The Enviro Show

The Democracy Gone Wild Enviro Show

2012-01-26T10:40:00.000-08:00

Greetings Earthlings. You think Occupy is the only home of real democracy? Suppose we told you that more than a few critters discovered democracy long before us two-leggeds? Iain Couzin of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University calls in to talk about what democracy looks like for the rest of us. Also, we delve into the Enviro Show Echo Chamber, Meet the New Boss.....again, as well as our Fool-on-the-Hill and the E-Valley-uation segment, but first it's time for.... Revenge of the Critters! Thanks to Dana for this one: Bull-runners beware of correbous!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we checkout that Ohio gas leak courtesy of Sunoco. Since we're on the subject of irresponsibility how about the folks at the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Audubon Society of New Hampshire shilling for the clearcutters. Also this: an in-depth look into Big Green's dark closet. And this with a WARNING (it's rated R for repulsive): the worst rainforest loggers story ever. D.O.'s memorial piece is here.

In our E-Valley-uation segment they're at it again! Yup, it's the Shut it Down Affinity Group getting into the face of Vermont Yankee, this time in costume! Also, VT Yankee campaign goes national! And this other bit of good news: Springfield Biomass incinerator permit revoked!

It looks like The New Boss may be dropping the ball on habitat destruction. O, and how about protecting our coast lines from oil drilling? Maybe not.

Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week takes us on another journey in the Wayback Machine, all the way back to 1902 with a visit to Petr Kropotkin and his book Mutual Aid:

"In the animal world we have seen that the vast majority of species live in societies, and that they find in association the best arms for the struggle for life"

Our Fool-on-the-Hill this week is one of the biggest fools on The Hill, Repugnican Speaker of the House, John Boehner who invited Big Oil into the House Chamber to hear Obama's State of the Union speech. We don't know why the Speaker bothered, Big Oil is already in the House! Why take up more space?

"Killing Wage" by Congress of Starlings takes us to our interview with interview with Iain Couzin on democracy in the rest of the animal world, then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday, February 1, All Day. The Occupy Wall Street OccuBus will be making an outreach trip in a couple of weeks making 14 stops including Northampton on Feb 1! Here’s the trip itinerary: http://bit.ly/y8DrM0. There will be 17 Wall Street Occupiers on the bus. The objective of this trip is to strengthen the OWS network by deepening relationships between occupiers, increase OWS’s capacity through mutual transfer of skills and knowledge, and clarify OWS’s narrative by deepening its commitment to listening. There will be a 6pm event at The Academy of Music. Email: geogruven@gmail.com Go to: http://occupynorthampton.com/

Saturday, Feb. 4, 2 pm—9pm. No Nukes Benefit Concert and Speak Out. Sponsored by The Quahogs Affinity Group to benefit the SAGE Alliance. Leverett Town Hall, 9 Montague Rd., Leverett. Food and refreshments will be available free, with a sliding scale for admission. Contact: Ann Ferguson ferguson3636@gmail.com. Call: 413-367-2310

Tuesday, February 7, 7pm. "The Pitfalls and Dangers of Nuclear Power: a Mandate for a Carbon-Free, Nuclear-Free Future". Leverett Elementary School, 85 Montague Road, Leverett.

Tuesday, Feb. 28, 5 to 8 p.m. A public meeting to discuss the findings of epidemiological studies addressing noise, infrasound, vibrations and shadow flickering of wind turbines at Lee Middle and High School Auditorium, 300 Greylock St., Lee, MA. Snow date: Feb. 29.

Saturday, March 3, All Day. 25th Annual Southern New England Environmental Action Conference at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. Go to: http://www.toxicsaction.org/ or call Toxics Action Center at: (413) 253-4458

March Month of Action (and beyond) to permanently close Vermont Yankee:
March 3: Greenfield (MA) Community College affinity group is walking from GCC to the reactor, then celebrating in Brattleboro.
March 11: Anniversary of the ongoing Fukushima nuclear meltdowns in Japan, mock evacuation
March 17 & 18: non-violence trainings and/or teach-ins around New England.
March 21: Vermont Yankee retirement party at the Statehouse in Montpelier.
March 22 and thereafter: Non-violent direct actions against Entergy (the New Orleans-based owner of VY). Details to be determined by an AG Spokes Council.
March 23 and thereafter: national call for solidarity in opposition to Vermont Yankee, Pilgrim and Indian Point.
April 1: mass legal rally in Brattleboro in alliance with legislators and environmental and safe energy groups.
Contact tom@clamshellalliance.org or see Upcoming Events on the homepage of www.sagealliance.net for location and on-going action information.

That's all folks!.....O, wait...we nearly forgot to remind you to LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER!

The Eat Your Heart Out Enviro Show

2012-01-12T06:08:00.001-08:00

Greetings Earthlings. We may not be what we eat, but what we eat probably determines what we are, like dead or alive! Dr. Pam Popper calls in to talk about Forks over Knives, the book and the film that reminds us of the ills on our plates. Warning meat-eaters: this film is rated R.....for reconsider! As always, we checkout the news in the Enviro Show Echo Chamber and our E-Valley-uation segments, as well as look at The Fool-on-the-Hill. This week we return to Meet the New Boss as well as our Quote of the week, but first it's time for....Revenge of the Critters! Man attacked by Hamburger!

It's been awhile since we've met The New Boss, but he made up for that time off for good behavior when Obama signed the National Defense Appropriations Act in which lurks provisions for detaining U.S. citizens on U.S. soil in military custody without trial for as long as there is a war on terror. Soooo, your First Amendment rights? Not so much. The Fourth Amendment? F'get about it! Gosh, how's THAT for hope & change?

The Enviro Show Quote of the Week puts us once again squarely inside the Wayback Machine for a visit with Henry David Thoreau:

"One farmer says to me, "You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make the bones with;" and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying himself with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plow along in spite of every obstacle."

In our Echo Chamber we have a timely piece from Grist on Big Ag getting its shorts all up in a knot over a pending EPA assessment on dioxins. Also this disturbing update on Fukushima from Arnie Gunderson. Here's our Enviro Show Blog Bonus: an action link demanding that subsidies for biomass incineration expire. Finally, in our Anything Worth Doing is Worth Overdoing Department it's last week's Action Link!

It's another plural edition of our Fool-on-the-Hill with a whole pathetic parcel of Repugnicans pimping for Big Oil and working hard to destroy the planet....fools that they are.

In the E-Valley-uation segment we take a peek at an interesting proposal for a Greenfield Food Hub. Of course, the CDC already has a food processing plant in Greenfield to give real meaning to the term "eat local". Given the need to avoid tainted corporate food, shipped in from Goddess knows where with a giant carbon footprint, the more local the better, yes?.

"Beef Jerky" by Cibo Matto takes us to our interview with Dr. Popper, then we saunter over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Thursday January 19, 6-8pm. Brownfield Forum at the UMass Design Center, 3 Elm St/Court Square, across the street from Springfield City Hall. What do we do with our abandoned factories? What are the risks for our health and our communities? How can I get involved? To address these questions and many more, the Healthy Environment/Healthy Springfield CARE Project invites you to attend Cleaning Up Springfield: A Community Discussion about Brownfield and Hazardous Waste Sites. Call 413-794-1803

Friday, January 20, 11:00 am–1:00 pm. Occupy the Courts! U.S. District Court, 300 State Street, Springfield, MA. Join us on the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's infamous "Citizens United" decision to protest that decision and the concept of corporate personhood. For more information go to: movetoamend.org/occupythecourts or email: danielwmcleod@gmail.com

Jan 20, 7pm Screening of Maquilopolis. One of the ways NAFTA was supposed to help Mexicans was by creating a factory zone at the U.S.-Mexico border. How is that working out? Frances Crowe Community Room, 60 Masonic Street in Northampton. Enter via Woodstar Cafe, at the front of the building. The venue is accessible. Email: info@northamptoncommittee.org

January 25 at 6:00 pm in room 220 of Springfield City Hall.Attend the ZBA Hearing to Stop this Incinerator from Being Built City Council and several Springfield residents will appeal the building permit issued
to Palmer Renewable Energy to build a biomass incinerator in the heart of Springfield. It is crucial that you show your support to the councilors and residents who are fighting to help protect the health and well being of all the
residents of Springfield. PRE will not have the necessary city permit to build its incinerator if this appeal is won!

January 25, 6:30 pm. Greening Greenfield Energy Committee presents: "A SEA CHANGE" This film is both a personal journey and a scientifically rigorous, sometimes humorous, unflinchingly honest look at the reality we have created in our oceans. It conveys the urgent steps we need to make to reduce the severity of the chemistry of our oceans. Greenfield Public Library, Greenfield.

Jan 27, 7pm. Screening of Blood in the Mobile. A visit to a tin mine in Congo, where profits fund the Bloodiest War on Earth - and to the headquarters of Nokia, to talk about where they get tin for cell phones. Frances Crowe Community Room, 60 Masonic Street in Northampton. Enter via Woodstar Cafe, at the front of the building. The venue is accessible. Email: info@northamptoncommittee.org

Wednesday, February 1, All Day. The Occupy Wall Street Bio-Bus will be making an outreach trip in a couple of weeks making 14 stops including Northampton on Feb 1! Here’s the trip itinerary: http://bit.ly/y8DrM0. There will be 17 Wall Street Occupiers on the bus. The objective of this trip is to strengthen the OWS network by deepening relationships between occupiers, increase OWS’s capacity through mutual transfer of skills and knowledge, and clarify OWS’s narrative by deepening its commitment to listening. The proposal was approved by OWS GA last year and was prepared by the Direct Action Working Group in consultation with others. Email: geogruven@gmail.com

Saturday, Feb. 4,2 pm—9pm. No Nukes Benefit Concert and Speak Out. Sponsored by The Quahogs Affinity Group to benefit the SAGE Alliance. Leverett Town Hall, 9 Montague Rd., Leverett. Food and refreshments will be available free, with a sliding scale for admission. Contact: Ann Ferguson ferguson3636@gmail.com. Call: 413-367-2310

That's it for this week. Tune-in next time for democracy in the animal kingdom. If they can do it, why not us?? Until then remember......listen to your Mother!

The Immeasurably Diminished Enviro Show

2011-12-29T06:56:00.000-08:00

Greetings Earthlings. Another year gone by, another lost opportunity to save the planet. On our very first show, over six years ago, we read excerpts from the 1992 World Scientists' Warning to Humanity which said in part: "No more than one or a few decades remain before the chance to avert the threats we now confront will be lost and the prospects for humanity immeasurably diminished." In case you missed that from the 1992 Warning, we repeat: "No more than one or a few decades". It's 2012. Happy New Year? Brenda Ekwurzel calls in. Brenda is Assistant Director of Climate Research and Analysis for the Union of Concerned Scientists. The World Scientists' Warning was spearheaded by the late Henry Kendall, former chair of UCS's board of directors. If all that is way too much doom & gloom for you, we'll bury our collective heads in the sand looking for the Fool-on-the-Hill and the Quote of the YEAR!, as well as search for some good news in our Enviro Show Echo Chamber and maybe the E-Valley-uation segment, but first it's time for... Revenge of the Critters! A classic for the New Year: Elephant vs. Big Oil!

The big news in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber was last week's EPA announcement that it has finalized The Mercury Rule, one of the most important updates to the Clean Air Act in the Act's 40 year history. That's the good news, OK? (You see, it's not all doom & gloom here, no matter what people say). You've no doubt heard that the zombie Keystone Pipeline may rise from the dead in two months, yes? Well, for what it's worth, here's an action link requesting Obama to put that monster out of its misery. Did we say action? Here's our Enviro Show Blog Bonus: tell Montana Gov. Schweitzer to Stop Shooting Wolves! Meanwhile, it's mixed messages for wolves closer to home. Wolves in the Great Lakes region have been stripped of protection, though a proposal to remove protections for wolves in Northeast is delayed and likely dead.

In our E-Valley-uation segment we hinted at good news, and here it is: Cinda Jones of Cowls Lumber & Kristin DeBoer, executive director of Kestrel Land Trust have saved Brushy Mountain in Leverett and 666 adjacent acres, much of it in Shutesbury from development forever. It's the biggest conservation deal on a block of privately owned land in Massachusetts history. Congrats to all involved! Of course, there is some bad news: this from Westborough regarding highly questionable logging practices.One hand giveth/one taketh away....like they say!

The second (or is it third?) time candidate for Fool-on-the-Hill has gone so far off the rails that we hesitate to trash her once again and risk being accused of making fun of the mentally challenged. Be that as it may, Rep. Michele Bachmann takes the cake for her recent comment on the science of climate change: "I think all these issues have to be settled on the base of real science, not manufactured science.” Manufactured, we assume, by the vast, vast majority of the world's senior scientists?

The Enviro Show Quote of the Week is from (surprise!) the 1992 World Scientists' Warning to Humanity!

After our interview with Brenda Ekwurzel we amble on over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday, January 4th, 7:00-9:00pm. Occupy Franklin County meets at the Second Congregational Church, Court Square, Greenfield. Email: davidjc@comcast.net

Friday, January 6th,7:30 AM - 10:00 AM. Environmental Business Council of New England Breakfast Meeting with Mark Sylvia, Commissioner, Department of Energy Resources. ML Strategies, LLC. One Financial Center, Boston. Commissioner Sylvia will discuss the status and near- term goals of Massachusetts energy programs, as well as their ramification for businesses and communities in the Commonwealth. Hefty entrance fee. Call: (617)505-1818

Tuesday, January 10th and Tuesday January 24th, 6 to 8pm. Community Action for a Renewed Environment in Springfield meetings at Springfield Technical Community College, One Armory Square, Springfield; Scibelli Hall, 7th Floor. Call: (413)794-1454

Wednesday, January 11, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Green Drinks Northampton is at the Northampton Brewery. If you have any materials to swap, please bring them: books, cds, dvds event announcements -- anything of Green or Sustainable interest. GD will start at 5:30 pm and will overlap with the end of Western Mass Green Consortium meeting which begins at 4pm. Call: (413) 586-7350 ext. 28

Tuesday, January 17. All Day +. Occupy Congress! The U.S. House of Representatives convenes for the first time in 2012 on January 17th, and they will be welcomed by the largest national unification of Occupiers to date. This grassroots assembly of nationwide occupations will be a peaceful and non-violent demonstration against our corrupted political system, aiming to further the movement’s success at shifting the political discourse towards real issues that matter to the people of America. Email: occupycongressj17@gmail.com Go to: http://www.occupyyourcongress.info/

Thursday, January 19, 7 to 8:30pm. How much wood do we use? Where does our wood come from? How do our local forests fit into the picture? Can wood be “better?” Join Outreach Service Forester Peter Grima from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation to learn about the local and global consequences of our wood consumption, and take away some bits of knowledge that may enable you to make better wood purchases. Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A., Turners Falls, Call: (413) 863-3221

January 25, 6:30 pm. Greening Greenfield Energy Committee presents: "A SEA CHANGE" This film is both a personal journey and a scientifically rigorous, sometimes humorous, unflinchingly honest look at the reality we have created in our oceans. It conveys the urgent steps we need to make to reduce the severity of the chemistry of our oceans. Greenfield Public Library, Greenfield.

That about does it for the New Year. How about a REAL resolution, like listen to your Mother?
--

And Another Winter Solstice Enviro Show!

2011-12-13T13:45:00.000-08:00

Solstice Greetings Earthlings! Here it is, another Winter Solstice, another Enviro Show to make you wonder why you're not dancing naked around the Solstice Bonfire. Our favorite house witch, Michelle returns to tell us why we might be doing that and Mark Serreze, Director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science (and brother to Mary, we might add) calls in with news from the North Pole. If that sounds a little frosty we have some hot news that may warm your heart in our E-Valley-uation segment regarding the scary Vermont Yankee nuke. Also, news all the way from South Africa, Japan and closer to home in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, as well as a peek at this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and more, but first it's time for....Revenge of the Critters!Another Reindeer attack!

Since we're getting into the warm glow of the season with Michelle, let's move our attention toward that radioactive hot spot just over the border in Vermont. It's our E-Valley-uation segment featuring our own Jean, busted yet again at Vermont Yankee along with the Shut it Down Affinity Group! Also this: nuke safety experts disturbed by operator errors. Come on! What's the worst that could happen anyway??

Did someone say Fukushima? In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber we have dueling opinions on the chances of a China Syndrome event at Reactor #1. This audio interview with Keven Kamps of Beyond Nuclear on the Thom Hartmann Show is flat-out bad news for anyone even remotely close to Northern Japan, but the folks over at Nuclear Information and Resource Service see it differently. Will someone please make-up their mind. If nuclear meltdown isn't of much interest to you, how about complete ecological collapse! The news from the COP17 climate summit in South Africa? COP17 fails, world melts down. We should add however, that at least The Rights of Nature were introduced at this press conference. How about something a bit more positive, OK? The next generation's response: sue the bastards! Finally, our Enviro Show Blog Bonus: will you help Stop Biomass Incineration Subsidies?

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is Texas Rep. Ralph Hall, the chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. We're wondering if the Space might be in Hall's head, underneath that tinfoil hat. He has launched a probe of NOAA, claiming that the agency was conducting "a shadow climate service operation". Ooooooo! Science geeks plotting for the end of America! If you'd like to send Hall and his nutjob climate crisis denier friends some actual tin foil hats for the Holidays go here!

Tim Story's "In the Winter's Pale" takes us to our interview with Mark Serreze, then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard (thanks to Hilltown Families):

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011

6-8:30pm – SOLSTICE FIRE & SONG: Celebrate the solstice with a bonfire and music! Aracadia Wildlife Sanctuary hosts a solstice celebration for families tonight- bring a nonperishable food item to donate to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. 413-584-3009. 127 Coombs Road. Easthampton, MA.

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

7am and 3pm – SOLSTICE SUNWHEEL: Watch the sunrise or sunset at the UMass Sunwheel. There will be a presentation on the significance of the solstices and equinoxes, phases of the moon, and other sunwheels around the world. Learn about the cultural significance of the solstice worldwide! Rocky Hill Road. Amherst, MA.

5-8pm – SOLSTICE STORIES & SONGS: Celebrate the winter solstice at a community event on the Shutesbury town common. Bring your own light source to light up the circle, and share stories and songs. Town Common Road. Shutebury, MA.

6-9pm – SOLSTICE HIKE: Hike with a headlamp tonight at Northfield Mountain! Celebrate the solstice by enjoying nature- especially the stars and moon. Ages 12+, registration requested.. 800-859-2960. 99 Millers Falls Road. Northfield, MA.

7-9pm – SOLSTICE PAGENT: Celebrate the solstice with students from the Hartsbrook School! They’ll be performing seasonal music and songs, as well as sharing stories, at the Northampton Center for the Arts. 413-584-7327. 17 New South Street. Northampton, MA.

A new coalition of regional anti-nuclear groups, is planning non-violent direct actions to stop the re-licensing and continued operation of Vermont Yankee. The court case between the State of Vermont and Entergy is still pending. However, we know that Entergy will try everything it can to keep the reactor open past March 21 2012 - its scheduled shut down date. It's time to get involved! Nonviolence trainings are about to begin and March 21 is not far away. But we need you to get in touch with us, even if you're part of a longstanding group that is reviving. Once we know where you are, we can plug you into the local organizing, training and affinity group formation. We also hope you will spread the word to friends and co-workers so they'll join us as well. Even if civil disobedience is impossible for you, support people who do not risk arrest are vital affinity groups members. And nonviolent training is necessary for all action participants. Please go to the SAGE website and fill out your contact info at http://sagealliance.net/contact/join_us or email the Convener of the SAGE Affinity Group Committee, David Detmold at reporter@montaguema.net

Christmas Bird Count. From December 14 through January 5 tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas take part in an adventure that has become a family tradition among generations. Families and students, birders and scientists, armed with binoculars, bird guides and checklists go out on an annual mission - often before dawn. For over one hundred years, the desire to both make a difference and to experience the beauty of nature has driven dedicated people to leave the comfort of a warm house during the Holiday season. Contact: Greenfield: Mark Fairbrother 413-367-2695; Southern Berkshire: René Laubach 413-637-0320 x8351

Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary. Nature Center/Trail Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. - noon, Friday 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Saturday, 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Sunday and most holidays except Christmas, noon - 3:30 p.m. 127 Combs Road, Easthampton. Call: 413-584-3009

Friday, January 13,7pm. "What Pentagon Spending Means to Your Community: What is Behind the Numbers?" Chris Hellman, the Senior Research Analyst at the National Priorities Project will be speaking at the Leverett Town Hall Friday evening followed by a community discussion led by Chris and the Leverett Peace Commission
on: "Building a Community Peace Budget in Leverett". Call: Tom Wolff 367 0239 or Jim Perkins at 367 9520.

January 25, 6:30 pm. Greening Greenfield Energy Committee presents: "A SEA CHANGE" This film is both a personal journey and a scientifically rigorous, sometimes humorous, unflinchingly honest look at the reality we have created in our oceans. It conveys the urgent steps we need to make to reduce the severity of the chemistry of our oceans. Greenfield Public Library, Greenfield.

We go out with "The Christians & the Pagans" by Dar Williams and some holiday advice: Listen to your Mother!

The Tortured Brook Enviro Show

2011-12-02T15:09:00.000-08:00

Greetings Earthlings. Recovered from tropical storm Irene yet? The Chickley Brook hasn't. It's gotten trashed by some engineers who should probably be working for the Once-lers. Andrea Donlon, River Steward for the Connecticut River Watershed Council joins us for some river talk and some serious E-Valley-uation. Then it's on to the Enviro Show Echo Chamber and a meet-up with the Fool-on-the-Hill, as well as treating you to our Quote of the Week, but first it's time for....Revenge of the Critters! Otters may be feed up with humans!

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber we applaud Bolivia on recognizing The Rights of Nature. You may recall Ecuador did this as well. Hey, we've got nature in the U.S. also........well, at least some, but no rights, right? Remember 'The Story of Stuff?' Now, we've got The Story of Broke. It's not about the 1%....no broke there. Our friends at The Global Justice Ecology Project are doing report-backs from the COP17 climate talks in Durban, South Africa. If you want to know what the actual grassroots are up to over there, follow their Climate Connections blog. And this: you want jobs? How about 1.5 million jobs? It's here. Finally, a follow-up on our last coal show: Coal exports bigger climate threat than the Keystone pipeline!.

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is actually not on the Hill anymore BUT he's truly still a GIGANTIC fool! It's none other than former Rep. Newt Gingrich who once believed the science of the climate crisis so much he did this video with Nancy Pelosi. Now that he's trying to be the Repugnican candidate for prez he's trying to explain his old position......and not very well....actually, kinda' pathetic...he is..

Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week is all about rivers. "What makes a river so restful to people is that it doesn't have any doubt it is sure to get where it is going, and it doesn't want to go anywhere else." - Hal Boyle

Our interview is THE heart of our E-Valley-uation segment, but before we go there we'd like to read an excerpt of a Letter to the Editor of The Montague Reporter concerning the use of live pigs in trauma training at Baystate Medical Center which eventually leads to their untimely, and perhaps painful death. We will read it and weep. Also we look into the windpower controversy that's picking up......wind? in Franklin County.

Following our interview with Andrea Donlon we move on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday, December 7, 6pm. Green Speaker Series at GCC - Deb Katz, Act Today to Change Tomorrow. Room C208, (Second Floor Core Building), GCC, Greenfield. For more information you can email us at renewable@gcc.mass.edu or call (413) 775-1472.

Thursday, December 8th, from 6:00 to 8:30 pm VT Yankee Supper/Briefing session.at the Center Congregational Church in Brattleboro VT (193 Main Street, in the basement). The briefing will include the status of the federal court case (Entergy v. State of Vermont), preparations for non-violent direct action if Vermont Yankee is still operating on March 21st, and the many important ways you can participate in and/or support such action. Contact: safeandgreencampaign@gmail.com

Saturday, December 10, 10:30am to 2pm. Second Saturday Children's Nature Series. Daily activities may include crafts, games, investigations, or outdoor adventures. Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A., Turners Falls, MA 01376, Call: 413.863.3221

Saturday, December 10, 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts Annual Convention. Unity Hall, First Unitarian Church, 90 Main Street, Worcester, MA. Contact:
Dick Vaillette · rvaillette@gmail.com

Thursday, December 15, 7 PM. Western Mass Fund Our Communities Not War gathering at Open Square in Holyoke (UAW office). What local actions can we actively support and mobilize for in the near future? What are your ideas for building sustainable community? Call: 413-253-2161

Whoa! That went fast. Maybe it's the 60 minute news cycle? In any case, did we remind you to listen to your mother yet?

The Down with King Coal Enviro Show, Part III

2011-11-16T12:50:00.000-08:00

Greetings Earthlings. About had it with having some of the worst air quality in the region? How about the Mt. Tom coal-burning power plant? Do you think it's part of the problem....'ya think?? Claire B. W. Miller, Community Organizer for Toxics Action Center calls in to talk about that turkey by Mt. Tom and local activist, Jane Andresen joins us in the studio.. We'll also be giving some thanks in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber while our Fool-on-the-Hill gets the stuffing knocked out him. Tired of the seasonal puns yet? You may find some relief in our E-Valley-uation segment. First though, it's time for....Revenge of the Critters! Turf war with Turkeys!

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber Grist finds a green Occupy Wall Street right down to the pedal power. Then we give thanks that at least some justice is being served down in coal country. We all look forward to the day Don Blankenship serves some time too! Here's an Enviro Show Blog Bonus Action Link to help stop one particularly ugly mountain top removal project. On the down side (you knew we'd go there, right?), it looks like New England forests will be shipped off to Europe in countless tiny pieces. Since we're talking trash on King Coal here, how about that coal ash spill in Lake Michigan earlier this month? Talk about dirt bags!

Our Fool-on-the-Hill would like to gut the Cross State Air Pollution Rule, you know the one that applies to all that bad air wafting into the Valley from Mid-west mega coal-burning power plants? Yes, and none other than arch Repugnican teabagger Senator Rand Paul, carving knife in hand, is poised to cut away. We're thinking he should be excused from the table.......sorry.....can't resist those T-Day puns.

In our E-Valley-uation segment we're asking you to take action against corporate welfare for biomass incinerators, OK? If you've been paying attention here to the show you know those biomonsters have their beady eyes set on Western Mass forests. Now, about that old coal-burning clunker by Mt. Tom: did you know about the Greening of Mt. Tom? Hmm......well, we wish it was reforestation, but.... Finally, it seems the FBI is all over Northampton looking for Daniel Andreas San Diego, the alleged "eco-terrorist" they put way up on top of their most wanted list. Of course, San Diego is only accused of property destruction but since it was corporate property he must be part of "the number one domestic terrorist threat" in the nation, right? OK, so he's not armed to the teeth like all those far-right militia freaks, and he didn't rip us all off for billions of dollars, throwing many of us into the streets, like the banksters & corporados, he's still a terrorist, right? right? no?...

Tom Neilson's "Corporations are Human" takes us to our interview with Claire Miller. Then we adjourn to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Monday, November 21, 11:00am. March & Rally on Wall Street Banks. Meet behind Dunkin Donuts on Corner of Morris & Central Sts., Springfield, Mass. THIS IS THE BIG ONE! Join hundreds of residents fighting back against banks who are foreclosing and evicting our families for the biggest action yet against the banksters! More information, press releases, flyers will be available at www.springfieldnooneleaves.org

Friday, November 25, All day is BUY NOTHING DAY! Go to: http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd

Tuesday, November 29th, 7:00 PM, Dr. Penny Gill - “Reclaiming Politics: Thinking About “Occupy Wall Street” Leverett Library, Montague Road, Leverett. “Occupy Wall Street” is a struggle to recreate an independent public space, and in so doing to invigorate local and national political life. Contact: Barbara Tiner - Barbara@wetlanded.com

Wednesday, November 30, 6:30 pm. Screening of "Gasland" at St. James Church, Greenfield. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of “fracking” or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a “Saudi Arabia of natural gas”, but is it safe? This film follows a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination.Call: 413-773-7004

Dec. 2-4. Non-violence Training for trainers. The people's campaign of nonviolent direct action to shut down Vermont Yankee on schedule - by March 21st, is looking for experienced nonviolence trainers as well as people who have experience in nonviolent direct action want to become trainers to help to prepare the people for this action. Contact VY-NVTraining@riseup.net

Tuesday, December 6, 6:30pm. LIFE AFTER VERMONT YANKEE. Forum with Panel discussion and Q&A to address what will happen when Vermont Yankee shutters in 2012. A three-person panel will talk about transition, clean-up, long-term waste storage and what role citizens can play in the process. Bangs Center Amherst. This event is co-sponsored by the Safe & Green Campaign, New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution and Nuclear Free Vermont by 2012. Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Deb Katz 413.339.5781.

Saturday, December 10, 10:30am to 2pm. Second Saturday Children's Nature Series. Daily activities may include crafts, games, investigations, or outdoor adventures. Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A., Turners Falls, MA 01376, Ph 413.863.3221

That does it for us. Be thankful to your Mother....and listen to her!

That Fracking Enviro Show!

2011-11-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. Recovered from the latest natural disaster yet? What makes you think it's natural? Do we need still more anecdotal evidence that humanity is hard at work destroying the ecosphere? No? How about some overwhelming scientific evidence?? We'll get to that and a call-in from fracking expert, Jessica Ennis of EarthJustice. Now is a critical moment in the anti-fracking movement here in the Northeast. Checkout this crucial demonstration set for November 21st. Also, if a snowbound Halloween wasn't scary enough for you, how about a visit to our Fool-on-the-Hill? No? The Enviro Show Horror....er...i mean Echo Chamber is always open for business. We'll lay the Quote of the week on you and maybe some other stuff but first it's time for...
Revenge of the Critters! Gator Gobbles Georgia Granny. Lawyers in hot pursuit!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber you'll find the NPR story that inspired this week's show. Almost everyone knows about fracking for gas and its associated pollution, but did you know about fracking for oil? How about a GIGANTIC fracking for oil BOOM? And, how about communities coming together and saying: No fracking way! Meanwhile, across the border in New York, citizens are jumping into the fray, as well. Since we're in NY State, check this out: Occupy Wall Street says What the Frack! (Their not stopping there however, it looks like every Sunday may be Environmentalist Solidarity Day at OWS). What? You don't believe fracking is perfectly safe? Well now, back in August this Haliburton CEO had his taster drink their new, improved fracking fluid on stage! No word yet on the underling's status. Here's that climate crisis science we were talking about at the top of the show. Finally this: Chomsky on the Occupation movement.

Guess who's back! "In 2005, at the urging of Vice President Dick Cheney, Congress created the so-called "Halliburton loophole" to clean water protections in federal law to prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from regulating the fracking process, despite serious concerns that were raised about the chemicals used in the process and its demonstrated spoiling and contamination of drinking water. In 2001, Cheney's "energy task force" had touted the benefits of hydrofracking, while redacting references to human health hazards associated with hydrofracking. Halliburton, which was previously led by Cheney, reportedly earns $1.5 billion a year from its energy operations, which rely substantially on its hydrofracking business." That's from the Los Angeles Times, October 14, 2004.

"My Water's on Fire Tonight" by David Holmes takes us to our E-Valley-uation segment where YOUR favorite enviro radio show gets a nod on Grist (blush).

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) who is targeting the Environmental Protection Agency’s nonexistent farm dust regulations......yes, we said non-existent. Like our own MA Rep. Ed Markey said: "There is no plan to regulate farm dust, any more than there is to regulate fairy dust". Leave it to the Repugnicans to come up empty as the nation goes down the tubes.

The Enviro Show quote of the Week puts us once again into the Wayback Machine, and speaking of machines: "Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine" - Henry David Thoreau

Following our interview with Jessica Ennis of EarthJustice we head over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Occupy UMass. General Assembly Wednesdays from 1 to 3pm, and will begin a second meeting starting this week on Fridays starting at 5 PM. Wednesday meetings are held in front of the WEB Dubois library on the cement platform, and the Friday meetings are held on the steps in front of the Student Union. Email: shavahnbest@gmail.com Subscribe to list here: occupyumassamherst@googlegroups.com

Occupy Greenfield rallies on the Common on Saturdays 10am-Noon and Mondays 5-6pm.

Friday, November 11 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm. Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence. Author Christian Parenti will discuss the connection between climate change and increased social and political conflict. Join us as we discuss why climate change is fundamentally a political problem that requires political solutions in order to prevent climate-change driven violence and increased global disparity. Food for Thought Books, N. Pleasant Street, Amherst.

