Listen to the podcast for the entire show here: https://rss.com/podcasts/enviroshow/1772824/
Greetings Earthlings. Have you heard about The Sand Wars? We'll be focusing on Southeastern Massachusetts Pine Barrens here but it's happening across the planet because not all sand is alike. Melissa Ferretti, 4th term tribal chairwoman of the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe and Meg Sheehan, environmental lawyer and coordinator of Community Land and Water Coalition join us to dig into the issue. At the same time we will be celebrating MA Governor Maura Healey's issueing an Executive Order granting state recognition to the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe. The Sand Wars are taking place on or near tribal lands. As always, we will also bring you along to meet our Fool-on-the-Hill and Those Whose Brains Were small, as well as a visit to our Enviro Show Echo Chamber, our Doublespeak of the Week and more but first it's time for........Revenge of the Critters! Another listener recommendation: Hippo Attack!
This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is one among many Repugnicans who have lost any semblance of integrity. Rawstory reports: "Bragging about his total fealty to His Malignancy, U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) made clear he and and the House Republican Conference are in complete lockstep with the President-elect and will do anything to support their leader.....If His Malignancy says 'jump three feet high and scratch your head,' we all jump three feet high and scratch our heads,” vowed Nehls, a former sheriff who was accused of stolen valor last year."
Speaking of total fealty to The Mad King, we have an entire rogues gallery of Those Whose Brains Were small as the dinosaurs. His Malignancy's appointments for his next reign reads like casting notes for bad actors in some bad Marvel Comics remake. We'd like to start with Matty Gaetz as Attorney General but he bailed (good riddance) and was replaced by Pamela Bondi who would be in a position to shut down federal prosecutors’ ongoing investigation of Elon Musk’s company. U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard appointed for director of national intelligence is another story. Neither have ANY experience to qualify them for the office and both are well.......god awful MAGA Cult members. Why stop there! "climate and environmental campaigners expressed deep concerns about his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency: Lee Zeldin... Zeldin is expected to pursue the [Repug's] plan to "drill, baby, drill," despite the devastating consequences for the global climate. On Faux News he promised to “roll back” the very protections that keep our air and water clean and safe. It gets worse (if that's possible): His Malignancy's "...pick to lead the Department of Energy is fossil fuel executive Chris Wright — who has misleadingly claimed on LinkedIn that “there is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition either.” Whoa! One GIANT step backwards for mankind. Sorry but there's still more: "If confirmed to be the next U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could be working "closely" with another official who's infamous for his questionable health guidance: Dr. Mehmet Oz, who [His Malignancy] nominated to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services." Finally a nomination for Faux “News” weekend co-host and white supremacist Pete Hegseth to run the Pentagon and command 1.3 million active-duty troops. Hegseth wants to take women out of combat roles and fire “woke” generals who he claims only have their jobs because of “diversity.” The potential Secretary of the Department of Defense, Hegseth has been labeled a white nationalist by the U.S. military, who removed him from President Biden’s inaugural detail in 2021 because of his extremism. That's a lot of unqualified dinosaurs. Wanna' push back? Go HERE.
Interesting things in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber this week. For those of you who once marched around chanting "No Nukes!" you'll be disturbed to know.......They're baaaack! The NY Times tells us, "At last year’s
[COP28] climate conference in the United Arab Emirates, 22 countries pledged,
for the first time, to triple the world’s use of nuclear power by
mid-century to help curb global warming. At this year’s summit in
Azerbaijan, six more countries signed the pledge." Presumably the next occupants of the White House will be signing up as well. Impossibly looong lived radioactive waste for everyone! Speaking of which, this from Connecting the Dots newsletter on Forever Chemicals: A "study, published in the journal ACS ES&T Water, shows that you can't avoid PFAS by buying bottled water. And when it comes to plastic bottles, it's not just the PFAS you have to worry about. Plastic bottles release toxic microplastics and hundreds of other plastic chemicals into the water." 😟 Also Green America informs us: "Millions of Americans enjoy freshly popped Orville Redenbacher's or Act
II popcorn. But what they don't know is that these household brands are
owned by food giant ConAgra, which is including dangerous pesticides in
every bag." You can push back on that HERE. Finally, we just heard this from PETA: "Amherst, Mass. — In a letter
sent today, PETA renews its call for the University of
Massachusetts-Amherst (UMass) to shut down Agnès Lacreuse’s laboratory
after obtaining records showing she killed 10 marmosets in just a month—after
she complained to funders of a supposed “national shortage of marmosets.” Isn't anyone at UMass paying attention??
