Greetings Earthlings. You may have seen the hashtag above on X or elsewhere. We've been using it for a few years now and recently the Massachusetts Sierra Club's Forest Protection Team added the phrase to a new campaign they are rolling out as we speak. Lynne Man, Bill Stubblefield & Bart Bouricius from the Team join us for the latest on that. As always we will also intro you to this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and "Those whose Brains Were small" as well as our constant reminder that "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" and more but first it's time for.......Revenge of the Critters! Another in our series of poachers getting their due.
This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is U.S. Rep. Mike Collins (Repug.- GA), perhaps running a close second in Obnoxious behind MTG. “Joe Biden sent the orders,” Rep. Mike Collins wrote on X, formerly Twitter, minutes after the shooting [of His Malignancy]. There is, of course, zero evidence to support this accusation. Actually, Boebert and Sen. J.D. Vance followed-up with their own baseless allegations referencing Biden's use of the term "bullseye" in a speech. These are the repugs who historically direct violent bellicose statements at the Dems or threat pose with collections of automatic weapons. Repugnant terrorist fools in our midst.
Those fools, and their fellow travelers, are also climate deniers who refuse to acknowledge "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" even though their loved ones (assuming they are capable of love) are endangered by THE existential threat of climate chaos. And yet the MAGA "Platform Doesn’t Mention the Word 'Climate' Once — Even After Hottest Year on Record." Those fools may not give a damn about future generations but we're thinking You do, so here'a a new interactive map one of our listeners sent along. The Future Urban Climates, allows you to explore how your home's climate will be impacted (hopefully even if it isn't urban?). Greedy corporados (who actually know better) aren't the only reason food prices remain high. A new study titled "Global warming and heat extremes to enhance inflationary pressures" looks into the vast increase in extreme weather events that impact all aspects of agriculture and food distribution. Of course, we can't move on without talking about the MA climate bill on Beacon Hill. One of our longtime listeners summed it up this way: "Where the hell were our local lawmakers." As of this writing a few members of both the House & Senate will try to reconcile the differences between the two bills. The Senate bill, while lacking, is the....um.....better? of the two on Beacon Hill "Where good legislation goes to die" (our quote). The legislative session ends on July 31, we assume this will be on a fast track. Finally this: "DOER published the SMART Straw Proposal on July 10, 2024 for stakeholder feedback. On July 22 and 23, DOER hosted in-person technical sessions to collect input, and a virtual technical session will be held on July 29. Stakeholders who are unable to attend any of the technical sessions may submit their feedback on the Straw Proposal through this form. The deadline to submit feedback will be Friday, August 2nd.
In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we replay a call to action by a certain treesitter in the Lincoln Forest trying, with others to stop clearcutting in the service of both Enbridge & Kinder Morgan. Those fossil fools want to trash paradise and put in a temporary parking lot? It's business-as-usual in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Speaking of direct action, the Connecticut River Defenders and yours truly occupied the bridge not far from FirstLight's shad-o-matic fish blender in Northfield, MA recently. As you may know, we've covered the issue over the years. Learn what YOU can do HERE. And this, proof that keeping on a seemingly endless campaign is often worth the time & effort: "Mass. denies request to dump radioactive wastewater into Cape Cod Bay." It's the final word on the nuke's plans to dump radioactive waste into Cape Cod Bay. "And now, THIS. "
Now it's time for our Critter of the Week and we quote directly from a MUST SEE NewYork Times in-depth feature on microbes. "In the middle of North America, there is a portal to the deep recesses of Earth’s rocky interior. The portal’s mouth — a furrowed pit about half a mile wide — spirals 1,250 feet into the ground..... a few biologists also venture into the underground labyrinth, typically seeking its dankest and dirtiest corners — places where obscure creatures extrude metal and transfigure rock. Every time they return, they encounter enigmatic microbes that have never been successfully grown in a laboratory and species that have not yet been named. Earth’s interior is not barren. In fact, a majority of the planet’s microbes, perhaps more than 90 percent, may live deep underground." Sounds like critically important critters from here.
OK, are we Abidin' with Biden this week? YES, now that he deigned to rest on his laurels and stepped aside into a well deserved retirement. How about our Veep becoming the first woman President of these here United States? Just sayin'. The Prez has pulled off some moves he should get credit for like Common Dreams reports, "In the wake of rulings that have significantly weakened the regulatory authority of federal agencies, backed the criminalization of homelessness, and granted U.S. presidents sweeping immunity from criminal prosecution, President Joe Biden is reportedly preparing to endorse reforms that would establish term limits and a binding code of ethics for the nation's Supreme Court justices." However, "The specifics of Biden's plan are unclear. Legislation introduced by House Democrats would impose 18-year term limits on Supreme Court justices." Not if MAGA Reps have anything to say about it. That said, Biden has announced more than a $15 million investment to build climate resilience, address climate change impacts, and restore healthy lands and waters at national parks and in surrounding communities across the nation. Also, this: "Biden administration moves to add protections against drilling in Alaska petroleum reserve". The Prez has also made some recent moves regarding extreme weather events. You know, climate chaos.
Our "Brains Were Small & They Died" segment takes us to AOC's site where we read: "...Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) introduced articles of impeachment against United States Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. “The
unchecked corruption crisis on the Supreme Court has now spiraled into a
Constitutional crisis threatening American democracy writ large.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito’s pattern of refusal to recuse
from consequential matters before the court in which they hold widely
documented financial and personal entanglements constitutes a grave
threat to American rule of law, the integrity of our democracy, and one
of the clearest cases for which the tool of impeachment was designed." She didn't say they were dinosaurs but hey, it is what it is.