Saturday, November 12th, 1:00pm. Occupy Wall Street Teach-In at Smith College, Stoddard Hall

Sunday, November 13 · 11:00am - 2:00pm, Occupy New England Solidarity March! Worcester, MA. Occupy Worcester, recognizing the need for solidarity between various Occupations, seeks to organize a march with any and all who would share our company. Worcester has a central location in relation to other major cities, we've got a good rapport with the police and city hall, so no major opposition is expected. Schedule: 11AM: Gather in the Commons behind city hall, open forum for inter- city cooperation and solidarity, shared DA's, and idle chit-chat.11:45: March begins! Go to: http://OccupyWorcester.com

Sunday November 13, 7pm. Screenimng of "Farmageddon; The Unseen War on American Family Farms" at the Academy of Music, Northampton. CONTACT: Grow Food Northampton, 413-584-0081,or email: info@growfoodnorthampton.com

Thursday, November 17, 9:30a.m. Meeting of Nuclear free Future in the AFSC office, 2 Conz Street, Suite 2B, Northampton. Call: (413) 584-8975

Friday, November 18, 7-9pm. "It's Our Future! Youth Speak Out to Save the Environment & the Earth". Northampton Center for the Arts, 17 New South Street--across from Academy of Music. Using poetry, prose, hip-hop rhyming, music, dance, art, video, sculpture, skits, and stand-up comedy, young people between the ages of 8 and 25 are invited to speak out about climate change and other environmental threats, and express their hope and vision for a sustainable valley, nation, and planet. Contact: johnpberk@gmail.com

Monday, November 21, 8am. No fracking in the Delaware River Basin! Demonstration before crucial vote by The Delaware River Basin Commission. Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, 1 Memorial Drive Trenton, N.J. Email: savethedelawareriver@gmail.com or go to: http://savethedelaware.wordpress.com/

November 30, 6:30 pm. Screening of "Gasland" at St. James Church, Greenfield. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of “fracking” or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a “Saudi Arabia of natural gas”, but is it safe? This film follows a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination.Call: 413-773-7004

There. Another Enviro Show come and gone. There's just one more thing: Listen to your Mother!

Another Very Scary Enviro Show

2011-10-20T15:11:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. Are we ready for All Hallows Eve, the Pagan Festival of Samhain? Our new house witch, Michelle returns to set the stage. Also, we get a scary call from our favorite Nukebuster, Deb Katz on that very spooky nuclear power plant looming just over the border in Vermont. O, and guess what? Speaking of frightening, there are now 7 BILLION PEOPLE on planet Earth! Where will we put them all?? In any case, we'll take you trick or treating into The Enviro Echo Chamber and drag you kicking and screaming to Meet the New Boss and the Fools-on-the-Hill, but first it's time for...Revenge of the Critters! Beware of Sharks....on the links? No, not those golfing politicians, REAL sharks!

Following our All Hallows Eve celebration the Fool-on-the-Hill goes plural once again: This time the U.S. House Repugnicans walk away with the prize. They have manufactured the most anti-environment congress.....EVER! Are we surprised? No?? This is what you get when the Enemies of the Earth are allowed to play with the adults.

On to the Enviro Show Echo Chamber, where you might want to get into the swing of things and Occupy some boardrooms. We also have a list of ways to support the Occupy movement from YES Magazine. Also this from PETA: the recent wholesale slaughter of escaped exotic (AND highly endangered) species in Ohio puts a spotlight on that state's lack of regulation. You can take action here. And, a Halloween trick from MassPirg on the Bottle Bill. Finally, a treat! Corporados frightened of scary protesters!

In our E-Valley-uation segment the BIG news is that old frightening coal-burning power plant by Mt. Tom may be headed for the dustbin of history......or at least retooled for a less noxious fuel source. The folks at Toxics Action Center tell us "the Holyoke City Council adopted a resolution to do a reuse study and engage the public in how to reuse the plant in an environmentally friendly way once it closes." OK, how about we install treadmills and put some of those criminal banksters in them? Good idea?

Then it's time to Meet the New Boss and his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton who seems to have some...umm...special relationship? with TransCanada and their bogus Keystone pipeline. Check the blog for all those treats! As for her boss: how about his old campaign promise to have genetically engineered food labeled? What? Campaign promises don't mean a thing? Who knew! More coming up.

After Deb scares the tar out of us we move on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Everyday: Occupy Northampton. General assembly Tuesday-Thursday 8pm, Friday-Monday 4pm. Protesting on Main Street EVERY DAY from 5pm-8pm. This Saturday's Occupation 11am to 1pm at Pulaski Park. Go to: http://www.occupynorthampton.com/ Email: sethn91184@yahoo.com

Wednesdays 5pm & Sundays 12pm: Occupy Amherst on the Town Common. See you all there! Email: occupyamherst@gmail.com. Go to: http://www.occupyamherst.com

Mondays: Occupy Greenfield: on the Greenfield Common every Monday 5-6pm. Info: Joe Kurland & Peggy Davis, yosl@ganeydn.com.

Wednesday, October 26, 7-9 p.m. STUDYING MOUNTAIN LIONS WITH MARK ELBROCH . Sliding scale fee. Location to be determined. Pre-registration at Hitchcock Center for the Environment required; please call 413-256-6006.

Friday, October 28, 7:30 pm. The Echo Lake Coffeehouse presents WOOL&GRANT with special guest, Arjuna Greist. Town Hall, 9 Montague Rd., Leverett, MA. Email: diacrowe@yahoo.com

SATURDAY October 29th , 12-6 pm. Occupy Springfield! Converge together once again on Court Square in Springfield. Rally from 12-5 (get there when you can; you certainly don't have to be there the whole time to participate) - and then General Assembly from 5-6. Please bring food.

Sunday, Oct 30, noon. Call to Action: Rally at the Gates of the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor. 546 Governor Hunt Rd. Vernon, VT. We will not allow this reactor to operate beyond its scheduled closure date. It is time to close up and clean up. Go to: http://safeandgreenenergyalliance.org/

Thursday, November 3, 7:00 PM: Talk and film clips on nuclear power in japan with award winning Japanese film maker, Hitomi Kamanka. Also a Fukushima Exhibit.
at Unitarian Society of Northampton, 220 Main Street — preceded by 6:00 PM potluck with Ms. Kamanaka at same location.

Sat, Nov 5, 8:30a-4:30p m. Creating Greenfield's Future: Our Food, Economy, and Community. Greenfield Community College, Main Campus  . Greening Greenfield Energy Committee. Call: 413-773-7004

Saturday Nov. 5, 9 – 11 am. Occupy Amherst & others do Bank Transfer Day in front of Bank of America, Amherst. Go to: http://facebook.com/nov.fifth

Sunday, November 6, Noon. Occupy Amherst. Contact: Dylan, at 339 364 4154 or email at dylanrk22@gmail.com

Sunday, November 6. All day. Encircle the White House in opposition to the proposed Keystone Tar Sands Pipeline. Go to: www.350.org/occupy

Thursday, November 17, 9:30a.m. Meeting of Nuclear free Future in the AFSC office, 2 Conz Street, Suite 2B, Northampton. Call: (413) 584-8975

OK, time to turn out the lights, pull down the shades,and refuse to answer the door. This place is way too scary. O, one more thing: listen to your Mother!

The Occupy Everywhere Enviro Show

2011-10-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. We are fresh back from the front in the non-violent struggle against the corporados. D.O. & Jean will report back on their trip to both the #OccupyWallStreet and #OccupyBoston. We're hoping they will add The Rights of Nature to their declarations. Also, our roving reporter, Tom Neilson will report back from the DC Occupation of Freedom Plaza, then we remind everyone that the rape of the forests and the fouling of the biosphere is all about Corporate America with Chris Matera of Mass Forest Watch who joins us once again to connect the dots. As always we venture into our E-Valley-uation segment, the Enviro Show Echo Chamber and visit the Fool-on-the-hill, but first it's time for...Revenge of the Critters! Human rights? How about bats rights!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we note The New York Times has discovered the importance of forests. How's that for hard-nosed reporting! Of course, we have to give them some credit for their front page, above the fold coverage of the Wall Street Occupation....but only some. And speaking of New York, how about YOU send Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly a note reminding them about the First Amendment? Did we say Occupy Wall Street? How about the State Department! And this from Grist: UK activist denied entry into The States due to super glue attack on Obama!

In our E-Valley-uation segment we send out kudos to the folks who Occupied Northampton and Occupied Amherst. Who knows, maybe we'll even consider OccupiedQuabbin!

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill goes plural. GOP members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee get to wear the Fool's cap for their opposition to a proposed regulation that would restrict the transportation and importation of nine types of snakes, including the Burmese Python, that are invasive and threatening to wildlife. Apparently, exotic invasives are job creators! Who knew! We thought all the snakes in the grass lying about job creation were Repugnican congressmen.

Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week comes from Anonymous:

"We are legion. We are everywhere!" Well.....yeah!

After our interview with Chris we head over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday, October 12, 2pm. Occupy UMass, Student Union steps. Go to: http://occupyamherst.com/

Wednesday, October 12, 5:30pm. Join Jobs with Justice, Occupy Boston, IBEW 2222, and CWA for a day of action for working people, against the wealthy 1% that holds our government and our country hostage. We are joining forces to march from OccupiedBoston at Dewey Square to Verizon and demand that the company accept the union's contract proposal. Verizon must not cut health care, pensions, wages, and security for the workers who keep Verizon running. Contact Jobs With Justice at 617-524-8778

Wednesday, October 12,7:00pm - 10:00pm. Free screening of "Inside Job" on the side of Bank of America, 144 Main Street, Northampton. The story of how Wall Street totally screwed us. Bring a sweater--Bring a seat--Bring a friend!

Saturday, October 15, 1:00 pm. March & Rally to Stop Wars Home & Abroad. Park Street Station at Boston Common (Park & Tremont), Boston. Call: 781-285-8622

Monday, October 17, 8:30am - 6:00pm. Occupy Springfield! Court Sq, Springfield. If your incensed about being economically marginalized and angry about the democratic process being usurped by big business and corporations -- meet at Court Sq. in Springfield on October 17th at 8:30 a.m. Bring your signs and defiance to this event. Let the world know that you aren't going to remain silent and complacent. Be angry -- it's all that you have left.

October 22, 3-9 p.m. Citizens Awareness Network's 20th anniversary party at Kiwanis Park in Bernardston, MA. Cover charge: sliding scale. B.Y.O.B. Now we are creating a sustainable energy future by replacing Vermont Yankee!
• Patty Carpenter and friends – Blues / Folk Rock / Jazz
• Wildcat O’Halloran – Blues / Classic Rock
• Brook Batteau and The New Cosmology - Rock / Dance Pop
• Rae C Wright’s tips on proper radiation hygiene
• Our favorite M.C., Will Nukem
• D.J. Emporer
No one turned away for lack of funds. For information and directions:
Citizens Awareness Network • 413-339-5781 • www.nukebusters.org

Wednesday, October 26, 7-9 p.m. STUDYING MOUNTAIN LIONS WITH MARK ELBROCH . Sliding scale fee. Location to be determined. Pre-registration at Hitchcock Center for the Environment required; please call 413-256-6006.

Sunday, Oct 30, noon. Call to Action: Rally at the Gates of the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor. 546 Governor Hunt Rd. Vernon, VT.
We will not allow this reactor to operate beyond its scheduled closure date. It is time to close up and clean up. Go to: http://safeandgreenenergyalliance.org/

There. We've occupied your time long enough....'til next time, that is. There is however one more thing we must add: LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER!!

The Fall of Corporate America

2011-10-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

There was the Arab Spring and there is the North American Autumn; the harvest time when the fruits of our labor are gathered up and stored. The Rites of Autumn concern a return to balance, darkness and light in sync. Following a long season of growing unrest, an economy out of balance and the social fabric torn and twisted, it's time for the fall of Corporate America. The 99% of North Americans who are not filthy rich want to harvest the promise of the United States of America and like the seed corn saved for the next growing season, they look forward to the democracy nurtured by our agrarian ancestors, by the founders.

No need to repeat what we already know here: the litany of inequality, the injustice of rule by oligarchs and their enablers, and the broken promise of the Pledge of Allegiance. You've read all that. You've lived it through unemployment or underemployment; through homelessness or dispossession; through the loss of liberty and the degradation of a democratic form of government. Now, at last, comes the turning. Now we take stock and prepare for the long hard winter.

Corporate America was genetically engineered by the filthy rich. It was always out of balance, a fabrication, a fake. The so-called Tea Party was a product of Corporate America. It was funded and promoted by the corporados and the banksters. They served the interests of Corporate America, disguised as patriots. The corporate media focused on the so-called Tea Party, misleading Americans to believe they spoke for the average citizen. They did not. Nor did Republican candidates who spoke in folksy ways or posed by tractors at county fairs. Republicans speak for the filthy rich, there is no daylight between them and the so-called Tea Party. That tea is tainted, poisoned.

Corporate America is not a person either. The myth of corporate personhood, like the myth of a patriotic Tea Party, was also a fabrication of the wealthy. Their minions on the Supreme Court began the process of corporate dominance long ago. The founders of the United States of America warned us about them. Now we begin to reverse that process, to return the power to the people, to their communities.

It is no accident that the Occupation of Wall Street grew out of the anti-corporate, anti-consumer society ranks, from operations like Ad Busters and the countless numbers of people fed up with money in politics, stolen elections, lobbyists in government, the destruction of democracy and the commodification of our society and the planet. We don't buy the concept of corporate personhood. We don't believe in Corporate America.

The Occupation of Wall Street and the growing occupations of other streets all across North America and around the world, tells us that we have finally reached a tipping point; a time when students, young couples, workers, the unemployed and underemployed, senior citizens of limited means, and untold numbers of other Americans have said to Corporate America and its enablers: enough! basta! We want an end to Corporate America. We want the return of the United States of America.

- d.o.

Composting the Corporados Enviro Show, Part II

2011-09-22T05:34:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. Are corporations people? We don't think so! Are they busy at work destroying the planet? Well.....yah! Gail Darrell of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund calls in to discuss local home rule and the end of Corporate America (to which we say: YES!). As always, we'll also checkout our Fool-on-the-Hill, The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, our Quote of the Week, and the E-Vally-uation segment, but first it's time for....Revenge of the Critters! This one from our favorite hydrologist: cowboys choose the wrong bear!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we have this excellent piece on the Wall Street Occupation where the banksters & corporados get exposed to the light. For daily updates on the Occupation go here. Then, some "Sustainable Forestry Initiative" greenwashing corporados getting an earfull from Green Mountain State tree-huggers. Also, could this Scottish nuke that will never, ever be cleaned up just as easily happen up the river at Vermont Yankee? Better hope not! And, another Enviro Show Blog Bonus: this Rainforest Action Network graphic just might keep you from shopping at all!

Speaking of vile corporados, this week's Fool-on-the-Hill is Rep. Eric Cantor (again!) who is leading the charge to put corporate polluters ahead of public health & the planet......SURPRISE! Here's an action link for a League of Conservation Voters effort to counter Cantor.........counter Cantor.....we like that! O, and some droppings from the bottom of his fellow Repugnicans' cage: a House vote to fund FEMA assistance for those recent disasters? Not without cutting green jobs! Where do we get these people??

Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week comes to you from our second favorite president, Thomas Jefferson and is in complete keeping with our theme here:

"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country."

In our E-Valley-uation segment anti-biomass incineration/pro-clean energy activists took it to Beacon Hill last week for a demo under the dome. Yo Gov, got the message? For a more in-depth report on the issue go here. And this coming Saturday, October 1 is the Irene edition of the annual Source to Sea Connecticut River watershed-wide cleanup! Sign-up for the river, OK? Finally, on the theme of signing-up, how about kicking in for Valley Free Radio during our E Pledge Drive? You'd be supporting our work here on the show and hopefully cutting down on Autumn Pledge Drive interruptions to your favorite programming. We are passing the virtual hat on to you here.

Once again we air "The American Dream" by George Carlin (we can't get enough of this, sorry......wait! We're not sorry at all! Listen up, will you!!). Then it's on to our interview with Gail Darrell of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund.

Then we visit the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday September 28, 12:30-2pm, GREENWORK: THE WESTERN MASS GREEN ECONOMY WORKING GROUP Brown Bag Lunch at Noon, Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield. Call: (413)732-7970.

Wednesday, Sept. 28, 1 to 3:30 p.m. HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT/HEALTHY AGING. What do clean air, water, and soil have to do with aging? Why should be concerned about our environment as we get older? What does the recent tornado clean-up have to do with our health? A community discussion. Springfield Hobby Club, 309 Chestnut St. (off Franklin St., behind YMCA). Contact: Mass. Senior Action, 543-2334

Wednesday, September 28, 6:30pm. Meeting at the Holyoke Public Library about a coordinated effort to start moving the gears faster towards retirement and redevelopment of the Mt. Tom coal plant.Please feel free to invite any die-hard coal activists in the area who have time on their hands. Contact: Claire B. W. Miller Community Organizer, Toxics Action Center at 617.747.4408/Cell 781.775.1429. Email:
claire@toxicsaction.org

Thursday, September 29, 4:00pm to 5:30pm. Internationally acclaimed author, anti-hunger activist and food policy reformer Francis Moore Lappé, best known for her 1970s book, “Diet for a Small Planet,” will be the keynote speaker at the Franklin Permaculture Garden at UMass Amherst. Students and administrators will dedicate the campus’s permaculture garden and celebrate the UMass Amherst Permaculture Initiative’s first harvest. Contact: (978)314-1176 or email: rharb@mail.aux.umass.edu

Friday September 30, 2pm. TAKE BACK OUR CITIES! HISTORIC MARCH & RALLY. Boston Common Band Stand. 11am: Bus from Springfield Plaza, 1225 Liberty St. Big banks are destroying our communities! Big businesses are killing our jobs and our environment! Reserve your seat on the bus, call 413-342-1804 or 347-385-8049.

Friday, September 30, 7pm. Screening of "Gashole". Corporate interests work behind the scenes to keep America dependent on oil. 7:00 p.m., Frances Crowe Community Room, 60 Masonic Street in Northampton. Enter via Woodstar Cafe, at the front of the building. The venue is accessible. Contact: info@northamptoncommittee.org

Sat, Oct 1,7 pm. "Windfall" A film documenting the experiences of Meredith, NY residents as industrial wind turbines are debated as an option to help counter economic challenges. Cost: $5 Memorial Hall, 51 Bridge Street, Shelburne Falls, MA,
(413) 625-3052

Sunday, October 2, 10am to 2:30pm. 26th Anniversary of the New England Peace Pagoda. Keynote speaker: Dr. Vincent Harding, speech writer for Martin Luther King, including King's famous anti-Vietnam War speech, "A Time to Break Silence". 100 Cave Hill Road, Leverett, MA. Call: (413)367- 2202

October 2, Jones Library, Amherst 2-4 PM; October 3, Art Space, Greenfield, 7-9 PM; October 4, Jones Library, Amherst, 7-9 PM. Auditions for RADIUM GIRLS, a play that takes an unflinching look at the peculiarly American obsession with health, wealth, and the commercialization of science as one lone woman battles a corporation, her own family, and friends to seek justice in the story of a landmark case in occupational safety and the environment. Large cast, multiple roles. Men and women, 17-70. Actresses 17-30 a necessity. Details: Robert Freedman, director, 413-586-6095, rpaulfre@gis.net.

Thursday, Oct. 6 - We call on people of conscience and courage—all who seek peace, economic justice, human rights and a healthy environment to join together in Washington, D.C., beginning on Oct. 6, 2011, in nonviolent resistance similar to the Arab Spring and the Midwest awakening. A concert, rally and protest will kick off a powerful and sustained nonviolent resistance to the corporate criminals that dominate our government. "Stop the Machine! • Create a New World!" is a clarion call for all who are deeply concerned with injustice, militarism and environmental destruction to join in ending concentrated corporate power and taking direct control of a real participatory democracy. Some people from the Valley are planning to go by the Megabus which leaves from the Ingleside Mall in Holyoke at 11:00 AM on Wednesday, getting in DC at 10:00 PM. Contact cjmoos@crocker.com for further info. Also go to: http://october2011.org.

Wednesday, October 26, 7-9 p.m. STUDYING MOUNTAIN LIONS WITH MARK ELBROCH . Sliding scale fee. Location to be determined. Pre-registration at Hitchcock Center for the Environment required; please call 413-256-6006.

Sunday, November 6, 2-4 p.m. DEEP-ENERGY-RETROFITTING YOUR HOME with Bick Corsa, Energy Efficient Builder (35 years' experience in residential renovation & construction with a focus on energy efficiency & passive solar design). Free. Pre-registration required at Hitchcock Center for the Environment; please call 413-256-6006.

We go out with "Corporations are People, Too" by Dave Rovics who always listens to his Mother. And you?

The Shut it Down NOW! Enviro Show

2011-09-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. Continuing our monitoring of that radioactive ticking time bomb just over the border in Vermont we welcome Deb Katz of the Citizens Awareness Network back on the show to talk about all the recent events up there as well as the resurgence of the Clamshell Alliance and other protest activities. Like always we entertain you with our Fool-on-the-Hill and have you Meet the New Boss, as well as a trip to the E-Valley-uation segment and more, but first it's time for....Revenge of the Critters! Fox in the UK is feeling at home!

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill goes easily to Repugnican Rep. Eric Cantor who called for no funding for recent disaster relief unless funds are cut for.....are you ready?....first responders! Sounds like this guy is smokin' waayyyy too much tea! For what it's worth you can add your name to a petition for this fool.

Time to Meet the New Boss (have you noticed some similarity to the old boss lately?). Take a deep breath now: Obama caves on better air quality. And here's another take on this move by the Prez written by Massachusetts anti-corporado crusader, Jeff Clements. And yet another! You can take him to the woodshed here.

In the E-Valley-uation segment six of the usual Massachusetts suspects were arrested on August 30th after citing Vermont Yankee for polluting. No word on Entergy's response to the citation, but kudos to MA State Senator Stan Rosenberg for requesting that the MA Emergency Management Agency fill the position for its Nuclear Safety Engineer that's been vacant for.....are you ready? two years! And this Enviro Show Blog Bonus: GCC gets down and goes geothermal! Also, the Gov needs to hear from YOU one more time to stop the Biomonster. Watch this video! Finally, what's with the AFL-CIO hooking up with the so-called Environmental League of Massachusetts (ELM) for the worthy idea of a labor/enviro alliance? ELM is not just elitist and corporate friendly, they also recommend you see "a tremendously useful PowerPoint presentation by Frank Luntz's nationally-respected polling firm". Frank Luntz?? Just for the record, our friends at Mass Forest Watch note that in 2009, ELM supported a 400% increase in logging, 76% of it even aged, clearcut type logging, on Massachusetts State Parks and Forests. Did someone say "environmentalists"?

And, in our Enviro Show Echo Chamber we learn that the Japanese nuke industry dropped about 168 atomic bombs on their own country (OK, so the equivalent of 168 A-bombs). And this on the biomess from The Boston Phoenix: The Gov's Green Blues. You can send your protestations here: and here: . Also, from our friends at Climate Connections: Hurricane Irene worse cuz' of climate change. Did we say climate? How about this final wrap on "part one" of the Tar Sands Pipeline protest at the White House. If you want to take part in Part Two go here. Tar sands? How about dirty coal? Isn't it time we put put Massey Coal out of business? Go here to do it!

After our interview with Deb we swing over to a well-stocked Bus Stop Billboard:

Tuesday September 20, 11am-12:30pm, NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION: DON’T X OUT PUBLIC TRANSIT. Meet on the corner of Liberty St. and Main St. on the side of the Springfield Republican, across from the bus terminal (which is 1776 Main St), Springfield. Rally for increased – not decreased – investment in public transportation. Please visit www.supporttransit.org. Info: Richard Gardner, (413) 732-8041,
rgardner@atulocal448.com.

Tuesday, September 20, 7pm. Dr. Kinari Webb is speaking at the Northampton Friends Meeting about working with rainforest communities in Indonesia to save the environment and human health. She does this by providing quality medical care. She helps loggers become organic farmers. Go to: www.healthinharmony.org

Saturday, September 24. It's the Moving Planet Big Freeze and Fossil Fuel Funeral in Northampton. 11:30 Spread out around town. 12:00 noon - Strike a pose and freeze for five minutes! Be creative! Do not block people or traffic. Northampton sidewalks have a band of pink brick which is fine to use. FOSSIL FUEL FUNERAL - Wear a costume, improvise, dress in black, bring an umbrella, dance, sing, skateboard, bike! 12:05 Join the parade which starts on Main Street adjacent to Pulaski Park. We will march down Main Street, take a right on Pleasant St, right on Armory St., and congregate behind Thorne's Market where the Tuesday Farmer's Market is. Contact Director Jill Turner. jillturnerbigfreeze@gmail. com or 413 306 4813

Saturday, September 24, 10am Bikers will assemble at Mt Tom Power Plant on Rte 5 in Holyoke at 10 a.m. and move "en masse" up Rte 5, across the bridge, along Rte 9 in Hadley to the center of Amherst. Another group of walkers, skateboarders, dancers, stroller-pushers etc will assemble (10 a.m.) at the proposed solar array location at the old Amherst landfill on Rte 9 and head toward the center of Amherst. The two groups will converge for a rally calling for a move from dirty to clean energy. Contact: morrisfri@aol.com

Saturday, September 24,3-6PM. Run by trainers affiliated with The Public Interest Network, the Activist Workshops will cover the best techniques for citizens to take action. They will cover how to plan a campaign and develop your campaign’s goals, strategies and tactics - and how to recruit volunteers and get people plugged into the thing you are passionate about. It’s a chance to learn, share ideas and connect with other environmentally active citizens as well as activists from other causes. Click the link below for more details and to RSVP:
https://secure3.convio.net/engage/site/Donation2?idb=385250126&df_id=6221&6221.donation=form1
If you have any questions, email Jessie Miller atjmiller@publicinterestnetwork.org or call her at (978)621-7367.

Sunday, Sept. 25, 1-5pm. Chill-Out the Climate Rally! 1pm: Gather at Bridge Street School park next to Route 9 in Northampton, 1/2 mile east of downtown. Come by bike, skateboard, skates, feet, bus, car, carpool.Parking on side streets nearby. 2pm: Cross the bridge to a safe climate/clean energy future. March one mile east on Rt. 9 sidewalk to Coolidge Bridge. Cross over using walkway on north side. With hundreds on bridge walkway, 20 people in the middle hold big block letter signs saying: CHILL THE CLIMATE! 350.org. Photo will be taken for local media, and for 350.org to share online worldwide. Parade then connects with Bike Path/Rail Trail in Hadley, goes back across river, and back to Bridge St. School. 3:30-5pm: Rally. Contact: 413-625-6374 Johnpberk@gmail.com

Wednesday, September 28, 11am. Green Economy Principles meeting at the Central Labor Council Hall, 640 Page Blvd, Springfield. This meeting will be followed by the return of our regular public “roundtable” discussions, brown bag lunch at noon, roundtable 12:30-2pm.

Friday September 30, 2pm. TAKE BACK OUR CITIES! HISTORIC MARCH & RALLY. Boston Common Band Stand. 11am: Bus from Springfield Plaza, 1225 Liberty St. Big banks are destroying our communities! Big businesses are killing our jobs and our environment! Springfield No One Leaves will mobilize a brigade of buses from Western Mass. to join with thousands from the national organization Right to the City (RTTC). We need you to come and join us. Reserve your seat on the bus by email: nooneleavesspringfield@gmail.com or call 413-342-1804 or 347-385-8049. Info: 413-342-1804, nooneleavessspringfield@gmail.com, www.springfieldnooneleaves.org.

October 2, Jones Library, Amherst 2-4 PM; October 3, Art Space, Greenfield, 7-9 PM; October 4, Jones Library, Amherst, 7-9 PM. Auditions for RADIUM GIRLS, a play that takes an unflinching look at the peculiarly American obsession with health, wealth, and the commercialization of science as one lone woman battles a corporation, her own family, and friends to seek justice in the story of a landmark case in occupational safety and the environment. Large cast, multiple roles. Men and women, 17-70. Actresses 17-30 a necessity. Details: Robert Freedman, director, 413-586-6095, rpaulfre@gis.net.

Thursday, Oct. 6 - We call on people of conscience and courage—all who seek peace, economic justice, human rights and a healthy environment to join together in Washington, D.C., beginning on Oct. 6, 2011, in nonviolent resistance similar to the Arab Spring and the Midwest awakening. A concert, rally and protest will kick off a powerful and sustained nonviolent resistance to the corporate criminals that dominate our government. "Stop the Machine! • Create a New World!" is a clarion call for all who are deeply concerned with injustice, militarism and environmental destruction to join in ending concentrated corporate power and taking direct control of a real participatory democracy. Go to: http://october2011.org. Regional contact: peterawhite@excite.com

Whoa! Lots going on, yes? That's it for us but remember: listen to your Mother!

The Think LocaGlobo Enviro Show

2011-08-24T05:52:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. Time to talk local energy and sustainability as Chris Mason, Energy and Sustainability Officer for the City of Northampton returns to these microphones. You may recall Chris was on the show when he first started that position a few years back. We'll find out what he's been up to and look into some other related issues in our E-Valley-uation segment. We'll also visit The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and our Fool-on-the-Hill as well as give you the Quote of the week, but first it's time for.....Revenge of the Critters! Jaws comes home!

Since 2011 is the International Year of Forests we thought we'd check out some forests in our neck of the woods for the E-Valley-uation segment. Maybe you caught Chris Matera's recent letter in the Valley Advocate on the alleged biomass windfall(!) in the Brimfield State Forest. Chris points out that "even if 100 percent of the trees on all 1,200 acres of blown down Brimfield forest were chipped and burned it would only fuel a single biomass plant like the one in Russell for less than two months or all of the proposed Pioneer Valley biomass plants for only three weeks. Then what?" Hmm, let's take a stab at this...........clearcut the entire state?!

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is U.S. Repugnican Rep. Rich Nugent. This from Grist: "Florida Tea Party members believe that federal efforts to protect manatees from extinction are part of a United Nations conspiracy to place manatee over man. Freshman Rep. Nugent is standing up for the Tea Partiers against the feared manatee overlords, offering an amendment to the FY 2012 Interior and Environment appropriations bill (HR 2584) that would block the creation of a manatee refuge in Citrus County" Did we mention manatees are listed as an Endangered Species? We're thinking if anything should become extinct the so-called Tea Party is the perfect candidate.

Our Quote of the Week goes out to all the corporados out there.

"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." -- Thomas Jefferson

Dave Rovics' "Corporations are People, Too" seems like a good follow-up for Tom Jefferson. Then it's on to The Enviro Show Echo Chamber where the Tar Sands Action across from the White House has led to hundreds of arrests. Even union guys are coming out against the proposed Keystone pipeline. You can send YOUR protest to Obama here!

After our interview with Chris we move over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

August 30 to September 27 - Court appearances for the Shut it Down Affinity Group members following their most recent arrest at Vermont Yankee. Go here for specific dates.

Thursday, Sept. 8, 5:30pm. Shutdown VT. Yankee contingent in the Franklin County Parade. Line up in Parking Lot, behind Greenfield Middle School, Federal St, Greenfield, MA . Join us for the parade through downtown Greenfield and then party at the Fair! Get free entrance passes into the fair after the parade!

Saturday, Sept 10, 1:00-2:30. Rally to Support Vermont in its decision to shutter Vermont Yankee and replace it with sustainable energy solutions. Wells Fountain, Court House, Brattleboro, VT. Monday, September 12, Entergy's lawsuit against the state will be heard in Federal court in Brattleboro. It is important that people express their support for Vermont's courageous act to support the will of the people. Join us for good music and speeches!! Call: (413)339-5781

Wednesday, September 14 at 8:00pm - September 15 at 9:00pm. 24 Hours of Reality is a worldwide event that will share the reality of the climate crisis. From Tonga to Cape Verde, Mexico City to Alaska, Jakarta to London, people living with the impacts of climate change every day will tell their story. The event features a new multimedia presentation created by Al Gore and delivered once per hour for 24 hours, in every time zone around the globe. Go to: http://climaterealityproject.org/the-event/

Saturday, September 17 at 6:00am. Occupy Wall Street! On September 17, we want to see 20,000 people flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months. Once there, we shall incessantly repeat one simple demand in a plurality of voices. It's time for DEMOCRACY NOT CORPORATOCRACY! Go to: http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/occupywallstreet.html

Saturday, September 24, 11:40 Gather at Pulaski Park for this year's 350.org parade in Northampton. It's the Moving Planet Big Freeze and Fossil Fuel Funeral. Go to: http://www.moving-planet.org/events/us/downtown-northampton/613

October 2, Jones Library, Amherst 2-4 PM; October 3, Art Space, Greenfield, 7-9 PM; October 4, Jones Library, Amherst, 7-9 PM. Auditions for RADIUM GIRLS, a play that takes an unflinching look at the peculiarly American obsession with health, wealth, and the commercialization of science as one lone woman battles a corporation, her own family, and friends to seek justice in the story of a landmark case in occupational safety and the environment. Large cast, multiple roles. Men and women, 17-70. Actresses 17-30 a necessity. Details: Robert Freedman, director, 413-586-6095, rpaulfre@gis.net.