All that + "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" Where to start? How about COP29? 2024 is officially the hottest on record. This month, European Union scientists confirmed what many of us have feared: This is the first year to breach the Paris Agreement’s 1.5-degree Celsius global warming threshold. The Guardian notes: "The concentration of planet-heating pollutants clogging the atmosphere hit record levels in 2023, the World Meteorological Organization has said. It found carbon dioxide is accumulating faster than at any time in human history, with concentrations having risen by more than 10% in just two decades." O btw, "Countries promised to move away from coal, oil and natural gas at last year’s climate summit. New research shows they’re burning more than ever before." COP29 is so off the rails there's this: "Introducing ‘anti-COP’: A climate summit for activists who are fed up. Last week’s event was a byproduct of the sentiment that, after almost 30 years, COPs are doing too little to address runaway greenhouse gas emissions." And the rich nations can't buy their way out of climate chaos. Moving on, "Biden administration aides are racing to award hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and finalize environmental regulations in an effort to lock in President Biden’s climate agenda before [His Malignancy] enters the White House." BTW, Climate Action Now welcomes individuals and organizations ready to take action to identify and protect priority Wildlands to join their new campaign. Learn about the campaign here, and sign up for our first campaign planning meeting on December 11 at 6:30pm. Info in the Bus Stop Billboard below.
That brings us appropriately to our Quote of the Week from The Prez's climate guy:
“This is not the end of our fight for a cleaner, safer planet. Facts are still facts. Science is still science. The fight is bigger than one election, one political cycle in one country. This fight is bigger, still, because we are all living through a year defined by the climate crisis in every country of the world.”
- John Podesta
And that reminds us, we are Abidin' with Biden this week not just for being THE first U.S. President to visit the Amazon (which in itself is actually embarrassing) but also for the above and this: "Oil and gas companies for the first time will face fines for emitting methane, a potent greenhouse gas that leaks from wells, pipelines and storage facilities, the Biden administration announced......The Biden administration has made slashing methane a major part of its climate strategy and has encouraged other nations to do the same. When it passed the landmark climate law, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, Congress required that large oil and gas companies pay a fee for methane pollution to encourage them to stop emitting." Then we have The Prez's last minute efforts at cementing in climate related efforts as we speak. That said, we are decidedly Backslidin' with Biden when we read: "On Earth Day in 2022, President Joe Biden stood among cherry blossoms and towering Douglas firs in a Seattle park to declare the importance of big, old trees. “There used to be a hell of a lot more forests like this,” he said, calling them “our planet’s lungs” and extolling their power to fight climate change…..The president uncapped his pen, preparing to sign an executive order to protect mature and old-growth forests on federal lands. “I just think this is the beginning of a new day,” Biden said. But two years later, at a timber auction in a federal office in Roseburg, Oregon, this new day was nowhere to be seen." And, of course, guess who is still sending arms to the genocidal IDF in Palestine?
Now it's time for our Doublespeak of the Week. "Prime Minister
Keir Starmer of Britain told delegates at the international climate
talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, that his country would aim to reduce its
emissions of planet-heating greenhouse gases by 81 percent by 2035,
compared with levels in 1990.....The announcement
at the talks, known as COP29, hinted at how Britain is trying to
position itself in the world as a destination for companies that want to
invest in the clean energy transition." How will they do that? "The largest source of renewable energy we consume in the UK is not from
the sun or wind – it’s from Biomass, that is, organic material from
plants or animals." Sorry folks, woody biomass clearcut and exported from the U.S. & Canada and incinerated in operations like Drax is neither clean nor truly renewable....but you already know that, hence the doublespeak.
After the conversation with our guests it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:
Wednesday December 4, 6pm. The Nature of Oaks reveals what is going on in oak trees month by month, highlighting the seasonal cycles of life, death, and renewal. From woodpeckers who collect and store hundreds of acorns for sustenance to the beauty of jewel caterpillars, Doug Tallamy illuminates and celebrates the wonders that occur right in our own yards and restorations. He also shares practial advice about how to plant and care for an oak, along with information about the best oak species for your area. The Nature of Oaks will inspire you to treasure these trees and to act to nurture and protect them. Go HERE.
Wednesday December 4, 7pm. The Amherst, MA Conservation Commission (ConCom)will be meeting to consider two recent submissions (NOI & RDA) from the environmental firm of Tetra Tech on behalf of PureSky. As you know, PureSky and Cowls are partnering to construct a large solar and battery storage installation that would clearcut 40+ acres (31 football fields) of contiguous forest land on Shutesbury Road in North Amherst in a residential area where everyone is on private wells. This meeting is extremely important and it is essential that many people show up. The ConCom must decide whether the Tetra Tech submissions demonstrate a clear plan to be in compliance with the Amherst Wetlands Protection Bylaw AND with the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act. ConCom has full authority and the obligation to make this decision. Go HERE.
