HEY! OVER HERE.....

Due to ongoing problems we've had using the new Blogspot format we've pretty much given up and moved over HERE

Dear Angry White Guys,

Now that the presidential election is behind us and all the obscene amounts of corporate money was needlessly spent and all the energy that could have been used to rebuild our crumbling roads and bridges has been wasted, can we come together and clean this place up?  We truly hope you don't continue to carry on about so-called socialists and "apology tours" when we need your help putting the country back together (the country you love so much). We all have been looking at the God-awful pictures of devastation on the east coast, right? How about we roll up our sleeves together and pitch-in? We know you still may think that the Climate Crisis isn't real or that it isn't human-caused, but the mega-storm that destroyed so much of New York and New Jersey was very real and we need to deal with the results, together.  Maybe after we've done all we can to repair the damage we can sit down and have a reasonable discussion about who exactly is promoting the idea that climate change doesn't exist and why they are spending so much more money to spread their highly compromised information. Hey, we'll even pick-up the bar tab!

We're done with celebrating this election now. It's time to get on with the business of putting things back together. We hope you'll join us.

Sincerely,

The Enviro Show

The Vote for the Earth Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Here in the Northeastern U.S. we're just catching our breath after yet another "hundred year storm" (with yet another on the way?) and now it's almost Election Day. Of course, on the national level we get to choose between the Green who'll never be elected, the Dem who plays the game to pretty much stay the same, and the Repugnican corporado who will do all he can to destroy the planet once and for all. Great choices, huh? We do have some state and local issues that are interesting.  Johanna Neumann, Regional Director for New England Environment America fills us in. Our roving reporter and strolling troubadour, Tom Neilson also joins us to discuss that and more. As always, we check into The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and our E-Valley-uation segment. We'll see who this week's Fool-on-the-Hill is and maybe Meet the New Boss, but first it's time for...Revenge of the Critters! It's a post-Halloween Revenge from a loyal listener: Bees return awful candy to the humans!

If the polls are still open (or soon to be) when you read this, we may as well do some E-Valley-uation on a few of the ballot questions (that is if we can figure them out). In it's eternal wisdom, the state has taken a page from Kafka and made sure that the referendum numbers change in various Valley towns, as well as making it illegal to name some of the questions. Have fun with that! One of the referendum we call the "Move to Amend" question, says: "Shall the state senator be instructed to vote in favor a  resolution calling upon Congress to propose an amendment to the US Constitution affirming that corporations are not entitled to the constitutional rights of human beings [and that] both Congress and the states may place limits on political contributions and political spending.” Well.......yeah. What have we been talking about here for......ever! Another ballot question may be called the "Budget for All" referendum that you can read about here. It's all about redirecting our tax dollars to sane things like education, health care, renewable energy and transportation, not that too many pols in DC really care about such things. A ballot measure that actually has a name is The Massachusetts "Death with Dignity" Initiative which would establish an "Act Relative to Death with Dignity".  The human-life-is-oh-so-sacred crowd (as opposed to other life forms) is out in the streets about this one. They want us all to hang on to the bitter end no matter the pain and degradation (and maybe give them time to baptize or convert us or God knows what?).  Given that there are far toooooo many people on the planet, we say go for it! Besides, who runs your life anyway??  We'll get into some of the candidates and there positions on the environment as well when we talk with Tom and Johanna.

We're devoting our entire Enviro Show Echo Chamber to the Climate Crisis and it's effect on the Northeast in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.  First, the relief effort. Besides the usual Red Cross and other mainstream groups listed here, there are grassroots efforts like Occupy Sandy, Food Not Bombs, and Sandy's List that are on the ground in the New York metro area providing food, warm clothing and other needs. By now you've all probably seen the photos of the devastation to the infrastructure and people of New York City. This catastrophe, though it is not nearly as devastating as the mega-monsoon flood in Pakistan in 2010 or Katrina's devastation in New Orleans, may well be a, dare we say, bellwether in the desperate need for responding to climate change. Seeing as New York City is the capitol of finance and media for most of the nation, and that the timing of this particular crisis on the eve of a presidential election adds long awaited emphasis to the greater issue of climate, there's an outside chance that climate crisis deniers and the Repugnicans will become as irrelevant as skate keys. In the days following the disaster the corporate media has rediscovered the climate crisis without the obligatory spotlight on flat-earth climate change deniers. Meanwhile, the environment as a whole in the Metro region has been impacted by Sandy as well as various species. They need help too.  A sidebar here: interestingly, part of all that flooding can be attributed to long-ago filled-in swamps, (there were once 300,000 acres of absorbent wetlands, now only 15,500) sort of a Halloween Revenge of the Swamp Thing! Finally, here's our Enviro Show Blog Bonus Special: tell the corporados to pony up for the mega-storm they created.

Our Quote of the Week comes from none other than the Rombot himself: "President Obama promised to slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family." Sooooo, our family isn't involved in the planet?

Time to visit the Fool-on-the-Hill and guess who's baaaaack? Yes, appropriately it's the chief flat-earth climate crisis denier, Sen. James Inhofe who, upon receiving the Rubber Dodo Award from the Center for Biological Diversity used the occasion to continue his anti-science odyssey into oblivion (but not soon enough for us!). While we're here we have an interesting No Fool: New York City Mayor Bloomberg endorses Obama as the one who can deal best with the Climate Crisis (that is, unless Jill Stein or the Batman are actually available)

Let's Meet the New Boss, whomever that may be. We're praying to the Goddess that it's not the Rombot (who will drive the last few nails into the biosphere's coffin) and since it won't be Jill Stein we are stuck with the present boss who at least has returned to using the C-word (no, not that) and may well set in place some more planet saving programs to...um...stem the tide? Sooo, we're not big fans of The One but we'll fight like hell to keep the Repugs from stealing another election. With that in mind we direct you to No More Stolen Elections where you can join  such eminent progressives as Noam Chomsky, Jill Stein, Thom Hartmann and a whole host of others in pledging to act in the event of another stolen election. FIGHT!