Thursday, Oct. 6 - We call on people of conscience and courage—all who seek peace, economic justice, human rights and a healthy environment to join together in Washington, D.C., beginning on Oct. 6, 2011, in nonviolent resistance similar to the Arab Spring and the Midwest awakening. A concert, rally and protest will kick off a powerful and sustained nonviolent resistance to the corporate criminals that dominate our government. "Stop the Machine! • Create a New World!" is a clarion call for all who are deeply concerned with injustice, militarism and environmental destruction to join in ending concentrated corporate power and taking direct control of a real participatory democracy. Go to: http://october2011.org. Regional contact: deross2@yahoo.com, tel: 802-922-4029

OK, we are soooo out of here. Until next time, remember, listen to your Mother!

The Enviro Justice Show

2011-08-10T05:27:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. Guess who suffers more than most from pollution and environmental degradation? OK, probably the critters, but next in line are low-income communities and people of color. Surprise! Some of this may become obvious as class warfare makes itself at home in the UK. The poor get dumped on amidst the plenty. Aron Goldman of The Springfield Institute's Environmental Justice Bike Tour joins us for the virtual tour. As always we take YOU for a tour in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, our E-Valley-uation segment, a visit with the Fool-on-the-Hill among other familiar stops, but first it's time for.... Revenge of the Critters! Raccoon battles woman over turf!

In our E-Valley-uation segment we find radioactive Strontium in fish taken from the Connecticut River. The Union of Concerned Scientists wants the NRC to investigate Entergy Nuclear officials for lying to the public. What? Entergy lying? Can't be! And btw, why are fish being taken from their river anyway??

We have a two for the price of one BIG Fool-on-the-Hill. It's none other than Repugnican Rep. Bachman "solving" the energy problem and vowing to shut down the EPA!

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber you can join Public Citizen and Friends of the Earth in calling on President Obama to reject the proposed tar sands pipeline and focus on clean, safe energy alternatives OR you can go right down to the White House on August 20th with a bunch of well-dressed protesters and make your voice heard! Speaking of protests, indigenous people are not pleased with plans for uranium mining in the Grand Canyon. And this: Anonymous hacks corporados here. Also: Friends of the Earth on what the debt deal means to the planet and the poor.

Then it's time to Meet the New Boss again and it's a sad state of affairs. We meld in our Quote of the Week from a New York Times op-ed by Drew Weston with the New Boss's latest cave-in to the Repugs:

"The president is fond of referring to “the arc of history,” paraphrasing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous statement that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” But with his deep-seated aversion to conflict and his profound failure to understand bully dynamics — in which conciliation is always the wrong course of action, because bullies perceive it as weakness and just punch harder the next time — he has broken that arc and has likely bent it backward for at least a generation."

On the up side you can always sign on to the Contract for the American Dream, but we'd be negligent in our duty here if we didn't point out that much of that "dream" is a nightmare for the planet. After all, so much of prosperity involves over-consumption and waste. Hey, how about a NEW American Dream (this time we could include all of America!).

The Joshua Marcus song "Invisible City" takes us to our interview with Aron Goldman we move on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Friday/Satruday August 19-20. Boston Greenfest. See: http://bostongreenfest.org/

Saturday, August 20th – September 3rd. Protest tar sands mining and the proposed Keystone pipeline! With people power and time-tested tactics of civil disobedience - join thousands of people from across the continent in a wave of sustained sit-ins at the White House. Together we’ll amplify our voices and escalate the movement and stop the Keystone XL pipeline to the Canadian tar sands. Go to:
http://www.tarsandsaction.org/ or Contact tarsandsaction@gmail.com

Saturday, August 27,1-4pm. Western Mass Green Consortium’s annual BBQ & Clambake: “Celebrate Sustainable Living” . Come have learn about projects, have fun, eat great food, dance to live music!! If you plan on attending, please register at www.westernmassgreenconsortium.org

Sunday, August 28, 11:30 am – 5:30 pm. JOIN THE ORGANIZING OF A REGIONAL CAMPAIGN OF NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION TO SHUT DOWN VERMONT YANKEE at the Norwich Congregational Church, 15 Church St, Norwich, VT. Informational sessions about Vermont Yankee and nonviolence training workshops will be scheduled for later dates, including a VT Yankee Action Camp at Wheelock Mountain Farm, in Wheelock, VT, on Friday evening Sept 9th – Saturday evening, Sept 10th – for info call Robin at 802-533-2296.

August 30 to September 27 - Court appearances for the Shut it Down Affinity Group members following their most recent arrest at Vermont Yankee. Go here for specific dates.

Thursday, Sept. 8, 5:30pm. Shutdown VT. Yankee contingent in the Franklin County Parade. Line up in Parking Lot, behind Greenfield Middle School, Federal St, Greenfield, MA . Join us for the parade through downtown Greenfield and then party at the Fair! Get free entrance passes into the fair after the parade!

Saturday, Sept 10, 1:00-2:30. Rally to Support Vermont in its decision to shutter Vermont Yankee and replace it with sustainable energy solutions. Wells Fountain, Court House, Brattleboro, VT. Monday, September 12, Entergy's lawsuit against the state will be heard in Federal court in Brattleboro. It is important that people express their support for Vermont's courageous act to support the will of the people.
Join us for good music and speeches!! Call: (413)339-5781

Wednesday, September 14 at 8:00pm - September 15 at 9:00pm. 24 Hours of Reality is a worldwide event that will share the reality of the climate crisis. From Tonga to Cape Verde, Mexico City to Alaska, Jakarta to London, people living with the impacts of climate change every day will tell their story. The event features a new multimedia presentation created by Al Gore and delivered once per hour for 24 hours, in every time zone around the globe. Go to: http://climaterealityproject.org/the-event/

Saturday, September 17 at 6:00am. Occupy Wall Street! On September 17, we want to see 20,000 people flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months. Once there, we shall incessantly repeat one simple demand in a plurality of voices. It's time for DEMOCRACY NOT CORPORATOCRACY! Go to: http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/occupywallstreet.html

Saturday, September 24, 11:40 Gather at Pulaski Park for this year's 350.org parade in Northampton. It's the Moving Planet Big Freeze and Fossil Fuel Funeral. Go to: http://www.moving-planet.org/events/us/downtown-northampton/613

Thursday, Oct. 6 - We call on people of conscience and courage—all who seek peace, economic justice, human rights and a healthy environment to join together in Washington, D.C., beginning on Oct. 6, 2011, in nonviolent resistance similar to the Arab Spring and the Midwest awakening. A concert, rally and protest will kick off a powerful and sustained nonviolent resistance to the corporate criminals that dominate our government. "Stop the Machine! • Create a New World!" is a clarion call for all who are deeply concerned with injustice, militarism and environmental destruction to join in ending concentrated corporate power and taking direct control of a real participatory democracy. Go to: http://october2011.org. Regional contact: deross2@yahoo.com, tel: 802-922-4029

There. You are rid of us 'til next time, but remember: listen to your Mother!

Michael Perlman, presenta!

2011-08-07T06:37:00.000-07:00

I just had the disturbing experience of finding one of the early voices on the climate crisis slipping down the cyber memory hole. Dr. Michael Perlman, author of "The Power of Trees - A reforesting of the soul" and other works lived here in the Valley in the '90s. He helped greatly to raise awareness of what he insisted we call "climate chaos" or "climate disruption" (instead of the less cogent phrase "global warming"). Below I've reposted Bob Leverett's heart felt tribute to Perlman. It is vital that we honor those who have sounded the alarm about what is the gravest threat to life on planet Earth. This, even more so since it is believed that Michael Perlman took his own life out of despair over humanity's lack of or concern or action regarding climate disruption.

- d.o.

In the 1990s I had a great friend named Dr. Michael Perlman, one of the co-founders of ENTS. He died in April 1998. Michael was absolutely brilliant. He had many credits. He wrote The Power of Trees - A reforesting of the soul . He was an adjunct professor at Vermont College, a Jungian psychologist, and an ecologist. He was editing the Einstein papers for Princeton University at the time of his death - a testament to his immense intellect. He was also working on a paper that explored the basis of mathematics as an expression of inherent universal structure and properties. He had previously thought of mathematics as a product of abstract human thinking divorced from any natural roots - an artificially developed discipline carried on within the confines of classrooms, private studies, and lecture halls, but not outdoors - conceptually perhaps, but seldom in practice. I don't know precisely what was in Mike's mind, but his new hypothesis may have been that true mathematics is in encoded in our DNA as an expression of the universal physical laws - and of course the architecture of trees. When mathematics is observed to ooze out of the brain of some precocious genius, Mike would likely maintain that that expression isn't a consequence of some sternly developed human talent, but the song of the spheres, so to speak, manifesting itself through genetic pathways formed from several million years of trial and error.

Mike and I used to walk the forest together and he would unabashedly hug trees. Feeling uncomfortable, I would always look around first to make sure nobody was watching. But, Mike? No hesitation. He talked freely of going to meet a tree. He saw trees as life forms with psychological structures as surely as he accepted the obvious physical ones. He didn't see the psychological structures of trees as human. He wasn't projecting his own traits into their outstretched branches. He was far too intelligent for that. His thinking occurred on many levels, and that left those of us trying to understand him groping. Language is not always a sufficient tool to convey understanding, so Mike's explanations as transmitted through his words were seldom sufficient to enable the rest of us to understand how he came to his conclusions. I finally gave up, but not before many conversations had taken place both in the forest and over a beer or two in the comfort of my living room.

Mike probably influenced me more than I can fully comprehend, and I can also say with humility that I influenced him. When in his presence, he coaxed me to think more deeply about the role of forests and tree and our interaction with them. Were he with us today, I can well imagine him struggling hard with the Forest Futures process, currently underway. He had little tolerance for corporatized thinking. He certainly would not have seen most of the TSC members as visionaries. By contrast, I am more tolerant and pragmatic. He sometimes envied that in me, and I sometimes disliked it in myself. We often served as a balance for each other - idealism and pragmatism. I suppose he could be pragmatic, but I don't think I ever fully witnessed it.

I have to smile when I think of Michael returning from a convention with his fellow and lady psychologists. He would come back fuming and complaining that none could climb out of the deep well of anthropocentric values and priorities. He would explain that everything of value to them had to be a byproduct of human emotions and personality traits, a self-absorbed examination of how one felt instant by instant. Such a preoccupation with a moment by moment fretting over what what is inside of one's head left no room for thinking more broadly, about what is good for plants and animals. I often wondered what had lead him to Jungian Psychology. Of course I always had the answer. It was his great compassion. He saved many from taking their own lives. He could save them, but not himself.

Mike has a tree named for him in Mohawk Trail State Forest. Mike's tree is perfectly straight and is located right on the Mahican- Mohawk Recreational Trail. His tree was not chosen out of impulse. It is the site of two friends coming together, Mike and John Knuerr. Mike's tree is on the docket to reach 150 feet in height at the end of next season's growth, an accomplishment that Mike would not have concerned himself from his own inner priorities, but would have indulged on my account.

I often think of Mike and visit his tree when in the Algonquin Grove. If I think of Mike, I must also think separately of his tree. To think only of Mike and not of his tree as a separate being would be to miss the whole point of Mike's life and what was important to him.

Bob

Bee with The Enviro Show

2011-07-26T17:59:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. Do you think bees are just nasty little critters out to ruin your picnic? (What? that sweet critter pictured here by our friends at the Beehive Design Collective?) Suppose we told you there would bee no fruit in your bowl or few veggies on your plate without them? Dan Conlon of Warm Colors Apiary in South Deerfield gives us the latest buzz on the dreaded Colony Collapse Disorder and other issues facing our winged companions. As always, we visit the Enviro Show Echo Chamber, The Quote of the Week, Meet the New Boss and the week's Fool-on-the-Hill, but first it's time for....
Revenge of the Critters! Golfers beware! There's a fox guarding the links!

In our Enviro Show Echo Chamber we find Smokey the Bear getting a clue about carbon sequestering trees. And on the subject of trees: the EPA needs to hear from You about its decision not to regulate biomass carbon emissions. Also this: the WWF's greenwashing timber scheme! Did someone say scheme? We checkout Bobby Kennedy's piece on the Cape Wind rip-off as well as the trailer for a new film, "Cape Spin". And this: Tim Dechristopher gets two years for punking Big Oil! Finally, wonder what you can do at home to help stem the climate crisis besides changing light bulbs and your lifestyle? How about painting your roof white?

Our Fool-on-the-Hill, Republican Rep. Sandy Adams (Repugnican-Fla.) wants to limit funding for Department of Energy websites that educate kids about efficiency. Way to go smarty-pants Sandy. Maybe we can put those kids to work in the coal mines while we're at it.

Then it's time to Meet the New Boss, who still hasn't got it right on mileage standards for all that 19th century technology jamming our roads and highways out there. We think he needs to hear from Enviro Show listeners like You 'cuz he won't listen to us at all! It seems like he isn't listening to other enviros either. Maybe he's kicking the environment can down the road? ARRGHHHH!

Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week is attributed to both Mark Twain and Robert Heinlein. Take your pick.

"Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get."

We move into our interview with Dan Conlon with a clip from the film, "Queen of the Sun". Like the guy in the film says, without bees we'd all be eating oatmeal and a few nuts. Borrrrring! But hey, what's happening to the bees is no laughing matter. In China things are so bad that people have to hand pollinate fruit trees! And now we learn that even the bumblebees are dying off.

Finally, over at the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday, August 3,7pm. Charlie King & Karen Brandow in concert with special guest Leon Rosselson. Unity Church, 6 Arch St., Greenfield. Call Charlie and Karen 413-625-8115 for advance tickets.

Thursday, August 4th, 3 pm, the Climate Reality Check coalition will hold the latest in our series of national conference calls to help strengthen community organizing on climate, entitled: The Labor Movement and Climate Change Organizing. If you have any questions please contact Rose Braz, Center for Biological Diversity:rbraz@biologicaldiveristy.org

Wednesday, August 10th,10:00AM to Noon. Sustainability workshops for families and kids. North Amherst Community Farm, home of Simple Gifts Farm, 1089 North Pleasant St. (across from Puffton Village) in North Amherst. In this workshop we will visit the Simple Gifts sheep and learn about their wool. Other workshops scheduled. Registration required. Email Michelle Parrish at programs@nacfonline.org or call 413-624-6223.

Wednesday, August 10, 11am. Demo asking Kerry and Brown to Support the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011! Boston City Hall Plaza. Free superhero capes for all kids who attend (please RSVP to guarantee a cape for your kid(s) at cluppi@cleanwater.org)** Kids can participate in the fun and ask their Senators to be a hero by supporting The Safe Chemicals Act of 2011. For more information, please contact: Cindy Luppi by email or phone: cluppi@cleanwater.org or call: 617/338-8131 x208.

Monday-Friday, August 15-19, 8:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. LATE SUMMER NATURE DISCOVERY DAYS (AGES 6-8). Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst. Pre-registration required; please call 256-6006.

August 20th – September 3rd. Protest tar sands mining and the proposed Keystone pipeline! With people power and time-tested tactics of civil disobedience - join thousands of people from across the continent in a wave of sustained sit-ins at the White House. Together we’ll amplify our voices and escalate the movement and stop the Keystone XL pipeline to the Canadian tar sands. Go to: http://www.tarsandsaction.org/ or Contact tarsandsaction@gmail.com

Saturday, August 27,1-4pm. Western Mass Green Consortium’s annual BBQ & Clambake: “Celebrate Sustainable Living” . Come have learn about projects, have fun, eat great food, dance to live music!! If you plan on attending, please register at www.westernmassgreenconsortium.org

Wednesday, September 14 at 8:00pm - September 15 at 9:00pm. 24 Hours of Reality is a worldwide event that will share the reality of the climate crisis. From Tonga to Cape Verde, Mexico City to Alaska, Jakarta to London, people living with the impacts of climate change every day will tell their story. The event features a new multimedia presentation created by Al Gore and delivered once per hour for 24 hours, in every time zone around the globe. Go to: http://climaterealityproject.org/the-event/

Saturday, September 17 at 6:00am. Occupy Wall Street! On September 17, we want to see 20,000 people flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months. Once there, we shall incessantly repeat one simple demand in a plurality of voices. It's time for DEMOCRACY NOT CORPORATOCRACY!
Go to: http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/occupywallstreet.html

That is all and remember.....listen to your Mother!

The Revenge of the Critters Enviro Show

2011-07-11T04:34:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. In the wake of the UN's World Population Day we've turned our favorite segment into an entire show. Guess what happens to the critters and their habitats when the human population hits 7 billion. Jason Hribal, author of Fear of the Animal Planet - The Hidden History of Animal Resistance" calls in to share tales of four legged revenge. We'll see who this week's Fool-on-the-Hill might be, checkout The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and our E-Valley-uation segment, but first it's time for... Revenge of the Critters - The Segment! It's News of the Weird's Least Competent Do-it-yourself exterminators. Don't try this at home!

The Fool-on-the-Hill meets the Revenge of The Critters! Not sure if algae blooms qualify as critters but they sure took a piece out of this arch enemy of the Earth! Speaking of enemies of the Earth, the anti-environment climate crisis deniers over at Faux "News" are in a bit of trouble. Tooooo bad! There are plenty of actual critters out there that could use your help. Be good to them, maybe they'll reciprocate!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber: We have some fishy Blog Bonus Take Action links. And, Common Dreams discovers direct action, but Anonymous is already there. Of course, as always, Earth First! is all over direct action. Sounds like Great White Sharks are looking for some direct action out by the Cape! It's said they're looking for Grey Seals for lunch, but hey, look at all those slow swimmers! About those seals? They sure could use your help. You know what other critters need your help? Bats! Finally, it looks like BP's trying to back out of its commitments in the Gulf. Did someone say slimy corporados?

In our E-Valley-uation segment we ask the disturbing question: Is toxic Giant Hogweed invading this Valley.......yet? So, the EPA issued tougher rules for power plants but not in Massachusetts? What's that about?? Power plants like those proposed biomass incinerators? We don't think so! Notify the Gov here not to cave in to biomass boosters.

Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week here: "For the animal shall not be measured by man.In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not bretheren; they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the Earth" -- Henry Beston

After our interview with Jason Hribal, author of Fear of the Animal Planet" we move on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Friday, July 22 through Sunday, July 24. Clamshell Alliance reunion & resurgence:For rooms, tenting and dining, the World Fellowship can accommodate up to 150 overnight, so reserve soon (www.worldfellowship.org) if you plan to stay over. For information, connection and conversation, join clamshellalliance@yahoo.com, visit the www.clamshellalliance.org website and Facebook at http://facebook.com/ClamshellAlliance.

Saturday, July 23, 10am-6pm. The Worcester Green Jobs Coalition and the Making a Green Solidarity Economy Planning Committee invites Organizers, Activists, Academics, Media, and Community Members to participate in workshops, discussions, music and fun. Worcester Youth Center, 326 Chandler St., Worcester. Contact: Lazri DiSalvoPhone: (860) 309-5690

Wednesday, August 3,7pm. Charlie King & Karen Brandow in concert with special guest Leon Rosselson. Unity Church, 6 Arch St., Greenfield. Call Charlie and Karen 413-625-8115 for advance tickets.

Monday-Friday, August 15-19, 8:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. LATE SUMMER NATURE DISCOVERY DAYS (AGES 6-8). Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst. Pre-registration required; please call 256-6006.

August 20th – September 3rd. Protest tar sands mining and the proposed Keystone pipeline! With people power and time-tested tactics of civil disobedience - join thousands of people from across the continent in a wave of sustained sit-ins at the White House. Together we’ll amplify our voices and escalate the movement and stop the Keystone XL pipeline to the Canadian tar sands. Go to: http://www.tarsandsaction.org/ or Contact tarsandsaction@gmail.com

We are out of here! Until next time remember: Listen to your Mother!

The Troubled Atmosphere Enviro Show

2011-07-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. Noticed how hard it is to breath easy here in the Valley, especially in the summer? And how about those fireworks? We have Sylvia Brandt, Associate Professor at UMass in the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics joining us to talk air quality, asthma, biomass incineration, maybe we'll even get to her work on the effects of climate change on Mid-Atlantic fisheries (or is that another show?). We'll do the Enviro Show Echo Chamber, Meet the New Boss, the Enviro Show Quote of the Week, and our E-Valley-uation thingy, but first it's time for...Revenge of the Critters! Macho "sports" fisherman gets caught! Sorry, you'll have to see it to believe it.

In our E-Valley-uation segment guess who got busted again at the Vermont Yankee nuke? That would be our own Jean (she's the shifty looking one in the back row with the shades on). Hey, they're just a bit concerned about nuclear safety, aren't you too? And, in keeping with the show's theme: Massachusetts Department of Environmental Rejection...err...that's Protection issues a new air pollution permit! Timing is everything! And, time for some good news (albeit a bit dated): 335 acres saved from McMansions in B-town!

Speaking of getting busted, in the Enviro Show Echo Chamber we note that Bill McKibben (of all people!) is inviting YOU to get busted in DC in a protest against tar sands and the proposed Keystone Pipeline. Protest....in DC....in August! Eeeww! Go ahead, you can tell your grandchildren between backstrokes that you actually tried to save the planet. Also this: New Mass. Bottle Bill coming to a vote. Take action!

Then it's time to Meet the New boss again! Looks like one of the old bosses (Al Gore in this case) has taken a piece out of the New Boss on confronting, or NOT, the climate crisis. So what do you think, has O lost your vote?

In case you missed it the first time around, our Quote of the Week is an instant replay (above) from the winner of the 2000 Presidential election:

"Here is the core of it: we are destroying the climate balance that is essential to the survival of our civilization. This is not a distant or abstract threat; it is happening now. The United States is the only nation that can rally a global effort to save our future." - Al Gore

"Fable" by Medollic takes us to our interview with Sylvia Brandt. Then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Friday July 8, 2011, deadline for submissions to The Healthy Environment/Healthy Springfield CARE Project. HEHS calls on Springfield’s organizations, churches and groups to submit ideas for an environmental education event that they would be willing to host. The proposed event may be a forum, community dialogue or specific educational presentation. Call 413-794-1803 for application for and guidance.

July 9-10, TRAINING for TRANSITION. The Transition movement in the U.K. ignited a global conversation and sharing about positive, creative actions to build community resilience in the face of economic instability, energy cost increases, worsening social inequity, and environmental crisis. Hefty fee. Info: www.TransitionUS.org or TinaClarke@TransitionNetwork.org, 413-658-8165

Sunday, July 10, 11am to 7pm, the first-ever Common Good Festival. Amherst Common. Award-winning activist songwriters Tom Neilson, Emma’s Revolution and Appleseed recording artists Kim and Reggie Harris headline a star-studded lineup. In addition, the festival will feature local sustainability and social justice activist groups and businesses, craft vendors, cooperative games, children's activities, a magician and more. For more information call (413) 628-3336 (9 AM to 7:30 PM)

Sunday, July 10, 4:00pm - 7:00pm. Pioneer Valley Green-Rainbow Local Monthly Meeting. Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA. Contact mlikins@hotmail.com

Saturday, July 16, 2011, 2-5pm. Festival for a Nuclear Free Future. Copley Square, Boston. The "nuclear age" began on this date 66 years ago – July 16, 1945 – with the Trinity atomic bomb test in the New Mexico desert. After a string of nuclear disaters, it’s time for the nuclear age to end. Let’s begin to end it in Copley Square on July 16, 2011! Co-sponsored by the Sierra Club. Go to: nukefreefest.org or Call 617-354-2169

Monday, July 18 to August 6. Walk for a Nuclear Free World. Starting at the Leverett Peace Pagoda, the walk goes to both Vermont Yankee and the Pilgrim nuke in Plymouth, MA ending at the Grafton, NY pagoda. Call: (413)485-8469.

Friday, July 22 through Sunday, July 24. Clamshell Alliance reunion & resurgence:For rooms, tenting and dining, the World Fellowship can accommodate up to 150 overnight, so reserve soon (www.worldfellowship.org) if you plan to stay over. For information, connection and conversation, join clamshellalliance@yahoo.com, visit the www.clamshellalliance.org website and Facebook at http://facebook.com/ClamshellAlliance.

Monday-Friday, August 15-19, 8:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. LATE SUMMER NATURE DISCOVERY DAYS (AGES 6-8). Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst. Pre-registration required; please call 256-6006.

Done. Next time: the Revenge of the Critters Enviro Show. Author Jason Hribal joins us to talk about one of our favorite subjects! Until then remember.....listen to your Mother.

The Summer Solstice '11 Enviro Show

2011-06-14T16:19:00.000-07:00

Solstice Greetings Earthlings. It's the longest day and time once again to honor the Earth with a Summer Solstice celebration! Also, Happy Birthday Arky Markham: Summer solstice baby extraordinaire! Mark Maynard of Urban Power USA steps into the studio to talk small wind. We visit the Enviro Show Echo Chamber, revisit the Fool-on-the-Hill and re-meet The New Boss, but first it's time for...Revenge of the Critters! Boating on the Thames this summer? Keep your hands inside the rails!

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber we find Sea Shepherd freed illegally caught Bluefin Tuna....off the coast of Libya no less! Arab Spring? Spring the Tuna! On the down side, someone on the Cape is shooting listed gray seals. What kind of person does that?? Also: Take Action to save the horseshoe crabs (who aren't crabs at all). And this: Ken has a hissy fit over rainforest destruction. That's an Enviro Show Video Blog Bonus and so is THIS! How about one of the Ten Worst Ideas of 2011: Auzzies kill camels to save the planet? BUT, in our Ten BEST Ideas Dept.: reboot the CCC! Remember our past shows on floating isles of garbage? Will you take the pledge to be part of the solution? Since we're on the Oceana page here, how about speaking up against offshore drilling? Finally, down in South America it's dammed if you do, dammed if you don't!

In our E-Valley-uation segment we ask the musical question: Is the creaky old Vermont Yankee nuke shut down yet? No? But isn't it the same type of nuke as the ones still melting down in Fukushima? While everyone was fixated on Rep. Weiner's weiner, TEPCO announced that the meltdowns probably released more radioactive material into the environment than Chernobyl, making it the worst nuclear accident on record (just like D.O. said it would be). What? You haven't heard about that announcement in the news recently? Gosh, maybe it's not really happening! We checkout Vermont's legal struggle with the Entergy corporados. And, this update on the struggle in Wendell to live off the grid legally (why are we even having that conversation?).

In our Meet the New Boss segment we direct Enviro Show blog readers to Bill McKibben's "Obama Strikes Out on Global Warming" at Mother Jones AND his thoughts on the abusive relationship between O & the enviros at Grist. Goodness gracious, when former nice guy Sunday School teachers like Bill become disillusioned with the Prez....what can we say other than: say hello to the new boss! Why not call Obama to say hello and ask about putting those solar panels back on the White House? While you're at it, why not tell him to STOP SHILLING FOR THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY!!

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is House Natural Resources Committee Chair Doc Hastings (a Repugnican, of course). Apparently the doctor is out. He thinks the discovery of one months worth of oil proves we have abundant oil reserves!
Wait,don't you have to go to college for years and years to be a doc? Maybe Doc is also one of the 34% of the U.S. population who say there is no solid evidence of a climate crisis. You want stupid? We've got stupid!. Thanks, Faux "News"!

The King's Drummers at the Stonehenge Summer Solstice event takes us to our Solstice celebration. Then it's off to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday June 22,6:30 p.m. to 9:00 P.M. Annual Assessment of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet with the public to discuss the NRC's assessment of safety performance at Brattleboro Union High School, 131 Fairground Road, Brattleboro, VT. Meeting contact: Donald E. Jackson , chief, Projects Branch 5, NRC. (610)337-5306

Thursday & Friday, June 23-24, 9am. US District Court Hearing - Entergy vs Peter Shumlin et al. US District Court, Brattleboro, VT. Contact CAN: (413) 339-5781 Email: can@nukebusters.org Anti-nuke Vigil 7:30 – 9:00 AM on Thursday & Friday on the sidewalks in front of, and across the street from the Brattleboro Post Office on Main Street. The federal courtroom is upstairs in the Post Office building.

Saturday, June 25, 1 to 8pm. No Nukes Party! (And discuss non-violent action plans 3-5:30pm) Sponsored by: Wendell Conservation Commission. Co-sponsors: Clamshell Legacy and Antinuclear Mobilization; Citizens Awareness Network ; Safe & Green Campaign; Green Mtn. Post Films; W. MA AFSC; Traprock Center for Peace and Justice and the Solar Rollers. More information, call Sharon (978) 544-8822 or Tom (978) 544-3911

Friday July 8, 2011, deadline for submissions to The Healthy Environment/Healthy Springfield CARE Project. HEHS calls on Springfield’s organizations, churches and groups to submit ideas for an environmental education event that they would be willing to host. The proposed event may be a forum, community dialogue or specific educational presentation. Call 413-794-1803 for application for and guidance.

Sunday, July 10, 11am to 7pm, the first-ever Common Good Festival. Amherst Common. Award-winning activist songwriters Emma’s Revolution and Appleseed recording artists Kim and Reggie Harris headline a star-studded lineup. In addition, the festival will feature local sustainability and social justice activist groups and businesses, craft vendors, cooperative games, children's activities, a magician and more. For more information call (413) 628-3336 (9 AM to 7:30 PM)

Monday, July 18 to August 6. Walk for a Nuclear Free World. Starting at the Leverett Peace Pagoda, the walk goes to both Vermont Yankee and the Pilgrim nuke in Plymouth, MA ending at the Grafton, NY pagoda. Call: (413)485-8469.

Friday, July 22 through Sunday, July 24. Clamshell Alliance reunion & resurgence:For rooms, tenting and dining, the World Fellowship can accommodate up to 150 overnight, so reserve soon (www.worldfellowship.org) if you plan to stay over. For information, connection and conversation, join clamshellalliance@yahoo.com, visit the www.clamshellalliance.org website and Facebook at http://facebook.com/ClamshellAlliance.

We go out with "Litha - (Summer Solstice Song)" by Lisa Thiel. It's the Summer Solstice, what better time to listen to your Mother, right?

Enviro Show Roadtrip to Hell

2011-06-08T16:16:00.000-07:00

I took a road trip through Monson and Wilbraham today, towns eastward of Springfield and dead in the pathway of the tornado that tore up parts of western Massachusetts a week ago. I knew I was going to witness a whole lot of devastation going in so I tried to ready myself psychologically for the experience. Guess what? There's no way you can prepare yourself for what you'll see in the wake of a strong tornado. And I only saw a small portion of the destruction. Just imagine what it's like for someone who lives within that path.

In Monson the tornado came pretty much through the town center, taking out church steeples, walls, roofs on the school, stores and homes, trees, fences and whatever else it could tear up. The only thing in my experience I could compare it to was the town of Bluefields, Nicaragua in the wake of Hurricane Joan back in 1988. But Monson isn't the so-called Third World, it only looks like it. I can't even imagine what it felt like last Thursday when the sun rose over what remained. Words like devastation lose their meaning under such circumstances.

Doubling back and driving eastward toward Wilbraham I was again out of the path of the tornado and except for an occasional tree branch, everything appeared pretty much like always. Even as I headed into the town on Springfield Street past shopping centers, gas stations and all the rest, it was business as usual. But then I drove south a few blocks after noting a police chopper hovering out that way and the whole world came to an abrupt change. Given the denser suburban population of this area, block after block of modest single family homes, the destruction was magnified beyond belief. Here, I had absolutely nothing to compare it to. Nothing over twelve feet high remained. Tarps were everywhere, 360 degrees of total desolation. No tree left standing for blocks. Countless homes seemingly beyond repair. Emergency and utility vehicles everywhere. A few blocks north women are going to the tanning salon, guys are having lunch in sports bars. Kafka couldn't write this stuff.

I could go on and on about the contrasts, the seeming lack of connection between one world and the other even though they are all neighbors, just a few blocks apart. But hey, these are just words on a page. We are just that much more removed from neighborhoods where thousands of families live, blasted almost beyond recognition. How do I describe the indescribable? All that pain, all the countless lives, human and non-human, actually terrorized (as opposed to being told you're terrorized) by the massive destruction of their homes. Who can tell that story?

Tomorrow I'll be delivering supplies to Springfield. I'll try describing it.

