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Greetings Earthlings. We do not suffer fools gladly on this show and in this day and age there are so many out there, and given they are malicious fools, we are forced to push back against their evils. Michael Kellett of Restore the North Woods joins us to jest about the fools trashing our forests and our patience. As always we will also poke fun at our "Fool-on-the-Hill" and "Those whose brains are small" as well as entertain you with our "Doublespeak of the Week" and way more but first it's time for......Revenge of the Critters! A reported attack by a Caracal wild cat on Israeli soldiers has gone viral.
We roasted The Mad King's new EPA Destructor, Lee Zeldin last week but we're not done with him as this week's Doublespeak of the Week reveals: Zeldin said in a written statement. “Our goal is to protect America’s water resources consistent with the law of the land while empowering American farmers, landowners, entrepreneurs and families to help Power the Great American Comeback.” Really? Comeback to what? The 1950s? 1850s?
We can't but help jump on this one for April Fools Day. We nominate every senator who voted to confirm Repugnican Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense and Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence as the worst Fools-on-the-Hill. As you may have heard, Hegseth, Gabbard and a host of other MAGA clowns blew up national security on a sketchy Signal call. The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg said that he was accidentally included in a Signal group chat where discussions about military strikes in Yemen took place. Remember when Repugs were falling all over each other condemning "Hillary's emails"? Who put these amateurs in office? We seem to recall they were warned about their incompetence. 😏
Our Critter of the Week this time around is the Eastern Monarch Butterfly and we have some good news for this troubled species: "Eastern monarch butterfly population nearly doubles in 2025" The alert goes on: "The population wintering in central Mexico's forests occupied 4.42 acres, up from 2.22 acres during the previous winter. While monarchs occupied nearly twice as much forest habitat as last year, populations remain far below the long-term average." that doesn't seem like a lot of space for the critters but have a look at how they congregate together in the trees. Also, "Monarchs need large, healthy forests to protect them from winds, rain, and low temperatures common at night in these [Mexican] forests. The health of these forests also supports local communities; improves water quality in the Cutzamala system for almost 6 million people in Mexico City and surrounding areas; and hosts incredible biodiversity, including 132 bird species, 56 mammal species, 432 plant species, and 211 species of fungi. As pollinators, monarch butterflies contribute to healthy ecosystems across North America. With 80% of agricultural food production depending on pollinators like monarchs, protecting them helps us all."
OK, guess who is decidedly NOT protecting us? That would be His Malignancy The Mad King and his ship of fools. His excessive executive orders are creating chaos nationwide (even as he claims not to have signed some?). He repeals America’s first-ever tax on greenhouse gases before it goes into effect. His administration moves to shutter mine safety offices in coal country. His captured EPA Considers Giving Oil and Gas Companies More ‘Flexibility’ to Dispose of Highly Toxic Wastewater. He censors climate words. Thom Hartmann notes: "He’s compiling a list of Biden’s Russia sanctions he can dial back, ordered the US Cyber Command to suspend cyber and information operations against Russia, opposed a UN resolution condemning Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, has “dramatically slowed” delivery of US weaponry to Ukraine." One of The Mad King's executive orders has cancelled funding for tree planting programs for being too DEI. His Social Security Administration acting Commissioner Leland Dudek threatened to shut down the agency in response to a federal judge cutting off the so-called DOGE access to our private SSA data. One of his official executive orders—under the Orwellian header "Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections"—would do the very opposite. His administration has eyed privatizing the nation’s postal service. Trump’s move to give commerce secretary Howard Lutnick authority over the independent agency could be a first step in that direction. He signaled National Monuments May be Shrunk or Eliminated. He threatens to send Tesla vandals to prison camps in El Salvador. Federal Judges Face Threats of Violence After Ruling Against Trump. The list goes on. We covered many of His Malignancy's other idiotic moves in the last show. Needless to say, protests over these fascist Project 2025 schemes are cropping up across the country, many of them massive. Like we've said previously, The Mad King and his MAGA freaks are "flooding the zone" with their sewage to try and overwhelm us. Sorry fools, we know how to float and we know how to push back.