After our interviews it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Thursday, November 8, 7 to 8:30pm. Quebec’s Plan Nord: Towards a New Global Model for Sustainable Development.  Mat Jacobson presents Plan Nord, covering 1.2 million square kilometers of the boreal region of Quebec, the concept has brought together aboriginal and other government leaders, industries, and conservationists to balance economic development with conservation.  Small fee. To register for a current program, contact Jessica Schultz, Center Coordinator, at (413) 256-6006 or jessica@hitchcockcenter.org.

Saturday, November 10, 6pm. Arise for Social Justice 25th Anniversary Celebration & Reunion. Panache Ballroom, 827 State Street, Springfield. Call: (413)734-4948

Sunday, November 11, 3pm. Tom Neilson in concert. RSVP (413) 253-7934. Small entry charge. 185 Middle Street, Amherst.

Tuesday, November 13, 7-9 pm.  VERMONT YANKEE MELTDOWN? MORE LESSONS FROM FUKUSHIMA. The third in a series of Community Forums presented by Citizens for Emergency Preparedness.  Speaker:  Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer with 40 years experience who has coordinated safety projects at 70 nuclear power plants.  He has recently returned from Japan with lessons from Fukushima.  Discussion to follow. Contact: Marian Kelner  413-773-8401. All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, corner of Main and Hope, Greenfield, MA 

Friday, November 16, 10:30 to 11:30am. "Gobble, gobble". Have you ever wondered about wild turkeys? Just how did they get associated with Thanksgiving? What do they look like? Where do they spend their winter? What unique behaviors do they have? Young children 3-6 and their parents are invited to explore these questions through story, crafts and games.Great Falls Discovery Center, Avenue A, Turners Falls. Call: (413)863-3221

Saturday, November 17th Our Energy Future is Vermont's Choice march and rally. 12:30 pm: Gather at Montpelier city hall; 1 pm: March to the VT Statehouse; 1:30 pm: Rally at the VT Statehouse. Organized by the Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance (VYDA) and Citizens Action Network (CAN), Co-sponsored by Safe and Green Campaign, SAGE Alliance and others. Contacts: Deb Katz 413 339-5781, Chris Williams 802 767-9131

Now we elect to sign off. Be sure to remember to do what? Right! Listen to your Mother.

A Rather Haunting Enviro Show

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Greetings Earthlings. All Hallow's Eve is nearly upon us so it's time to bring Michelle, our favorite house witch, back to remind us what it's all about. Also, given that spirits of the departed may be lurking upon the Earth and its environs, we hear from Tania and Brenda of Chicopee Paranormal Investigators, the Valley's own ghost busters. This and more scary stuff in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, our Fool-on-the-Hill and New Boss segments and who knows what all, but first it's time for...Revenge of the Critters!  Squeamish about cockroaches? Not this guy (but maybe he should have been!)

Speaking of fools let's do as promised on the last show and go straight to Rachel's gallery of Fools-on-the-Hill: Would you believe these guys are on the House Science Committee? Yes, it is truly scary..........but surprising? Nah! Not on THAT Hill!

Did someone say science? In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we get the Union of Concerned Scientists take on Faux News' war on science!  And this: it's not just the far-right propaganda machine that's dumb as a post, checkout these....err...sorry excuses for humans? Here's our Enviro Show Blog Bonus: some Federal agencies are still censoring scientists. Tell them to back off!

Our E-Valley-uation segment gets off the ground with our house witch, Michelle followed later by a call-in from the Chicopee Paranormal Investigators. Witches! Ghosts! What's Halloween without them??

Meet the New Boss here: Whomever the New Boss will be, neither seems to think the climate crisis is a big issue. What were we saying about science now?

"All you Zombies", by the Climate Change Zombies takes us to our interview with Chicopee Paranormal Investigators. Then we close with a walk in the dark of night to the presumed safety of the Bus Stop Billboard:


Tuesday, October 23rd through Tuesday, October 30th. The Vigil to End Climate Silence at Government Center in Boston.  It's time to break the silence on climate in the Massachusetts Senate race. We ask that candidates for federal office in Massachusetts spell out their positions on climate change between now and the election, particularly at the October 30th debate. We need to know whether the candidates acknowledge the climate crisis as the biggest issue of our time. Contact: team@350actionfund.org

Wednesday, October 24, 11:00 a.m. Please join Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine members to help end Hartford Hospital’s use of live pigs in trauma training courses. The entrance of Hartford Hospital between Jefferson St. and Zwieback St. at 80 Seymour St., Hartford, CT  Contact: gmazur@pcrm.org

Wednesday, October 24,12 pm - 1:30 pm. GreenWork Roundtable - Creating a Sustainable Public Transit System. Pioneer Valley Central Labor Council, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield. Bring a brown bag lunch and join the conversation. GreenWork consists of advocates for a Green Economy which serves local communities; guarantees workers' rights to organize; and promotes community-owned sustainable projects. Call: (413)565-2381 

The Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation is offering weekly drop-in autumn nature classes for preschoolers at its Sheep Hill property on Monday afternoons beginning Oct. 15th. The weekly classes will include nature explorations focusing on how nature prepares for winter. Come to all or just a single class. 

Sunday, October 28, 8:30am-11:30am. Field Walk Series: Bear Swamp. Join John Green for an autumn exploration of this cool rocky habitat circling a pond with diverse plants and wildlife. FREE • Space is limited • Registration required at The Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street Amherst, MA. Call (413) 256-6006

Monday, October 29, 6 to 8pm. SAGE Alliance dinner & forum. at the Congregational Church on Main Street in Brattleboro. The purpose of the forum is twofold:  to help us all prepare comments on Entergy Vermont Yankee's license extension for two November public hearings by the Vermont Public Service Board. We have invited speakers from groups that are parties to the license extension application to speak on the issues the PSB will be considering. And to organize volunteers to make phone calls to get people out to the public hearings. Contact safeandgreencampaign@gmail.com

OK, we hope none of this keeps you up at night (what was that noise?). All that's left to say is....remember to listen to your MOTHER!