- d.o.

The Amherst Chainsaw Massacre Enviro Show

2011-06-01T03:27:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. Are we sick & tired yet of 19th century internal combustion vehicles dictating our infrastructure needs? How about the destruction of scores of trees to make way for roundabouts? It's like a merry-go-round ride made in a little corner of hell and it's round about time we reconsidered our priorities given the oncoming climate crisis. Amherst Tree Warden, Alan Snow and Shade Tree Committee member Hope Crolius join us to talk trees. We checkout some other valley news in our E-Valley-uation segment as well as news from the outside world in our Echo Chamber. How about we see who this week's Fool-on-the-Hill might be? All that and more, but first it's time for... Revenge of the Critters! Golfers beware: trees can ruin your game.

In our E-Valley-uation segment we revisit the chainsaw massacre in the Quabbin just in case you forgot, but Mother Nature delivered her own massacre last week in the form of tornadoes here in Western Mass. See the pics here and here and video here and here. Then ask yourself about so-called weather anomalies and the climate crisis (see Bill McKibben below). We applaud Massachusetts AG, Martha Coakley for backing Vermont's lawsuit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). We wish the nuke-boosters at the NRC would wean themselves of the industry kool-aide and REALLY listen to Arnie Gundersen for once.

This Week's Fool-on-the-Hill is Repugnican congressman Dana Rohrabacher who says since 80 percent of carbon emissions come from decaying plant matter, we should clear-cut rainforests in order to reduce carbon! Whoa! Why didn't WE think of that??

In our Enviro Show Eco Chamber...er...Echo Chamber, we replay Germany's Biggest Anti-nuke action EVER!. And this: McKibben, with tongue uncharacteristically embedded in cheek, nails corporate media and climate crisis deniers on mega-storms. Did someone say tornado? Speaking of massacres, check this out! And for good measure this!

We try once again to air "Earth" by The Green Rockers leading to our interview. Then it's on to the good ol' Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday June 8, 10am, Room A-1 at the State House in Boston. The Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy holds a public hearing on the Muni bill H869. Bill H869 amends a century-old, obsolete State law which gives NStar, Unitil, National
Grid and WMECO a permanent monopoly. We need your help! Go to: http://massmunichoice.org

June 8, 2011. An informational meeting on a new National Wolf Strategy will be held from 6:00 PM to 7:15 PM followed by the public hearings from 7:30 to 9:00 PM. at the Augusta Civic Center, Augusta, Maine. Contact: Martin Miller, Chief, Div. of Endangered Species, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 300 Westgate Center Dr., Hadley, 413-253-8615.

Wednesday June 8, 7:00 to 10:00 PM. Jazz benefit to raise money for the Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO's charitable organization, the Union Community Fund, to help ease the financial burden on those unfortunate families that suffered life-changing setbacks as a result of the tornados that devastated our region. Montenia's restaurant located at 137 State Street in Springfield. Contact: MarkJazz64@aol.com

Thursday, June 9, 8pm? War criminal Karl Rove will be Keynote speaker for the 2011 Annual Landmen (Big Oil businessmen) Meeting at the The Boston Park Plaza Hotel (50 Park Plaza At Arlington Street, Boston). Rove is scheduled to speak at 9 AM. Bring handcuffs! Email: neimpeach@gmail.com

Saturday, June 11, 9am to Noon. Geo Plus River Walk. Steve Winters, now working as Holyoke Community College’s first full-time Earth Science instructor, will again make the geologic rounds in Turners. Great Falls Discovery Center, Avenue A, Turners Falls. Call: (413)863-3221

Satruday June 11. 10am to 4pm. Riverfest, celebrating the Deerfield RIver. Shelburne Falls. Call (413) 625-2526

Saturday, June 11, 3:00 p.m.: 250th Shutesbury Anniversary Parade, hopefully featuring our friends the trees. Parade from elementary school to town common along Leverett Road., after the parade: Festivities at Shutesbury Athletic Club! 5:30 p.m. barbecue; 7:00 - 10:00 p.m., performance by Briefcase Full of Blues. See: http://www.shutesbury.org/250th

Monday, June 13, 7 to 9pm. Edible Forest Garden Workshop. Wendell Town Hall. Go to: www.PermacultureNursery.com or Call (360)797-4034

June 23-24, 9am. US District Court Hearing - Entergy vs Peter Shumlin et al. US District Court, Brattleboro, VT. Contact CAN: (413) 339-5781 Email: can@nukebusters.org

Saturday, June 25, 1 to 8pm. No Nukes Party! (And discuss non-violent action plans 3-5:30pm) Sponsored by: Wendell Conservation Commission. Co-sponsors: Clamshell Legacy and Antinuclear Mobilization; Citizens Awareness Network ; Safe & Green Campaign; Green Mtn. Post Films; W. MA AFSC; Traprock Center for Peace and Justice and the Solar Rollers. More information, call Sharon (978) 544-8822 or Tom (978) 544-3911

Monday, July 18 to August 6. Walk for a Nuclear Free World. Starting at the Leverett Peace Pagoda, the walk goes to both Vermont Yankee and the Pilgrim nuke in Plymouth, MA ending at the Grafton, NY pagoda. Call: (413)485-8469.

Friday, July 22 through Sunday, July 24. Clamshell Alliance reunion & resurgence:For rooms, tenting and dining, the World Fellowship can accommodate up to 150 overnight, so reserve soon (www.worldfellowship.org) if you plan to stay over. For information, connection and conversation, join clamshellalliance@yahoo.com, visit the www.clamshellalliance.org website and Facebook at http://facebook.com/ClamshellAlliance.

We go out with "The Memory of Trees" by Enya; this in memory of all the trees recently killed to make way for yet more humans and their mistaken priorities. Next time it's our Summer Solstice show. Until then remember to listen to your Mother.

The Little Green Schoolhouse Enviro Show

2011-05-20T04:59:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. With the Five College Area headed for summer break and young kids thinking about anything but school, we have a look at green education (what? contrary?). Abbie Jenks, founder of the Peace, Justice and Environmental Studies program at Greenfield Community College calls in. Also joining us in the studio, Marcy Gregoire, founder and proud member of Under the Tree Music Company where they practice "kidTunage to Love Up the Earth Mamacita" (sounds like we're on the same page, yes?). As usual, we see who this week's Fool-on-the-Hill might be, checkout our E-Valley-uation segment, as well as The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, but first it's time for......Revenge of the Critters! Since owls seem to be associated with wisdom, and since we're talking education here, did these guys score some smarts? Maybe not target #1, Byron Unger, "an award-winning world class racer [who] owns a wide variety of racing boats and automobiles". Maybe this wise owl was teaching Byron a lesson about carbon footprints?

It's E-Vally-uation time: Does Springfield really need fewer trees? We don't think so! And while we're in Springfield we report back on last week's Rally and City Council Meeting on the Springfield biomass incinerator that threatens Western Mass air, forests and communities! [This just in: City Council votes to revoke biomess permit!]. Meanwhile, up the river by Turners Falls we get an update from Karl Meyer on fixing the ocean connection on the Connecticut River. Karl is asking Enviro Show fans to notify their MA state reps and State Senator Stan Rosenberg about the need to "Build the long-overdue fish lift at the dam and return regulated spring flows to the crippled dead reach of the river below the dam". Save the shad! And a follow-up on Mass. Sierra Club's Elisa Campbell and her winning The Enviro Show Big Green Clearcutters Award. We can't get pro-clearcutting Campbell to pick-up the award no matter how hard we try, even offering it to her on the Mass. Sierra Facebook page (said offer vanished soon after posting....what's that about?).

We get in the Wayback Machine for our Enviro Quote of the Week which comes from Chief Luther Standing Bear of the Lakota Sioux:

"I am going to venture that the man who sat on the ground in his tipi meditating on life and its meaning, accepting the kinship of all creatures, and acknowledging unity with the universe of things, was infusing into his being the true essence of civilization."

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber we can only wish we were echoing the corporate media about the ongoing multiple radioactive meltdowns at Fukushima but hey, that story is so last month! Not here though, we spotlight nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen who says that the containment vessels for reactors 1, 2 and 3 are all leaking. This is not good news, but here is something to cheer you up: direct action against the biomess in the UK (we celebrate where we can!). Our Enviro Show Blog Bonus is this Greenpeace action link. Stop whaling! Also: everyone loses on the Upper Big Branch mine disaster. And finally (and we really mean finally): Mickey & Minnie busted for tree-hugging!

This week's Fool-on-the-hill? Utah Rep. Rob Bishop who wants you to believe, "There are no special subsidies or tax breaks for oil companies, period." We used to call that lying, these days it's called.....messaging? How about a gaggle of fools: Senate wimps out on oil subsidies bill.

"Earth" by The Green Rockers takes us to our interviews. Then we're on to the Bus Stop Billboard (look at all these post-End of the World events!):

Wednesday May 25, 12:30pm (brown bag lunch at noon). Green Works meeting. Pioneer Valley Central Labor Council, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield. Call: (413) 827-0301, Email: jon@wmjwj.org.

Wednesday, May 25, 2-4 pm. Deadly Deal: From Nuclear Waste to Depleted Uranium Weapons –What Have We Learned? A discussion will feature the 30-minute documentary film,
“Uranio 238”. Bangs Center - Room 101, Boltwood Walk, Amherst. Call: (413)522-7505

Friday, May 27, 10:30 to 11:30am. Fourth Friday Young Children's Story Hour explores Fish (especially for children ages 3-6). After the story, you can join us for an age appropriate activity. Great Falls Discovery Center, Avenue A, Turners Falls. Call: (413)863-3221

Friday, May 27, 7pm. Screening of A Killer Bargain The work that globalization offers often comes with pollution and life-threatening working conditions. Media Education Foundation, 60 Masonic Street in Northampton. Enter via Woodstar Cafe, at the front of the building. The venue is accessible. The screenings are free unless otherwise noted. Discussion follows.

Tuesday, May 31, 5:30pm. Citizens Action Network organizing meeting. Solar Store of Greenfield, 2 Fiske Ave, Greenfield. Come and get the latest info on ENVY, Entergy's lawsuit, Fukushima catastrophe. Come with ideas for possible actions. Come and help determine the next steps for CAN

Wed.-Fri. June 1-3, All day. Slow Living Summit, an intensive two-and-a-half day exploration to find ways to build healthy, thriving local economies while encouraging, mentoring and supporting a new generation of activists, entrepreneurs and engaged citizens. Featuring Bill McKibben. WARNING: Pricey! Go to: http://www.strollingoftheheifers.com/slow-living-summit

Saturday, June 4, 10am to 2pm. Fort River Celebration Day in Amherst. Please visit www.fortriverdiscovery.org for more information and further program and event listings.

Sunday, June 5, 2011, 4-5:30, potluck at 5:30. 7:00pm, meeting. Green-Rainbow Party - Pioneer Valley Chapter. Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst. Call: 413-320-3747.

On June 6, environmental groups, labor unions and other activists and organizations will unite for the March on Blair Mountain, a five-day trek merged with workshops, cultural festivities and music. On the sixth day, a large rally will be held in Blair, followed by a march to the crest of Blair Mountain. MA contact: barefootreehugger@gmail.com or call (304)854-0390

Thursday, June 9, 8pm? War criminal Karl Rove will be Keynote speaker for the 2011 Annual Landmen (Big Oil businessmen) Meeting at the The Boston Park Plaza Hotel (50 Park Plaza At Arlington Street, Boston). Rove is scheduled to speak at 9 AM. Bring handcuffs! Email: neimpeach@gmail.com

Saturday, June 11, 9am to Noon. Geo Plus River Walk. Steve Winters, now working as Holyoke Community College’s first full-time Earth Science instructor, will again make the geologic rounds in Turners. Great Falls Discovery Center, Avenue A, Turners Falls. Call: (413)863-3221

Satruday June 11. 10am to 4pm. Riverfest, celebrating the Deerfield RIver, Shelburne Falls. Call (413) 625-2526

Saturday, June 11, 3:00 p.m.: 250th Shutesbury Anniversary Parade, hopefully featuring our friends the trees. Parade from elementary school to town common along Leverett Road., after the parade: Festivities at Shutesbury Athletic Club! 5:30 p.m. barbecue; 7:00 - 10:00 p.m., performance by Briefcase Full of Blues. See: http://www.shutesbury.org/250th

Friday, July 22 through Sunday, July 24. Clamshell Alliance reunion & resurgence:For rooms, tenting and dining, the World Fellowship can accommodate up to 150 overnight, so reserve soon (www.worldfellowship.org) if you plan to stay over. This is a link to organizing materials on the Clamshell Alliance website: http://clamshellalliance.org/?page_id=58. For information, connection and conversation, join clamshellalliance@yahoo.com, visit the www.clamshellalliance.org website and Facebook at http://facebook.com/ClamshellAlliance.

Lots to do, yes? We go out with "Teach your children well" by Crosby, Stills & Nash (not sure if Neil Young is in there). In any case, remember to listen to your Mother, ok?

The Annual Enviro Show Big Green Clearcutters Award!

2011-05-16T05:53:00.002-07:00

Now listen-up! for our Annual Enviro Show Big Green Clearcutters Award: this year's award goes to (drum roll please) Elisa Campbell! Again!! For two years running, Mass Sierra Club's Elisa Campbell, the pro-nuke, pro-development, pro-clearcutting "environmentalist" proves her worth....lessness. She even undercuts the Sierra Club! That's right, the MA Sierra Club representative in charge of Public Lands and Forestry is trying to subvert the group's own principals. Checkout Campbell's comment at last November's Forest Forum:

"I'm still trying to plug away at subverting the usual paradigm at the Sierra Club"

What? You mean Sierra Club's stand against CLEARCUTTING! Someone get the hook!

Barking up The Enviro Show

2011-05-04T06:12:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. Have you been barking up the wrong tree lately? Michael Wojtech, author of the just released book Bark: A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast, joins us to talk trees. As always, we scope out the latest news in the Enviro Show Echo Chamber and locally in our E-Valley-uation segment. We'll Meet the New Boss this time, as well as this week's Fool-on-the-Hill, but first it's time for...Revenge of Critters: This bad player? His goat got him!.

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we stick with the critters for openers. Checkout the awesome lyrebird who apparently imitates sound of its own habitat destruction. So, how different is that from two-legged workers who imitate the sounds of the wealthy corporados? More critters in trouble: bees and colony collapse. Maybe it's NOT such a mystery. Neurotoxic pesticides that are known to be particularly toxic to honey bees has rapidly taken over the global insecticide market. Checkout this campaign. In case you're thinking we've moved on from what may be the worst nuclear power disaster ever, fear not....er..well...checkout this video from Fairwinds. Also this. O, and speaking of nuclear: uranium mining in the Grand Canyon? No thanks! Take action here. And, the New York Times discovers the truth about the NRC. Another environmental horror show is on deck: the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would carry environmentally destructive tar sands oil straight across the Canadian border across the width of the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Take action here.

Time to Meet the New Boss again. We know Obama has scored all sorts of kudos for the reported hit on Osama (what's with these names?), but even if you happen to celebrate assassinations or are a knee-jerk Dem, the guy is still shilling for the corporados.

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (Repugnican-Wash.) who authored the bill passed in the House to expedite oil drilling lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and off the Virginia coast. Repugnicans are falsely claiming that supply is the reason for rising oil prices when in fact Wall Street commodity speculation jacks up the prices you pay at the pump. The cop on the beat that's supposed to stop such nefarious activity is the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, but it seems they're asleep in the patrol car. Guess who wants to punish them anyway? The same Repugnicans who want to drill baby, drill!

In our E-Valley-uation segment we take a moment to scan the newly released proposed biomass energy regulations. Given that Western Mass is ground zero in the Biomess, these proposed regs have special meaning to Mass Forest Watch[pdf]. That reminds us: Happy Asthma Awareness Month? Kidding! It just seems since our air quality in the Valley is soooo awful we should maybe think about making it worse with a new incinerator? Ya' think?

Now for our Annual Enviro Show Big Green Clearcutters Award: this year's award goes to..(TADA!!)....Elisa Campbell! Again!! For two years running, Mass Sierra Club's Board of Directors member Elisa Campbell, the pro-nuke, pro-development, pro-clearcutting "environmentalist" proves her worth....lessness. She even undercuts the Sierra Club! That's right, the MA Sierra Club representative in charge of Public Lands and Forestry is trying to subvert her group's own principals! Checkout Campbell's comment at last November's Forest Forum: "I'm still trying to plug away at subverting the usual paradigm at the Sierra Club" What? like advocating CLEARCUTTING! Someone get the hook!

"C is for Conifers" by They Might be Giants takes us to our interview with Michael Wojtech, author of the just released book Bark: A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast.

Finally, it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Thursday May 12th, 6:30 PM. Screening of "Into Eternity", a compelling Danish film about the construction of the world's first permanent repository for high level radioactive waste in Finland. Greenfield Comm. College Main Campus, Main Building 3rd floor, Stinchfield Hall,Park in E lot, walk on service road that goes behind the main building, follow the signs. Admission: Contributions greatly appreciated.

Friday May 13 at 11:15am at the Central Labor Council Hall, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield, there will be a report-back on the recent Green Jobs workshop that explored some of the issues around a possible Greening Mount Tom campaign, a community effort that might transform the coal-burning power plant in Holyoke into a more sustainable and socially just operation.

Sat, May 14, 1pm – 4pm. Bay State Village Big Bike Bonanza. Bike tune-ups, games, bike decorating, show off your interesting bike, face painting, try out the pedal people's bike with loaded trailer. Field in Bay State Village, Northampton. A Bay State Bike Week event. For more information, contact vhfath@verizon.net.

Saturday, May 14 · 9:00am - 12:30pm, North Amherst Community farm Plant Swap & Sale. Simple Gifts Farm in North Amherst, 1089 N. Pleasant Street, Amherst. Contact: kemgall@gmail.com

Sun, May 15, 9:00am – 10:30am. Another Bay State Bike Week event: Join naturalist David King as he leads a tour of the natural history and ecology and conservation efforts around Hadley. Meet at the Connecticut River levee and North and West Street. Bring binoculars. For more information, contact Heather Vinski at hvinski@yahoo.com.

Tuesday, May 17, 4:30 pm. Springfield City Council will hold a hearing at Springfield City Hall to consider amending or revoking Palmer Renewable Energy's permit to construct a biomass incinerator in Springfield. ALL OUT TO STOP IT! Rally at 3:30pm. SPRINGFIELD RESIDENTS: please call your City Councilor and At-Large City Councilors. It is now crucial that we secure nine city councilor votes to revoke this permit, and we need your help to do this. Go to: www.springfieldincinerator.info/actions.html

Thursday, May 19, 7pm, Sea Lamprey with Expert Boyd Kynard— Come learn about one of the most fascinating, misunderstood fish of the Fort River! Rivaling beavers for their stream engineering, sea lamprey are a keystone fish species of great ecological importance to both aquatic and riparian life. Hitchcock Center, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst.

Saturday, May 21, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. From the Grassroots Up: Stop Incentives for Incinerators. A strategy meeting for activists working to stop biomass and waste burners. Doyle Center, Leominster MA. RSVP: Biomass Accountability Project at 800-729-1363 or stopbiomassburning@gmail.com

Saturday, May 21, 8:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. (Rain Date: Sunday, May 22) OLD GROWTH AT DUNBAR BROOK. Visit a spectacular remnant of native old growth forests of the high Berkshires in Monroe in northwest Franklin County. The trees are impressive in size, although the old growth stand is limited to about 150 acres. Pre-registration & fee required, please call the Hitchcock Center at 413-256-6006

Sunday, May 22, All Day. The Rapture......maybe. Prepare to lock-down unless you want to spend eternity with a lot of really strange people. It's that or deal with some nasty guys on horseback.

Sunday, Sunday, May 22, 10am. Manhan Rail Trail Grand Opening Ceremony and Rolling Party. Bike riders and walkers are invited to explore the new rail trail and art spots along the way. Riders can meet at 10am at Millside Park in Easthampton for bagels and musical performances, and then at 11 ride to the Route 10 Bridge. At 12, Mayor Higgins and Mayor Tautznik will cut the ribbon on the Bridge, and afterwards the procession will make its way to a concluding lunch at Veteran's Field in Northampton. Contact: julianecasey@gmail.com

Tuesday, May 31, 5:30pm. CAN organizing meeting. Solar Store of Greenfield, 2 Fiske Ave, Greenfield. Come and get the latest info on ENVY, Entergy's lawsuit, Fukushima catastrophe. Come with ideas for possible actions. Come and help determine the next steps for CAN

Sunday, June 5, 2011, 4-5:30, potluck at 5:30. 7:00pm, meeting. Green-Rainbow Party - Pioneer Valley Chapter. Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst. Call: 413-320-3747.

On June 6, environmental groups, labor unions and other activists and organizations will unite for the March on Blair Mountain, a five-day trek merged with workshops,
cultural festivities and music. On the sixth day, a large rally will be held in Blair, followed by a march to the crest of Blair Mountain. Go to:
MA contact: barefootreehugger@gmail.com or call (304)854-0390

That's all folks. We go out with "De Light", by The Morning Birds and.....until next time, f'get about Osama and Obama, just listen to Yo' Mama!

The Roadkill Enviro Show

2011-04-20T04:15:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. In the wake of Earth Day we take a deep breath and checkout the damage from the wake of all those motor vehicles out there. Derek Yorks of the Linking Landscapes turtle mortality study joins us in the studio to talk roadkill mitigation. Of course, we revisit the multiple meltdowns in Fukushima, on this the 25th anniversary of the Chernoybl nuke disaster, that in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber as well as a look at some direct action down in DC. Back here at home we get a local response to Entergy's lawsuit against the state of Vermont in our E-Valley-uation segment and find out who this week's Fool-on-the-Hill might be, and who knows, maybe we'll even get to The Quote of the Week, but first it's time for...Revenge of the Critters! THE best squirrel attack ever! Tooooooo long for The Enviro Show, but we'll give you the Cliff Notes version. No roadkill for this squirrel. Instead, this squirrel kills.....well, actually, just wounds.

At the top of the Enviro Show Echo Chamber an E-Day must see: Democracy Now's Earth Day Special. Then, Bill McKibben rallies the troops at Powershift '11 in the belly of the beast but quite frankly we were more impressed with Rising Tide DC taking it to the Dept. of Interior. That's the same agency that's sucking up to Big Oil on the anniversary of the BP oil disaster in the Gulf! Speaking of government agencies that don't function so well, The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) certainly qualifies! And this: BP's 10 BILLION dollar tax break? Give us an f'ing break! Finally, you can stil take action to keep Big Wind out of our public waters.

This weeks Fool-on-the-Hill is our own Repugnican, Sen. Scott Brown. The League of Conservation Voters notes: "The good news is that all four reckless anti-clean air amendments failed to get a majority of the vote in the U.S. Senate. The bad news is that Senator Brown chose to stand with big polluters -voting to protect polluter profits and weaken public health protections." Perhaps Scotty isn't aware of Western Mass' infamous air pollution? Does he really care? Run Elizabeth Warren, run!

The Enviro Show Quote of the Week is from Alice Walker: "The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men."

In our E-Valley-uation segment: Earth Day action at VT. Yankee. Jean was there! Also, we checkout both Citizen Action Network's Deb Katz's response and the Vermont Gov's response to Entergy's lawsuit against Vermont regarding the proposed re-licensing of the Vermont Yankee nuke. Also this: the NRC sucks! Who knew! Beyond Nuclear knows, but they're petitioning the NRC anyway! Meanwhile Ed Markey (D-MA) comes up with some sane legislation. Will it pass in a world gone mad?? Finally, a Blog Bonus: tell the Gov to Stop the Biomess!

"We've got ourselves (a roadkill)" by Colleen Kattau takes us to our interview with Derek Yorks of the Linking Landscapes turtle mortality study. Then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday April 27,12:30-2pm, GREENWORK: THE WESTERN MASS GREEN ECONOMY WORKING GROUP. Brown Bag Lunch at Noon, Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield. Call: (413)732-7970

Thursday, April 28, 6:30, YMCA Community Room, Main Street, Greenfield. Follow-up panel discussion with co-sponsoring groups to share ideas on how we can all be involved in moving Greenfield and our region toward more sustainable energy use and food security. Part of Spring Film Series of Greening Greenfield and Friends.

April 28 - 30, 6 to 9pm. Public sessions for proposed Gateway development in Amherst. Large Activity Room, Bangs Community Center, Boltwood Walk, Amherst. More here and here.

Friday, April 29. Deadline for comments on the State's draft air permit for the proposed biomass incinerator in Springfield. Hampden County is already home to the dirtiest, unhealthiest air in the state. Springfield children have blood lead levels and respiratory disease rates twice that of the children of the state. You can make a difference! Please visit and make your comments.

Friday April 29, Noon-1:30. Takaaki Morikawa, a survivor of the Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima, will share his personal history of the event using a power point presentation and a film dramatically illustrating the devastating effects of the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the Sloan Theater Greenfield Community College.

Saturday, April 30, 7 - 9pm. "Bhopal....BP......Fukushima.....Should Corporations Get Away with Murder and Ecocide?" A conversation with Ward Moorehouse. Cohousing Common House is located at 24 Mountain Laurel Path in Florence.

Monday, May 2, 7-9:30pm. "Earth Day '11: Facing our Present and Future through Eco-poetry, Prose, and Song". Second Congregational Church, Court Square, Greenfield. Donation requested to cover costs. Contact: 413-625-6374 or johnpberk@gmail.com

Monday, May 2, 7:30pm Vandana Shiva: The Rights on Mother Earth. Paino Lecture Hall, Earth Sciences Building, Free and Open to the Public. Wheelchair Accessible.

Wednesday, May 4, 7:30pm at Amherst Cinema, come see the powerful new documentary "Queen of the Sun: What Are The Bees Telling Us?", followed by me reading my poem "Honeybees: This Century's Canary in the Coal Mine?" and discussion of film.

Saturday May 7, 10:00am -1:00pm. The City of Holyoke is hosting a City Wide Clean Up Day. SEIU Local 888 rep Scott Burns says: This is an excellent
and fun opportunity for us to give back to the community. The city will provide pizza and refreshments afterward at Heritage State Park. Contact: sburns9960@aim.com

Sunday, May 13. 5 - 8pm. Art Bike Show & Auction Fundraiser to benefit the Holyoke Community Bike Shop. Holyoke Health Center Art Gallery: 230 Maple Street, Holyoke. Call: 413-534-5631 x114

Tuesday, May 17, 4:30 pm. Springfield City Council will hold a hearing at Springfield City Hall to consider amending or revoking Palmer Renewable Energy's permit to construct a biomass incinerator in Springfield. ALL OUT TO STOP IT! The Chicopee City Council, meanwhile, passed a resolution last Tuesday by unanimous vote, opposing the proposed biomass plant in Springfield. Go to: www.springfieldincinerator.info/actions.html

Saturday, May 21, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. From the Grassroots Up: Stop Incentives for Incinerators. A strategy meeting for activists working to stop biomass and waste burners. Doyle Center, Leominster MA. RSVP: Biomass Accountability Project at 800-729-1363 or stopbiomassburning@gmail.com

Sunday, Sunday, May 22, 10am. Manhan Rail Trail Grand Opening Ceremony and Rolling Party. Bike riders and walkers are invited to explore the new rail trail and art spots along the way. Riders can meet at 10am at Millside Park in Easthampton for bagels and musical performances, and then at 11 ride to the Route 10 Bridge. At 12, Mayor Higgins and Mayor Tautznik will cut the ribbon on the Bridge, and afterwards the procession will make its way to a concluding lunch at Veteran's Field in Northampton.

Next time it's Barking Up The Enviro Show with Michael Wojtech. Until then remember: LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER! (sorry, didn't mean to yell).

A River Runs Through The Enviro Show

2011-04-05T17:21:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. Those sketchy old nukes in Japan, the same kind as the Vermont Yankee reactor just up river from us, continue melting down. But, let's practice some of that good old fashioned all-American media denial for a spell and focus on the Connecticut River as it exists before Entergy utterly destroys it. Karl Meyer of "Shad for a Brighter Future" finally joins us to talk about our finned relations and the Connecticut. We visit our E-Valley-uation and Meet the New Boss segments, The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and ,who knows, maybe even our Fool-on-the-Hill offering, but first it's time for.... Revenge of the Critters! Don't pee in this river. The fish do not like it, guys.

In our E-Valley-uation segment we find that the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, which sits on the banks of the Connecticut River, has been operating under the terms of a zombie discharge permit that expired five years ago. The Connecticut River Watershed Council petitioned Vermont to conduct a review in order to protect the Connecticut River from the thermal discharge from the plant. BTW, here's an Enviro Show Blog Bonus about Vermont Yankee as well as a story about some of their non-submersible electrical cables discovered underwater! Gosh, electricity & water.....together! Also this: American Rivers is partnering with the Town of Greenfield, Connecticut River Watershed Council, Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration, NOAA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Deerfield Watershed Association on a Green River Ecosystem Restoration Project. They're talking dam removal here, folks, once considered a radical idea only promoted by the likes of your friends...(ahem!) at Earth First! Meanwhile over in Amherst, the Fort River is in the news for having no dams! O, and this: Cowls goes for big solar in the woods?

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber let's repeat Environmental Action's call to action for Congress to defund nukes! AND Beyond Nuclear.org's petition to Obama to build a nuclear-free future for our children NOW! Maybe your thinking we don't need a nuke-free future 'cuz TEPCO, the NRC & the nuclear industry are leading you to believe everything is under control at Fukushima? Silly human. Speaking of under control? Remember THE worst oil spill disaster in history? Our own Rachell Maddow does too! Finally, we don't know what to think about this. Do you?

Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week comes from inside the French nuclear industry where an unnamed executive VP stated with regard to the Fukushima multiple meltdowns: "Clearly we are witnessing one of the greatest disasters in modern times". Hmmm, where's the media on that?

On that note, it's time to Meet the New Boss......again. Obama's recent energy speech finds him continuing to keep the bed warm for the nuclear industry and Big Oil. However, given the ongoing multiple meltdowns at Fukushima his nuke boosts are really scary and...um...tone deaf? Do you think this is no laughing matter?

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is Michigan Dem Debbie Stabenow who seems to have hitched a ride on the Repugnican crazy train going off the rails on the climate crisis. Jump Deb!

"Head of the River"by Elliot Bronson from '101 Subtle Ways' takes us to our interview with Karl Meyer. Then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday, April 13, 4:30 p.m. Northampton Cheers to Clean Air. The Sierra Club and the Western Mass Green Consortium invite you to raise a glass for clean air at the Northampton Brewery, 11 Brewster Ct, Northampton. Contact: peter@petervickery.com

Sunday, April 17, 2 to 4 p.m., Organizing meeting for "Bike Week 2011" at Studio Helix, on the 3rd floor of Thornes Marketplace in downtown Northampton.

April 18, 1pm at the End of Powershift Rally (scheduled from 10am-1pm) Rising Tide North America invites all residents, students and youth to join the Reclaim Power.
Reclaim Power March & Creative Direct Actions, Lafayette Square (H St NW & Jackson Pl NW); Washington D.C. CONTACT: extraction@risingtidenorthamerica.org

Thursday April 21st,11:00 AM - 2:00 PM (2nd floor), The State House, Boston. Earth Day celebration, environmental fair, and lobby day, The Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow is teaming up with environmental groups in Massachusetts this Earth Day. Every person that comes to Earth Day 2011 will be asked to visit their legislators and urge them to support funding in the state budget for environmental programs and the pro-environment bill(s) of their choice. Please come and ask your legislators to support the Safer Alternatives Bill (H-1136 & S-397) to protect our health from toxic chemicals in our workplaces, consumer products, homes and communities. Call 617-338-8131

Thursday 4/21, 7:30, Weinstein Auditorium, Wright Hall, Smith College Barry Sanders speaks on The Environmental Costs of Militarism.

Friday, April 22, 6:30 - 9:30pm. "Earth Day '11: Facing our Present and Future through Eco-poetry, Prose, and Song". Unitarian Universalist Society, 220 Main St., Northampton in the wheelchair-accessible Social Hall downstairs (b.y.o. pillows for plastic chairs. Donation requested to cover costs). D.O. will be reading. Contact: 413-625-6374 johnpberk@gmail.com

Saturday, April 23, 10a.m.-4:00pm Northampton's Earth Day celebration in Pulaski Park. Look for the giant Earth Ball made by students out of single use plastic bags. Also, an Earth Day film festival next door at the Academy of Music with special episodes of "Martha Speaks" at 11:30 am, "Nova-Power Surge", Now’s David Brancaccio’s fiim, ?Fixing The Future", and a special screening of "Carbon Nation" at 7:30 pm. Call: 413 584 3237

Saturday, April 23, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 2nd Annual Amherst Sustainability Festival. Held on the Amherst Town Common and around town. The festival combines The Renewable Energy Fair, Amherst Grows Green, and Arbor Day. There will be tree pruning and tree climbing demonstrations. Sustainable product suppliers, local artisans, consumer information regarding energy efficiency, and renewable energy providers will be on hand on the Town Common.