In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber we have a startling headline: "We got rid of acid rain. Now something scarier is falling from the sky." How about....Plastic Rain? "..a growing body of evidence suggests that it’s now full of many other pollutants that pose a risk to public health, including microplastics. And unlike the compounds that cause acid rain, these pollutants are almost impossible to get rid of." Check it out HERE. Also, we have an Action Link concerning the Sand Wars in Southeastern MA. The situation out there is appalling. You have to see it to believe it. Another thing one has to witness to believe is Elon Musk. His destructive psycho antics have affected the sales of his Tesla vehicles as well as tanking stocks; while at the same time the Tesla infrastructure has become a target for protest and even property destruction. While we may experience some schadenfreude from all that there's a potential downside for electric vehicles: "Tesla also is a key player in building and maintaining EV charging stations. If any of the companies behind charging infrastructure run into financial problems, that could be a big concern, said Samantha Houston, a senior manager for the Clean Transportation program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Having those publicly accessible networks be reliable, and expanding them, is an essential piece,” she said. If Tesla or other charging companies scale back their efforts, it would be an impediment to increasing EV ownership for all brands. This is especially true now that most automakers have adopted Tesla’s North American Charging Standard, which means Tesla charging stations can be used by people driving other brands, Houston said." And this, what do you think about mass seed planting by....drones??Finally, another listener recommendation that sounds too good to be true, is it? "Startup secures $16 million to deploy PFAS-busting tech for wastewater".
OK, by now most of us have realized just who qualifies for "Their Brains Were Small and They Died" it's just that most of them have yet to die and leave us alone. One prime example is District of Columbia U.S. attorney Ed Martin a Repug who not only took part in the J6 Insurrection but, as a lawyer is defending some of the other participants. It doesn't end there. As DC's U.S. Attorney Martin is also supposed to be prosecuting some of the same individuals? Not surprisingly, complaints have been registered. Martin is also, how shall we say? a MAGA dinosaur? "Martin... was an organizer in the “Stop The Steal” movement that falsely claimed the 2020 presidential election was rigged against Trump. CNN reported that Martin assisted with financing for Trump’s infamous Ellipse rally on January 6, 2021. Later that day, while the US Capitol was being violently breached by Trump supporters, Martin posted to Twitter, saying, “I’m at the Capitol right now. I was at the POTUS speech earlier. Rowdy crowd but nothing out of hand. Ignore the #FakeNews.” In a video he posted the next day, Martin repeated false claims that the attack had been orchestrated by left-wing infiltrators. “Now we know that it was antifa,” he said. “It was plants.”
Of course Martin no doubt thinks it's fake news when we say "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" but the science overwhelmingly presents the data. As we pointed out above, most of the anti-science MAGA fascists are actually trying to turn the calendar back to some imagined time in Lala Land when all was well and women and people of color knew their place. Now, with His Malignancy in the White House and DOGE dismantling everything in sight, environmental advances of the past are being destroyed. Will the courts stop them? "A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has temporarily barred the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from clawing back billions of dollars given out under the Biden administration to help finance climate friendly projects. The...[White House] sought to end the grants, which are part of a $20 billion climate program, claiming 'waste, fraud and abuse'.” That said, the "In September, plaintiffs asked the justices to reverse an appellate court's dismissal of the case—but the country's highest court on Monday denied [the] petition. This and more while we see headlines like this: "Global sea ice hit record low in February, scientists say - Scientists called the news ‘particularly worrying’ because ice reflects sunlight and cools the planet." This and more while a recent "survey shows [peoples'] increased trust in physicians, climate scientists, federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency, local public health departments and the World Health Organization for providing information about the health harms of global warming." We guess most folks know "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" it's the stupid ones who either don't get it or don't care.
Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week seems fitting:
It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.
After our conversation with Michael it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard
Monday April 7, 9am. How to Beat the Broligarchs: An Expert Town Hall” will bring
together thought leaders, journalists, advocates, and policymakers to
discuss and reflect on how we got here ― and more importantly ― how we
fight back.
Click here to RSVP and we’ll send you the link for the livestream that morning.
Monday, April 7, 8pm. Online rally, Break Big Biomass: A National Call to Action! If you’ve been taking action with us in recent years, you know that the biomass industry is burning trees for electricity and falsely calling it a clean energy solution. We’ve joined with organizations in the U.S. to bring you a 1.5 hour rally with powerful speakers, interactive discussion, and actions to join the fight against big biomass! Register HERE.
