strategy meeting to discuss upcoming district meetings with your legislators. Email katyeiseman@gmail.com for a Zoom link.

Tuesday December 14, 2 to 3pm MA Demands EIS for Line 3!U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742. Host Contact Info: Noteaparty@gmail.com   The fight continues to Stop Line 3! On December 14th, marking the 1-year anniversary of the start of construction and direct actions to stop it, we are renewing our calls to the US Army Corps of Engineers to order a federal Environmental Impact Statement. 

Wednesday  December 15, 7-7:45pm. Climate Caroling. Rehearsal on December 15th ~ 7-7:45PM ~ Zoom.  Event on December 31st ~ 5:30-6:45PM ~ Northampton.  As we work for a better future in the new year, let's take to the streets and fill the air with our climate caroling voices! We'll spread cheer the only way we know how: enlightening people to the climate crisis with fun and flash. We'll meet at Pulaski Park in Northampton where people will be gathering to see the fireworks that start at 6:15. (Bring a blanket if you'd like to stay to watch them!) Please sign up here so we know how many folks are coming. If you want to practice beforehand, we'll be having a rehearsal over Zoom on 12/15, and you can check out the song sheets here in advance.

Thursday, December 16, 7:00pm.  No Coal/No Gas Mass Call. We’ll be talking about action planning and wrapping up 2021 together!  Go HERE.   

Wednesday, January 5, 7:30-9:00pm.  Extinction Rebellion WMass Zoom General Meeting. Mark your calendars for our next general meeting to start planning a new year of actions! Go to: https://www.facebook.com/XRwmass/ 

Until next time remember.........Listen to your Mother, OK? 

 

The Trees on Beacon Hill Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. The official Tour of the Massachusetts State House only mentions "a line of poplars was planted along the west property line", all the rest of the site is only devoted to statues, plaques and the building itself. There may be some other internet site or brochure out there that deals with the landscaping of Beacon Hill but what about the business of legislating in relation to trees? There are a host of bills that address just that. Massachusetts forest protection bill H.912  "... would designate all 412,000 acres of park, forest, and watershed lands administered by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation as parks or reserves", while H.1002 "..would expand and make permanent the existing system of reserves on public Wildlife Management Areas administered by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife."  Also, with regard to dirty biomass H.3333 An Act to prevent biomass energy to protect the air we breathe. Janet Sinclair of Save Massachusetts Forests & David Meshoulam, Executive Director & Co-Founder of Speak for the Trees Boston  supporting H.905 /S. 504 An Act establishing the municipal reforestation program join us to see the forest for the trees. [UPDATE! Interviews HERE] As always, we will also take you to witness this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and to remind everyone "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!". Also, it's that time of year again for Valley Free Radio's Fall Fund Drive, that important moment when Enviro Show fans step up and support the show. Sooooo, Go HERE and THANKS very much! Now it's time for..........Revenge of the Critters!  Turkeys know about Thanksgiving and they are not pleased.

Another dangerous Fool-on-the-Hill this week because....well, Repugnicans we guess. We've had Repugnican Rep. and well known bobble head, Paul Gosar on before but this time he has stepped way over the line and was foolish enough to send up an animae of himself killing AOC and threatening The Prez? HuffPo reports: "In the video, Gosar is depicted fighting the animation’s “Titans” with far-right Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.). In one scene, Ocasio-Cortez’s face is superimposed on one of the Titans. Gosar slashes its neck and kills it. In another scene, Gosar swings two swords at an enemy with Biden’s face edited onto it."  Child's play or terrorism against a federal official? You decide! 