Monday, April 25, 7pm. "Voices of Chernobyl" Reading performance. Grace Church Parish Hall, Spring Street, Amherst. Call: (978)249-9400

Tuesday, April 26, 7pm. Same event at the Unitarian Society, 220 Main Street, Northampton. Call: (978)249-9400

Thursday 4/28, 6:30, YMCA Community Room, Main Street, Greenfield. Follow-up panel discussion with co-sponsoring groups to share ideas on how we can all be involved in moving Greenfield and our region toward more sustainable energy use and food security. Part of Spring Film Series of Greening Greenfield and Friends.

Saturday, April 30th, from 9:00a.m. to noon the Northampton Tree Committee in recognition of Arbor Day, will distribute approximately 120 street trees to Northampton residents at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, located at 80 Locust Street. The goal of the program is to have the trees planted near the public way or within public view. It is essential that trees not be planted under utility wires. Twelve different species—all on the NTC’s pre-approved species list—will be available. The trees will be in large seven to ten gallon containers. To receive a free tree, individuals and families must register by April 20 at www.ntcfreetree.eventbrite.com. Questions about the program can be e-mailed to nohotrees@gmail.com

Monday, May 2, 7-9:30pm. "Earth Day '11: Facing our Present and Future through Eco-poetry, Prose, and Song". Second Congregational Church, Court Square, Greenfield. Donation requested to cover costs. Contact: 413-625-6374 johnpberk@gmail.com

Time to flow on out of here 'til next time. Until then remember: listen to your Mother, OK?

Meltdown with The Enviro Show

2011-03-24T06:05:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. On Tuesday it's day 18 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuke disaster and a day after the 32nd anniversary of the Three Mile Island nuclear meltdown. Why are we boiling water with deadly radioactive material we don't know how to dispose? This is the real March Madness, yes? Former Valley resident and nuclear activist,Harvey Wasserman calls in with updates and Citizens Awareness Network's Deb Katz returns to connect the dots to Vermont Yankee. D.O. waxes poetic with his take on Pluto Rising and we report back on the recent Vermont Yankee action in our E-Valley-uation segment. Time permitting we'll also have a peak into The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and over at the Fool-on-the-Hill, but first it's time for...Revenge of the Critters! Whale commandeers yacht, demands passage to new planet! (OK, so we lied about that last part).

"Shut 'em Down" means it's time for another E-Valley-uation: was last week's anti-nuke vigil at Vermont Yankee effective? When will the state shut it down? Post your thoughts on the blog.

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is Congressman Ron Paul,(Repugnican,TX), who seems to feel that much of the reaction to the nuclear power crisis in Japan is "overblown". Paul stated: "Nuclear power is very dangerous, but it is also the safest form of energy we have.” Say what?? Maybe Ron worships the Invisible Hand of the Free Market. That might explain his....er..incongruity? Hey Ron! Would you like salt with that meltdown?

D.O. is all freaked out about plutonium these days. Just because it's THE most toxic substance known to the human race and may be escaping into the atmosphere from Japan, why get all worked up about it?? Anyway, he does the spoken word on it and notes on his blog that sensors inside Daiichi reactors are not working, but censors outside work just fine!

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber we bring you a Blog Bonus: Vermont Yankee license renewal? No way! Seabrooke renewal? HA!. So, why is no one talking about how bad Fukushima could be? Also this: Beyond Nuclear asks YOU to act now, but just signing a petition is not enough. Everyone needs to get active. Remember the old saw: "Better active today than radioactive tomorrow". It looks like Physicians for Social Responsibility is active: they just called for a nationwide moratorium on "new nuclear reactors in the United States and a suspension of operations at the nuclear reactors with a similar design as those involved in the disaster in Japan". And, get this: Germany set to abandon nuclear energy. Macht den Menschen!

Here's our Enviro Show nuclear link fest featuring the sites we've been pretty much glued to these past few weeks. First is our favorite nuclear physicist's site Michio Kaku's Big Think. Next we've linked above to our friends at Beyond Nuclear. Also we often check in with The Bulletin of Atom Scientists Daily Update from Japan as well as The Radiation Network's National Radiation Map, showing radiation levels across the U.S. from non-governmental sources. Finally, if you want to know where the prevailing winds are in any given day you can go to End Times Report (yes, it's a creepy name, but hey! these are creepy times, no?).

Following our interviews with Harvey & Deb it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Friday, April 1, 2011 at 7:00 pm. The Committee for the Leverett Peace Commission sponsors a Community Talk, “Fear or Consciousness: Dare We Change?” with Penny Gill, Professor of Politics, Dean of the College at Mount Holyoke at Leverett Town Hall. In her talk, Penny will address some of the obstacles we have inherited from the post-industrial capitalist structures of our world. These barriers inhibit our confidence in our ability to create the changes we all so long for - a peaceful world, a sustainable economy, and stable climate. Call: (413)367-9520

Sunday, April 3, 7:00-9:00 p.m. “An Evening with Starhawk in Celebration of the Heart and Soul of the Five Rivers Community”. Look for booksigning following the talk. Admission: sliding scale. Montague Grange, Main Street, Village of Montague, Massachusetts. For more information, contact Joshua: jjwaffles[at]juno.com or 520-358-1520

April 4, 2011, a day to stand in solidarity with working people in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, and dozens of other states where well-funded, right-wing corporate politicians are trying to take away the rights Dr. King gave his life for. It’s a day to show movement. A day to be creative, but clear: We Are One! Call: (413)732-7970

Tuesday, April 5, 6:30 PM plan to attend the public hearing at Duggan Middle School, 1015 Wilbraham Road, where the state will present its draft air permit for the PRE biomass incinerator proposed for Page Boulevard in Springfield. This is the final permit the developers need before they can put a shovel in the ground. Please prepare to speak, submit written comments or just come and show support with your presence which really does matter! Call 455-3829 or 734-4948.

Friday, April 8th. PENTAGON ACTION FOR PEACE “DISARMAGEDDON”. Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia Metro entrance Arlington, VA. Local contact: (413)522-7505

Saturday, April 9, 2011, 12:00 pm "Bring the Troops Home Now!" Union Sq. to Foley Sq./ Broadway and 14th St. New York, NY. Call: 518-227-6947

Tuesday, April 12, 2011, 6-8pm. Bi-monthly meeting of the Springfield-Area Sustainable Energy Association. Topic: Organic Landcare. Hear about a how to care for your lawn and garden using anon pesticide, petro chemical fertilizer approach. Help learn how you can stop the pollution of our waterways and still have a healthy vibrant green space. Western New England College (WNEC), Sleith Hall, Rm S101, 1215 Wilbraham Rd, Springfield. Call: (413) 883-3144

OK then, next time we get back to that canceled on acount a' snow show: "Shad for a Brighter Future" with Karl Meyer. Until then remember: Listen to your Mother!

Japanese nuke disaster - a media meltdown too!

2011-03-22T07:27:00.000-07:00

Ever since it began, the nuclear diaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in northern Japan has also proved to be a media disaster. Coverage of the event has been all over the map and continues to confuse people at a time where precise information is most important. A good part of the reason for this confusion seems to come from Japan itself, where "damage repair" is not simply confined to the reactor site, but to the boardroom and official press briefings as well. It has been reported that Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operator of the complex, has a history of of falsified safety reports, fatal accidents and underestimated earthquake risk. If this is the case, why should such dishonesty change now when the company faces its biggest challenge ever? Indeed, the Japanese government itself has been accused of a cover-up. Does this remind us of something? Making matters worse, international agencies that are supposed to protect and inform us in times of a nuclear crisis apparently have a hidden agenda. In the U.S. there has always been problems with the ‘politicization’ of nuclear energy.

Given all that disinformation and media manipulation it's no surprise that U.S. reports of the nuclear disaster and its global effects are replete with mixed messages. However, that situation is made even worse by news or informational organizations that have their own corporate agendas. On one end of the spectrum are outright propaganda outfits like Faux "News" (Fox News) who even promote radiation! Less overt, but seemingly just as pro-corporate, National Public Radio (NPR) has a history of nuclear industry bias and NBC is actually owned in-part by nuclear reactor maker GE. These outlets often make use of questionable information from nuclear industry lobbying groups, passing it off as news. But such manufactured media is not limited to the United States. Public relations hacks and commentators in Australia, the UK, and elsewhere are engaged in the effort as well.

Add to all this the propensity for most all media in this day and age to suffer from a highly limited attention span. Always on the lookout for the next new thing, editors and reporters may be some of the most sensation-driven professionals among us. "If it bleeds it leads" is the infamous tagline associated mainly with the mainstream media, but that sort of voyeurism is partly derived from human nature. The media simply makes an art of it. Now, we see the multiple meltdowns in Japan, not to mention the thousands who died in the earthquake and tsunami, fall from the headlines or be pushed aside by the war in Libya. The fact of the matter is: the Fukushima meltdowns have the potential to be the WORST NUCLEAR CRISIS EVER. The media needs to stay on the case.

So, where does one go to get the actual facts? Didn't we ask that same question last year during the BP oil disaster in the Gulf? Wasn't there just as much disinformation and spin coming from government and industry? Given the dynamics of the so-called "Information Age", it is left up to us to seek out a wide range of information on our own and decide for ourselves what is relevant and factual. I guess that's the same as it ever was, only there's more of it.

The Real Ides of March Enviro Show

2011-03-10T13:12:00.000-08:00

Greetings Earthlings. The Earth has shifted on its' axis, Japan is not where it used to be, and nukes are melting down. The New York Times reported this morning at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station "an explosion damaged the vessel containing the nuclear core at one reactor and a fire at another [possibly in the spent fuel pool] spewed large amounts of radioactive material into the air". Radioactive fallout anyone? Who is running the show in Japan anyway? When will it get here? We think that qualifies for the Ides of March, no? The sins of Old King Coal was to be the theme of this show but life got in the way. Deb Katz from the Citizen Awareness Network calls-in with the latest on nuclear meltdown, radioactive exposure, official obfuscation and, of course, cover-ups. The Fukishima Nuclear Power Plant is a General Electric (GE) Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) with a Mark 1 containment, the same type of creaky old nuke as Vermont Yankee. Did we mention that the Nuclear Recommendation...err...Regulatory Commission just granted VY another 20 year opportunity to meltdown right here in the Valley? In any case, we'll truly have a full house 'cuz: Jeff Biggers, activist and author of Reckoning at Eagle Creek also calls in from Coal Country while here in the not-so-large studio Peter Vickery joins D.O., Glen & Jean to tie-in that funky old Mt. Tom coal burner looming over the Valley. Peter has been working with Mass Sierra Club in an effort to get Mt. Tom to switch to cleaner burning natural gas. Of course gas drilling comes with its' own host of ills and in our Enviro Show perfect world we'd rather see corporados in treadmills producing power, but hey, it's not exactly the 19th century, right? If time allows we'll tumble into some of our usual segments like The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, the Quote of the Week, Fool-on-the-Hill and whatever, but first it's time for.....Revenge of the Critters! Yellow sack spiders driving people crazy!

Our Fool-on-the-Hill this week is Rep. John Shimkus, Repugnican chair of the House Subcommittee on Environment and Economy who actually believes the climate crisis exists but that there's no reason to worry, since God promised Noah after the great flood that he wouldn't deluge the world again. "I do believe in the Bible as the final word of God," he said. "And I do believe that God said the Earth would not be destroyed by a flood." Whew! That was a close one.

Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week is way on theme: "Football is a game designed to keep coal miners off the streets". - Jimmy Breslin

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we first go to Monday's Democracy Now! to hear from the Valley's own Harvey Wasserman. Also we checkout the biomess over in the UK where some would have you think biomass incineration as an answer to the ills of burning coal for power. And since coal is our focus here, let's hear out Bill McKibben on coal exports. Also, Chris Hedges takes the long view regarding empires and the environment. Is there hope that enviros will get it together and have the kind of mass action we've been talking about for years now? Rainforest Action Network, 350.org and others FINALLY take the plunge! And this: March on Blair Mountain! Witch side are you on? (sorry). A march to preserve Blair Mountain, abolish mountaintop removal in Appalachia, strengthen labor rights, and invest in sustainable job creation for all Appalachian communities, June 6 to 11. Some good news here: the proposed biomass incinerator for Pownal, VT just over the border has been put on hold. Finally this: a list of Koch Industry products to boycott.

"Just a Little Meltdown" by Tom Neilson takes us to our interviews. Then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Saturday, March 19th, 10:30am-12pm, Improving Access to Free Energy Efficiency Services through MassSAVE, Alliance to Develop Power, 130 Union Street, Springfield. Contact: Boone Shear at (413)739-7233

Saturday March 19 from 9 AM – 10PM. Equinox and the Making of a Sacred Landscape. At the University of the Wild’s Center, Earthlands There is a deposit for Saturday’s programs, please make reservations to assure your place and meal, at office@earthlands.org

Monday evening, March 21, at 7:00 pm, "COUTDOWN TO CLOSURE and a Green, Nuclear-Free Future" will take place on at the Centre Congregational Church, 193 Main St. in downtown Brattleboro. March 21 is exactly one year before the scheduled shutdown of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. All are welcome. Call: (413) 624-8858

March 22, 2011 is World Water Day. Declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993.

Friday, April 1, 2011 at 7:00 pm. The Committee for the Leverett Peace Commission sponsors a Community Talk, “Fear or Consciousness: Dare We Change?” with Penny Gill, Professor of Politics, Dean of the College at Mount Holyoke at Leverett Town Hall. In her talk, Penny will address some of the obstacles we have inherited from the post-industrial capitalist structures of our world. These barriers inhibit our confidence in our ability to create the changes we all so long for - a peaceful world, a sustainable economy, and stable climate. Call: (413)367-9520

April 4, 2011, a day to stand in solidarity with working people in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, and dozens of other states where well-funded, right-wing corporate politicians are trying to take away the rights Dr. King gave his life for. It’s a day to show movement. A day to be creative, but clear: We Are One! Call: (413)732-7970

Tuesday, April 5, 6:30 PM plan to attend the public hearing at Duggan Middle School, 1015 Wilbraham Road, where the state will present its draft air permit for the PRE biomass incinerator proposed for Page Boulevard in Springfield. This is the final permit the developers need before they can put a shovel in the ground. Please prepare to speak, submit written comments or just come and show support with your presence which really does matter! Call 455-3829 or 734-4948.

Friday, April 8th. PENTAGON ACTION FOR PEACE “DISARMAGEDDON”. Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia Metro entrance Arlington, VA. Local contact: (413)522-7505

Next time: Amherst's proposed Gateway Project with Mary Wentworth, Until then remember: Listen to your Mother!

Beware the Corporados Enviro Show

2011-02-24T08:43:00.000-08:00

Greetings Earthlings. So, you think the epic labor struggle that began in Madison, Wisconsin is just another union vs. management story? Think again! Corporate America and far-right Repugnican operatives who serve them are literally plotting the final takeover of a country near you! We connect the dots on the show with the help of author and activists, Brian Tokar. Brian will also be speaking Sunday afternoon, March 6, 1pm at a fundraiser for Food for Thought Books in Amherst. Our intrepid roving correspondent and in-house troubadour, Tom Neilson will be on hand as well. More on that later. Those connnected dots will run through all of your favorite segments on The Enviro Show, but first it's time for....Revenge of the Critters! Boris the badger kicks butt! O, and so do the Wisconsin Badgers!

The Enviro Show Quote of the Week comes from our own Rachel Maddow: "If the Democrats do not hold together in Wisconsin, then the place that gave us the weekend, the place that gave us unemployment benefits and worker‘s compensation and the eight-hour workday and the 40-hour workweek, and the nation‘s biggest public workers union and one of the first collective bargaining agreements for those public workers, the state that has seven towns named Union, the state that gave us all of that, the state where the Super Bowl champs are collectively owned—it‘s going to be the start of the end of all of those rights for workers that Wisconsin earned for the country. And it‘s going to be the start of the end of the Democratic Party‘s electoral chances in not just the next election but every election the rest of our life times."

You think this has nothing to do with the environment? Checkout the man behind the curtain! In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we cut right to the chase in Madison: it's not simply about union busting, about a monstrous power grab and the destruction of the Dems by fascist corporados and their trolls, they also want to privatize state-owned power plants & utilities as well as trash water quality and wetlands while they're at it. Corporate privatization & environmental degradation, who knew! Of course, the Imperial Walker and his Wisconsin State House minions aren't thinking this stuff up on their own. Allow us to illustrate! No, these guys are up to their nostrils in a mongo pile of Koch, brothers (and sisters)! AND, the Koch brothers (big time owners of oil refineries, pipelines, gasoline supply terminals, coal companies, and the Georgia-Pacific Corp!) are up to their eyeballs in climate crisis disinformation.

OK now, the dots from Koch have spilled into our Fool on the Hill segment where we find the Man from Koch (R-Koch), Rep. Mike Pompeo (not to be confused with the doomed town, but doomy enough, thank you), introducing an amendment to sharply cut funding for an EPA program that collects data on greenhouse gas emissions. Soooo, Enviro Show listeners, do we recall who was number 10 on the UMass, Amherst Political Economy Research Institute's Toxic 100 Air Polluters? You guessed it! Koch Industries.

Now, Meet the New Boss: will that hopey changey guy in the White House come to the aid of the workers? How about the planet?? Well, you could petition Obama to oppose a House budget that guts the Environmental Protection Agency and cripples critical public programs, but leaves billions in handouts to the oil companies reporting record profits, but will he (even if you ask nice)? However, please don't interrupt him while he's dancing with the bosses in Ohio. That's the state whose governor Repugnican John Kasich plans to roll back employee pension benefits and collective bargaining rights. The governor who, you may recall, used to be managing director at Lehman Brothers? Surely you haven't forgotten Lehman Brothers! BTW, have you asked yourself if the Wisconsin story is part of a larger trend to make workers pay for an economic downturn caused by Wall St. and deregulators?

Then we have the next big bubble that will put even more of the people in dire straights and impact the biosphere as a result. Word has it that commodities will be the next playground for the banksters and their corporado buddies. Our Enviro Show Blog Bonus takes you to Public Citizen's action page.

Our favorite corporate power song with Noam Chomsky takes us to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday March 2, 11:45am-12:15pm. DEFENDING THE PUBLIC SECTOR FROM WISCONSIN TO MASSACHUSETTS Rally outside Student Union, 12:15-1pm, All-Campus Meeting in Cape Cod Lounge, UMass Amherst. Sponsored by all the UMass Amherst unions, UMass and Western Mass. SLAP (Student Labor Action Project), Western Mass. Jobs with Justice, and more. Call: (413) 627-5268

Saturday, March 5, 1:00 PM. : Intro to Animal Tracks. Introduction to Animal Tracks and Signs with Naturalist Dawn Ward. Aimed at novice trackers (adults and families with kids age 8 and over), the program will be both indoors at the Leverett Library (exploring Dawn's extensive collection of animal skulls, etc.) and outdoors, weather permitting, searching for tracks and signs. Supported by a grant from the Leverett Cultural Council. Call: (413)548-9343

Sunday, March 6, 1pm. Save Food for Thought & the Planet! A fundraiser for Food for Thought Books featuring author/activist Brian Tokar on climate justice and genetic engineering. Musician & bardic insurgent Tom Neilson. Also, Ben Grosscup & friends, poetry by some guy from The Enviro Show, entertainment & more! Sponsored by The Enviro Show! Food for Thought Books, 106 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, Call: 413-253-5432

Monday, March 7,7pm "Future of the Northampton Rail Trail Network" at the Northampton Friends Meetinghouse (43 Center Street, 2nd floor). More information can be found at http://www.fntg.net

Monday, March 7, 6:30 pm (snow date: Thu March 10). Exit 19 PAC public meeting. Bridge Street School, Northampton. Do you use the Norwottuck Rail Trail? Do you ride on Bridge St. (Route 9) to and from the trail or the Coolidge Bridge? Do you want to see improved public transit along the Northampton/Hadley/Amherst corridor? Please attend this meeting and share your thoughts. Presentations and reports from the PAC are posted here: http://www.interchange19.org/

Wednesday, March 9, 6:30pm. Greening Greenfield's next Monthly meeting. NESEA offices on Miles St, Greenfield. Call: 413-773-7004

Saturday, March 12, all day. The Toxics Action Center Annual Conference* is taking place at Bentley College in Waltham. The Biomass Accountabilty Project is sponsoring a panel discussion, giving us a chance to let others know more about how things have been going for us here in Western Mass. Please consider attending. For information and registration go to http://www.toxicsaction.org/environmental-action-2011. For car pooling, call Janet at (413)625-2886.

Monday, March 14, 7-9 pm. Talk on MA Clean Energy and Climate Plan. 114 Main Street in Greenfield. What is our state government doing to create jobs, keep money in our state,
and improve the environment? Come hear David Cash, Undersecretary for Policy in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, talk about Governor Patrick's vision
of the future, and the nationally-ground-breaking Clean Energy and Climate Plan. For info call: (413)774-5667

And we are out of here, into the streets for the (dare we say?) revolution. See you there and remember to listen to your Mother!

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Restore the North Woods Enviro Show....really!

2011-02-10T06:13:00.001-08:00

Greetings Earthlings. Did you miss us or didn't you even know we were missing? We've run out of snow days and lame excuses about driving in from the eastern hills in bad weather. Time for Mother to listen to us: the show must go on! We'll talk four-leggeds with Michael Kellett of Restore the North Woods just like we said we would last time (only this time we REALLY mean it!). We'll discuss their North Woods Wolf Recovery Project as well as issues regarding the Canada lynx and Atlantic Salmon. In case you've forgotten the drill, we will also visit the action packed Enviro Show Echo Chamber, our Quote of the Week, our Meet the New Boss and Fool-on-the-Hill segments, but first it's time to FINALLY air that fox story on...Revenge of the Critters!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we've got a two-fer from the Center for Biological diversity. First, the effort to save Grey Wolf from us two-leggeds, then an Enviro Show Blog Bonus. It's a regular potpourri of actions you can take to help save endangered species and wild places. Also, the dreaded White-nose Syndrome continues taking out bats. Now there are reports of it reaching North Carolina and 15 other states from New Hampshire to Oklahoma, and two Canadian provinces. Despite the overwhelming threat to bats from people entering caves, federal land managers across much of the West have failed to enact closures of caves and abandoned mines. Please Take Action to help save the bats. Meanwhile, down in Kentucky coal country it's Day 5 of ongoing actions against mountain top removal. And these reruns: lame-ass Nantucket man busted for dealing in endangered whale parts. And Candy Dynamics of Indianapolis is issuing a recall of all Toxic Waste® brand Nuclear Sludge® Chew Bars,all flavors. Sorry once again kids.

This week it's Fools on the Hill again: Rep. Denny Rehberg, Repugnican from Montana who has introduced bills that would allow states to eliminate all wolves in the Northern Rockies, Great Lakes and Southwest, including the 50 Mexican wolves struggling for survival in New Mexico and Arizona. How about we sink our teeth into this action, huh? O, did we forget to mention Utah's Orin Hatch introduced a bill in the Senate to remove federal protections for all gray wolves in the U.S. also? What's that you say? Orin Hatch is a pompous ass? Really?

Our recycled Quote of the Week comes from Obama's State of the Union address in case you missed it: "I’m asking Congress to eliminate the billions in taxpayer dollars we currently give to oil companies. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they’re doing just fine on their own. So instead of subsidizing yesterday’s energy, let’s invest in tomorrow’s"

OK, that's the good news from Obama, on to more bad news in our Meet the New Boss segment: Over the past few weeks, the Obama administration has chosen to approve two biotech crops, Monsanto's Roundup Ready genetically modified alfalfa and Roundup Ready GMO sugar beets. To add insult to injury, the outgoing David Axelrod layed a little pun on his White House cohorts urging everyone to "plow forward" on GE alfalfa. Well, don't just sit there....DO SOMETHING!.

"Smells Like Genocide" by CMOR takes us to our interview with Michael Kellett of Restore the North Woods

Then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday, Feb. 16, 6:00-7:30 p.m., MASSPIRG Public Transportation Roundtable will be discussing transit needs in Amherst and the surrounding communities. Bangs Community Center, 70 Boltwood Walk, Amherst. For more information contact Micaela Preskill: mpreskill@masspirg.org, (617) 747-4374

Thursday, February 17, 7 - 9pm. Climate change and water resources: expectations and uncertainties in natural systems. Join Timothy Randhir, Associate Professor of Watershed Management and Water Quality at the University of Massachusetts, to learn about the relationships between climate change and the hydrologic cycle. Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A., Turners Falls, MA 01376, Call: (413)863-3221

Thursday, February 17, 7 - 9pm. Greenfield Planning Board's last public hearing on the latest proposed big box store for French King Highway. The 20 + year struggle lives on! Greenfield High School, 141 Davis Street (off Silver St.).

Friday, February 18, 6:30pm. On Top of Old Northfield. Navigate the night. Group & solo snowshoe two-mile walk with readings & navigational tips. Northfield Mountain, 99 Millers Falls Road (Rt.63),Northfield. Registration required. Call: (800)859-2960.

Sunday, February 20, 2:00pm - 5:00pm. Film Premiere: Carbon Nation. Images Cinema, 50 Spring Street, Williamstown, MA. Fundraiser for Bennington Berkshire Concerned Citizens

Tuesday, February 22, 6 pm. Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Panel meeting. Vernon Elementary School, Vernon, VT, Contact cchang@nukebusters.org The new commissioner of Vermont's Department of Public Service is promising that future meetings of the Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Panel will be "more collegial" than in the past.

Thursday, February 24 at 7:00pm. Northampton "Coal Country" Screening. Coal Country takes us inside modern coal mining, introducing us to both coal miners and activists. Then learn about the Sierra Club's "Beyond Coal" campaign, which is striving to ensure strong EPA regulations in 2011. Media Education Foundation, 70 Masonic Street (behind the Woodstar Cafe)

Saturday, February 26, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. (Snow date: Saturday, March 12). WINTER TRACKING EXPEDITION . Alan Emond, Little Cree Spy Excursions. Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst, Pre-registration required; please call 413-256-6006.

Saturday, March 5, 1:00 PM. : Intro to Animal Tracks. Introduction to Animal Tracks and Signs with Naturalist Dawn Ward. Aimed at novice trackers (adults and families with kids age 8 and over), the program will be both indoors at the Leverett Library (exploring Dawn's extensive collection of animal skulls, etc.) and outdoors, weather permitting, searching for tracks and signs. Supported by a grant from the Leverett Cultural Council. Call: (413)548-9343

Sunday, March 6, 1pm. Save Food for Thought & the Planet! A fundraiser for Food for Thought Books featuring author/activist Brian Tokar on climate justice and genetic engineering. Musician & bardic insurgent Tom Neilson, poetry, entertainment & more! Sponsored by The Enviro Show! Food for Thought Books, 106 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, Call: 413-253-5432

Monday, March 7,7pm "Future of the Northampton Rail Trail Network" at the Northampton Friends Meetinghouse (43 Center Street, 2nd floor). More information can be found at http://www.fntg.net

Wednesday, March 9, 6:30pm. Greening Greenfield's next Monthly meeting. NESEA offices on Miles St, Greenfield. Call: 413-773-7004

Soooo, according to this year's imprisoned groundhog hype we're in for an early spring, but you may want to put in a request anyway while you are listening to your Mother, right?

The Enviro Show Fish Story? We don't think so!

2011-01-27T13:06:00.000-08:00

Greetings Earthlings. We "Listened to our Mother" and she said: "Fa' get about it!" Another winter storm warning, another Enviro Show down the tubes EXCEPT here in cyberspace. We we're going to talk Shad with Karl Meyer from "Shad for a Brighter Future". Of course, we'll still entertain you with hair-raising tales (some are recycled...very green!) from The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, our Quote of the Week and the E-Valley-uation segments, as well as our Fool-on-the-Hill offering, but only here on the blog. Anyway, first it's time for....
Revenge of the Critters! In case you missed it: Fox shoots hunter!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we toss in Green Is the New Red's take on all the hate speech coming out of Faux "News" and mean-spirited and the way phony former Gov of Alaska: If Sarah Palin were an animal rights activist, she'd already have been convicted of 'terrorism'. Hate speech? Time for an Enviro Show Rewind! Remember this: Tea Party climate change deniers funded by BP and other major polluters? Don't tell us you think there's just as much hostility coming from Left as from teabaggers and their enablers on Faux "News". In case you drank some of that Kool-aide check this out! Speaking of checking things out, someone passed on this website that gets skeptical about global warming skepticism. It's as easy as 1,2,3 to clue in your climate crisis denying neighbors. Maybe even Glen Beck?......well, maybe not. Our Enviro Show Blog Bonus concerns that awful White-nose syndrome taking out bats. Despite the overwhelming threat to bats from people entering caves, federal land managers across much of the West have failed to enact closures of caves and abandoned mines. Please Take Action to help save the bats. And this: Nantucket man busted for dealing in endangered whale parts We saved the best for last: Candy Dynamics of Indianapolis is issuing a recall of all Toxic Waste® brand Nuclear Sludge® Chew Bars,all flavors. Sorry kids.

Finally it's time to air our "Don't Move Politicians More than 50 Miles" PSA! That will take us to our E-Valley-uation segment where we recycle an Enviro Show Blog Bonus: go to Environment Massachusetts and click on "Take Action" to help protect the Quabbin watershed from clearcutting! Also this: WMECO plans a solar farm for Springfield and YOU are paying for it!

Our Quote of the Week comes from Obama's State of the Union address: "I’m asking Congress to eliminate the billions in taxpayer dollars we currently give to oil companies. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they’re doing just fine on their own. So instead of subsidizing yesterday’s energy, let’s invest in tomorrow’s". OK, Congress, how about it??

In our Meet the New Boss segment we find in one of the WikiLeaks that Obama's EPA was well-aware that the pesticide Clothianidin, marketed as "Poncho" by Bayer, posed some serious risks to honey bees. Remember on the Toxic 100 Enviro Show we found the Bayer Group (doesn't that sound nicer than corporation?) sitting on top of the list of worse air polluters ever? According to Change.org: "Bayer wants to keep expanding the pesticide's use. And the company's original registration was based on some seriously flawed science: they evaluated the wrong crop, with the wrong controls to assess the impact on bees. This all adds up to some serious questions about the government contributing to Colony Collapse Disorder as [the EPA] knowingly allowed Bayer to poison bees. And this is about a lot more than honey production ... native habitats, and as much as one-third of America's food supply, rely on the pollination provided by bees." And this: Obama's FDA intentionally withheld a damning report from the public that provided conclusive evidence that GMO salmon pose a serious threat to endangered Atlantic salmon if accidentally released into the wild. Never mind salmon in fresh water or in saltwater, what about when they're smoked! (that's another State of the Nation reference for all you wonks).

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill award goes out to incoming House Energy chair Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) who flipped from moderate on climate crisis issues to a hard-right teabagger after getting 20 grand from Koch Industries.

After our fish story we head over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Thursday, Feb 3, 7:00 pm. The Committee for a Leverett Peace Commission presents: Michael Klare "Resource Conflict and Resource Innovation in the Search for Peace". Leverett Town Hall. Please stay for tea after talk. For more information call: Jim Perkins 367 9520 or Barbara Tiner 548 7919 or go to: leverettpeace.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, February 8, 7:30 pm. GRASSROOTS SOLUTIONS TO "CITIZENS UNITED V. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION" with John Bonifaz, Co-founder of http://freespeechforpeople.org/ Free Speech for People* and Legal Director of http://www.voteraction.org/ Voter Action*
First Congregational Church, http://maps.google.com/maps?q=906+Main+Street+Williamstown+MA+ 906 Main Street, Williamstown, MA

Wednesday, Feb. 9, 7:30 p.m. Barry Sanders, author of “The Green Zone: The Environmental Costs of Militarism” and professor emeritus of history at Pitzer College, will give a talk in Neilson Library Browsing Room, Smith College, Northampton. . The event is free and open to the public. Sanders will also give a public talk on Thursday, Feb. 10, at Greenfield Community College. Call: (413) 585-2190

Thursday, February 10 · 7:30pm - 10:30pm. Getting Biomass Right: Should We Be Generating Electricity From Trees? Williams College, Paresky Student Center Auditorium
Williamstown, MA.

Tuesday, February 15,7:00pm-9:00pm. Burning Vermont's Forests for Electricity? Marlboro College, Appletree Building. 2582 South Road. Marlboro , VT Call: (802)223- 5844

Thursday, February 17, 7 - 9pm. Climate change and water resources: expectations and uncertainties in natural systems. Join Timothy Randhir, Associate Professor of Watershed Management and Water Quality at the University of Massachusetts, to learn about the relationships between climate change and the hydrologic cycle. Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A., Turners Falls, MA 01376, Ph 413.863.3221

Saturday, February 26, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. (Snow date: Saturday, March 12). WINTER TRACKING EXPEDITION . Alan Emond, Little Cree Spy Excursions. Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst, Pre-registration required; please call 413-256-6006.

That is all. How about some more show? No? In any case, don't forget to listen to your Mother!

Restore the North Woods Enviro Show SHUTDOWN BY MOTHER NATURE!

2011-01-14T05:24:00.000-08:00

Greetings Earthlings. Today's ice storm is keeping us from the studio but the show goes on here in cyberspace! Read on: Tired of all those two-leggeds and their endless failings? Let's talk four-leggeds with Michael Kellett of Restore the North Woods. We'll discuss their North Woods Wolf Recovery Project as well as issues regarding the Canada lynx and Atlantic Salmon. Of course, we'll entertain you with hair-raising tales from The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, our Meet the New Boss and the E-Valley-uation segments, as well as our Fool-on-the-Hill offering, but first it's time for....Revenge of the Critters! In case you missed it: Fox shoots hunter!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we toss in Green Is the New Red's take on all the hate speech coming out of Faux "News" and mean-spirited, way phony Sarah Barracuda: "If Sarah Palin were an animal rights activist, she'd already have been convicted of 'terrorism'". Hate speech? Time for an Enviro Show Rewind! Remember this: "Tea Party climate change deniers funded by BP and other major polluters"? Don't tell us you think there's just as much hostility coming from the Left as from teabaggers and their enablers on Faux "News". In case you drank some of that Kool-aide check this out! Speaking of checking things out, someone passed on this website that gets skeptical about global warming skepticism. It's as easy as 1,2,3 to clue in your climate crisis denying neighbors. Maybe even Glen Beck?......well, maybe not.

Our "Don't Move Politicians More than 50 Miles" PSA takes us to the E-Valley-uation segment where we have an Enviro Show Blog Bonus: go to Environment Massachusetts and click on "Take Action" to help protect the Quabbin watershed from clearcutting! And this: WMECO plans a solar farm for Springfield and YOU are paying for it! Also, we learn that Greening Greenfield has announced their Green Heroes for the month of January - the more than 900 households who have signed onto the 10% Challenge Campaign! We don't think the proposed Pioneer biomass incinerator folks signed on though.

In our Meet the New Boss segment we find in one of the WikiLeaks that Obama's EPA was well-aware that the pesticide Clothianidin, marketed as "Poncho" by Bayer, posed some serious risks to honey bees. Remember on the Toxic 100 Enviro Show we found the Bayer Group (doesn't that sound nicer than corporation?) sitting on top of the list of worse air polluters last year? According to Change.org: "Bayer wants to keep expanding the pesticide's use. And the company's original registration was based on some seriously flawed science: they evaluated the wrong crop, with the wrong controls to assess the impact on bees. This all adds up to some serious questions about the government contributing to Colony Collapse Disorder as [the EPA] knowingly allowed Bayer to poison bees. And this is about a lot more than honey production ... native habitats, and as much as one-third of America's food supply, rely on the pollination provided by bees." One hand taketh away/one hand giveth: the EPA did have the good sense to go thumbs down on one mountain top removal project last week (how about the rest?). And this: Obama's FDA intentionally withheld a damning report from the public that provided conclusive evidence that GMO salmon pose a serious threat to endangered Atlantic salmon if accidentally released into the wild.

After our interview with with Michael Kellett of Restore the North Woods we checkout the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wed. January 19, 6:30-8:30pm, Bangs Community Center, 70 Boltwood Walk, Amherst ; Thurs., January 20, 6-8pm, Manhan Café, 72 Union St., Easthampton; Wed, January 26, 6: 30-8:30 pm, Studio Helix in Thorne’s Market, 150 Main Street, Northampton; Wed. February 2, 6-8pm, Greenfield Community Gardens, 57 Pray Dr., Greenfield: The Alliance to Develop Power / ADP, a leader of the Statewide Green Justice Coalition, with support from MASS ENERGY, invites all Massachusetts’ homeowners, renters and residents to community meetings with an opportunity to sign up for a free energy assessment, access weatherization funding, and free energy efficiency services through the MassSAVE program. Participants will also discuss and strategize how to help support the creation of an inclusive green economy that benefits all and creates family sustainable living wage jobs for Massachusetts’ residents. Call: 413-739-7233

Thursday, January 20, 7 – 8:30pm. Celebrate the Arctic National Wildlife refuge’s 50th anniversary. Linda Hickman, will present a program on her guided trip through Alaska, highlighting memorable and noteworthy natural and cultural resources and interesting information. Great Falls Discovery Center. 2 Avenue A., Turners Falls, Ph 413-863-3221

Friday, January 21, 7pm. "Wild View: New England Wildlife". Short hi-def films screened at the Wendell Free Library with the filmmaker, Christian Munoz-Donoso. For information call: (978)544-3559

Saturday, JANUARY 22, 10:45 - Noon, VIGIL FOR PEACE AND COMPASSION! AT THE CORNER OF MAIN AND KING STREETS. For the last 15 years the Northampton Committee has vigiled first against the murderous sanctions imposed by our government against the Iraqi people, then against war in Iraq and now against the wider wars and occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the last several months there has been a single counterprotestor with pro-war and anti-progressive signs who has stationed himself at the site of the vigil. Last weekend there were 3 counterdemonstrators with about a dozen signs filled with bigotry ("Arizona is Right!" "End the Killing of Unborn Babies, Not Terrorists." "Terrorists Love Peace Protestors.") They are from out of town and are members of Glenn Beck's 9/12 Project doing what they call a "standout". They are planning a "superstandout" in Northampton at one of the next few vigils. We think that it is important to stand up peacefully and nonviolently IN FORCE against the wars and for all human rights. We invite you and everyone on every one of your lists to join us this Saturday, a little bit early, with an appropriate sign (or you may use a Northampton Committee sign) on the corner of Main and King to say no to the war, violence, hate and bigotry that Glenn Beck and the 9/12 Project convey and yes to Peace and Compassion!

January 28-30. People's Music Winter Gathering 2011. Hartford, Connecticut. The People's Music Network for Songs of Freedom And Struggle, See registration page for additional information at: http://www.peoplesmusic.org

Friday, January 28, 7:15pm - Show begins at 8:00pm. "Ciclovida: Lifecycle" Q&A and discussion following the film featuring the filmmaker brothers Matt and Loren Feinstein as well as local organizations, including Grow Food Northampton, CISA, and more. There will be opportunities to learn about and connect with local groups working for a healthier and happier community and planet. Go to: www.ciclovida.org

Friday, January 28, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. WILD WINTER FUN. Ages 7-9 (1st to 4th grade) Join the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst for this special day off from school exploring nature in winter. We will look for tracks and signs of animals, try our hand at building shelters, play in the snow, and learn about snowflakes and the technology and adaptations of winter survival. Warm clothes required, boots, snowpants, hats and gloves! Bring snack, lunch, a water bottle, and a full change of clothes. Space is limited. Pre-registration is required; please call (413) 256-6006.

Thursday, February 10 · 7:30pm - 10:30pm. Getting Biomass Right: Should We Be Generating Electricity From Trees? Williams College, Paresky Student Center Auditorium
Williamstown, MA.

Over & out. Next time it's "Shad for a Brighter Future" with Karl Meyer. Until then remember: listen to your Mother!

Is the Tea Party's Over Now?

2011-01-09T05:50:00.000-08:00

We here on The Enviro Show have been taking the so-called Tea Party to task not only for their anti-planet mindset, but also for their over-the-top rhetoric. Last summer one of our Bus Stop Billboard entries concerned the weekly peace vigil in Greenfield and the fact that Massachusetts teabaggers and folks from the Glen Beck 912 Project planned to "show-up in mass and surround them". As it turned out, the hostile Beckians were hopelessly outnumbered and ended up two blocks away in a pathetic little clutch. That's how we hope all teabaggers will end up after what has taken place in Tucson with the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others by Jared Loughner, someone who apparently shares many of Glen Beck's views.

Our producer and co-host, D.O. has posted a short screed on his own blog that pretty well sums up the political crisis we are engaged in these days and the inflammatory language used by teabaggers that has led to this tragedy. We re-post it here for you and invite you to make your comments.

It's official: The inmates are in charge of the asylum

As you have no doubt heard, the U.S. House of Representatives, already a snake pit of Kafkaesque proportions, is now under the control of perhaps the most bizarre collection of sociopaths ever to set foot on Capitol Hill. Regardless of their own sketchy personal histories, from thug to torturer, to bible-banging crackpot, the new Repugnican majority in the crazy House are not only proof that the human species is highly flawed, but that they are also dangerous to our health.

Wasn't it Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) who refered to elected Democratic officials as the "enemy," and to keeping her supporters "armed and dangerous"? And wasn't it Glenn Beck who spoke on national TV of a coming "civil war" led by militias (Beck said he "believes we're on this road") and questioning whether the U.S. military would follow the President's orders to stop the violence? And wasn't it Tucson teabaggers who held a shooting event with shooting victim Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in mind? Guess who has left a trail of Glen Beck talking points in his internet wake? Jared Loughner, the guy who shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. I'll grant you that Loughner is a bit of a paranoid nutcase, but he is just the sort of nutcase that is enabled by the crackpots listed above and their like-minded ideologues.

My hope is that this tragic incident that took place in Tucson will be the last gasp for the likes of Glen Beck and the so-called Tea Party. I trust that Repugnicans in Congress who may still be in control of their senses will pull the reins in on their more volatile colleagues and try to restore some sanity to the crazy House. My hope is that my hope isn't just wishful thinking.

The Back-to-the-Future Enviro Show

2010-12-31T03:55:00.000-08:00

Greetings Earthlings. Sooooo, wasn't THAT a fun year! What will 2011 bring us? More of the same? We do some reflecting and projecting with our favorite roving troubadour, Tom Neilson as well as announce our brand new Enviro Show public service effort: the "Don't Move Politicians More than 50 Miles" campaign! We delve into some of our usual segments like The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, Fool on the Hill, Meet the New Boss and such, but first it’s time for.....Revenge of the Critters! It’s a polar bear-he-go-round!

In our Fool on the Hill segment we have another two-fer: First we learn that "Republicans in the House as a whole want to get rid of the EPA." That's what newly elected Republican Representative Bill Flores said last week on Tea Party Internet Radio. Gosh, those teabaggers must be using an old script. Haven't we been here before? Then we learn the new Repugnican chair of the House Science and Technology Committee, Rep. Ralph Hall of (where else!) Texas sees the BP explosion that killed 11 men, injured dozens, and led to the despoilment of the Gulf of Mexico as a tremendous blossoming flower of energy. Whoa! Flowers! Who knew!!

Our Meet the New Boss segment finds Obama in bed with Bush on the long suffering polar bear. More same old/same old! Barry…err…Barrack’s Dept. of Interior claimed the polar bear did not qualify as “endangered” because it was not “on the brink” of extinction — a standard that is not contained in the Endangered Species Act. Then Sarah Palin’s Alaska got into the act by filing a legal notice to strike down the federal government's designation of a 120-million-acre polar bear reserve along Alaska's northern coast. Does any of this have anything to do with oil? Noooo, where would we get such an idea!

In our E-Valley-uation segment it’s the "Don't Move Politicians More than 50 Miles" campaign! Another Enviro Show first! You may have heard the PSAs about not moving firewood more than 50 miles due to infestation by invasive pests that kill trees, like the Asian Longhorned beetles, yes? But hey! It’s still OK to clearcut forests and ship them off to some far-off biomass incinerator, right? Is there some sort of double standard here? Has our political atmosphere become infested by an alien species? Yes it has, and we’ve got the answer: Don't Move Politicians More than 50 Miles from their Home! Think how much less damage they’ll do if they stay close to home! Think how much more…umm…accessible they will be! And this most excellent continuum: Shut it Down Affinity Group gets busted for the New Year!. Yes, they'll never give up 'til the Vermont Yankee nuke is laid to rest. Excellent way to start the New Year, go Shut it Downers!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber here's one of the worst ideas for 2011: wandering biomess robots(and you thought robots run amok was so 20th century). Good news: we find the House and the Senate passed the Shark Conservation Act. This means that shark finning is illegal in the US. AND that Congress actually CAN do its job…now and then. Also this: On Christmas Eve, Whole Foods Market recalled gingerbread houses it sold in 23 states for possible contamination with Staphylococcus aureus. Whoa! Talk about a housing crisis! Just one more reason to shop at your local co-op. Our Enviro Show Blog Bonus? Why it's the Massachusetts Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2020! Here's a bad omen to start the New Year: Birds fall from sky in Arkansas. Finally this sad note: Judy Bonds died. Here's an excerpt from Jeff Biggers piece on Huff Po: "She was a tireless, funny, and inspiring orator, and a savvy and brilliant community organizer. She was fearless in the face of threats. As the godmother of the anti-mountaintop removal movement, she gave birth to a new generation of clean energy and human rights activists across the nation. In a year of mining disasters and climate change set backs, she challenged activists to redouble their efforts." Of course,actions down in coal country continue.

"Coal" by The Shovel takes us to our Bus Stop Billboard:

January 3 - 24. Climate Ground Zero's second Winter Action Camp! CGZ is now accepting applications for the camp, scheduled to be held in the coal fields of southern West Virginia. The camp will involve multiple intensive training tracks, such as action team, action media, legal support, and other skills relevant for this campaign and its future actions, as well as for your campaigns back home. Contact: january@climategroundzero.org or 304-854-1937

Saturday, January 8, 10:30am to 2pm. Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A., Turners Falls. Join us the second Saturday of every month for a day of children's activities. Daily activities may include crafts, games, investigations, or outdoor adventures. Call ahead for current program details at (413) 863-3221.

Now until January 6, 9am to 5pm, Exhibit: Glimpses of the Pre-Quabbin Swift River Valley and the Quabbin Reservoir of Today. UMass Science Library, Floor 2, Lederle Lowrise.. For full hours and parking information, call 413-545-1370

Wednesdays January 12 and January 26, 7:30 pm. THE GREEN ZONE: THE ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS OF MILITARISM. Book discussion group in preparation for author Barry Sanders' February 9th Smith College Lecture. Let's discuss this extensively-documented expose on the price our earth is paying for the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. APJ War & Environment Committee. Bodman Lounge, Helen Hills Hills Chapel, Smith College. Contact: martygjf@comcast.net

Saturday, January 15, 7:30 pm. Spook Handy, creator of songs of peace, hope and survival, will perform at the Echo Lake in the town hall, 9 Montague Rd., Leverett, Admittance is $10-$12. For more info: 413-548-9394 or go to www.echolakecoffeehouse.org

Thursday, January 20, 7 – 8:30pm. Celebrate the Arctic National Wildlife refuge’s 50th anniversary. Linda Hickman, will present a program on her guided trip through Alaska, highlighting memorable and noteworthy natural and cultural resources and interesting information. Great Falls Discovery Center. 2 Avenue A., Turners Falls, Ph 413-863-3221

January 28-30. People's Music Winter Gathering 2011. Hartford, Connecticut. The People's Music Network for Songs of Freedom And Struggle, See registration page for additional information at: http://www.peoplesmusic.org

Good ways to start a new year, yes? Next time it's Michael Kellett from the group Restore the North Woods. Until then remember.......listen to your Mother!

The Real Winter Solstice Enviro Show

2010-12-17T13:19:00.000-08:00

Greetings Earthlings. Happy Winter Solstice on this, the first Enviro Show to actually fall on the date of the Solstice (AND the first time in 372 years that a full lunar eclipse falls at the same time! if you missed it go here). With that in mind we fore-go much of the usual bad news and carrying on and honor the season with Earth-inspired sound.....and maybe a few inspired rants. Surprise! Too bad even progressive talk radio has overlooked the Solstice and pagans who honor it every year. Our in-house pagans are out dancing around the bonfires and making merry. Sorry, progressives, you lose, maybe next year. Here's some Solstice tunes to get us started, one of D.O.'s favorites, Paul Winter Consort with "Wolf Eyes".

OK, so that felt a lot like some snowbound vista in the wild where the wolves rule and the winds howl. Speaking of wolves, it looks like Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar is trying to remove protections so his western rancher friends can kill them at will. Please go HERE and take action to protect these majestic critters. Did we say wolves? What about wolverines?? They need YOUR HELP too! Also in need of protection are our National Forests. How about sending Obama a Holiday card with that in mind?

Moving on: years ago, Windham Hill recording studio in neighboring Vermont came out with a Winter Solstice collection that became so popular that they cut a whole collection. However, for D.O., that original album seemed to say it best. His favorite cut is "A Tale of Two Cities", by Mark Isham. Think about the Winter Solstice Sun rising or setting when you listen to that!

OK, you can't have a Winter Solstice party without fun & games, right? Help Santa! He's being attacked by Repugnicans disguised as elves!!

Enough with D.O., it's time to checkout Jean's favorite tune from a previous show. It's Pete Seeger's "Spill, Baby Spill".

This Solstice party isn't over just because neither Jean nor Glen sent in their links. Maybe they are too busy partying elsewhere? Stay tuned.......

Finally let's take shelter from the snow and checkout the Bus Stop Billboard:

Saturday, December 25, 11am - Noon. Peace on Earth! Greenfield's weekly peace vigil on the Town Common. Call (413)522-5932. While you're there, checkout the Winter Solstice display...it's next to the creche!). Also in Northampton in front of the County Courthouse (on Main Street between Gothic and King), rain or shine (or snow, or deep-freeze).

Sunday, December 26. Noon - 1pm. The Amherst peace vigil takes place on the Amherst Commons at noon on Sundays. It has been going since the early 1970's. Call: ((413)549-4515

Saturday, January 1, 11am - Noon. Resolve to work for peace! Greenfield's weekly peace vigil on the Town Common. Also, peace vigil in Northampton in front of the County Courthouse. Same time.

Saturday, January 8, 10:30am to 2pm. Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A., Turners Falls. Join us the second Saturday of every month for a day of children's activities. Daily activities may include crafts, games, investigations, or outdoor adventures. Call ahead for current program details at (413) 863-3221.

Now until January 6, 9am to 5pm, Exhibit: Glimpses of the Pre-Quabbin Swift River Valley and the Quabbin Reservoir of Today. UMass Science Library, Floor 2, Lederle Lowrise. The exhibit features 39 nature photographs by Les Campbell, who has received many honors including four of the highest awards given by the Photographic Society of America. His photographs have appeared in National Geographic, National Audubon, and the Photographic Society of America Journal, among others. Campbell had a 45-year career working at the Quabbin reservoir and founded the Quabbin Visitor's Center and Friends of the Quabbin. For full hours and parking information, call 413-545-1370

Jeez, not much happening in this valley. Where'd everyone go? I hope they get back for the next show 'cuz it's about THE END OF THE WORLD!

Return of the Shopocalypse Enviro Show

2010-12-02T15:10:00.000-08:00

Greetings Earthlings. Here we go again: people shopping 'til they're dropping. Sooooo many toys, so little time? Are you suffering from Returnaholism? How about putting that wasted money to good use? Rev. Billy calls-in once again to preach about the coming Shopocalypse. Then we get calls from Kristin DeBoer of Kestrel Trust and Lily Lombard of Grow Food Northampton; places where your gift donations will be money well spent. As usual, we'll also checkout our E-Valley-uation segment, The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, our Enviro Show Quote of the Week,and the shortest Meet the New Boss segment ever, but first it's time for...Revenge of the Critters! Reindeer attack....again and again!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber it's time to revisit Frosty The Snowman Melted By Global Warming; it's sad but true. Also, some good things come in threes at the New York Times to counteract that Frosty meltdown: 1) Obama administration rescindeds its decision to expand offshore oil exploration into the eastern Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic Coast; 2) Solar installation spreein progress, and 3) Midwest emerges as center for clean power. Who says we're all gloom & doom! Our Enviro Show Blog Bonus asks YOU to take action to protect Bluefin Tuna.

Our Meet the New Boss segment is short but not so sweet. This on Obama from the New York Times: "Privately, Mr. Obama has described himself, at times, as essentially a Blue Dog Democrat". Surprise!

In our E-Valley-uation segment the good news is that State energy and environment secretary Ian Bowles will leave the Patrick administration at the end of the month and "pursue private sector opportunities". Hey, maybe we scared him on our last show! The not-so-good news is that former Westfield mayor, Rick Sullivan is taking Bowles place. The last time we saw Sullivan he was solidly on the fence on the Biomess. Also this: Peter Vickery kicks off a new Mt. Tom campaign. He's talking conversion to natural gas instead of all that coal from blown-off mountain tops down south.

The Enviro Show Quote of the Week is a variation on a theme: "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed". ~Mohandas K. Gandhi

The choir sings of the "Shopocalypse", segwaying nicely to our call with Rev. Billy and our other guests.

Then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

December, all month; A two person exhibit of the photographs of Lynn Grabowski and the oil paintings of Gillian Haven at the Burnett Gallery in Amherst. Titled As We See It, the exhibit presents the vision of each artist observing her surroundings.Lynn Grabowski’s Amherst Beaver Project, studies a colony of beavers residing along the Norwottuck Rail Trail. Call (413)538-5695

Wednesday, December 8, 7:00-8:30pm. Second Decommissioning Forum on VT Yankee. Greenfield Community College, Downtown Building, Main Street, Greenfield, MA Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Deb Katz 413-339-5781

Friday Dec. 10, 7pm. "Bhopali" showing corporate malice and denial of human rights of people --at the Media Education Foundation community room, 60 Masonic Street, Northampton (entrance behind Woodstar Cafe). Event cosponsored by the Northampton Human Rights Commission & Northampton Committee to Stop War in Afghanistan and Iraq as part of a regular Friday Night film series.

Friday Dec. 10th and Saturday the 11th at 7:30 p.m. & Sunday, Dec. 12th at 2 p.m. "Welcome Yule: A Midwinter Celebration"; Shea Theater, Avenue A, Turners Falls, Music, dance, songs and stories celebrating the return of the light. Reserve tickets at (413) 863-2281 or purchase in advance at Jones Library in Amherst, Broadside Books in Northampton, the World Eye Bookstore in Greenfield, For information, call 413-665-3206 or check www.WelcomeYule.org

Saturday, December 11, 1 - 2pm. "Finding you way in the woods". Have you ever found yourself lost in the woods? Join us for an hour long exploration of compasses as well as the basics of the sport of orienteering. Great Falls Discovery Center. 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls. Call 413-863-3221

Monday, December 13, 6:30 – 8:30p.m. (Snow Date: Thursday, December 16). DCR Forest Futures Implementation [or who gets clearcut!]- Public Workshops. Greenfield Community College, Downtown Center, 270- Main St, Greenfield. There will also be an opportunity to provide written comments. For more information on these workshops or the landscape
designation process, please feel free to contact Jessica Rowcroft at either jessica.rowcroft@state.ma.us or at 617-626-1380.

Attention shoppers! Time to stay home and enjoy the holidays or take a walk in the woods. Next time it's our Winter Solstice Music Show. Stay tuned and remember: listen to your Mother!

The Green Vote Enviro Show

2010-11-17T13:08:00.000-08:00

Greetings Earthlings. With the 2010 Elections behind us and a House full of cretins in front of us we welcome Green-Rainbow Party Candidate for Massachusetts State Auditor, Nat Fortune to the show. We'll check-in with Nat about the Party's annual convention at Clark University in Worcester last week and his excellent run for office that put the Green-Rainbow Party on the map for the future. As always we visit The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and our E-Valley-uation and Fool on the Hill segments. We'll also give you our Enviro Show Quote of the Week and if time allows we'll Meet the New Boss once again, but first it's time for....
Revenge of the Critters! Elephants bust out! It's not just the GOP taking out poor farmers.

In our Fool on the Hill segment we find Senator Debbie Stabenow, Michigan Democrat, has concerns that greenhouse gas permitting requirements would dissuade the use of biomass to generate power. Not too worry, Deb, your concerns were addressed by the EPA's, Lisa Jackson who has stated the U.S. EPA will "exercise whatever discretion the Clean Air Act affords" to shield biomass users from the agency's climate rules. Sorry Lisa & Debbie, it's the climate that rules! Of course, there's more than one Fool on THAT Hill: Repugnican Eric Cantor (R-VA), the likely House Majority Leader, calls for House committees to review proposed and existing regulations and issue reports, presumably recommending alteration or repeal of regulations the committees dislike. The document derides regulation, commenting on its cost to businesses without mentioning its benefits to society as a whole. Surprise!

On the same issue some Obamaistas take a hit from the folks at EnergyJustice.Net who "voiced sharp disagreement with Secretary Vilsack’s support for burning America’s forests for electricity, expressed in a USDA Press Release November 10." We're thinkin' those forests might come in handy sequestering carbon, no? Speaking of trees, THIS JUST IN: Wi-Fi Radiation Is Killing Trees. Quick, text your friends!

Speaking of the Biomess, here in our E-Valley-uation segment we introduce you to a new website for the Bennington-Berkshire Citizens Coalition organizing around yet another proposed biomass incinerator (OK, so it's not exactly our valley, but we ARE downwind, right?). This proposed project will also produce those cute little biomess pellets, the ones that used to be trees, right? Trees that sequestered carbon, right? Like the site says: "The wood needed for the Pownal plant will be close to about 600,000 green tons per year, more than the entire annual timber harvest on private and public lands in Massachusetts." What? You think this stuff grows on trees?? And this Enviro Show Blog Bonus: Greenpeace has all the toys! The GP blimp hovers over Vermont Yankee. Also this: the Biomess takes hits in both Greenfield and Springfield!

Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week puts us back into the Wayback Machine in keeping with tonight's theme, where Massachusetts' own John Quincy Adams reminds us: "“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we replay Public Citizen's alert: "Time is running out for the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. The Commission has less than two months to complete its report examining the causes of the Deepwater Horizon disaster and recommending steps to guard against future oil spills. The Commissioners are still waiting for the Senate, to give it subpoena power – a necessary tool to get at the core of the oil spill tragedy. Tell the Senate to stop being lame: Give the oil spill commission the authority to do its job! Also, the New York Times tells us even as we scale back on coal burning mining and exports increase. Finally this: Climate scientists prepare to fight back against climate crisis deniers. Watch out teabaggers, they have all the secret weapons!

After our interview with Nat Fortune it's on to The Bus Stop Billboard:

Thursday, November 25, Tar Sands Conference, University of Alberta, Canada. "Everyone's Downstream" is an annual conference that brings together community members, activists and others fighting the global infrastructure of the tar sands gigaproject. Go to: http://www.everyonesdownstream.org/

Friday, Nov. 26, is International Buy Nothing Day.

Wednesday, December 1, 7pm. the award-winning film, "Scarred Lands/Wounded Lives: The Environmental Footprint of War" The film will be aired in 106 Seelye Hall, Smith College, Northampton.

Wednesday, December 8, 7:00-8:30pm. Second Decommissioning Forum on VT Yankee. Greenfield Community College, Downtown Building, Main Street, Greenfield, MA Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Deb Katz 413-339-5781

Monday, December 13, 6:30 – 8:30p.m. (Snow Date: Thursday, December 16). DCR Forest Futures Implementation [or who gets clearcut!] Public Workshops. Greenfield Community College, Downtown Center, 270- Main St, Greenfield. There will also be an opportunity to provide written comments. For more information on these workshops or the landscape designation process, please feel free to contact Jessica Rowcroft at 617-626-1380.

Thursday, December 16, 12:30-2pm, WMass Green Economy Working Group. Brown Bag Lunch at Noon, Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield (732-7970).

OK, so don't forget to vote.....umm...sorry, we already did that. Next time Rev. Billy calls in about the coming Shopocalypse. Until then, remember, listen to your Mother!

The Toxic 100 Enviro Show

2010-11-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. Tired of the toxic atmosphere these days? Michael Ash and Jim Boyce of our own UMass Political Economy Research Institute clue us in on the Toxic 100 Air Polluters in the nation. Speaking of breathing room, Massachusetts has significantly reduced mercury emissions from power plants and incinerators. We'll check that out in the Enviro Show Echo Chamber and see what's happening locally in our E-Valley-uation segment. As always, we give you the Quote of the Week and maybe have another look at The Fool on the Hill, but first it's time for....Revenge of the Critters! "New Zealand has these big green parrots called keas, which like to eat windshield wipers. Why do you suppose they hate cars so much??

The Enviro Show Quote of the week is a special post-election choice from none other than Ronnie Raygun: "Approximately 80% of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emission standards from man-made sources."

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we find the outfit that tops the PERI list of Toxic 100 Polluters, Bayer, has just hooked up with Pew's Center on Global Climate Change. Phew! What's that smell?? Meanwhile, over the border in Canada, people are organizing over toxic releases in Chemical Valley (well, yeah!). Also, we go over the good news about less mercury pollution here in the Commonwealth and the bad news about Governor Patrick's $91 Million Barge to Nowhere! That's no Love Boat! And, more good news: deciduous plants absorb about a third more of a common class of air-polluting chemicals than previously thought. Quick, go plant a tree! Finally, it seems the corporados are busy hi-jacking the UN's COP-10 Biodiversity conference in Japan.

In our E-Valley-uation segment there's a blue light special: Attention shoppers: Broken down old Nuke For Sale!

On the Fool on the Hill segment we go plural once again: There are no newly elected Republican freshmen, in the House or Senate, who admit the science of climate change is real. What a surprise. Must be all the tea they are smok....err...drinking.

Finally, it's time to checkout the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday, Nov 10, 7 to 9pm. Do you want to find out more about the Transition Town movement and explore transition with others in Greenfield? If yes, come to a free evening of film & discussion the Second Congregational Church on the Greenfield Town Common. Refreshments will be served. For more information contact Greening Greenfield Energy Committee at 413-773-7004 or 413-773-0228

Sunday, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.m. "This Land is Our Land", a timely new documentary about the global movement to reclaim the democratic tradition of “the commons” from commercial interests and free market extremists, will screen locally at Amherst Cinema on , at an event to benefit the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. For further information contact Sut Jhally, Media Education Foundation: (413) 584-8500 ext. 2301 email: sutj@comm.umass.edu

Tuesday, November 16, 6:30 - 8:30. Workshop on which DCR Public Forest will be open to commercial logging and which will be protected. Save the Trees! Noth Middle School, 350 Southampton Road, Westfield. For info call: 413-341-3878. Also see: http://www.mass.gov/dcr/news/2010/pr10-10-28.pdf

Tuesday, November 16, 6:30-8:30pm. Do you want to find out how to cut your heating costs? Go to GCTV, 393 Main Street, Greenfield, MA. Refreshments will be served. To find out more contact the Greening Greenfield Energy Committee at 774-5667.

Thursday, November 18, 3:30pm. Next meeting of Nuclear Free Future at the new AFSC office, 2 Conz Street, Suite 2B, Northampton. Call: 413-584-8975

Thursday, November 18, 7 - 8:30pm. Turkey Anyone? Have you ever wondered about wild turkeys? Just how did they get associated with Thanksgiving? Come learn from expert Joe Judd. Great Falls Discovery Center, Avenue A, Turners Falls. Call: 413-863-3221

November 19 - 21. Pricing Carbon Conference. A national conference co-hosted by and held at Wesleyan University in central Connecticut, to explore educational, organizing and political strategies to directly price carbon emissions and to build the essential cornerstone of effective climate policy: policies that transparently and equitably put a price on carbon pollution. Please inquire about scholarships offered to students
and climate activists with Tom Stokes, (413) 243-5665. Go to: http://pricingcarbon.org/

Thursday, November 25, Tar Sands Conference, University of Alberta, Canada. "Everyone's Downstream" is an annual conference that brings together community members, activists and others fighting the global infrastructure of the tar sands gigaproject. Go to: http://www.everyonesdownstream.org/

Wednesday, December 1, 7pm. the award-winning film, "Scarred Lands/Wounded Lives: The Environmental Footprint of War" The film will be aired in 106 Seelye Hall, Smith College, Northampton.

Wednesday, December 8, 7:00-8:30pm. Second Decommissioning Forum on VT Yankee. Greenfield Community College, Downtown Building, Main Street, Greenfield, MA Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Deb Katz 413-339-5781

Monday, December 13, 6:30 – 8:30p.m. (Snow Date: Thursday, December 16). DCR Forest Futures Implementation [or who gets clearcut!]- Public Workshops. Greenfield Community College, Downtown Center, 270- Main St, Greenfield. There will also be an opportunity to provide written comments. For more information on these workshops or the landscape
designation process, please feel free to contact Jessica Rowcroft at either
jessica.rowcroft@state.ma.us or at 617-626-1380.

