Greetings Earthlings. Another year gone by, another lost opportunity to save the planet. On our very first show, over six years ago, we read excerpts from the 1992 World Scientists' Warning to Humanity which said in part: "No more than one or a few decades remain before the chance to avert the threats we now confront will be lost and the prospects for humanity immeasurably diminished." In case you missed that from the 1992 Warning, we repeat: "No more than one or a few decades". It's 2012. Happy New Year? Brenda Ekwurzel calls in. Brenda is Assistant Director of Climate Research and Analysis for the Union of Concerned Scientists. The World Scientists' Warning was spearheaded by the late Henry Kendall, former chair of UCS's board of directors. If all that is way too much doom & gloom for you, we'll bury our collective heads in the sand looking for the Fool-on-the-Hill and the Quote of the YEAR!, as well as search for some good news in our Enviro Show Echo Chamber and maybe the E-Valley-uation segment, but first it's time for... Revenge of the Critters! A classic for the New Year: Elephant vs. Big Oil!
The big news in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber was last week's EPA announcement that it has finalized The Mercury Rule, one of the most important updates to the Clean Air Act in the Act's 40 year history. That's the good news, OK? (You see, it's not all doom & gloom here, no matter what people say). You've no doubt heard that the zombie Keystone Pipeline may rise from the dead in two months, yes? Well, for what it's worth, here's an action link requesting Obama to put that monster out of its misery. Did we say action? Here's our Enviro Show Blog Bonus: tell Montana Gov. Schweitzer to Stop Shooting Wolves! Meanwhile, it's mixed messages for wolves closer to home. Wolves in the Great Lakes region have been stripped of protection, though a proposal to remove protections for wolves in Northeast is delayed and likely dead.
In our E-Valley-uation segment we hinted at good news, and here it is: Cinda Jones of Cowls Lumber & Kristin DeBoer, executive director of Kestrel Land Trust have saved Brushy Mountain in Leverett and 666 adjacent acres, much of it in Shutesbury from development forever. It's the biggest conservation deal on a block of privately owned land in Massachusetts history. Congrats to all involved! Of course, there is some bad news: this from Westborough regarding highly questionable logging practices.One hand giveth/one taketh away....like they say!
The second (or is it third?) time candidate for Fool-on-the-Hill has gone so far off the rails that we hesitate to trash her once again and risk being accused of making fun of the mentally challenged. Be that as it may, Rep. Michele Bachmann takes the cake for her recent comment on the science of climate change: "I think all these issues have to be settled on the base of real science, not manufactured science.” Manufactured, we assume, by the vast, vast majority of the world's senior scientists?
The Enviro Show Quote of the Week is from (surprise!) the 1992 World Scientists' Warning to Humanity!
After our interview with Brenda Ekwurzel we amble on over to the Bus Stop Billboard:
Wednesday, January 4th, 7:00-9:00pm. Occupy Franklin County meets at the Second Congregational Church, Court Square, Greenfield. Email: davidjc@comcast.net
Friday, January 6th,7:30 AM - 10:00 AM. Environmental Business Council of New England Breakfast Meeting with Mark Sylvia, Commissioner, Department of Energy Resources. ML Strategies, LLC. One Financial Center, Boston. Commissioner Sylvia will discuss the status and near- term goals of Massachusetts energy programs, as well as their ramification for businesses and communities in the Commonwealth. Hefty entrance fee. Call: (617)505-1818
Tuesday, January 10th and Tuesday January 24th, 6 to 8pm. Community Action for a Renewed Environment in Springfield meetings at Springfield Technical Community College, One Armory Square, Springfield; Scibelli Hall, 7th Floor. Call: (413)794-1454
Wednesday, January 11, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Green Drinks Northampton is at the Northampton Brewery. If you have any materials to swap, please bring them: books, cds, dvds event announcements -- anything of Green or Sustainable interest. GD will start at 5:30 pm and will overlap with the end of Western Mass Green Consortium meeting which begins at 4pm. Call: (413) 586-7350 ext. 28
Tuesday, January 17. All Day +. Occupy Congress! The U.S. House of Representatives convenes for the first time in 2012 on January 17th, and they will be welcomed by the largest national unification of Occupiers to date. This grassroots assembly of nationwide occupations will be a peaceful and non-violent demonstration against our corrupted political system, aiming to further the movement’s success at shifting the political discourse towards real issues that matter to the people of America. Email: occupycongressj17@gmail.com Go to: http://www.occupyyourcongress.info/
Thursday, January 19, 7 to 8:30pm. How much wood do we use? Where does our wood come from? How do our local forests fit into the picture? Can wood be “better?” Join Outreach Service Forester Peter Grima from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation to learn about the local and global consequences of our wood consumption, and take away some bits of knowledge that may enable you to make better wood purchases. Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A., Turners Falls, Call: (413) 863-3221
January 25, 6:30 pm. Greening Greenfield Energy Committee presents: "A SEA CHANGE" This film is both a personal journey and a scientifically rigorous, sometimes humorous, unflinchingly honest look at the reality we have created in our oceans. It conveys the urgent steps we need to make to reduce the severity of the chemistry of our oceans. Greenfield Public Library, Greenfield.
That about does it for the New Year. How about a REAL resolution, like listen to your Mother?
--
No comments:
Post a Comment