Tuesday April 8, 11am. (via Zoom) What is Ecological Forestry? Why is it important now more than ever? How is it practiced? To explore these questions, we asked Dr. Tony D’Amato—Director of the Forestry Program at the University of Vermont—to assemble a group of practitioners to share their perspectives. Join us for this live event where Tony and others who contributed to our Spring 2025 Exploring Ecological Forestry Series will gather to discuss this important and timely topic. A 40-minute panel discussion followed by a 20-minute audience Q&A. Via Zoom. Register HERE.
Wednesday April 9, 12 – 1pm. Virtual LiveStream event: Join us for an insightful webinar on Climate Change Impacts and Floodplain Resilience on the CT River. We will hear from two guest speakers as they explore the fundamentals of river dynamics and floodplain management, helping you better understand how rivers behave and respond to environmental shifts due to climate change. Go HERE.
Thursday April 10, 6 to 7 p.m. The first meeting to launch a statewide support network for large-scale solar and battery storage systems concerns in our WMass towns. Many of us have been loosely collaborating on this issue for a while. It's time to strengthen our network and share information and resources so we can better protect our towns from unnecessary poor land use choices. You will be getting an invitation and Zoom link early next week. In the meantime, please check out their website.
Thursday, April 10, 6:30pm at the LAVA Center, 325 Main Street, Greenfield. Showing of Deep Rising, a documentary by Matthieu Ritz. The fate of the planet’s last untouched wilderness, the deep ocean, is at stake as a secretive international organization moves to allow corporations to strip mine the seabed for metals crucial to powering a carbon-free future. Doors open at 6pm / Seating is limited. Light supper/snack foods will be provided.
Saturday April 12, 2 p.m. ET. XRUS All-Chapter Virtual Gathering. Just a week before the start of the Spring Rebellion, this meeting will be devoted to chapter reports on Spring Extinction Rebellion plans, discussion of possibilities for coordination, and last-minute problem-solving. Register HERE.
Saturday April 26, 10 AM - 4 PM. Amherst, MA Sustainability Festival. Amherst Town Common. Join us for a day of family fun, education and entertainment. The
Sustainability Festival is in its 13th year! There is literally
something for everyone with vendors of renewable energy, energy
efficiency product suppliers, advocacy groups as well as sustainable
crafts and artisans! Go HERE.
Saturday April 26, 1pm. Protect the People, Protect the Planet. Boylston St at Dalton St by the Hynes Convention Center, across from the Boston College of Architecture. As our state and federal governments continue to IGNORE the climate crisis and PANDER to billionaires, join us in the streets to show our love, rage, and strength in numbers! As our democracy crumbles around us, we need mass action, now! March with us to demand protection for our people and our planet - that means no deportations, no genocide, no new fossil fuel infrastructure! RSVP for updates, and plan to bring along 5 more people with you! Rain date: Sunday, April 27. https://xrboston.org/action/2025-earth-day/ .
Saturday, April 26, 2025 [ Early application deadline is Saturday April 12! ] Free day long Grassroots Environmental Organizing Summit hosted by community leaders and grassroots organizations, experts, and student leaders. It will be centered around Oceans, Toxics and the harms of Data Centers and Crypto-mines at University of Massachusetts Boston. Go HERE.
Sunday April 27, 1-4PM, live at Seeds of Solidarity Farm: No-till Gardens and Farms: Healthy Soil, Heal Climate. An experiential
learning packed afternoon suitable to farmers or enthusiastic gardeners
seeking to learn and use no-till methods that use simple tools, build
healthy soil, reduce labor and cost inputs, and promote climate
resilience. Sliding scale: Email deb@
Wednesday April 30th, 8am to 4pm. Community Climate Leaders Conference, Bentley University, Waltham, MA. Are you involved in addressing climate change and supporting your community to take action? MassEnergize invites you to our annual Community Climate Leaders Conference where we will be inspired, learn from each other's experiences, and support best practices for engaging our communities in climate action. Go HERE.
Saturday May 3, 11am to 3pm. Planet Fiesta - Youth Living for a Sustainable Future. Games; Booths; Food; Entertainment; Workshops & More. Longmeadow Green, Longmeadow, MA.
Thursday May 15, 7pm. Free Online Webinar: Microplastics’ Impact on the Brain & Heart. Recent studies have found small fragments of plastics known as
microplastics in the human brain and heart arteries. These studies have
also shown a link between the presence of microplastics and adverse
health outcomes. How do these tiny bits of plastic enter our bodies and
make their way into our brains and our hearts? And what happens when
they lodge there? Register HERE.
That's it for now folks except to remember to listen to your Mother.