Apparently, more than a few attendees to the recent COP 26 Climate Meeting are actually unaware that "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!"  While more than 100 countries pledged to halt deforestation by 2030, as part of an agreement at COP26, the United Nations climate summit that took place in Glasgow, Scotland, there's no enforcement to back it up and it has a fatal flaw. That lack of accountability is one of the many complaints lodged at the summit as an estimated 100,000 protesters took to the streets in Glasgow to demand world leaders  take stronger action to curb the global crisis. Maybe those protesters are upset that attendees only came up with  a draft agreement late Wednesday that countries will use as a template for a global agreement on stronger action against global warming at some unspecified time in the future? Ya' think?? And this: "After nearly two weeks of negotiations, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland was expected to extend into the weekend Friday as policymakers missed the evening deadline for finalizing their deal on how countries will combat the climate crisis—with leaders unable to come to an agreement thus far regarding financial support for the Global South, fossil fuel subsidies, and other key issues" reports Common Dreams. Late Saturday the Globe reported: "Government negotiators from nearly 200 countries have adopted a new deal on climate action after a last-minute intervention by India to water down the language on cutting emissions from coal. Several countries including small island states said they were deeply disappointed by the move to “phase down,” rather than “phase out” coal power, the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions." And this from XR: " After all the fanfare, COP26 has failed. Not one of the G20 nations, the richest and most culpable for this crisis, will cut emissions to keep global heating even close to 1.5C. Global South nations have not been given the promised funds to rebuild from and defend against the extreme weather that already devastates their lands and people. Fossil fuel infrastructure will continue to expand and governments will continue to rig markets to encourage it. On all fronts, yet again, the can has been kicked down the road."  There will be, of course, some rosier takes on the end of COP-26. We will post them if they aren't just more Blaa Blaa Blaa.  

We guess we'll be Backslidin' with Biden on Wednesday when "The Biden administration will be holding the oil and gas lease auction on Nov. 17, 2021. On Aug. 31, Earthjustice filed a lawsuit in federal court in the District of Columbia against Interior and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on behalf of Healthy Gulf, Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, and the Center for Biological Diversity challenging Interior’s decision to hold lease sale 257. The lawsuit argues that the 2017 environmental analysis the Biden administration is relying on to hold the sale is outdated. Among other things, it ignores new information showing the rising dangers from pipeline leaks." That from Earth Justice.   And here's an update from Politico : "Since leaving the U.N. climate summit, Biden has jawboned OPEC to boost oil production, a plea that was rebuffed. He’s considering tapping the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve. He’s calculating whether closing a Michigan oil pipeline would lead to fuel price shocks. And on Nov. 17, just days after the COP26 summit wraps up, his administration will hold a court-ordered sale of oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico, an auction that environmental groups say he has the power to delay or even stop."  Will he? Stay tuned! 

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber the The Partnership for Policy Integrity has created a sign-up form for joining a new statewide listserv to focus on ending Massachusetts subsidies for woody biomass energy and protecting our forests. And this: An Enviro Show Action Link to end offshore drilling  

Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week calls for a brief hop in the Wayback Machine:

"Revolution is about the need to re-evolve political, economic and social justice and power back into the hands of the people, preferably through legislation and policies that make human sense. That's what revolution is about. Revolution is not about shootouts."

 Bobby Seale

 After our guests have had their say it's on to The Bus stop Billboard: 

December 4 & 5, All Day.Massachusetts progressives are well aware of the crises we face. Climate catastrophes and COVID-19 ravage communities across the country, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and the poor always suffering most. The risk of nuclear war is as close as we have ever been.  In Massachusetts, the growing incidence of the diseases of despair; addiction, ODs, and suicide reflect the worsening misery of much of our population while Trumpism threatens our political will to make change happen.Come to our online Fall 2021 conference, Coming Together: Building Progressive Political Power, on Dec 4-5, where we will explore how we can move our programs forward with maximum impact, strategizing how to engage, unite and build the power needed to reverse the destructive policies of our current governmental structures. We acknowledge the urgency to center those whose lived experiences of resistance to oppression and injustice form the scaffold for our agenda. Go HERE.  

Wednesday December 8, 2:30-4pm. Stop the Money Pipeline action co-sponsored by XR WMass, CAN, Mothers Out Front, and ARHS Sunrise! STMP aims targets banks financing pipelines, like Line 3, demanding that they stop funding fossil fuel projects that destroy our planet. We'll be delivering letters to the mangers of TD Bank and Bank of America and voicing our demands loud and clear outside, with a festive march from TD Bank to BoA in-between. It's a half-day for Amherst schools so the high schoolers can make it! 

Please spread the word and hope to see you there!  Check out Climate Action Now's new "Stop the Money Pipeline" group.  Email Sue at susalson@gmail.com  for details.

Sunday December 12,  7:15pm.  Protecting Shutesbury Land & Water While Building Solar. Trees & Solar, We Need Both! Forum on Shutesbury Industrial Solar . Register HERE.   

That's all for now folks but do remember to.......LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER!