Blog Archive

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Shut it Down! Enviro Show


Greetings Earthlings. It's just shy of April Fools...umm...Fission Fools Day? Also known as Fossil Fools Day (take your pick! choose both!!). Deb Katz of Citizens Awareness Network returns to The Enviro Show to update us on that God-awful leaky old nuke just over the border in Vermont (did we mention The Valley is just downwind & downstream from there?). Also, we finally get to that E-Valley-uation segment that got away from us last time, and we checkout The Enviro Show Echo Chamber for the news of the week. Did we say "week"? How about the Quote of the Week! We may even get to the Bus Stop Billboard, but first it's time for.... Revenge of the Critters! Bird bombs Hadron Collider with Baguette!



In our E-Valley-uation segment it's the old good news/bad news schtick. First the good: you can get rebates for all those old clunker appliances through Mass Save. Sorry, broken down old nukes don't qualify! The bad comes from Greenfield's Mayor Bill Martin who seems to think he can qualify the town for Green Community designation while still promoting a dirty biomass incinerator! You might want to contact him and deter him from his folly! Also, please take a moment to sign the petition asking the Massachusetts Legislature to act on the Act to Repower Massachusetts - a bill that calls for a real clean energy portfolio that excludes biomass incinerators! Yes, biomass INCINERATORS, like the wee pellet-burning one now proposed for Pelham......next to the school and library......and another in Greenfield....(groan).



In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we replay Evo Morales' Questions for a Global Referendum on Climate Change. Also, it's back to the bad news with an international death sentence for the Bluefin Tuna. And speaking of death sentences at the hands of us two-leggeds, how about the deaths of rare tigers at a Zoo in China; you know, the place where they use tiger parts to cure themselves of what? sickness??



Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week is all about those critters we abuse:

"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



"The Great Unknown" by our own Dar Williams takes us to our interview with Deb. We have never been so close to shutting that leaky old Vermont Yankee nuke down. What can we do to put it out of OUR misery? Stay tuned!




Lastly, it's time to visit the The Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday, March 31, Noon. Picket Bank of America! Monarch Place, corner of Main Street and Boland Way, downtown Springfield. The reckless greed of big Wall Street banks helped wreck the American economy, kill American jobs, and divert money away from safe, sustainable energy. Other area BOAs may be picketed as well. Call (413) 732-7970

Wednesday March 31, 4:30 pm. Helen Caldicott returns to Vermont! "In Our Backyard: The Health Risks of Nuclear Power". Moore Hall, Filene Auditorium, Dartmouth College. Call the Sierra Club, 802- 885-4826

Tuesday, April 6, 6:30 - 8:30 pm. Come see the Greenfield Public Library's rain garden, and learn how you can beautify your yard or community, while attracting butterflies and birds, restoring streams, ponds, and water supplies, and reducing human health risks. For more information see below or call 774-5667.

Tuesday, April 6, 4:30-5:30pm. Pioneer Valley Planning Commission ABP Bicycle and Pedestrian Outreach Meeting. Conference Room, 1st Floor, 60 Congress Street
Springfield, MA. Contact Bryan Slack at 508-929-3818 Bryan.slack@state.ma.us

Wednesday, April 14th, 11 am to 4 pm. Westfield State College energy fair.

Monday, April 19. Walk for a Nuclear Free Future walks from Amherst to Northampton along Rt. 9 Join them! Call AFSC: (413)584-8975



That's it 'til next time. Peter Vickery returns to talk about that other power plant by Mt. Tom (speaking of shutting down!). Until then, remember: listen to your Mother!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Another Spring Equinox Enviro Show


Greetings Earthlings. Breakout the scarlet eggs and round-up those hares, it's almost time to celebrate Lady Day or the Festival of the Goddess Eostar. Our in-house pagans, Laura & Penny return to these microphones to explain the Rites of Spring. As usual we'll also checkout the latest enviro news in the Echo Chamber and the local angle in our E-Valley-uation segment. Additionally, we present The Enviro Show Quote of the Week and Meet the New Boss, but first it's time for...Revenge of the Critters! Speaking of the Spring bunny, let's rewind the: Crazed hare attack!