The Occupy Monsanto Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. It's time to revisit the genetically engineered insanity of Monsanto. Adam Eidinger of Occupy Monsanto checks in with news of the "Call to Action for a Non-Hierarchical Occupation of Monsanto Everywhere"!  Also, we get a rewind of the Indigenous Peoples' Day weekend banner drop actions here over I-91 about shutting down that frightening old nuke up the river in Vernon, Vermont.  If that's not scary enough for you, we'll also visit The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and the Fool-on-the-Hill amongst other things, but first it's time for.......Revenge of the Critters! Warning: something's fishy about farmed salmon! 

In our E-Valley-uation segment  we review the hundred mile long anti-nuke banner drop sponsored by the SAGE Alliance during the Indigenous Peoples' Day weekend (you know, the one we used to call Columbus Day?). And this: though we're sure we can do waaaaayy better, it seems Massachusetts scores numero uno on energy efficiency, two years in a row.  Finally, since we're focused on Monsanto here, lets have a look at genetically modified organisms (GMOs) over at Whole Foods! O wait, we can't have a look, Whole Foods had YouTube take down the video! 

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber there's some....um...interesting news? Would you believe the folks at Grist if they told you there might be....LIFE ON MARS!!  Then (after we calm down)  we refer you to Vandana Shiva's Seed Freedom site. It's a place Monsanto would just as soon you didn't visit. Speaking of places, checkout this killer lake.......really! And, speaking of killing, can you believe they're still out there looking to turn polar bears into rugs? (Yes, you can believe it, right?). Well, how about we try and do something about it!  And this pre-Halloween Special: Entergy isn't just a scary threat to our bucolic Valley, how about to the entire New York Metro region! We close with this tidbit from Grist: you think Weyerhaeuser or the U.S. Forest Service were bad players in the woods? How about actual gangsters? 

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is making a return visit after a year and a half hiatus. It's not that Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown has been making nice with the planet all that time, it's just that we think the present moment is appropriate for pointing out that Scotty is....well...not only into posing in the buff, but also in bed with Big Oil and ol' King Coal!  Hell, even Mass Sierra Club is done with him!

Time for our Quote of the Week. This one from one of our most favorite enviros:
"It is absolutely imperative that we protect, preserve and pass on this genetic heritage for man and every other living thing in as good a condition as we received it."    -  David R. Brower

After our interview with Adam Eidinger we move on to the Bus stop Billboard:

Wednesday, October 10, 6-8pm. MassDOT Kicks Off Statewide Transportation Conversation Meetings to be Held to Help Determine Future of Transportation in MA. Final meeting to be held at UMass Amherst Campus Center -Room 168C, 1 Campus Center Way, Amherst. Those who are unable to attend the meetings but wish to submit comments can do so at yourvisionourfuture@dot.state.ma.us

 Monday, October 15, 7 pm. Do you want a federal budget that meets our country’s needs, that supports the 99% instead of the 1%? Come hear Congressman James McGovern, National Priorities Project Executive Director Jo Comerford, and State Representatives Peter Kocot and Ellen Story discuss the Budget For All, which puts Americans back to work in green jobs and so much more?. Join us in the Northampton High School Auditorium. For more information, contact Western Massachusetts AFSC at 413-584-8975. 

Friday and Saturday, October 19 & 20, 5-8:30pm. Enchanted Forest. This popular two-night event comes alive with five characters performing skits along pumpkin lit trails. Each year a theme is chosen to focus on a particular habitat or animal adaptation or characteristic. The Enchanted Forest’s theme this year is “50 Something” in honor of our 50th Anniversary. You may meet a spotted salamander with 50 spots or a 50-year old Eastern Box Turtle.  Fun for all ages. Games, activities, and a fortune-teller are provided indoors while walks are held every 15 minutes. Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street Amherst, MA. Call: (413) 256-6006

October 24,12:00 pm - 1:30 pm. GreenWork Roundtable - Creating a Sustainable Public Transit System. Pioneer Valley Central Labor Council, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield

Bring a brown bag lunch and join the conversation. GreenWork consists of advocates for a Green Economy which serves local communities; guarantees workers' rights to organize; and promotes community-owned sustainable projects. Call: (413)565-2381  

That's about it for now. Remember: while you're out there reveling in the glory of Autumn.....listen to your Mother.

Greetings Earthlings. This week it's one of those rare occasions we pre-record so we can be two places at once (it's like a parallel universe!). You do the Fukushima with Daria Fisk and Dr. Ira Helfand and we go see Tom Wessels on the forested landscape, Tuesday at the Leverett Library. Something for everyone in the wake of the Autumnal Equinox!  Even if we don't come to you live this Tuesday evening, we can still visit The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and The Fool-on-the-Hill, right? How about an Enviro Show Quote of the Week? The E-Valley-uation segment? It's all below, but first it's time for.....Revenge of the Critters! Attention developers: Swimming with Otters is good for business!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we ask the musical question: are we ready to Occupy Monsanto now? Also this novel idea: how about asking Jim Lehrer to ask Obama and Romney about the climate crisis during their debate? What? it's not as important as Obama's birth certificate? Also this: here's the must-see video of the month with Bill Nye the Science Guy!

Guess which fool-on-the-Hill gets an instant replay? Paul Ryan! Surprise! We failed to mention last time that, according to Grist: "Ryan is a leading critic of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, and also has called for cuts to farm programs more than twice as large as those contained in the Senate and House Committee-passed bills". Farms.....where food comes from!