Wednesday December 4, 7:00 - 8:00 pm. Join The Walden Woods Project and RESTORE: The North Woods for a virtual presentation from Michael Kellett about the campaign for new national parks, why it is important, and how we can build grassroots support to make this vision a reality. Henry David Thoreau had the far-sighted vision to declare, “Each town should have a park.” Yet, the people in most American towns still do not have ready access to a large public park. Go HERE.
Thursday December 5, 2 p.m. Anti-wildlife forces will soon control all three branches of our federal government. The work ahead will be hard, but we know we can defend the wild. In a live virtual gathering the Center Executive Director Kierán Suckling will join author, activist, and Center board member Terry Tempest Williams. They’ll talk about how we can transform our values and passion into action to protect wildlife and wild places from the dangerous attacks we know are coming. Sign up now to join us for this important and vital hour to celebrate what unites us — and what will keep us strong as we hold the line for life on Earth.
Thursday December 5, 5pm. "Do I Need This? " Greening Greenfield will present an award-winning documentary, which on its surface, is a joyride through American consumption habits but, at its core, is a deep reflection of the true sources of happiness. Are you caught in the trap of Consumerism, especially with the holidays coming? Join us for this documentary film by Kate Schermerhorn. From the Luna Park Productions website: “Do I Need This? is a quirky and relatable award-winning documentary film about American excess, and the stuff from which happiness is truly made. All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, Hope and Main, Greenfield, MA. Admission FREE!
Saturday December 7, 1:30 to 3pm. Rolling Up Our Sleeves for Democracy! In-Person Organizing & Community Building. Fascism feeds on fear, distrust and alienation. So let's come together, build together and be fierce - together. Pathways Cohousing, 25 Mountain Laurel Path, Florence, MA. Please sign up here
Sunday December 8th, 2 pm. Act On Mass End of Year Transparency Bash! in Quincy, MA. With our focus currently on the Defend Question 1 campaign, we're thrilled to announce special guest Auditor Diana DiZoglio, who will be joining us for a discussion about Question 1, our ongoing efforts to defend it, and what a legislative audit might turn up. Go HERE.
Sunday December 8, 3:30pm. Boston XR strategy session is dedicated to taking the learnings of the past five years and laying a pathway to more effectively building a mass movement. We will think through: 1. Building a movement (in the broad sense) and 2. Planning for the maximum mobilization possible by Earth Day 2025 (a specific target and deadline). Go HERE.
Monday December 9, 12pm. Massachusetts has a brand new climate bill signed by Gov.
Healey 11/21. Your activism played a key role in its
passage! What are some of the key touchstones of the bill? Where do
we go from here? Dan Zackin, 350 Mass Legislative Coordinator, provides a
roundup. Register HERE.
Tuesday December
10, 10am to 12pm. DOER will host a
virtual technical session to share revisions to the
framework for land use and siting policies in the SMART program with stakeholders. The session will include a
short presentation followed by collaborative discussion.
DOER will share slides with participants in advance of
the session. Interested stakeholders can register for
the technical session here.
Tuesday December 10, 6 to 8pm. Virtual Town Hall Forum: New Clean Energy Permitting - Next Strategies for Town Activists. Zoom link HERE
Meeting ID: 839 0679 6886, Passcode: 339921 phone: 1-309-205 3325.
Sponsored by: No Assault & Batteries, Wendell, MA. PLEASE RSVP by
emailing: csqueen@outlook.com
Wednesday December 11, 6:30pm. CAN's Wildlands Campaign Meeting. Register HERE. Wildlands are tracts of any size and condition, permanently protected from development, in which management is explicitly intended to allow natural processes to prevail with “free will” and minimal human interference. Priority Wildlands for this campaign include land associated with water (headwaters, riparian zones of streams and rivers, wetlands, vernal pools, etc.), mature and old forests, wildlife corridors, areas with few or no invasive plants, and/or special species or habitats. Join Our Campaign to Protect Wildlands in Massachusetts
Tuesday December 17, 6 p.m. Safer Tech Possibilities at School webinar! Please post/send out the .pdf invitation and share the .png social media invitation. We've seen a lot of interest on Next Door, etc., when community members post this! If citizens on social media are fuzzy on the facts, feel free to post our EMF Points of Confusion vs. Fact sheet too.
That's all folks but do remember to listen to your Mother