In our Meet the New Boss segment it's same old/same old as Lisa Jackson's EPA fails us on several fronts. Clean water? Maybe not!. Carbon emissions as pollution? Maybe later. And finally this: Obama greenwashes nukes. Yes he can!



On to The Enviro Show Echo Chamber! Time for some good news, yes? Grist informed us months ago that properly sited wind power and a good grid really can free us from fossils. And this: Groups Oppose Tax Credits for Biomass Burning. Also from Grist: Big Oil's astroturf efforts against so-called "energy taxes" features fake people! As it turns out, the “Americans” presented in the ad are stock photos from Getty Images. What? They can't find real people to support them?? And finally, nitrous oxide in ocean dead zones are trashing the atmosphere. Will we die laughing?



The Enviro Show Quote of the Week is all about Spring:

"Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love!"

- Chief Sitting Bull (Tatanka Yotanka)



We wrap up the news in our E-Valley-uation segment where The Greenfield Recorder informs us that Greenfield & Montague are in a race to meet green rules. Soooo, where do biomass incinerators fit into the greening of Greenfield? Just asking!



Miriam Stockley's "Spring" from her "Second Nature" album takes us to favorite pagans and everything you ever wanted to know about The Spring Equinox, also called the "Festival of Trees, Alban Eilir (Celtic), Ostara, (Germanic) and the Rites of Eostre (Norse and Northumberland). This fertility rite celebrates the birth of Spring and the reawakening of life from the Earth. It is the origin of many of the secular traditions surrounding the Christian holiday of Easter." That from The Pagan Institute.



Then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Thursday, March 18, 7-8:30pm. The Meaning of Wilderness. Doug Seale will lead us through an exploration of how the meaning of wilderness has changed over time and how these various attitudes shape our interactions with nature, with special attention to Thoreau, Emerson, Muir, Marsh, T. Roosevelt, Leopold, and a few others. Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A., Turners Falls, MA 01376, Ph 413.863.3221

March 20, 11am. Vigil & March in Northampton. Main Street to City Hall. Bring the War Dollars Home: Stop the Killing! On the 7th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq a protest demanding an end to U.S. military action in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Please plan to join the Vigil which starts at 11:00, and march down Main Street starting at 12:00 (rain or shine, we will march). Call: (413) 584-6425

Saturday, March 20, 7:30 pm. Dave Lippman aka. Wild Bill Bailout will be at the Echo Lake Coffeehouse, Leverett Town Hall, Leverett Center. Call 413-548-9394

Sunday, March 21, 2 to 5pm. A Spring Equinox celebration to be held at the Montague Grange Hall in Montague, MA. Bring flower seeds for the community basket. You may also bring seed packets (marked clearly with your name) to be blessed by the energies of the Lady or Spring and the Lord of the Green. A potluck to follow. To aid those members of our community with food allergies, please clearly mark home cooked offerings with ingredients. Please no alcoholic beverages. This is a kid encouraged, family friendly, event! Sponsored by Weavers, the local council of the Covenant of the Goddess For more information, contact Laura at Laura_Wildman_Hanlon(at)hotmail.com

Wednesday March 31, Noon. Picket Bank of America! Monarch Place, corner of Main Street and Boland Way, downtown Springfield. The reckless greed of big Wall Street banks helped wreck the American economy, kill American jobs, and divert money away from safe, sustainable energy. We have three clear demands of the banks:1. Stop refusing to pay your fair share to restore the jobs you destroyed. 2. Stop fighting financial reform. 3. Start lending to your communities, small businesses, and others starved for credit. Other area BOAs may be picketed as well. Call (413) 732-7970





OK, we are so over & out. Tune in next time for that Damn Vermont Yankee Enviro Show with Deb Katz. Until then remember to.......listen to your Mother!