Time to Meet the New Boss again! Remember in the last show we took Obama to task for encouraging Shell to drill for oil in the fragile Arctic? Well......(get it?), they've backed off for a year or so due to safety equipment failure. Obama? Still wants them to drill, baby drill!

Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week for the Autumn Equinox puts us back into the Wayback Machine and this time we go waaaayyy back!

"The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us.  If you can do that, and live that way, you are really wise."
-   Euripides (484 BC - 406 BC) 

In our E-Valley-uation segment the Shut it Down Affinity Group is at it yet again! This time Brat's Chamber of Commerce gets dragged through the radioactive mud for it's support of Entergy's bullshit law suit opposing State of Vermont legislation to shut down the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon (you know, the same type of old sketchy nuke that's melting down in Fukushima?). Anyway, those good ol' gals showed up in the Chamber's chamber in their scary death masks. Checkout the photo: the Chamber guy won't even look at them!

After we run Daria's interview with Dr. Helfand and play some appropriate tunes for you, we close with a visit to the bus stop billboard:

Friday, September 28 - 30. Move to Amend  Workshops to End Corporate Personhood. First Churches of Northampton, 29 Main Street, Northampton, MA Go to: movetoamend.org/contact-us

Saturday, September 29, 10am. Protest Monsanto at the Big E. In order to convince America’s hardworking farmers that Monsanto’s patented genes & toxic chemicals are safe, Monsanto has created a mobile advertising “Unit” that will be spreading lies & pro-GMO propaganda around the United States this year. They will be at State Fairs all across the US, let's make sure we are there to greet them! 1305 Memorial Avenue • West Springfield, MA

Saturday, September 29, 10am.  Mt Holyoke Hike vs. Coal Power. We’ll go to the summit of Mt Holyoke to picnic and discuss the impacts of the Mt Tom coal plant. Meet at 10am at the entrance to the Mt Holyoke Range and Skinner State Park off Route 47 in Hadley. Call: (617) 302-6257 or email: drew.grande@sierraclub.org

Tuesday October 2, 4-7pm. "To the Village Square: An Experiment in American Democracy" A discussion on nuclear power and political activism with Lionel Delevingne and Anna Gyorgy.  Lower Level of Du Bois Library at UMass Amherst. Delevingne will discuss the mass media’s role in the nuclear power issue and his own responsibility before and after the Three Mile Island accident and Chernobyl disaster.  Anna Gyorgy will discuss citizen action and democracy, with international examples based on her work with the Clamshell Alliance, and, more recently, with the strong German anti-nuclear/pro-solar movement.  For more information, contact Kirstin Kay (413) -545-6843, kay@library.umass.edu).

October 5 - 8. SAGE Affinity groups will blanket the highway bridges from Northampton to Burlington with messages on Friday and Monday of Indigenous Peoples' Day (formerly Columbus Day) Weekend, educating tourists and reminding neighbors that there is an old nuclear reactor in our midst. Go to: http://sagealliance.net/event/banner-drop-10-05-12

Tuesday, October 9, 10:30 to 11:30am. Kidleidoscope Bears! is a kid-friendly, hands-on environmental experience for very young children. Event includes a story, interactive games and activities, and a craft to help you and your child understand the world around us. Programming recommended for ages 3-6 with a parent or guardian.Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA. Call: (413) 863-3221

October 10, 6-8pm. MassDOT Kicks Off Statewide Transportation Conversation Meetings to be Held to Help Determine Future of Transportation in MA. Final meeting to be held at UMass Amherst Campus Center -Room 168C, 1 Campus Center Way, Amherst. Those who are unable to attend the meetings but wish to submit comments can do so at yourvisionourfuture@dot.state.ma.us

That does it for us this first week of Autumn.  One last thing: remember to......listen to your Mother!

Yet Another Climate Crisis Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. As much as far-right, flat-Earth Repugnicans would like you to believe otherwise, the science is in and human caused climate disruption is in our collective face. Glen interviews climate activist, Bill McKibben during his recent engagement at Amherst College. We also do the climate crisis in both our Enviro Show Echo Chamber and with this week's Fool-on-the-Hill. And, we Meet the New Boss signing off on oil drilling in the Arctic. What a world......but first it's time for.....Revenge of the Critters! Speaking of the Arctic: Stupid humans gets too close to Binky the Polar Bear.

 In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we find that "parts of the Arctic have become like a giant slushie".  Now that's something Mayor Bloomberg should really ban! The Center for Biological Diversity has good page here on Arctic Oil Development.....or is that Duh....velopment?  Of course, Big Oil is all about the climate crisis. Here's a global analysis of why climate negotiations are locked in a stalemate. Could it have something to do with the U.S. and China? Well.......yeah! And this: did you think the meltdowns at Fukushima are over? Silly human, think again!

Our Fool-on-the-Hill this week has been much in the news lately. It's none other than Repugnican  Congressman Paul Ryan, the GOP's VP hopeful and consummate Enemy of the Planet.  Slate has the story here. We, quite frankly, would rather stick pins in our eyes than speak his name further.

Moving on to our E-Valley-uation segment, we'll do an update on the rescheduled Flotilla action at Vermont Yankee for next Saturday. The theme of that action? "Our River Runs Through It": Entergy's pollution of the Connecticut River.  Meanwhile, over at Entergy's Pilgrim nuke folks are focusing on that scary reactor's pollution in Cape Cod Bay. Also, we revisit that clunky old coal burner by Mt. Tom.  How about a coal-free Massachusetts? After Gov. Patrick's fiery speech at the Dem's National Convention maybe he's ready to fire up the Global Warming Solutions Act? Ask him!

It's growing harder to bash Obama given the alternatives, but it really is time we revisited our Meet the New Boss segment given that the Boss has signed off on Shell Oil drilling in the Arctic. However, he did at least give the climate crisis a plug at the DNC (talk about working at cross purposes!). Of course, The Boss could back off on nukes and dirty coal if he'd just put more emphasis on energy conservation & efficiency. Our Enviro Show Blog Bonus leans hard on Obama's Federal Housing Finance Authority that recently killed the national energy-efficient homes program. Add your voice here!

Our Enviro Show Quote of the week comes from an unlikely source: 

"Preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative challenge, it's common sense." 

- Ronald Reagan, State of the Union address, Jan. 25, 1984

After Glen's interview with Bill McKibben we head over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Saturday, September 15, 11:00am to 5:00pm. Our River Runs Through It: Flotilla & Rally to Stop VT Yankee Pollution on the Connecticut River. More info at: http://sagealliance.net/

Sunday, September 16, 3pm. Genetic Decontamination Event and Music Video Shoot - Downtown Northampton. Part of a Global Week of Action against Genetic Biohazards: #S17 Occupy Monsanto
Info: http://occupy-monsanto.com/    Contact: gcu_northampton@occupy-monsanto.com

Thurs. Sept 20 - Sat. Sept.22 Washington DC NUCLEAR FREE CONVERGENCE ON OUR NATION’S CAPITOL  Details:http://coalitionagainstnukes.org/no-nukes-rally-in-d-c/
 
Friday, September 21, 9am. Occupy Wall Street Environmental Solidarity, in cahoots with our friends at Shut Down Indian Point Now!, will be riding to Washington on Friday September 21 to Occupy the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Our message is simple, No Nukes, Renewable Energy for the 99% Now. Our bus will be departing from Union Square at 9am on Friday.  Please RSVP to this address: tomsiracuse@hotmail.com and please provide your phone #.

Saturday, September 22, 10 am to 4pm. Occupy Western Mass General Assembly. Arts Space, 15 Mill Street, Greenfield, MA. If you have any questions, or still want to make suggestions regarding stories, poems, and discussion topics, please contact/send these to Joshua Epstein at Joshepst@yahoo.com

Friday, September 28 - 30. Move to Amend  Workshops to End Corporate Personhood. First Churches of Northampton, 29 Main Street, Northampton, MA Go to: movetoamend.org/contact-us

Saturday, September 29, 10am. Protest Monsanto at the Big E. In order to convince America’s hardworking farmers that Monsanto’s patented genes & toxic chemicals are safe, Monsanto has created a mobile advertising “Unit” that will be spreading lies & pro-GMO propaganda around the United States this year. They will be at State Fairs all across the US, let's make sure we are there to greet them! 1305 Memorial Avenue • West Springfield, MA

Saturday, September 29, 10am.  Mt Holyoke Hike vs. Coal Power. We’ll go to the summit of Mt Holyoke to picnic and discuss the impacts of the Mt Tom coal plant. Meet at 10am at the entrance to the Mt Holyoke Range and Skinner State Park off Route 47 in Hadley. Call: (617) 302-6257 or email: drew.grande@sierraclub.org

That's it for this week. Remember this however: listen to your Mother!! 

That Rad River Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Last time around we talked about the Connecticut River below the Turners Falls dam and the endangered sturgeon who languish or die there. This time we take you up river to the next damn dam at the VT Yankee nuke where shad have reportedly decreased by 99%, most likely due to heated discharge from the scary old Entergy nuke. Did we mention radioactive leaks? Deb Katz returns to fill us in and invite YOU to take part in Our River Runs Through It: Flotilla and Rally to Stop VT Yankee Pollution  Saturday September 8th  on the Connecticut River. As always we give you latest enviro news in our Echo Chamber and in the E-Valley-uation segment. Also we visit The-Fool-on-the-Hill and hear the Quote of the Week, but first it's time for.........Revenge of the Critters!

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber we rewind Beyond Nuclear's  telling piece, Nuclear evaporating “like dry ice on a hot day”. Soooo, nukes aren't the solution to the climate crisis after all. Surprise! Speaking of which, the Heart(less)land Institute, that far-right freak show that actually had an office in Northampton some years back, is back at it again in the business of climate change denial. By the way, the climate crisis has always put the lie to the promotion of biomass incineration. Now the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is starting to come around to what we've been saying all along: biomass is NOT green energy.  Note: the operative word "starting"?  Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Mark Sylvia has the caveat:  “Through this regulation and other initiatives, DOER believes there is a role for biomass energy in the Commonwealth focused on high efficiency use of the limited sustainable wood resource.” Yuh. Here's our Enviro Show Blog Bonus: this freak on some lame-ass "reality" TV show said shooting a wolf was "the funniest thing he's done in years". Let's see how funny he thinks it is being called out publicly.  Finally, do we think tar sands oil is the answer to the climate crisis? We don't think so! And yet, the construction on the southern end of the proposed Keystone pipeline has begun.

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill hasn't gotten there yet, but we thought we should prepare you for a rightwing nut-job whose parents actually met while working for Big Oil and while in high school he was part of a group sponsored by the so-called Free Enterprise Institute. With a background like that you can bet soon-to-be Texas Senator, Ted Cruz has picked up some....um...interesting ideas about the planet?  

