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Greetings Earthlings. The recent primaries reminds us of the importance of voting, especially in these troubled times. Here in Massachusetts a shifty undesirable Dem tried to unseat our longtime anti-fascist enviro hero Sen. Ed Markey claiming he was too old. Thanks to smart voters the challenger was pushed back. Closer to home here in WMass' 1st Franklin District House race we were fortunate to have Lora Wondolowski win over a former aide to an unresponsive State House Rep known for a lack of support on forest and other environmental related issues. Lora, on the other hand worked for national groups like the National Audubon Society, League of Conservation Voters & The Peace Development Fund. Lora seems responsive to her constituents, a welcomed change out here. She joins us for the interview. As always, we will introduce you to this week's Fool-on-the-Hill, Those Whose Braind Were small, Who Left the Door Open? and more but first it's time for......Revenge of the Critters! Caribou
hunter's birthday surprise!
This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is back again and worse than ever. We couldn't decide whether or not to label this one as our Doublespeak of the Week because Repugnican Speaker of the House and anti-Christ choirboy from Hell, Mike Johnson has claimed in a public speech that the loyal opposition are "The Barbarians inside the gate". Being one of the key engineers of the deadly J6 insurrection in which the crazed MAGA mob literally crashed the gates of the U.S. Capitol the comment sounds.....um....hypocritical? It gets worse. During that public speech at the Repugnican Mid-term "Convention" Johnson flat-out said the Repugs will not seat Dems who win the November election on the January 3rd swearing in session. His Malignancy himself said Repugs "must go out and cheat like Hell". They are worse than fools. They are traitors.
Our Doublespeak of the Week could be a doublespeak of the years 'cuz it reaches back to a time when it was common for Repugs to refer to Dems as "Haters." This was recently revived by Veep Vance at the sketchy two-day Repugnican Midterm "Convention". Back in April of 2025 rightwing political activist Larry Elder spelled it out in the headline of an op-ed : "Democrats, the ‘party of hate’." Also, last year a YouTube commentator came up with a piece titled: "Top 20 Celeb Trump Haters" which adds more fuel to the fakery implicit in the so-called "Trump derangement syndrome". In true MAGA doublespeak the derangement is within their own ranks and so is the hate. It is so obvious in nearly everything they do from ICE violence & torture to hundreds of thousands of deaths due to Trump's USAID shutdown to this: "In 2024, MAGA Republicans were more likely than others to endorse political violence and attributes associated with political violence". They called Dems "haters" because they practice what's called Psychological Projection. Fascism is built on hatred. They are the true haters.
On the brighter side we have this note in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber forwarded from our friend Laurel of the Wendell State Forest Alliance following up on our The Walk for a New Dawn shows : "It's been almost a month [but now there's a] finished a video narrative of
our walk. Hopefully just in time to get some folks engaged
in the No Deal to Repeal campaign.
Training notes HERE". https://youtu.be/B3OI-KcQj1I?
Back to the ongoing horror show in DC as we ask, "Who Left the Door Open" for MAGA freakshow Interior Secretary Doug Burgum? Gutting the agency itself at taxpayers expense appears to be his thing: "New records obtained by POLITICO shed light on the cost of the “deferred resignation” program and other initiatives by [the] President to downsize the federal workforce at the department. When Trump swept into office in 2025, his so-called Department of Government Efficiency, led by tech mogul Elon Musk, sought to use Silicon Valley-style tactics to make quick cuts to the federal workforce. Close to 1,500 staffers, most of them senior level, who left the Office of the Secretary in 2025 were paid not to work for days — even months — after agreeing to resign later.....Aaron Weiss, of the Center for Western Priorities, argued that the cost of paid leave for the staff in the secretary’s office was excessive. He compared it to the struggling renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which has been managed by Interior and cost more than $16 million. Burgum’s track record [as Governor of] North Dakota has demonstrated a clear allegiance to the fossil fuel industry at the expense of environmental protection. His policies have consistently undermined climate progress, promoted unchecked oil and gas expansion, and ignored the need for meaningful conservation efforts. Entrusting him with the stewardship of our endangered and threatened species and public lands poses a serious threat to these species and places. Also, isn't it time we all pushed back on all of His Malignancy's vanity projects?
We feel compelled to remind MAGA operatives like Burgum that "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" In fact, "Earth cooked to its hottest month on record in August, blowing far past a key climate threshold, due to the dangerous double whammy of human-caused climate change and a supersized El Nino, according to the European climate service Copernicus." Furthermore, "While El Nino is starting to ramp up the heat, the underlying driver remains our relentless burning of fossil fuels. Climate change makes every El Nino hotter, and until we stop burning coal, oil, and gas these record-shattering months will simply keep on coming," said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London." Naturally, such data makes us wonder why humans continue destroying natural solutions to climate chaos like say, forests and street trees? Pushback HERE! Or, why end protection of water? "The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers issued a supplemental proposal on September 4 that would narrow the legal definition of “waters of the United States,” the phrase that determines which streams, wetlands and other waterways receive federal protection under the Clean Water Act." Gosh, would that include "Lake America"?
