Time to meet this week's Fool-on-the-Hill who often acts and even dresses for the part. Yes, it's the walking disaster from Arizona, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, she of the traitorous tag team that blocked voter rights allegedly over some romance with the filibuster? “While I continue to support these [voting rights] bills, I will not
support separate actions that worsen the underlying disease of division
infecting our country,” says Sinema as divisive Repugs prepare to further their anti-democratic insurrection by subverting the ballot through any means necessary. History will not treat them kindly.
On to The Enviro Show Echo Chamber where Earth Justice informs us of "an exciting moment for marine science, researchers announced in January 2021 that they’ve identified a distinct, new-to-us whale species, tentatively being called the Rice’s whale (named after one of its researchers), or simply the Gulf of Mexico whale. There may be only 50 of these whales on the planet, and most sightings have been documented." Not sure why we are just learning about this a year later but we'll take it! Here's another one of those Echo Chamber Action links from Environment Massachusetts regarding the....plight of the Bumblebee? Also, Politico informs us a study found that growing enough bud for a joint — a gram — consumes as much electricity as driving about 20 miles in a fuel-efficient car. Whoa man, bummer.
We guess we were Abidin' with Biden last week when pounding his hand on the podium, The Prez challenged certain senators to stand against voter suppression by changing Senate rules to pass voting rights legislation that Repugs were blocking from debate and votes. “I’m tired of being quiet!” he shouted to cheers from the crowd. Meanwhile our friends at Grist send some tough love Biden's way with this: "The Department of Energy reversed Trump’s rules on dishwashers, washers, and dryers, but is behind on reviewing more than 30 standards." Looking back to His Malignancy's War on Science we are glad to report "The Biden administration released a comprehensive plan [last week] aimed at restoring integrity to governmental science agencies and preventing political interference." No more Sharpie edits to weather maps? No more disinfectant injections or "we hit the body with a tremendous ultraviolet or just very powerful light,"?
Just in case your misinformed Uncle with the MAGA ball cap is complaining about the weather why not tell him "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" ? Maybe show him this: "Now, through a new mapping project, scientists have estimated how
much irrecoverable carbon resides in peatlands, mangroves, forests and
elsewhere around the globe — and which areas need protection. The new estimate puts the total amount of irrecoverable carbon at 139 gigatons, researchers report November 18 in Nature Sustainability.
That’s equivalent to about 15 years of human carbon dioxide emissions
at current levels. And if all that carbon were released, it’s almost
certainly enough to push the planet past 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming
above pre-industrial levels." ? Nah! Too much science, right?
How about an Enviro Show Quote of the Week? :
"Divestment has a tangible financial impact. In 2019, Royal Dutch Shell listed the success of divestment campaigns as having “a material adverse effect on the price of our securities and our ability to access capital markets”.
- Rianna Gargiulo, Divestment Campaigner, Friends of the Earth UK
Time for the Bus Stop Billboard:
Saturday, February 5, 10:00 - 11:30am. 450 Million Years Old and Vulnerable: Horseshoe Crabs in Massachusetts. This live virtual forum will give you the chance to ask questions and share your own interests in horseshoe crabs. Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 989 630 0188. Passcode: pine
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2022, 1pm. . Stand Up for Public Forests! Burlington, VT City Hall on Church Street. This April, the U.S. Forest Service is expected to propose logging of at least 11,000 acres
in the Green Mountain National Forest - Vermont's national forest - in
an area called Telephone Gap, near the town of Chittenden. The climate
and ecological crises demand that our mature forests remain wild and
able to sequester as much carbon from the atmosphere as possible. Now is
the time to save the trees of Telephone Gap, most of which are at least
a century old. Read more here: https://www.savepublicforests.
Tuesday February 8, Noon to 1pm. "Stump the Forester: Crowdsourced Tree ID" Have you ever wished you had someone knowledgeable with you when you were out in the woods trying to figure out whether the bark on that tree was red or sugar maple? This is your chance to get your most vexing tree ID questions answered ONLINE! Go HERE.
Tuesday, February 8, 12pm. How do electric vehicles (EVs) handle the cold weather and snow? Really well! There are thousands of EV drivers who drive through winters in New York and New England (and even colder places like Canada and Norway). We're welcoming several of these drivers to this webinar to chat with you about their EV's winter range, handling, and more. Register HERE.
Thursday, February 10 from 4 - 6 p.m. Massachusetts Mosquito Control Opt Out program public listening session. The listening session will focus on the subcommittee's draft recommendations, which can be read here, as they become available. To sign up to speak at the listening session, please use this form: https://forms.office.com
Sunday, February 13. (TBA) We will gather outside in Plymouth for a protect our bays from radioactive water dumping rally. Contact me if you would like to help organize/carpool: Diane Turco tturco@comcast.net
Tuesday, February 15, 3 to 5pm. State Farmland Listening Sessions To provide input for the development of the MA Farmland Action Plan. The purpose of the MA Farmland Action plan is to develop state level goals and recommendations for increasing farmland protection, farmland access, food security, and the long-term economic and environmental viability of farms across all regions of the state. The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) is supporting the development of the plan, and has engaged the UMass Donahue Institute to gather the input and recommendations from farmers, advocates, investors, landowners, land trusts, agricultural technical assistance providers, scientists, public officials, policy makers, and other agricultural stakeholders. Click HERE to register for the Listening Sessions by February 14.
February 16, 12:00 - 1:30 pm. Energy Storage Webinar. Via Zoom. Please RSVP to bpotter@princelobel.com. We will send you the Zoom login information under separate cover. Go HERE.
Tuesday February 22, 8:30pm. for the latest Heading for Extinction climate annihilation science update with Dr. Peter Carter, and an introduction to the Global Climate Crimes Project. Register here: https://mobilize.xramerica.
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