Our very long Enviro Show Quote of the Week is right on target for the show's theme: 

"Today, population and development pressures continue against a backdrop of climate change.  Rare species struggle in the face of ill-placed construction.  Nineteenth century sewage treatment remains the norm in some of our cities--chemicals and untreated human waste continue to pour into rivers.  Even in the twenty-first century companies are dumping unduly-warmed effluent and pollutants into the Connecticut to maximize profits; while others concoct schemes to sell off the basin’s precious, clean water for short-term gain.  Stored nuclear fuel at a riverside plant poses questions that as yet remain unanswered.  Non-point source pollution from farms and other operations degrades water quality.  Poorly-stabilized river and stream banks foul downstream habitats with silt.  Miles and miles of new pavement and parking lots rob groundwater “reservoirs” of their filtering and recharge capacities. Dams, big and small—many of them obsolete, remain impassable barriers to the Connecticut River’s migratory fish and a host of aquatic species that require both upstream and downstream habitat access to successfully complete complex life cycles.  Fish passage and migratory populations on the main stem river are again in decline.  Poor oversight and failing fish passage facilities are two controllable factors that need to be addressed."   -  Connecticut River Watershed Council


In our E-Valley-uation this week we take that call from Deb Katz of the Citizens Awareness Network in order to catch evceryone up on the upcoming  Flotilla & Rally to Stop VT Yankee Pollution on Saturday, September 8 at Noon. But first, let's checkout the Connecticut River Watershed Council's thoughts on the subject.

On to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Friday, August 31, 7pm. Friday Night Free Films presents Controlling Interest: the World of the Multinational Corporation . A 1978 look at multinational corporations and the effects of the flow of capital and jobs across borders. 34 years later it's business-as-usual! Screening at the Frances Crowe Community Room, 60 Masonic Street in Northampton. Enter via Woodstar Cafe, at the front of the building. The venue is accessible.

Wednesday September 5, 7pm. A Design Public Hearing will be held by MassDOT to discuss the proposed Norwottuck Rail Trail Bicycle and Pedestrian Path project in Amherst, Hadley and Northampton, MA.  Hadley Elementary School Cafeteria, 21 River Drive, Hadley. 

Friday, September 7 at 7pm Bill McKibben on “Jail Notes: The Fight for the Planet Starts to Quicken” at the Johnson Chapel, Amherst college, Amherst, MA. Contact: margaretbj[at]aol.com

Saturday, September 8, 11:00am to 5:00pm. Our River Runs Through It: Flotilla & Rally to Stop VT Yankee Pollution on the Connecticut River. More info at: http://sagealliance.net/actions/river-9-8-12

Sunday, September 9, 1 to 5pm. Climate Action Now Conference. First Congregational Church, , Main Street, Amherst, MA  Co-sponsored by Valley groups including The Enviro Show. Open Space format. Go to: http://climateactionnowma.org/

Thurs. Sept 20 - Sat. Sept.22 Washington DC NUCLEAR FREE CONVERGENCE ON OUR NATION’S CAPITOL  Details:http://coalitionagainstnukes.org/no-nukes-rally-in-d-c/
 

That's about it. Remember now........listen to your Mother!

Like Water for Dinosaurs Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. First off: where's our birthday cake??  We're are 7 years old. We must have cake! Speaking of old, did you know that endangered sturgeon that live in the Connecticut River are as old as the dinosaurs? Suppose we told you that these ancient fish are being ground up like hamburger in the turbines of Holyoke Gas and Electric, and the smaller turbines in operation on the Holyoke Canal system, what would you do? Karl Meyer returns to these microphones with the story. Also there's big news in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and in our E-Valley-uation segment. We visit another Fool-on-the-Hill as well as chckout the Quote of the Week, but first it's time for.....Revenge of the Critters!  Sturgeon fight back in Florida!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber the big news comes from General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt who had a rare moment of clarity recently, admitting that: "It's just hard to justify nuclear [power], really hard." Well, yeah! That's what we've been saying.......for 40 years! And this: U.S. Freezes All Nuclear Power Plant Licensing Decisions! Soooooo, how does this effect the ongoing struggle with Entergy at that creepy old nuke up river? Read this. More big news, and this not-so-good from climate guru James Hansen: "Climate change is here and worse than we thought". Sorry, please don't shot the messenger! And this: Warren vs. Brown on the environment. Yes, it even includes Elizabeth Warren's support for Cape Wind: The Right Project in the WRONG PLACE! Brown is opposed to the Big Wind boondoggle, but as far as the rest of the planet goes he's pretty much a threat to life on Earth. The League of Conservation Voters gives him a whopping 22% voting record on the environment compared to Elizabeth Warren's 66% (which isn't all that great either!). Finally, another Enviro Show Blog Bonus: Big Oil set to kill the highly endangered Right Whale? With the blessings of the Department of Interior?? Not if we can help it! The Department of the Interior is proposing seismic testing along the Middle and South Atlantic. Tens of thousands of dolphins and whales will be affected, including endangered right whales, whose only known calving grounds are at the edge of the testing zone. Tell the Secretary of the Interior that we need to protect dolphins and whales in the Atlantic, not drive them away.

In our E-Valley-uation segment there's a bit of good news about Mount Tom: the rock quarry is history.  Speaking of Mt. Tom we have a Blog Bonus Special for you here. Tell the Gov we've had it with old coal burners! Also, the Shut it Down Affinity group does it again! For there 20th No Nukes action they sort of dropped dead in front of VT Yankee (applause!). And since we're talking VT Yankee, how about we all get onboard the upcoming Flotilla? Following up on a previous show: just who killed the Bottle Bill? They have names here and addresses on Google! Drop them a note saying something like "we're not happy!"

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is Senator Sessions, Repugnican from Alabama. A recent session with Sessions found this remark: "I said the data shows it is not warming to the degree that a lot of people predicted, not close to that much".  Jeez! Wonder where THAT data came from?  We have a video special featuring this Fool.....actually, several of them!