Time for The Enviro Show Quote of the Week:
On to the Bus Stop Billboard:
Tuesday July 23 thru to Wednesday July 31. Mass Power Forward coalition will be hosting Climate Bill rallies at the State House from through next Wednesday (7/31). You can sign up to join a rally here. And THIS: SIGN UP HERE: Final Countdown Singing/Chanting Visits 2024
Friday July 26 - Sunday July 28, beginning 7:30pm. Clamshell Alliance Reunion Gathering at
World Fellowship
Center in Albany, NH.
If you haven't reserved your room, you can reserve at https://worldfellowship.org/ book-now/,
email reservations@worldfellowship. org,
or call (603) 447-2280
Saturday July 27, 11am. Shut Down Wall Street: Mass action to end fossil fuels. Citi’s HQ, 388 Greenwich St, New York, 10013. The world is on fire. It’s so hot people are literally dying. Ecosystems are collapsing. Hundreds of thousands are being displaced from their homes. And Wall Street is to blame. We will rally at Citibank’s global headquarters. From there, we will march to the Citi CEOs home where we will stage a raucous noise protest (whistles, vuvuzelas, and noise makers will be provided), before we march to Wall Street itself to shut it down and demand an end to fossil fuels. Go HERE.
Saturday, July 27 · 12-1:30 p.m. Climate & Democracy Project meeting. Greenfield, MA Public Library Community Meeting Room. Come "cross-pollinate" and widen the reach of local grassroots organizing. Our intergenerational team is here to help promote local actions and issues using e-news and social media. Refreshments served. Click here to RSVP.
Monday July 29, 9:30am. DOER will host a virtual technical session for stakeholders who are unable to attend the in-person sessions. The same content will be covered at both the in-person and virtual sessions, so attendance is only necessary at one. Interested attendees can register for the virtual technical session here. The deadline to register will be July 24th.
Wednesday July 31, 11am. Last Boston XR et al Standout of the Season! The State House Stand-Out for No New Fossil Fuel Infrastructure kicked off on June 5, 2024. Since then, volunteers have gathered at the Massachusetts State House every business day to engage with the public and put pressure on lawmakers to take immediate action on the climate. We are preparing for our first break at the end of the legislative session, to allow planners and volunteers to rest and recharge for the next stage of the fight. Join us at the State House anytime between 11 am and 3 pm on Wednesday July 31 and jam along with an activist brass band, along with our own guitarist. Organizers will thank participants while we write our last postcards for Governor Healey for this session. We'll also share ideas about the next version of the Stand Out! If you haven't gotten a chance to take a Stand Out shift yet, this is your last chance for a while! Email: fossilfuels.standout.ma@proton.me with any questions.
Saturday August 3, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. & Sunday, August 4, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., 11th Annual Pocumtuck Homelands Festival: A Celebration of Native American Art, Music, and CulturesUnity Park Waterfront, Turners Falls, MA. Rain or Shine. Go HERE
Tuesday Aug. 6 · 9-10:30 a.m. Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemorations, Greenfield Common & Greenfield Public Library. Traprock Center for Peace and Justice's annual remembrance of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Join a standout on the Greenfield Common from 9 to 9:30, followed by a panel discussion in the GPL Community Meeting Room (first floor). A table with literature on the dangers of nuclear weaponry will be on display.
Tuesday August 6, 6:30 pm. The Friends of Wakefield’s NEMT Forest, The Urban Biodiversity Project, and the Melrose UU Climate Action Team, together host award-winning filmmaker and Boston Globe writer David Abel for a showing of INUNDATION DISTRICT. This film is about climate change in Boston focusing on the rising tide in Boston's Seaport District. 70 W. Emerson St, Melrose; Melrose Unitarian Universalist Church. RSVP.
to ossil Free Future Festival. Come celebrate the end of coal in New England with us! Merrimack Station in Bow is closing their coal operations and transitioning to clean energy and battery storage. So we're getting together to celebrate this just transition and imagine what our future could look like if all the fossil fuel peaker plants in the region transitioned to clean energy. Join us for an afternoon of action, music, boating on the Merrimack River, and moving towards a fossil free future! Go HERE.
Saturday Aug 24, 10am - 3:30 pm. Please join the Sierra Club Massachusetts Chapter, RESTORE: The North Woods, and Save Massachusetts Forests on an educational 2 mile walk through an undisturbed forest and a recent logging site on the Quabbin Watershed public lands. After the walk, we will be offering an option to take a 3 - 5 mi hike through a beautiful northern hardwood forest with stunning views of the Quabbin Reservoir. We will be discussing at the event the Quabbin Reservoir, its history, the watershed public lands, their benefits, as well as floral, fauna and climate action. We will also be speaking about the MA Chapter Forest Protection team’s campaign to end logging on the state lands of the Quabbin, Ware, and Wachusett watersheds. Sign the petition here. RSVP Here.
Tuesday August 27, 7pm. Climate Action Now Summer Gathering via zoom. Vote for the Climate and a Livable Future: Mobilizing for the 2024 Elections. The 2024 election will determine the fate of our climate, our democracy and our lives. How can we fully engage our networks to act strategically at this pivotal moment? Go HERE.
Saturday 21 September 2024. Global Protest, Mothers Rebellion for Climate Justice. The
climate crisis is not slowing down! Mothers* Rebellion is planning our
next global protest, save the date and check in our social media outlets
and here for updates. Go HERE.
All that's left to say other than farewell is remember to listen to your Mother!