That's it. Next time Nat Fortune joins us for a post-election wrap. Until then remember, listen to your Mother!

2010-10-29T12:29:00.000-07:00

The Very Scary Nukes Enviro Show

2010-10-21T11:57:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. We're coming up on Halloween or the pagan festival of Samhain when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is thin, porous in fact! By the way, did you know that For Bats, the Future Is Spooky? Of course, Halloween in the U.S. is all about scary so we return to frightening tales of nuclear madness. Deb Katz of Citizens Awareness Network might call in to chill you to the bone and Paki Wieland of the Shut It Down affinity group joins us in the studio to talk resistance. As always, we disturb you with reports from the crypt of the living corporados in our Enviro Show Echo Chamber and our E-Valley-uation segment. We'll give you our Quote of the Week and we go plural with the Fool on the Hill, but first it's time for....Revenge of the Critters! Fishermen get caught!

"I crush everything" by Jonathan Coulton takes us to our very scary E-Valley-uation segment where we learn that radioactive tritium has been found in a watering hole at Vermont Yankee. Last call....we hope! O, and this: yet another radioactive leak in that old clunker nuke. Also, Springfield activists have been fighting a proposal by Palmer Renewable Energy (PRE) to build a so-called "biomass" plant in Springfield. They've been fighting hard for a year and a half as Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield and making good progress. The good news is that PRE has decided it's too controversial to burn their original fuel source-- construction and demolition debris. The bad news is that now that they plan to burn only "waste wood," the plant will be harder to stop. They will now be considered a "non-major" source of air pollution, and are therefore subject to a less stringent permit process! November 9 is the last day you can comment on the process. Go here to register your concerns. How about an E-Valley-uation Blog Bonus Special? Checkout these WCVB video segments on the Western Mass Biomess!

One of our favorites, "Hot Frogs"by Tom Neilson segways us into the next segment. This time around it's Fools on the Hill (with an "s") as we learn just how much the Dems have gone nuclear. Also, Obama throws a big wet kiss directly into the Biomess!.

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber we learn from Grist that "a New York Times/CBS News poll found that more than half the Tea Party supporters surveyed don't think global warming will ever have a serious effect on the planet". What a surprise! We thought it was more like 90%. Also, The Guardian finds Teabagger climate change deniers being funded by BP! And here's another Enviro Show Blog Bonus Special: Grist on the Massachusetts' Gov's race. And this one Glen dragged out for Halloween: The end of the world as we blow it. The film "Countdown to Zero" might be one of the most frightening movies ever made! Finally, our friend Anne Peterman had at it at the COP-10 negotiations regarding the corporate biofuels scam.

Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week comes from JFK: " Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident or miscalculation or by madness. The weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us… The mere existence of modern weapons … is a source of horror and discord and distrust."

After we've totally freaked you out about nukes and Vermont Yankee, it'll be time to visit the Bus Stop Billboard for some much needed diversion:

Tuesday, October 26, 7:00-8:30pm. First VT Yankee Decommissioning Forum. Marlboro Tech Center, 28 Vernon St, Brattleboro, VT

Wednesday October 27, 12:30-2pm GREENWORK: THE WESTERN MASS GREEN ECONOMY WORKING GROUP, Brown Bag Lunch at Noon, Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page
Boulevard, Springfield. Info: (413)732-7970

Thursday October 28, 7pm. HEATHER ROGERS: GREEN GONE WRONG. Franklin Patterson Hall East Lecture Hall, Hampshire College, 893 West St, Amherst. In Green Gone Wrong, journalist and author Heather Rogers takes a critical look at the products and practices that pledge to remedy today's environmental woes. Info: (413) 351-2263, contact@isonoho.org.

Friday, October 29, 7pm. Friday Night Films. "Gasland" . Natural gas drilling is moving into rural communities irresponsibly, contaminating the groundwater. Screening at MEF, 60 Masonic Street in Northampton. Contact: info@northamptoncommittee.org

Saturday, October 30, 1 - 2pm. Amazing Bats! Are bats really scary? Do they actually get stuck in your hair? Learn answers to these questions and more during an hour long celebration of bats! Children will be able to hear a story, investigate our bat mystery box, learn what it is like to be a bat through games, and make their own bat mask! This program is aimed at ages 4-11, although everyone is welcome! Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls. Call: 413.863.3221

Sunday, November 7, 4pm, Unitarian Meetinghouse in Amherst. A kick off event for a series of movies on climate change issues: Film and discussion: Scarred Lands and Wounded Lives: The Environmental Footprint of War.

Thursday, November 18, 3:30pm. Next meeting of Nuclear Free Future at the new AFSC office, 2 Conz Street, Suite 2B, Northampton. Call: 413-584-8975

We go out with one of our favorite nuke tunes, Dar Williams' "The Great Unknown". Happy Halloween and have a joyous Samhain, but please remember to listen to your Mother, OK?

The Enviro Show On-air Biomass Regulations Hearing

2010-10-08T04:00:00.001-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. Time for another Enviro Show first! Rather than drive all the way to some overheated auditorium to sit in uncomfortable folding chairs and go all wall-eyed listening to bureaucrats drone on-and-on with all that jargon and all those acronyms about the Biomess, why not have a hearing right here on the radio! A draft proposed regulation to establish criteria that woody biomass facilities must meet under the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard has been proposed by the state and public hearings have been called for the Berks and Central Mass., but not here in the Valley, sooooo.... WE'LL HOLD OUR OWN HEARING! Ray Weber of Friends of Robinson State Park: Chris Matera of Mass. Forest Watch; Meg Sheehan of the Stop Spewing Carbon campaign and Glen Ayers of The Enviro Show (who?) will testify. Given that it will take up most of the show we'll have to set aside our usual segments, but we'll post them here on the blog so Enviro Show listeners don't have to suffer withdrawal symptoms. Of course, there's one segment we simply cannot do without......Revenge of the Critters! Attacked in the Forest with A Million Eyes!

The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we lead off with some actual GOOD NEWS (can you believe this?). Remember when Ronny Ray-gun took Jimmy Carter's solar panels off the White House? All very symbolic, yes? Well, after months and months of conjouling and pleading by so many citizens, including yours truly, Obama has finally agreed to put the panels back up. Ta-da! On to the bad news, actually the REALLY bad news of the masive toxic spill in Hungry. Now this long and arduous piece from The New Yorker about our broken government: How the Senate and the White House missed their best chance to deal with climate change.

Time to Meet the New Boss again. So, while it's good news Obama finally went for the solar panels, it's not so good on his handling of the BP disaster. Mother Jones rips the boss a new one.

Our new Fool-on-the-Hill segment puts the spotlight on John McCain who does a perfect 180 on the climate crisis.

In the E-Valley-uation department we slip across the border to Pownal, Vermont (OK, OK, so it's the Hoosic River Valley, it's still a valley, right?) where Beaver Wood Energy (gosh, they must be friends of the beavers!) wants to erect yet another Biomess. The folks in Pownal got an ear full from our own Chris Matera and Josh Schlossberg on forestry issues and health effects related to biomass incineration and pellet production. Now for some evaluation of that 10/10/10 horse so many folks in this valley and elsewhere have hitched their wagons to.

Then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

October, 14-16. Beginning Thursday morning Forum (C building) Holyoke Community College at 9:30am. The Forest Summit. HCC in association with the Eastern Native Tree Society is hosting a long term lecture series to focus on the history, current status, and the future of the Forests of the Northeast and beyond. Go to: http://www.hcc.edu/forest/

Saturday,October 16, 9am. 350.org's 10/10/10 events. Grace Episcopal Church in Amherst will organize a parish-wide work party on the Saturday after 10/10/10 that will focus on implementing the recommendations from our top-to-bottom energy audit.

Saturday, Oct. 16 , 7:30 pm - Colleen Kattau at The Echo Lake Coffee House, Leverett Town Hall. Call (413)-548-9394, or email: diacrowe@yahoo.com

Thursday October 21, 7:00pm. The True Cost of Coal. The True Cost of Coal is an elaborate narrative illustration that explores the complex story of mountaintop removal coal mining and the broader impacts of coal in Appalachia and beyond. Beehive Design Collective at Food for Thought Books, 106 N Pleasant St., downtown Amherst. Call: 413-253-5432

Friday, October 22, 7pm. Friday Night Film Series. "Farm for the Future". Alarmed by the world's energy insecurity and her farm's dependence on cheap oil, a farmer seeks a low-energy future. Screening at MEF, 60 Masonic Street in Northampton. Enter via Woodstar Cafe, at the front of the building. The venue is accessible. Contact: info@northamptoncommittee.org

Friday, October 22 at 5:00pm. Mountain Justice Fall Summit 2010. Kayford Mountain, West Virginia A weekend of workshops, trainings and direct action! For more info, contact mjfallsummit@gmail.com or 304-854-1937

Saturday, October 23, 4pm. Roots to Resistance - Art & Activism Project. 186 Federal Street, Florence.

Tuesday, October 26, 7:00-8:30pm. First VT Yankee Decommissioning Forum. Marlboro Tech Center, 28 Vernon St Brattleboro. What will life look like once Vermont Yankee stops operating in March 2012? What options are there for clean up? How can citizens impact these decisions? Call: (413) 339-5781

Friday, October 29, 7pm. Friday Night Films. "Gasland" . Natural gas drilling is moving into rural communities irresponsibly, contaminating the groundwater. Screening at MEF, 60 Masonic Street in Northampton. Contact: info@northamptoncommittee.org

Sunday, November 7, 4pm, Unitarian Meetinghouse in Amherst. A kick off event for a series of movies on climate change issues: Film and discussion: Scarred Lands and Wounded Lives: The Environmental Footprint of War.

This hearing is hereby adjourned.....O, and remember to listen to your Mother, OK?

The Autumn Fun Drive Enviro Show

2010-09-22T05:04:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. It's time to pay the piper again. Remember, Valley Free Radio runs on YOUR donations, not on corporate largess that dictates the content. VFR is independent community radio and The Enviro Show is just one of many locally produced shows that VFR makes possible. Now we are asking you to help keep the show on the air during our annual Autumn Fund Drive (i know we said "fun drive" and it will be lots of fun IF you do YOUR share and support The Enviro Show....otherwise we'll sulk and whine and who wants THAT!). Soooo, even though we'll be constantly reminding you of how much we need your support, we may still have time for a brief visit to The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, the Quote of The Week and our E-Valley-uation segment, but first it's time for...Revenge of the Critters! Sea lion snot into showtime. See the video here.

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we scope out the Invasion of the Frankenfish! Maybe we should've saved that one for our Halloween show, but hey, there's plenty more horror stories courtesy of the corporados, right? O, and speaking of corporados and the water check this out: Greenpeace USA activists stop Chevron offshore drilling project. Yes!.....finally!! And this: there's the energy crisis and there's the water crisis. What? There's some connection? Who knew! Here's our Enviro Show Blog Bonus: The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling needs to hear YOUR comments NOW! Finally, this from Grist, it doesn't get much more ironic: Maryland Green Party Senate candidate killed by SUV while cycling.

Johnny Cash's "Don't go near the water" takes us to our E-Valley-uation segment where Biomess industry flaks get their panties all up in a knot over Patrick administration rules restricting tax credits for biomass energy, aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Jeez! Sorry to get in the way of your cash cow guys! And this: Shut it Down affinity group is at it again. This time they're nailed for tagging Vermont Yankee! Go grannies, go!!

Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week states: “The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders.” - Ed Abbey

Hey, did we mention it's our annual Autumn Fund Drive? Isn't it time you stepped up to the plate and helped support VFR and The Enviro Show? Did you know you can do it right NOW, right HERE? Thanks, we needed that!

Then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Thursday, Sept. 30, 6 pm. Meeting of Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield at the Arise office. Call: (413) 455-3829 or 734-4948

Saturday, October 2, 2010.--Source-to-Sea Cleanup: 9 a.m. to 12 noon--Hauling: volunteers with trucks or ATV's needed from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. or any portion of that time. In Gill, Montague, East Deerfield, and Erving. Call Beth Bazler at Northfield Mountain Recreation and Environmental Center, (800) 859-2960, or email amy@franklincountywastedistrict.org. Elsewhere in the watershed (VT, NH, MA and CT), see a map at http://www.imrivers.org/crwc/, call Connecticut River Watershed Council (413) 772-2020 x201 or email: cleanup@ctriver.org.

Saturday, October 9, 10:00am. Big Tree Walk. Mohawk Trail State Forest is home to the tallest trees in New England. No other public property in our region has so many champions of height which included the 170.1 foot-tall Chief Jake Swamp white pine. Join Bob Leverett as he points out significant trees and groves of trees and discusses the history and ecology of the species represented in Mohawk Trail State Forest. Call (413) 339-5504

Sunday, October 10, 11:15am. 350.org's 10/10/10 events. First Congregational Church in Amherst will have a worship service at 10:30 AM themed around care for the Earth followed by a congregation-wide work party starting around 11:15 AM. We'll have lunch together at 1:00 PM to celebrate the conclusion of our activities.

Sunday October 10, 5:00am - 8:00am. 350.org 10/10/10 event. Winter Moon Farm Photovoltaic turn-on!. We hope to turn on a new 34.3 KW system for 10-10-10. 156 Solar panels are already on the roof! Pot Luck dinner and music. Please bring an instrument if you can! 17 Lawrence Plain Rd. Hadley.

Sunday, October 10, Noon - 2pm. 10/10/10 Global Climate Crisis Work Party. Help us Plant 100 Trees on 10/10! To kick off our restoration of a floodplain forest at Land of Providence in Holyoke, a project funded in part by the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, join us in planting 100 trees along the riverfront. 413.532.1631 x13

Tuesday, October 12, 2010: Change the system, not the climate!Call for a global day of direct action for climate justice The disaster that was the climate summit in Copenhagen highlighted one thing above all: That we cannot expect UN-negotiations to solve the climate crisis for us. Governments and corporations are unable (even if they were willing) to deliver real climate justice. Only powerful, global climate justice movements can achieve the structural changes that are necessary. To get involved please email info@climate-justice-action.org

October, 14-16. Beginning Thursday morning Forum (C building) Holyoke Community College at 9:30am. The Forest Summit. HCC in association with the Eastern Native Tree Society is hosting a long term lecture series to focus on the history, current status, and the future of the Forests of the Northeast and beyond. Go to: http://www.hcc.edu/forest/

Saturday,October 16, 9am. 350.org's 10/10/10 events. Grace Episcopal Church in Amherst will organize a parish-wide work party on the Saturday after 10/10/10 that will focus on implementing the recommendations from our top-to-bottom energy audit.

OK, so you made your pledge (right?) and you're ready to listen to your Mother, OK? In that case we'll shut-up and go out with a "Big Oilmance" by Jamie of SomaCow

The Forest Forensics Enviro Show

2010-09-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. We know Enviro Show listeners are concerned about the health and well-being of the forests around us, but what about the history of those forests? Tom Wessels, ecologist and founding director of the master’s degree program in Conservation Biology at Antioch calls-in to talk with Glen about his new book "Forest Forensics". And yes, we said "talk with Glen" 'cuz Jean & D.O. are both away, leaving poor Glen to deal with the end of the world as we know it. Maybe he will spare you D.O.'s usual endless recitations from The Enviro Show Echo Chamber or our E-Valley-uation segment, but he certainly won't blow off our....Revenge of the Critters! Man attacked by tree while tweeting!

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber forest activists in Russia need help in efforts to halt the construction of a highway through the Khimki forest. Moving over to Pakistan: about that horrendous flooding? Would you be surprised to learn that illegal logging was a big part of the problem? And speaking of actions here on the blog: We invite you to sign on to commit to action against a fossil fuel pipeline and pumping project (”Trailbreaker”) that may bring tar sands bitumen through infrastructure across several American states and Canadian provinces. You can sign the pledge here. Finally, Jill Stein, the only Green candidate for Gov. in the so-called Commonwealth is being excluded from the big debate!

In our E-Valley-uation segment we return to the Biomess! As you may recall, folks in Western Mass were instrumental in exposing the bullshit being put out by the biomass industry. Now the movement's gone national (international actually) and it's time for YOU to tell the EPA that emissions from biomass should not be ignored. Send your comments here. OK, so how can we talk about forest issues without talking about clearcutting by the Quabbin? We can't! Also, the proposed incinerator in Springfield reminds us to sign the petition to Governor Deval Patrick asking him to walk the walk for a real Zero Waste plan. For that go here

After Glen's interview with Tom Wessels it's off to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Friday, Sept. 17, 7pm. “Anthrax War”: Documentary examining the 2001 anthrax attacks and the secret and dangerous world of germ weapons. Local activist and attorney John Bonifaz will speak after the film at the Media Education Foundation’s Frances Crowe Community Room, 60 Masonic Street, behind Woodstar Café, in downtown Northampton. Call 413-584-3158

Saturday, September 18, 10:00am. Mohawk Trail State Forest is home to about 450 acres of old growth forest through which passes a 1.25-mile stretch of the original Mohawk Trail. This historic foot path was once used by Native Americans as a trade route between the Connecticut and Hudson River valleys. Join Bob Leverett as he takes us to the top of Todd Mountain along the historic foot trail for a look at its old growth forests and wealth of champion trees. Bob discusses the story of the Mohawk Trail, past and present, including modern Native Americans who continue to find meaning in this place. The hike is strenuous. Be sure to use good footwear and bring a snack/lunch, and water. Call (413) 339-5504

Wednesday September 22, 12:30-2pm, Brown Bag Lunch at Noon. GREENWORK: THE WESTERN MASS GREEN ECONOMY WORKING GROUP. Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page
Boulevard, Springfield (732-7970).

September 25-27. Appalachia Rising in Washington DC. A national response to the poisoning of America’s water supply, the destruction of Appalachia's mountains, head water source streams, and communities through mountaintop removal coal mining. Email: Massachusetts Contact: Rana Xavier at shoot.rana.x@gmail.com or appalachiarising092710@gmail.com. Go to: http://appalachiarising.org/

Saturday, October 9, 10:00am. Big Tree Walk. Mohawk Trail State Forest is home to the tallest trees in New England. No other public property in our region has so many champions of height which included the 170.1 foot-tall Chief Jake Swamp white pine. Join Bob Leverett as he points out significant trees and groves of trees and discusses the history and ecology of the species represented in Mohawk Trail State Forest. Call (413) 339-5504

Sunday, October 10, 11:15am. 350.org's 10/10/10 events. First Congregational Church in Amherst will have a worship service at 10:30 AM themed around care for the Earth followed by a congregation-wide work party starting around 11:15 AM. We'll have lunch together at 1:00 PM to celebrate the conclusion of our activities.

Sunday October 10, 5:00am - 8:00am. 350.org 10/10/10 event. Winter Moon Farm Photovoltaic turn-on!. We hope to turn on a new 34.3 KW system for 10-10-10. 156 Solar panels are already on the roof! Pot Luck dinner and music. Please bring an instrument if you can! 17 Lawrence Plain Rd. Hadley.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010: Change the system, not the climate!Call for a global day of direct action for climate justice The disaster that was the climate summit in Copenhagen highlighted one thing above all: That we cannot expect UN-negotiations to solve the climate crisis for us. Governments and corporations are unable (even if they were willing) to deliver real climate justice. Only powerful, global climate justice movements can achieve the structural changes that are necessary. To get involved please email info@climate-justice-action.org

October, 14--16, 2010 The Eastern Native Tree Society Conference in the Forest Summit Lecture Series October 14-15 at Holyoke Community College. The Conference is still in the planning stage. More details and the agenda will come soon, so please SAVE THE DATE and check here: http://www.nativetreesociety.org/

Saturday,October 16, 9am. 350.org's 10/10/10 events. Grace Episcopal Church in Amherst will organize a parish-wide work party on the Saturday after 10/10/10 that will focus on implementing the recommendations from our top-to-bottom energy audit.

That's all folks! Next time it's the On-air Pledge drive at VFR, but why wait! You can donate right now and support The Enviro Show! Until then, remember: listen to your Mother.

Our 5th B-Day Enviro Show!

2010-08-25T14:57:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. Believe it or not we've reached age 5 here on The Enviro Show. Yes, we have behavioral problems, but no, bed wetting is not one of them. The show turned 5 on August 26. We guess that makes us a Virgo and therefore: "fussy and a worrier; overcritical and harsh; perfectionist and (get this) CONSERVATIVE"! (OK, maybe not, but we do conserve!). Tom Neilson joins us in the studio for our Birthday bash. There will be cake....(well, it's really corn bread)...for eveyone! Sorry, no burning candles allowed in the studio. Of course, there's another more somber 5 year year anniversary taking place in New Orleans, isn't there. Just because we'll be partying doesn't mean we're asleep at the switch. We continue to update you on the ongoing BP Cover-up as well as hip you to other issues in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and in our E-Valley-uation segment, but first it's time for....Revenge of the Critters! We jump into the Wayback Machine to visit tiny jellyfish who kill you!

In our brand new Fool on the Hill segment we find that HuffPo has noted that Every New Hampshire Republican candidate for the Senate is a global warming denier. Well, like they say: live free or die! We're not sure if our Repugnican Senator, Scott Brown is a climate crisis denier but he sure is pals with folks who are. Looks like folks in Boston have been shadowing Brown with the message that "climate change deniers belong in jail!".

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber, back in the Gulf it's more science under siege. A BP sponsored study finds happy hungry microbes gobbling up oil plumes (like magic!), BUT that's not what our own Woods Hole oceanographers found, and it's not what U of Georgia oceanographers found, nor is it what U of South Florida researchers found! Speaking of finds: dead fish anyone? And this Enviro Show Blog Bonus: Help protect Sperm Whales in the Gulf! Finally, how about a 60 mile, weeks-long traffic jam? Better bring crayons for the kids. O, and guess what? It's brought to you by King Coal!

In our E-Valley-uation segment we have a two-fer from the noertheast corner of the Valley. First, the news we didn't get to last time: We noticed back on August 15 that the Sawmill River in Leverett had almost everything in it but....water! It's Lake Wyola headwaters in Shutesbury, on the other hand, is topped off! What's THAT about?? Then we head northward up the hill in Leverett to threatened wetlands by the Montague border.

In the Meet the New Boss segment our native son, Rep. Ed Markey takes the Administration's minions to task for giving a pass to toxic seafood from the Gulf. Go Ed!

Of course, we'll get into all sorts of B-Day hi jinks with Tom. Maybe Glen will bring his banjo and torture us with that for a spell. There's also the chance we'll have games like Pin the Tail on the Toady.

Then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Saturday, Sept. 4th: Lafayette Park: 2 - 5pm. and Sunday, Sept. 5th: Washington Mall near Capitol Hill: 11am-4pm. Spill into Washington DC - Labor Day Weekend. A rally in the nation's capital is crucial to gaining the lasting attention of law makers around the BP oil disaster. Email:lydiaajohnson@gmail.com or Phone: 402/708-2224. Website: http://spillintowashington.org

Tuesday, September 7, 7:00 in the Community Room of the Media Education Foundation in Northampton on Gothic Street, the Solentiname Friendship Group of Western MA welcomes Alan Wright, President of SOSTENICA and Rachel Lindsay, Coordinator of Sustainable Development for SOSTENICA, who will be discussing current efforts to develop a national Sustainable Rural Development program in northern Nicaragua. This gathering is free, open to the public and wheelchair accessible. For more information contact: Sandy Mandel @413-585-8240

Thursday, Sept 9, 4pm. Franklin County Fair Parade. No Nukes contingent or the CCFC Biomess contingent. Marchers need a wrist band for a dollar. CCFC has ordered 200 and it must be 1st come 1st served, but people can reserve by contacting janet, 625-2886 or at jasinclair@verizon.net. New Fair policy is you need a wrist band to be in the street. We line up at 4:00 behind the Middle School and Blessed Sacrament Church on Federal St. The parade begins at 5:30 and we get to the fair grounds at about 7:30. You can march in any or all of the parade. The theme this year is "We Grow, We Sow, We Celebrate". Use your imagination! Please make or bring signs (many lawn signs welcome) related to our effort and our success, bring visual aids, wear your favorite "no biomass" tee-shirt, or just come as you are. If you have muscial instruments--bring them and we can all play and march together.

Saturday, September 11,11:00 am - 1:00 pm. Explore the Montague Sand Plain. Come learn about the story of fire on the Montague Sand plain! Why is the landscape like Cape Cod, but the ocean is miles away? Now’s your chance to explore a unique habitat designed by fire and sand. Join the Great Falls Discovery Center for an introduction to the fauna, flora, and geology of this amazing and threatened habitat. Free but registration required. For more information call 413-863-3221

September 25-27. Appalachia Rising in Washington DC. A national response to the poisoning of America’s water supply, the destruction of Appalachia's mountains, head water source streams, and communities through mountaintop removal coal mining. Email: Massachusetts Contact: Rana Xavier at shoot.rana.x@gmail.com or appalachiarising092710@gmail.com. Go to: http://appalachiarising.org/

That's it. You can send our B-Day presents to 140 Pine Street in beautiful downtown Florence, MA. Thanks! O, and remember: listen to your Mother.

BP Cover-up continues

2010-08-19T04:34:00.000-07:00

News from the Gulf (rather than corporate media propaganda and White House spin) continues to surface about BP and government cover-ups of the continued use of toxic dispersants and the alleged safety of Gulf seafood, as well as the secret disposal of dead wildlife. It looks for all the world like some surreal Hollywood disaster film complete with corporado villains and colluding government officials....except....it's REAL!

Repugnicans & Dems alike, are up to their necks in a conspiracy to whitewash the devastation that BP has unleashed in the Gulf of Mexico. If you ever had any doubts that Big Oil owns Washington, this disaster should dispel them. Since government is part of the problem, what can YOU do about this disaster? Get into the streets!! People in San Franciso are doing it. People will be demonstrating in Washington on Labor Day weekend. How about in YOUR town??

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Update here. More here and here from our last show.

The Rights of Nature Enviro Show

2010-08-12T04:12:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. So, we supposedly have "The Rights of Man", "Women's Rights", and "Civil Rights" (ok, ok, it's a work in progress), how about The Rights of Nature? Ecuador wrote them into their constitution; in the U.S.? Not so much. Jeff Conant, Media Coordinator for Global Justice Ecology and author of "A Poetics of Resistance: The Revolutionary Public Relations of the Zapatista Insurgency" published by AK Press joins us to talk about it. We return once again to Meet the New Boss and scope out the Enviro Show Echo Chamber, as well as get to that George Carlin quote we dumped last time around, but first it's time for....Revenge of the Critters! Toilet snake terrorizes Brits! (these things wouldn't happen if they used composting toilets).

In our Meet the New Boss segment we find the Obama Administration playing fast & loose with the facts on the BP disaster. Also we checkout White House spokes, Robert Gibbs and the view from behind his rose colored glasses! O, don't forget EPA's Carol Browner (that's not Greener is it?) doing the talk show rounds with news of "Mother Nature doing her part" to clean the Gulf! Thanks, Mom. Sorry about that f'ing mess. Then we have the Obama Dept. of Justice fake left/go right for BP. There's more: guess who abstained on a vote for the Right to Water? That's Ambassador Susan E. Rice voting as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations and a member of President Obama's Cabinet. Back in the Bush era, you may recall, the UN voted on the Right to Food, 177 in favor to 1 against; guess who! Now, about that "change you can believe in"......

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, Spike Lee weighs-in on BP. But hey, forget the "stars", checkout the common folk at a town hall meeting and on the docks near the Gulf. Sooo, where's the oil that magically disappeared from the Gulf? All one has to do to find it is dig a little deeper! And this eye-opener from Mother Jones: BP Ocean Cover-up. O, btw, how's that climate chaos denial workin' for ya'?

About that Enviro Show Quote of the Week: this time George Carlin REALLY returns from the grave to remind us:

"I look at it this way... For centuries now, man has done everything he can to destroy, defile, and interfere with nature: clear-cutting forests, strip-mining mountains, poisoning the atmosphere, over-fishing the oceans, polluting the rivers and lakes, destroying wetlands and aquifers... so when nature strikes back, and smacks him on the head and kicks him in the nuts, I enjoy that. I have absolutely no sympathy for human beings whatsoever. None. And no matter what kind of problem humans are facing, whether it's natural or man-made, I always hope it gets worse."

In our E-Valley-uation segment we find Eight local women being arrested at Vermont Yankee....again! And this: Biodiesel plant breaks ground in Greenfield (we'll have excerpts from the Montague Reporter version of the story). Also, Massachusetts chapter of Clean Water Action gives the "John O'Connor Grassroots Leadership Award" to the "Stop Spewing Carbon Campaign! We noticed the other day that the Sawmill River in Leverett has almost everything in it but....water! It's Lake Wyola headwaters on the other hand, is topped off! What's THAT about??

Following our interview with Jeff Conant we wander off to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Friday, August 20, 8:00 - 9:30 am. Early Morning Nature Walk. Participants will meet outside the main entrance to the Great Falls Discovery Center in Turners Falls at 8 a.m. Learn about plants, animals, and mill town history along the Bike Path of Turners Falls. Please wear appropriate footwear, bring water, bug repellant, and sun screen. For more information, call 413.863.3221.

Sunday, August 22, 8:00 am - 12:00 pm. Great Falls Birding Trip. 1st Local Birding Trip with Mark Fairbrother! Depending on weather will cover Gill-Montague area. Meet at the GFDC. Call 413.863.3221

Wednesday, August 25, 6:30pm. IN MORTAL HANDS: A CAUTIONARY HISTORY OF THE NUCLEAR AGE. Talk and Book signing with author Stephanie Cooke. Centre Congregational Church, Main Street, Brattleboro, VT Call: Nancy Braus 802-254-8160 (work) or 802-380-3363 (cell).

Saturday, Sept. 4th: Lafayette Park: 2 - 5pm. and Sunday, Sept. 5th: Washington Mall near Capitol Hill: 11am-4pm. Spill into Washington DC - Labor Day Weekend. A rally in the nation's capital is crucial to gaining the lasting attention of law makers around the BP oil disaster. Email:lydiaajohnson@gmail.com or Phone: 402/708-2224. Website: http://spillintowashington.org

Thursday, Sept 9, 4pm. Franklin County Fair Parade. No Nukes contingent or the CCFC Biomess contingent. Marchers need a wrist band for a dollar. CCFC has ordered 200 and it must be 1st come 1st served, but people can reserve by contacting janet, 625-2886 or at jasinclair@verizon.net. New Fair policy is you need a wrist band to be in the street. We line up at 4:00 behind the Middle School and Blessed Sacrament Church on Federal St. The parade begins at 5:30 and we get to the fair grounds at about 7:30. You can march in any or all of the parade. The theme this year is "We Grow, We Sow, We Celebrate". Use your imagination! Please make or bring signs (many lawn signs welcome) related to our effort and our success, bring visual aids, wear your favorite "no biomass" tee-shirt, or just come as you are. If you have muscial instruments--bring them and we can all play and march together.

September 25-27. Appalachia Rising in Washington DC. A national response to the poisoning of America’s water supply, the destruction of Appalachia's mountains, head water source streams, and communities through mountaintop removal coal mining. Email: Massachusetts Contact: Rana Xavier at shoot.rana.x@gmail.com or appalachiarising092710@gmail.com. Go to: http://appalachiarising.org/

That should keep you busy, but remember to take time to listen to your Mother. Next time it's our Birthday Party and YOU are invited. Cake & ice cream for everyone!

The Radically Simple Enviro Show

2010-07-29T06:16:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. After four back-to-back depressing shows on the BP Gulf disaster we thought we'd shift gears a bit and look for some simple solutions to living with Big Oil and the corporados. With that in mind, Jim Merkel calls-in with some info on Radical Simplicity. We visit the Enviro Show Echo Chamber just in case you really CAN'T get enough of that miserable news from the Gulf and we'll make a pit stop in our E-Valley-uation segment to catch-up on the Biomess. Also, more words of wisdom in our Enviro Show Quote of the Week and a flashback surprise, but first it's time for....Revenge of the Critters! Italian bird poacher attacked by his own victim.

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, in case you had any doubts, the scientific proof is in: Researchers confirm subsea Gulf oil plumes are from the BP well, surprise! And....more oil where no one wants it! In The Gulf, in Michigan, in China, in Nigeria, another BP one in Alaska, and around the world! Meanwhile, actions in response to BP's sins are taking place in San Francisco, DC, and elsewhere during the 100 Days of Outrage! Where's western Mass?? Asleep at the....umm...pump? BTW, it might not shock you that the National Wildlife Federation and NOAA are not on the same page regarding the damage done; and neither are the scientists regarding the toxic dispersant entering the foodchain in the worst oil release in the history of the world!