Our Quote of the Week calls for a long trip in the Wayback Machine:

"The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of human beings." --Leonardo Da Vinci

During our interview with Karl we learned about the just released "New WSCS Special Publication on the life history and behaviour of Sturgeons". You can find it by scrolling down at this page at the World Sturgeon Conservation Society. Then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:
 

Wednesday August 15 (Every Wednesday), Noon-1:00pm, JAIL THE BANKSTERS! in front of Bank of America in downtown Amherst. Each week, an ad hoc band of protesters, often with “Fee-Free” lemonade, are saying “Bank of America, Bad for America” and whatever your own clever sign says. If you like public support honking, you’ll hear it here. Info: 413-253-7934 

Thursdays, August 16 & 23, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm. Junior Refuge Explorers. Great Falls Discovery Center, Avenue A, Turners Falls.  Each week, there will be hands-on explorations, games, and activities that will allow children to actively learn about the Connecticut River and the many critters that live in its watershed. There is a maximum of 10 children so pre-register early at (413) 863-3221.

Friday, August 17, 6 to 7pm. Come learn about the natural wonders in the Connecticut River Watershed and the poets who have loved them. Hear from poets Emily Dickinson, Wallace Stevens, Frederick Goddard Tuckerman, and more! Great Falls Discovery Center. For more information call (413) 863-3221.

 Sunday August 19, 11am.   Marlboro Tech Graduate Center, Brattleboro, VT. SAGE Alliance Spokes Council meeting will include discussion of: a)Flotilla, b) Banner Drop, c) Committee Reports d)Endorsements, e) Other events. There will be Flotilla posters to distribute at the meeting, make sure you get them for your area. Contact: sagealliance.net/contact 

Friday, August 31, 7pm. Friday Night Free Films presents Controlling Interest: the World of the Multinational Corporation . A 1978 look at multinational corporations and the effects of the flow of capital and jobs across borders. 34 years later it's business-as-usual! Screening at the Frances Crowe Community Room, 60 Masonic Street in Northampton. Enter via Woodstar Cafe, at the front of the building. The venue is accessible.

Wednesday September 5, 7pm. A Design Public Hearing will be held by MassDOT to discuss the proposed Norwottuck Rail Trail Bicycle and Pedestrian Path project in Amherst, Hadley and Northampton, MA.  Hadley Elementary School Cafeteria, 21 River Drive, Hadley. 

Friday, September 7 at 7pm Bill McKibben on “Jail Notes: The Fight for the Planet Starts to Quicken” at the Johnson Chapel, Amherst college, Amherst, MA. Contact: margaretbj[at]aol.com

Saturday, September 8, 11:00am to 5:00pm. Our River Runs Through It: Flotilla & Rally to Stop VT Yankee Pollution on the Connecticut River. More info at: http://sagealliance.net/actions/river-9-8-12

Thurs. Sept 20 - Sat. Sept.22 Washington DC NUCLEAR FREE CONVERGENCE ON OUR NATION’S CAPITOL  Details:http://coalitionagainstnukes.org/no-nukes-rally-in-d-c/

OK, that is all. Over and out.......err....except remember to.....listen to your Mother!

The Devil's Tango Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Time to return to those days of yesteryear. You think the multiple nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, Japan is old news?  Cecile Pineda, author of "Devil's Tango: How I learned the Fukushima Step by Step" calls in to remind us otherwise. Cecile will be speaking here in the Valley next week (see the Bus Stop Billboard). Like always we'll also checkout the situation with our own hopeless old nuke just up river during our E-Valley-uation segment. Also, the Enviro Show Echo Chamber catches up with the climate crisis and another upcoming visit, this time with Bill McKibben. We'll see who this week's Fool-on-the-Hill is and send along The Enviro Show Quote of the Week, but first it's time for.........Revenge of the Critters! Murdered cows strike back!

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber we direct you to a new climate crisis alert by Bill McKibben in Rolling Stone. There's a "CALL FOR ACTION CONFERENCE ON CLIMATE CHANGE" to be held on the morning of Saturday, September 8th, in Amherst. McKibben will be speaking at the Johnson Chapel at Amherst College the evening before the conference. His piece has generated some constructive criticism from activists in our region, including us! In addition, ocean acidification is worse than previously thought (don't let the headline fool you however, it's all part of the climate crisis). Our Blog Bonus Special this week: it seems the most important fish in the sea need your help here. And this: Plutonium from Fukushima made it all the way around the planet. Way to go, Plutonium! Also some good news: Free Larry!

Time for a little E-Valley-uation on that really old Vermont Yankee nuke (did we mention that it's the same old type of boiling water reactor as the ones melting down in Fukushima?.....maybe so). In any case, it seems that scary fuel pool sprang another leak due to human error. Those humans, always making errors! And speaking of errors, there's one on your calendar:  the SAGE Alliance has changed the date for that Flotilla Action in the Connecticut River.  Folks better get shipshape for the new date, of September 8. More info here.

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill recently topped the inmates-running-the-asylum list with his crazed remarks about the Colorado shooting and his defense of nut-job Michelle Bachmann's anti-Muslim McCarthyism, but here on The Enviro Show we're drilling down on Repugnican Louie Gohmert's 96% voting record in support of Big Oil and dirty energy. Hey, the guys from Texas!

Our Quote of the Week comes from this week's guest:
"To say that corporate enterprise has abrogated your right to ask questions, to raise objections, or to expose malfeasance tells only half the story," she writes. "Corporations are not people. We are people, and until we learn to protest en masse, until we make it impossible for corporations to continue stripping the planet, they will hijack our earth, and make all living things expendable. That means you. That means us." - Cecile Pineda

After our conversation with Cecile we'll move on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Thursday, August 2, 7 to 9pm. Join local events on August 4 to stop Mt. Tom Coal Plant, and end huge tax subsidies to  the fossil fuel industry.  The local Beyond Coal campaign (part of the Sierra Club) will host an activist training at Holyoke Rows, Jones Ferry Road, Holyoke. Contact: drew_grande@sierraclub.org 

Thursday August 2, at 7pm in the Edwards Public Library Community Room. To help ensure success at Town Meeting and beyond, we believe it’s imperative to “jump-start” the Friends of the Southampton Greenway.  We hope you will join us at an organizational meeting. Contact: Karen Adamski at kaarbb@hotmail.com or Michael Buehler (413) 527-4023

August 4-9. Walk for a Nuclear Free Future. A six day walk in the Connecticut River Valley. Hartford, Connecticut to the New England Peace Pagoda, in Leverett, MA. Call: Tim Bullock (413) 485-8469

Sunday, August 5, 5:30pm to 9:00pm. Cecile Pineda, Fukushima: The Nuclear Industry’s Gift to our Planet. Lyman Hall, First Churches, Northampton. At 7:45 proceed to Smith's Paradise Pond. At 8 PM for Hiroshima Day commemoration and floating candle ceremony.