Our Quote of the Week is all about voting:
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and
more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious
day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last
and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
― On Politics: A Carnival of Buncombe
After our conversation with Lora it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:
First Here's Indivisible Northampton — Swing Left Western Mass's complete daily listing of all the pro-democracy events in WMass: https://in-slwm.org/wp-content/uploads/Calendar/cal.html. If you're looking for an easy weekday way to jump into the climate movement, you'll love the State House Stand Out! We gather at the Massachusetts State House in Boston between 10 am and 2 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Volunteers stand together for 2-hour "shifts," either outside or inside depending on weather, and talk with visitors and State House staff about the Climate Crisis. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 3 – 4pm.: Indivisible's What's the Plan with Leah and Ezra. Go HERE. Fridays, 1:30 to 3pm: De-ICE Hanscom Airfield Stand Outs, Hanscom Rotary, Lincoln, MA. Go HERE. ALSO:
Friday July 24, 4 to 5pm. Indivisible West Quabbin's Wisdom Way Bridge Visibility Brigade Rte I-91 every 4th Friday. Overpass standout located on Wisdom Way, Greenfield, MA. For more information or to sign up go to Mobilize or contact westquabbinindivisible@gmail.com . Saturdays, 11am to 1pm: No Fear w/Street Theatre, Burlington ICE Facility, Burlington Mall Rd. @ District Ave., Burlington, MA Go HERE
Or here: https://www.regulations.gov/
The full DEIS is here.
Wednesday, September 23, 6 to 9pm. 101 course’ in siting and permitting: each will provide a basic introduction to 225 CMR 29.00 - regulations for the siting and permitting of small clean energy infrastructure facilities – and other essential information that they will need to know as the regulations come into full force on October 1. In person at the Belchertown Town Hall, 1 South Main Street, Belchertown, MA 01007 (See above)
River Restoration & Climate Resilience. The Bronx, New York. The Henry L. & Grace Doherty Institute for Climate & Resilience at Save the Sound invites you to celebrate Climate Week NYC by joining us for a documentary screening with our partners at the Bronx River Alliance! We will start with a tour of their LEED certified building, River House, followed by a screening of Save the Sound’s documentary, Reconnected, on river restoration and dam removal. After the screening, we will have a panel Q&A with expert practitioners to discuss the intersection of river restoration and climate resilience. Learn more.
Enough of policies that are devastating communities at home and abroad—from Iran, Palestine, Venezuela and Cuba to our own neighborhoods. Enough to the power of the Israel lobby over our lives. Enough to the growing power of billionaires and powerful institutions to shape both our politics and the boundaries of public debate. We insist that human needs, peace, justice, democracy, and a livable planet be placed ahead of endless war and corporate profit. Big E Fair, West Springfield. Gather at 175 Memorial Dr, W Springfield Sign up to join W Springfield protest.
Monday, September 28, 6pm on Zoom. Exit Strategies: Contesting the Future of Capitalism. Feinberg Series Plenary Panel with Jeanelle K. Hope, Tristan Hughes, and Clara E. Mattei. The planet is facing extinction. The causes of the coming catastrophe are as contested as the visions of the future. Some far-right thinkers and tech billionaires want to escape the current world order for techno-feudal and authoritarian enclaves, while some scholars and organizers are seeking anticapitalist and antiauthoritarian alternatives that could ensure the survival of all humanity, not just the rich. The Feinberg Series’s opening event will trace the development of these conflicting diagnoses of what’s wrong with capitalism
Read more about the Feinberg Series: www.umass.edu/feinberg
Tuesday September 29, 5:30—potluck. 6-7:30: Interactive Program. Climate Action Now Fall Gathering. "Nurturing biodiversity in a time of ecological chaos" at the Arcadia Center in Easthampton. Go HERE.
Wednesday September 30, 11am. A state public hearing in the Town Hall Auditorium at the Belchertown Town Hall, 2 Jabish Street, Belchertown, MA 01007. Virtual attendance is also available via Zoom (registration required; link provided HERE). The state public hearing will take place regarding the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s (MWRA) proposal to increase water withdrawals from the Quabbin Reservoir. The Proposal: The MWRA has applied for state approval under the Interbasin Transfer Act to withdraw an additional 20 million gallons of water per day (MGD) from the Quabbin Reservoir. This represents roughly a 10% increase in total daily withdrawals to support expansion into additional eastern Massachusetts communities.This specific hearing focuses on donor-basin impacts in Western Massachusetts, evaluating how increased withdrawals will affect: * Local aquatic ecosystems, fisheries, and streamflows * Reservoir water levels and regional drought resilience * Recreational access and donor-region infrastructure.
Wednesday September 30, 6 to 9pm. 101 course’ in siting and permitting: each will provide a basic introduction to 225 CMR 29.00 - regulations for the siting and permitting of small clean energy infrastructure facilities – and other essential information that they will need to know as the regulations come into full force on October 1. In person at the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, 12 Olive St, Bill Allen Meeting Room, Greenfield, MA 01301 (See above for details)
Saturday October 3, 11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Join the Sierra Club Massachusetts Chapter, Wendell State Forest Alliance, and Standing Trees on a guided fall hike to the renowned Elder Grove in Mohawk Trail State Forest. This grove of old growth trees contains some of the tallest white pines in the Northeast, most exceeding 160 feet in height. The hike will be on a trail that follows the Deerfield River and offers sublime views of the forest and river valley. If cancelled on October 3rd, the event will be rescheduled to October 4th, same time. Go HERE.
Thursday October 8, 7pm. A film screening of Old Growth Forests: Nature’s Biotic Pump at Patagonia Cambridge (39 Brattle St. Cambridge). Doors open at 7pm with pizza (including vegan) and seltzers. The Sierra Club Massachusetts Forest Protection Team will have information available about local and National forest advocacy. The 50 minute film will be followed by a ½ hour panel discussion and Q&A session. RSVP here. All are welcome
Saturday October 10 & Sunday October 11, Noon: HONK Festival & 11:30 HONK Parade with Boston XR. (See links)