"No Body Knows Nothin'", by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band & friends takes us to our E-Valley-uation segment where it's time for more on the Biomess! Checkout the comments on the Manomet study hearing in Springfield last Wednesday here. And, the struggle goes national!

On the Enviro Show Quote of the Week George Carlin returns from the grave to remind us: "I look at it this way... For centuries now, man has done everything he can to destroy, defile, and interfere with nature: clear-cutting forests, strip-mining mountains, poisoning the atmosphere, over-fishing the oceans, polluting the rivers and lakes, destroying wetlands and aquifers... so when nature strikes back, and smacks him on the head and kicks him in the nuts, I enjoy that. I have absolutely no sympathy for human beings whatsoever. None. And no matter what kind of problem humans are facing, whether it's natural or man-made, I always hope it gets worse."

And this: He's baaaaaack! Yes, Darth Cheney lives on with the help of medical science and who knows, Satan maybe??

After our interview it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard again:

Thursday, August 5,4pm. Protest the Biomess! (that rhymes) At the Biomess industry conference. Meet in front of the Westin Copley Place hotel at the corner of Dartmouth and St. James in Boston (near Copley Plaza) at 4pm. Contact: stephaniesanch@gmail.com

Friday, August 6, 8 - 8:30am. Anniversary vigils on Hiroshima bombing. Northampton Courthouse & Amherst Town Common. Call AFSC at 584-8975

Saturday, August 7, 11am. - Noon. Greenfield Peace Vigil Shattuck Park, Federal St., Greenfield, Sponsored by the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice

Saturday, August 7, 12:30 - 2:30pm. Go Solar! Street theater & Rally. City Hall, Northampton. Come help with our street theater solar panel installations and giant “Sunny Green” “Sol Verde” puppet along Main Street at 12:30 — and stay for the rally and citizens’ speak-out at Northampton City Hall at 1pm! Great music by the Raging Grannies, Derrick Jordan, and Jay Manita! Call AFSC at 584-8975

Monday, August 9, 11am. Nagasaki atomic bombing anniversary gathering. Leverett Peace Pagoda. Details about event and earlier Walk for 7 Generations itinerary can be obtained by calling (413) 485-8465

Tuesday, August 10th, 12 Noon. Rally at Rep. Neal's office, 300 State St., Springfield. Get corporate dollars out of Washington! Sign the Pledge! Sponsored by MoveOn.org.

Saturday, August 14 The Vermont Citizens Action Network will host a potluck dinner at the Organ Barn at Tree Frog Farm in Guilford, Vermont. Call 413-625-6177 for reservations.

Sunday afternoon, August 15. An outdoor concert and CD Release Party—also at Tree Frog Farm. Call 413-625-6177

Had enough? Us too! Next time it's the Rights of Nature. Until then remember: listen to your Mother, OK?

Biomess Demo in Boston August 5th!

2010-07-22T04:43:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. We have some interesting news for you on the Biomess front here in the Northeast. From August 4 through 6 Biomass Magazine is hosting its Northeast Biomass Conference & Expo at the Westin Copley Place at the corner of Dartmouth and St. James in Boston near Copley Plaza in Boston. We here on The Enviro Show, having broken the story in Western Mass. on the Biomess long ago, and taking every opportunity to expose biomass incineration schemes to some needed sunlight, thought it important to demonstrate to the industry and the public at large, our continued opposition to the Biomess. With that in mind, we and our activist friends from Stop Spewing Carbon and elsewhere are proposing a "Protest the Biomess" action in front of the Westin Copley Place hotel on Thursday, August 5 at 4pm.

On the conference website, Biomess boosters state "The Northeast U.S. has vast forestry, agricultural and municipal biomass resources" which in Biomess-speak means they would like to burn-up our forests and incinerate our toxic demolition and construction debris for fun & profit while we are left to suffer the consequences. To this we say: we don't think so! But, we'd LOVE to say it with YOU on the street in front of the industry's dog & pony show on August 5th.

We've already had several victories in the struggle against biomass incineration here in Massachusetts. We think we should continue to shed sunlight on the industry's hype so that our neighbors become fully aware of what a scam biomass incineration really is and how it will impact their lives and those of future generations. So, won't you join us in Boston on August 5 at 4pm? All you have to do is show up!

Spread the word!! Save the trees! Protect the biosphere!

Contact: stephaniesanch@gmail.com/ 203-536-2050 cell ph

The Big Oily Enviro Show, Part II

2010-07-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. Had enough of THE worst environmental disaster in U.S. history? Think it's over? Imagine if you were an oyster with no where to go! Jennifer Seavey was going to return to these microphones with tales from the depths of despair. She's doing post doc at the University of Florida, examining oysters in the Gulf of Mexico. Sadly, her fellow scientist asked her not to come on the show because "there is a lot of nervousness about talking to the press right now". Of course, this is all about BP trying to control the science around their f'ing crimes! We'll look into some more of BP's nefarious deeds and such like in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, checkout the Quote of The Week, and perhaps venture into our E-Valley-uation segment, but first it's time for.....Revenge of the Critters! Are you ready for this? Amelia Earhart attacked by crabs!. Now we know.

This time The Enviro Show Quote of the Week comes from in-house. It's D.O.'s tirade...er...we mean commentary on the BP disaster: Where's Big Green?

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber we find our friends at Ocean River Institute calling on Obama to federalize the Gulf clean-up. And this from the Huffington Post: BP trying to buy scientists! Also from Huff: George Lakoff on Conservatism's Death Gusher (actually George, they're not conservatives in the real sense 'cuz they don't CONSERVE!). And this Enviro Show Blog Bonus: Stop Big Oil Bailouts!

"Wash up over me" by Ethan Miller & Kate Boverman takes us to our E-Valley-uaton segment it's excellent news on the Biomess front: Another victory in Massachusetts!. Sorry Madera Energy, looks like your shrinking and your flying monkeys have morphed. What a world! What a world! O, by the way, Biomess warriors took their case to DC. Read all about it here.

After all that we'll stroll over to the old Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday, July 21, 10:30 am: New England Climate Summer bicyclists are in town! They'll be visiting Garden the Community folks at 10:30 and we're planning other events with them. More to come (see Thursday)!

Wednesday, July 21, Noon to 1pm. Brown bag lunch vigil at Rep. Neal's office, 300 State Street, Springfield. Part of a week of actions that support people and the planet over corporate polluters like BP. Sponsored by Progressive Democrats of America. Email: tim@pdamerica.org.

Thursday, July 22, 6 pm: New England Climate Change bicyclers will speak at the Forest Park Library, 380 Belmont Ave., Springfield to: Explain some of the scientific, social, and political aspects of climate change, Hear from local environmental groups, Hold an open discussion about the energy future of Springfield and the State.

Friday, July 23, 7pm. Benefit concert for the Greenfield No Biomass vote. Old Tavern Farm, 817 Colrain Road, Greenfield. Green River String Band, Glen Ayers on banjo! & Jarad Weeks on bagpipes.

Wednesday, July 28, 6:00-8:00pm. Massachusetts Biomass Policy Development Public Meeting. Holyoke Community College. Leslie Philips Auditorium (Building C)303 Homestead Avenue,Holyoke. Call 617-626-7327

August 10th, 12 Noon. Rally at Rep. Neal's office, 300 State St., Springfield. Get corporate dollars out of Washington! Sign the Pledge! Sponsored by MoveOn.org.

Saturday, August 14 The Vermont Citizens Action Network will host a potluck dinner at the Organ Barn at Tree Frog Farm in Guilford, Vermont. Call 413-625-6177 for reservations.

Sunday afternoon, August 15. An outdoor concert and CD Release Party—also at Tree Frog Farm. Call 413-625-6177

That's about it. Next time it's our Birthday party and YOU'RE invited. Bring ice cream, ok? And remember to listen to your Mother (unlike BP & friends).

The Worst Environmental Disaster in U.S. History: Where's the outrage??

2010-07-10T15:36:00.000-07:00

Imagine if you and your family and friends suddenly found that everything around you was turning dark and suffocating. Imagine being unable to escape this horror no matter which way you turned. Imagine your children dying before your eyes and you, dying also, unable to help. Welcome to the Gulf of Mexico and the worst man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history. This is the reality for countless lifeforms.

Obviously, BP oil is to blame for this horrific crisis of epic proportions, but there is plenty of blame to go around for what is happening. Corporate and government response to the oil well disaster has been at best, erratic. Cover-ups, obfuscation and media suppression have added insult to injury. But there is another aspect to The Summer They Destroyed the Gulf that is, at the very least, troubling: where are the activists?

Soon after the BP Deepwater Horizon was destroyed and eleven workers perished, the enormity of the blow-out became apparent. The massive environmental destruction and its effect on fishing and tourism started to manifest fear and outrage in Louisiana, which soon spread elsewhere. Of course there were local reactions and eventually there were some nationally coordinated regional events marking the catastrophe such as "Hands across the sands" and a few small protests in Washington; all of which seemed to have little or no effect. As we speak, the story begins to slip from the headline news after the flow of oil is finally stopped, at least for the time being. Congress and the White House turn to other issues. Who will keep the pressure on, if not grassroots activists? Who will keep the pressure on, if not grassroots activists?

It pains this observer that well-funded, heavily resourced national environmental groups like Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network or 350.org, to name a few, have not poured all their efforts into confronting the worst environmental disaster in our history. Groups like Greenpeace have personnel, boats, vehicles, even blimps they could throw into the fray. Where are the mass marches and rallies? Where's the direct action? While relatively small efforts on Facebook or among Rising Tide activists are hopeful, no one seems to have the resources and clout that Big Green carries. Beyond that: where's Earth First!? That kick-ass movement doesn't have the toys Big Green enjoys, but they do have the moxie and the spirit. Why haven't they locked down in BP headquarters? Pied Tony Hayward in the face? What became of "No compromise in defense of Mother Earth"?

I'm willing to bet there are tens of thousands of activists like myself out there waiting for the right action to surface or trying to create the momentum for such actions. Our voices are not that loud in the info-glut of 2010. It's time for Big Green to wake up and throw the switch. It's time for direct action activists to make their moves. Did I mention it's the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history? If not now, when?

- d.o.

Biomess Victory in Massachusetts!

2010-07-07T14:06:00.001-07:00

The Stop Spewing Carbon Ballot Campaign announced today a major victory in the fight against biomass incinerators promoted as “clean energy” and as a result will not put its question on the statewide ballot for November 2010.

“Today Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles issued a letter* saying his agency will change our state laws to bring them in line with current science and public policy requiring biomass incinerators to meet strict standards for forest protection, greenhouse gas emissions, and efficiency,” said Meg Sheehan, Chair of the Stop Spewing Carbon Ballot Campaign. “This is a groundbreaking development that means an end to commercial biomass electric power plants in Massachusetts. Science confirms that the greenhouse gas emissions of burning forests are worse than
coal and there’s no reason to subsidize this form of energy,” Sheehan said.

Secretary Bowles’ letter says that to meet greenhouse targets the state should change “the incentives we provide biomass energy under the Renewable Portfolio Standard.” The Stop Spewing Campaign collected over 120,000 signatures from Massachusetts’ voters to end biomass subsidies. Sheehan said, “this sent a clear message to Governor Patrick. Ending renewable energy credits for dirty incinerators was the central goal of our ballot question and we have won.” The state also announced that construction and
demolition debris incinerators will not get renewable energy credits, another victory for the Campaign.

“Our coalition of social justice, public health, environmental, forestry advocates and fiscal watchdogs have won a victory for the citizens of Massachusetts, the nation, and indeed the planet,” Sheehan said. “Citizens have let government officials know they don’t want their taxpayer and ratepayer money spent on these toxic incinerators disguised as “clean energy.”

“We will continue to work to prevent air pollution impacts from potential smaller biomass projects and for a state wide ban on construction and demolition debris burning. We also intend to pressure the administration to tighten the biomass regulations even further than what was put forth today to prevent all destructive bio-energy schemes and false solutions to climate change. We will *want to make sure that so called “clean energy” projects don’t pollute the air, the water, and destroy our forests,” said Sheehan.

Contact: Meg Sheehan,Chair,Stop Spewing Carbon Campaign tel. 508-259-9154

meg(at)ecolaw(dot) biz Go to: www.stopspewingcarbon.org

#####

* Here is Bowles' letter:

Philip Giudice
Commissioner
Department of Energy Resources
100 Cambridge St., 10th floor
Boston, MA 02114

Dear Commissioner Giudice,
July 7,2010
Tel: (617) 626-1000
Fax: (617) 626-1181
http://www.mass.gov/envir

Thank you for your work on the Biomass Sustain ability and Carbon Policy Study by the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. As we move forward to implement the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2008 (GWSA), which mandates 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 2050 and 10 to 25% reduction in emissions by 2020, it is essential that state funding and incentives reflect this charge in the incentives we provide biomass energy under the Renewable Portfolio Standard.

In light of the Manomet study, we have a deeper understanding that the greenhouse gas impacts of biomass energy are far more complicated than the conventional view that electricity from power plants using biomass harvested from New England natural forests is carbon neutral. The findings of the Manomet study have changed the policy landscape for biomass energy production derived from wood fuels. Our policy should reflect this current science by moving to support the development and operation of facilities that
have the greenhouse gas profile needed to fulfill our emission-reduction mandates. While all questions have not been answered, and we expect new science to continue to guide our policy, I am confident that we now have enough information for the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) to take the next step in changing the way in which the Commonwealth provides incentives for biomass energy.

Specifically, the Manomet study suggests that biomass combined heat and power (CHP) technologies using woody biomass from New England forests may contribute to overall greenhouse gas reductions due to higher levels of efficiency. The study does not provide in-depth analysis of carbon accounting for residual forest products, by-products, energy crops, or clean wood waste (e.g.,from mills), though the study suggests that use of such biomass fuels would reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the relevant timescale of the GWSA when used with high efficiency conversion in thermal or combined heat and power applications.

Given the general findings of the Manomet study, our obligations under the GWSA, and the authority of DOER to regulate state incentives for renewable biomass sources of energy, including responsibility for setting criteria qualifying low emissions and advanced power conversion technology, I direct you and your staff at DOER to move expeditiously to align our regulations with our better understanding of the greenhouse gas implications of biomass energy. You are to propose draft regulations pursuant to Section 11 F of Chapter 25A of the General Laws amending the current Renewable Portfolio Standard Class I regulations with the components outlined below, on or before September 1, 2010. Given the uncertainty created by the Manomet study in the renewable energy markets as well as the exigency associated with achieving steep greenhouse gas emissions reductions, you should plan to have proposed final regulations available by October 31, 2010, and have final regulations in place by no later than December 31, 2010. As is the case with all regulatory changes, I look forward to a fully transparent and robust public process as the new regulations are developed and finalized.

Changes in policy to be reflected in regulation should include but not be limited to the following:

1) In order to qualify for renewable energy certificates as a low emission biomass renewable energy facility using advanced power conversion technology, generating sources must be must be designed, constructed and operated to achieve maximum practicable efficiency as determined by DOER. This efficiency standard shall provide significant near term greenhouse gas dividends in a combined heat and power facility or
comparable technology that will achieve specified minimum efficiency and emissions performance standards. The results of the Manomet study highlight the need to make the most efficient use of biomass fuel, maximizing the energy produced while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions.

DOER will seek to ensure that the maximum practicable efficiency standard reflects the goals of the Green Communities Act, which among other efficiency goals seeks to promote the use of combined heat and power having a minimum efficiency of 60% with a goal of increasing to 80% by 2020 with the understanding that the efficiency of this technology is constantly improving.

I understand that biomass eligibility for the RPS is just one of the issues raised by the public and medical community, including significant health concerns. These important issues are beyond the scope of the Manomet study and this rulemaking. However, qualifying renewable energy generating sources using biomass must also comply with the federal Clean Air Act emission standards for particulate matter and other pollutants.

2) As a mechanism to reach the GWSA mandate of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050, such renewable energy generating sources must, over a twenty (20) year life cycle, yield at least a fifty percent (50%) reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per unit of useful energy relative to the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from 1) the operation of a new combined cycle natural gas electric generating facility using the most efficient commercially available technology as of the date of application for the portion of electricity delivered by the biomass system and, if applicable; 2) the operation of the fossil fuel fired thermal energy unit being displaced, or in the case of a new thermal load, a gas-fired thermal energy unit using the most efficient commercially available technology as of the date of application, for the portion of thermal energy delivered by the biomass
system. DOER shall establish a method for calculating and comparing such lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions based on the best available science and data. The lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions methodology set forth in the draft regulations should credit carbon stored in biomass fuel only to the extent that the stored carbon is "additional" and that the biomass would not otherwise be used (e.g., for food, animal feed or durable wood products) and its carbon content would not otherwise remain sequestered in trees, plants or soils. In addition, in the case of dedicated bioenergy crops, carbon stored in the biomass should be credited only to the extent of the net increase in carbon stored in the bioenergy crop as compared to what would be absorbed
and stored by plants on the same land if it were not in use for bioenergy crop production. The draft regulations also should include definitions of "residues" and "waste wood" to include residues from logging, land-clearing for commercial or residential development, mill residues and landscaping.

3) The fuel source used by the RPS-eligible biomass facilities (e.g. wood, wood by-products, and energy crops, including energy crops used for the production of biofuels and biodiesel used in a qualifying renewable energy generating source) must be grown, harvested, or otherwise produced sustainably and in a manner consistent with the Commonwealth's forestry and environmental goals including conservation of biodiversity, conservation of soil and water resources and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Forest wood used as fuel should be harvested consistent with Chapter 132 of
the General Laws and associated regulations, and in compliance with a forest management plan prepared by a licensed forester. DOER should consult with the Department of Conservation and Recreation (OCR) and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in the development of regulations that address fuel source sustainability.

4) The regulations shall address the use of forest residues, and aim to establish a limit on the quantity of residues (including tree tops and branches) used as biomass fuel. Such limits may allow 50% of tops and branches and 15% by weight of total saw timber removed per acre as eligible to be treated as forest residues used for biomass fuel.

5) Construction and demolition debris or fuel derived from construction and demolition debris will not be eligible for Renewable Energy Certificates.

6) These regulations shall not apply to energy derived from anaerobic digestion of waste from agricultural crops, animal wastes, food or sewage sludge.

I am thankful to the Manomet researchers as well as the many scientists, stakeholders and concerned citizens who have helped us to clarify the complex issues surrounding biomass power and greenhouse gas emissions.

Sincerely,

Ian A. Bowles
Secretary

The Big Oily Enviro Show

2010-07-01T04:13:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. The saga continues: the catastrophic BP oil well blowout is transforming the Gulf of Mexico into some kind of futuristic end-of-times disaster film. Guess what? It's not a movie (though there's plenty enough footage on YouTube to make you sad/crazy/mad!) Take your pick: Toxic Oil Spill Rains on Crops?; It's raining oil?; Surf on Pensacola Beach boiling like acid? BP disaster unstoppable?; or, our favorite: the End of the World! While you are at it, checkout our Enviro Show Banish BP! page and kick BP out of the Valley. Diane Wilson, fisher, activist, hell-raiser calls in to mull over these and more (unless, of course, she's in jail for one of her many actions, in which case, Scott Eustis rejoins us from New Orleans). Also, Katie McGonagle of the local Climate Summer bike ride calls in with an update. As always, we wander into The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and maybe our Meet the New Boss segment, as well as checkout the Enviro Show Quote of the week, but first it's time for....

Revenge of the Critters! Direct action in West Palm Beach by a "crazy bird"! Given what's going on down there, maybe it's not so crazy!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, speaking of direct action, if YOU want to go down to New Orleans and help out, call The Emergency Committee to Stop the Gulf Oil Disaster at (504)644-7214 or email them at stopgulfoildisaster@gmail.com. Also, several protests are in the works. Most notably: Spill onto the Washington Mall, Labor Day weekend, September 4 to 6 and Rally @ BP Headquarters! 4101 Winfield Road, Warrenville, IL on Monday, July 19, 10am to 3pm. Our Enviro Show Blog Bonus concerns oil too (surprise!). Checkout The Video BP & Big Oil Don't Want You to See. In keeping with our theme here, should Big Oil pay their income tax? 61 Senators vote No. Finally, about erecting those giant windmills next to the Great Atlantic Flyway?

A short but sweet YouTube clip for you in our E-Valley-uation segment here.

The Enviro Show Quote of the Week comes from Albert Einstein: "A human being is part of the whole, called by us "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole [of] nature in its beauty."

In our Meet the New Boss segment we rewind to the last show where time ran out for.....um...the boss? Seize BP responds to Obama's speech from the Oval Office on the BP's crime against the planet.

Following our interview with either Diane or Scott, we venture over to the Bus Stop billboard to see what's happening in the area:

Thursday, July 8, 7 p.m. Vermont Public Service Board Hearing RESCHEDULED. Brattleboro Union High School, Fairgrounds Rd, Brattleboro, VT. Call 413 339-5781

Friday, July 16, 7pm. “Dirt! The Movie” takes a humorous and substantial look at the history and current state of the living organic matter we come from and will later return to. Northampton Committee to Stop the War film series at the Media Education Foundation’s Frances Crowe Community Room, 60 Masonic Street, behind Woodstar Café, in downtown Northampton. Call 413-584-3158

Friday July 16 - 18. Solarfest. The Northeast's premier renewable energy and arts festival—a three-day, family-friendly festival that combines world-class entertainment with not-to-be-missed workshops in renewable energy, sustainability and community engagement. http://www.solarfest.org/

Monday, July 19, 10:00am - 3:00pm. Rally at BP Headquarters! 4101 Winfield Road, Warrenville, IL. Contact: rebecca.rose.baird@gmail.com

Sunday July 25 - August 8. Earth Activist Training. To teach visionary and practical solutions and personal sustainability to social change activists, and to teach practical skills, organizing and activism to visionaries EarthActivistTraining(at)gmail.com

Enough! We go out with "When we ruled the world", by Mel Plant. Maybe next time we'll have some good news to report? For now, remember to listen to your Mother (don't you wish everyone did?).

Banish BP!

2010-06-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. The Enviro Show would like to encourage everyone to visit or call BP gas stations in the Valley (or in your region) and encourage the owner to change their franchise to Citgo, Sunoco, or some other less criminal brand of oil & gas. Some are doing it already! It's another way to express your concern (and outrage!) about the catastrophic BP disaster in the Gulf region, the worst man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history! As you may know, BP stations are not actually run by that criminal corporation, but are franchised to local owners, your neighbors. So please be respectful and friendly (maybe offer to help them switch!). Of course, if you are not satisfied with the owner's response, you can always organize a vigil or protest on public property adjacent to the gas station! Thanks and please pass this message on.

BP Convenience Store
1100 PAGE BLVD, SPRINGFIELD 1104 MA
(413) 736-8040

BP Station/ Convenience Store
2221 MAIN ST, SPRINGFIELD 1104 MA
(413) 781-3884

B P AMOCO
824 Suffield St, Agawam, MA
(413) 789-2966

Monson B P & Convenience
27 Palmer Rd, Monson, MA
(413) 267-3023

-- d.o. for The Enviro Show

The Summer Solstice Enviro Show

2010-06-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlngs. It's that time of year again: Summer Solstice, time for the fire festival. Happy Midsummer Eve! O, guess what? IT'S RAINING OIL IN LOUISIANA! Our in-house pagans, Laura & Penny return to (ahem!) enlighten us all. Also, roving reporter (and Bardic Insurgent) Tom Neilson calls in from the U.S. Social Forum. And, a call from Mike Howells, an activist from New Orleans with his finger on the pulse of what's going on with grassroots response to BP's crimes against the planet. As always, we'll scope out the news in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, as well as locally in our E-Valley-uation segment where we introduce (fanfare please) our very first Annual Enviro Show Big Green Clear Cutters Award!, but first, it's time for......Revenge of the Critters! Gardeners beware! It's the Attack of the Killer Mutant Leek Moths!

OK Enviro Show fans, let's get right to it: here in our E-Vally-uation segment we present the Annual Enviro Show Big Green Clear Cutters Award! This award goes to out to someone who professes to be "green", but who actually is a sort of mottled crud gray with brown streaks. OK? Are you ready? The envelope please............this years Annual Enviro Show Big Green Clear Cutters Award goes to the Massachusetts Sierra Club's Elisa Campbell!! Elisa is receiving the award for her recent vote at the Quabbin Watershed Advisory Committee to continue clearcutting in the Quabbin watershed. What's that you say? The same Elisa Campbell of Mass. Sierra who is a proponent of nukes and developments? You are correct! Now for the VERY good news on our local Biomess: Manomet Study confirms activists warning: Biomass incineration worse than coal! (OK, so the Post story says zip about about activists but......WE TOLD YOU SO!)

"Oil and water don't mix" by Recycleman & the Dumpster Divers takes us to the Enviro Show Echo Chamber where Robert Reich reminds us that BP is not a person (you know, like D.O. is?....sort of?). And this:....Big Oil eats its young: BP thrown under the bus. However, Big Oil's friend Rep. Joe Barton fell all over himself to....are you ready? apologize to BP! No apologies from Diane Wilson though; she got in BP honcho, Tony Hayward's face at those hearings in DC. Hey! Speaking of apologies, what's all this self-flagellation about us oil-consuming commoners being part of the problem? It's not like we're given many choices on transportation and alternative fuel by the corporados, right? Stop beating yourself up! Also, remember the International Whaling Commission is meeting to discuss the resumption of whaling? (can you believe these people??). Why not be one one in a million and say NO WAY! Finally, speaking of driving critters to extinction, how about defending the lions!

[Our interview with Mike Howells covered a lot of ground as to grassroots action in Louisiana. If YOU want to get involved down there contact them here: gulfemergencysummit@gmail.com PHONE: 504-644-7214]

In our Meet the New Boss segment the group, Seize BP responds to Obama's speech from the Oval Office on the BP/Haliburton crime against the planet. Also, checkout our own Rachel Maddow's fake president speech to the nation!

Then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

June 22-26. U.S. SOCIAL FORUM , Detroit. The US Social Forum is a very special kind of gathering. It isn't a conference with an agenda and a program of events; it's a convergence of movements, communities, and cultures whose participants produce their own agenda and programs. It is a MOVEMENT BUILDING process. It is a space to come up with peoples’ solutions to the economic and ecological crisis. Info: http://www.ussf2010.org.

Wednesday, June 23, 12:30-2pm. GREENWORK: THE WESTERN MASS GREEN ECONOMY WORKING GROUP. Brown Bag Lunch at Noon, Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield (732-7970).

Saturday, June 26, all day. Draw a Line in the Sand. Go to: www.350.org/hands

Monday, June 28, 6:00-7:30 p.m. DEP public hearing on the scope of the C&D study for the proposed Biomass incinerators. John F. Kennedy Middle School (Cafeteria) , 1385 Berkshire Avenue , Indian Orchard. C&D incineration will remain under consideration as an energy source despite the outcome of the ballot initiative because it can be a very profitable industrywithout tax credits due to tipping fees. The Manomet study only addresses virgin wood.Call (617)292-5500 for more info.

Tuesday, June 29, 6:00pm -8:00pm. Massachusetts Gubernatorial Forum on Energy and the Environment. Old South Meeting House, 310 Washington Street, Boston. For more information, please e-mail cleanwateractionma@gmail.com.

Saturday, July 24, 9 a.m. to noon. HERBWALK: WILD PLANTS AND THEIR ROLES AS MEDICINES AND FOODS. Pre-registration is required; please call (413) 256-6006. Hitchock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst.

That is all. Another incredible week on Planet Earth. Soooo, remember when you're out there: listen to your Mother!

The Biological Predator Enviro Show

2010-06-04T16:12:00.000-07:00

Greetings Earthlings. It's confirmed: BP stands for Biological Predator and we here on The Enviro Show are calling for the Predator's head, especially given that it's World Oceans Day!. We'll be covering the latest horrors from the Gulf in the Enviro Show Echo Chamber and our Meet the New Boss segments as well as field a call from Scott Eustis of New Orleans Critical Mass (and a fisheries scientist), but first it's time for....Revenge of the Critters! We love this one. Croc attacks chainsaw!

The Enviro Show Quote of the Week calls for another trip in the Wayback Machine:

“Let us not flatter ourselves on account of our human victories over nature. For each such victory nature takes its revenge on us. Each victory, it is true, in the first place brings about the results we expected, but in the second and third places it has quite different, unforeseen effects which only too often cancel the first.”

- Frederick Engels

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber we start with a excellent piece from Democracy Now! on the BP Gulf mega-disaster. Then we follow-up on Grist's Six Reasons Not to trust BP. What? Only six!! Of course, BP is putting as much, if not more effort into corporate image damage control, obfuscation,outright cover-ups, and media blackouts than into plugging the f'ing catastrophic leak! O, and about those toxic dispersants making everyone sick. So, how to respond? Some folks want the Feds to Seize BP and place it in "a trust, in amounts proportionate to—and sufficient to fully compensate for—all projected harm from its dangerous and reckless acts in pursuit of super-profits". Here on the Enviro Show we say: OFF WITH BP's HEAD! (which is a not so polite way to call for revoking their charter), but why stop there? Let's throw them in jail! Naturally, there are tons of protests out there to plug into.

In our Meet the New Boss segment we review the fact that BP and Obama already had a cozy history. O, did we fail to mention that the White House is thinking about setting the clock alllll the way back to the disgraceful practice of commercial whaling?

After our interview with Scott Eustis we'll stroll over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Tuesday, June 8, 8pm Local Meet-up BP protest?

Wednesday, June 9, 4:15-5:30 p.m. A public rally in support of clean air and a healthy planet will be held at Pynchon Park on the corner of State and Chestnut Streets, next to the main branch of the Springfield Library immediately prior to the Department of Environmental Protection’s hearing on the Global Warming Solution Act. A press conference will be held at 4:30 p.m. at the same location.

Thursday, June 10, 7 to 8:30 p.m.COYOTES ARE EVERYWHERE! Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst. Pre-registration is required; please call (413) 256-6006.

Saturday, June 12. Worldwide BP Protest Day! Think global - protest local! This group is a platform to organize ourselves and get started! BP Boycott on Facebook has more than 300.000 great members. It is time to start organized action. Enter "Worldwide BP Protest Day" on Facebook.

Thursday, June 17, 7 - 8:30pm. What's happening with Fish in the CT River? Join hatchery manager, Mickey Novak for an extremely interesting talk about the change in population numbers of Atlantic salmon, shad, blueback herring and striped bass. Great Falls Discovery Center, Avenue A, Turners Falls. Call 413-863-3221

June 19, 10:30am to 7 pm. 6th Annual Sustainable Energy Summit 2010 at Nuestras Raices' farm (La Finca) at 24 Jones Ferry Road in Holyoke. Come to the Summit and see all the important work that is happening to help individuals and communities reduce their energy use and costs, use more renewable energy, strengthen their local communities, and build our movement for a just and sustainable future in our region. Contact: Diane Crowe, Summit Coordinator. 413-772-8898 summit@cooppower.coop

June 22-26. U.S. SOCIAL FORUM , Detroit. The US Social Forum is a very special kind of gathering. It isn't a conference with an agenda and a program of events; it's a convergence of movements, communities, and cultures whose participants produce their own agenda and programs. It is a MOVEMENT BUILDING process. It is a space to come up with peoples’ solutions to the economic and ecological crisis. Info: http://www.ussf2010.org.

Wednesday, June 23, 12:30-2pm. GREENWORK: THE WESTERN MASS GREEN ECONOMY WORKING GROUP. Brown Bag Lunch at Noon, Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield (732-7970)

Saturday, July 24, 9 a.m. to noon. HERBWALK: WILD PLANTS AND THEIR ROLES AS MEDICINES AND FOODS. Pre-registration is required; please call (413) 256-6006. Hitchock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst.

OK, did you remember to BOYCOTT BP and ARCO (O, and Exxon/Mobil and Chevron and Shell and...)? How about organizing some protest? Remember: it's the WORST environmental disaster of its kind EVER! Like we say: better listen to your Mother!

Monster from the Deep

2010-05-31T17:23:00.000-07:00

Dark and deep
it grows toward us
changeling, monster
from the Dead Zone
more death and
less life in
the gulf between
the species, crime
genocide monster
shape shifting into
ebb and flow
currents, landfall
from corporate boardrooms
keepers' lair
seemingly sanitized
custodial care in
theoretical ware
bottom-dwelling mind
disregarding caution often
enough to sink us all.

-d.o.