Monday, August 6, 1:30pm to 3:00pm. Cecile Pineda at 142 High Street, Amherst.  Information: Hattie at 978.790.3074   or   hattieshalom@verizon.net

August 9-12, Climate Justice Direct Action Camp. Wheelock Mountain Farm. Northeast Kingdom, Vermont. Go here: www.theflashbulb.org/direct-action-camp.html or call: 802-338-1613.

Friday, September 7 at 7pm Bill McKibben on “Jail Notes: The Fight for the Planet Starts to Quicken” at the Johnson Chapel, Amherst college, Amherst, MA. Contact: margaretbj[at]aol.com

Saturday, September 8, 11:00am to 5:00pm. Our River Runs Through It: Flotilla & Rally to Stop VT Yankee Pollution. Flotilla & Rally to Stop VT Yankee Pollution on the Connecticut River. More info at: http://sagealliance.net/actions/river-9-8-12

Thurs. Sept 20 - Sat. Sept.22 Washington DC NUCLEAR FREE CONVERGENCE ON OUR NATION’S CAPITOL  Details: http://coalitionagainstnukes.org/no-nukes-rally-in-d-c/ 

OK for now. We'll be back! AND don't forget to.....listen to your Mother!

The Big Wind Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. We've changed our broadcast time on VFR back to 6pm and it's high time to do the rounds on Big Wind once again. We'll checkout their latest spin with Audra Parker,  President/CEO of Save our Sound.  Speaking of spin, we'll look into the latest from those flat-Earth climate crisis deniers we'd love to ship off-planet. Also joining us to have a look at the previously  proposed Shelburne wind operation is our friend, Janet Sinclair. As usual we visit the Enviro Show Echo Chamber, do the Quote of the Week and do some E-Valley-uation, but first it's time for......Revenge of the Critters! You want to build windmills in Nantucket Sound? Watch out for angry seagulls!


In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber we rewind Tim Egan's excellent op-ed in the New York Times, "The Fire This Time". It's climate change in biblical proportions folks (wonder why all those far-right bible bangers aren't listening?). The word from NOAA is that "The past 12 months have been the warmest on record for the mainland United States." That from State of the Climate - National Overview report. Of course, that's just science. Our Fool-on-the-Hill knows that's a lot of hooey.


This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is a perennial favorite. Yes, Senator James Inhofe, Repugnican of Oklahoma and arch foe of science and all us alarmist enviros has stood once again in the air conditioned gallery of the Senate and spoke the gospel (such as it is) of denial. [Warning: the link takes you to far-right La-La Land. Be prepaired for half-truths and obfuscations!]


Our Quote of the Week comes directly from Michael Cyrus, of SteelRiver Infrastructure Partners (great name, huh?) who have an interest in a proposed Hawaiian wind project actually named Big Wind!  “You have to go through this process of noise, where you let people feel that they had a platform to speak,” Cyrus said. “But you can’t let the noise distract you because time is a nemesis." Thanks for the feeling Big Wind!

Time to Meet the New Boss. Looks like Obama's Department of Justice has its priorities screwed up. The DOJ has been widely criticized for failing to bring to fruition investigations of Wall Street traders' crimes. However, in one instance, its investigators have been relentless: in January, indicting marine biologist Nancy Black, who faces 20 years in prison for allegedly lying to investigators about whether her crew might have illegally fed whales to attract their attention for a boatload of whale-watchers. What would the boss say??

Our E-Valley-uation segment gets pretty much taken up by one of our guests: Janet Sinclair joins us in the studio to talk about Big Wind in WMass, but first, here's an Enviro Show Blog Bonus on that scary nuke up river: Danger Zone: Aging nuclear reactors!


After a call-in from Audra Parker of Save our Sound we move on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday, July 18, Noon to 1pm. Progressive Heat Wave at Rep. Richie Neal's Office. Tax Carbon to Stop Climate Change! Brown Bag Lunch Vigil. 300 State Street, Springfield. Email: field@pdamerica.or

July 20 - 22. Occupy Nuclear Power. Annual Clamshell Alliance Reunion & Anti-Entergy strategy session. World Fellowship Camp and Conference Center, Conway, NH. A day-long Anti-Entergy strategy session will be held on Saturday, half-day on Sunday, to develop a unified opposition campaign targeting Entergy,  Please spread the word, check out the website, and make reservations. worldfellowship.org; reservations@worldfellowship.org

Beginning on July 25, Radical Action for Mountain People’s Survival (RAMPS) will be convening the Mountain Mobilization to shut down a strip mine and build momentum that will finish off mountaintop removal once and for all. Join the West Virginia Mountain Mobilization. Go to: http://rampscampaign.org/mountain-mobilization/register/ 

Saturday, July 28. The first national fracking action. Stop the Frack Attack is a coalition of more than 80 groups, including Public Citizen, that are coming together for four days of action, trainings, networking and lobbying, all culminating with a rally and march at the Capitol.  Go to: www.stopthefrackattack.org/


Saturday, July 28, 1-2 p.m. Tracks Along The River is a hands-on nature program for families about wildlife native to our rivers and wetlands. Join along with naturalist Dawn Marvin Ward for this nature exploration which will include stories, puppets and hands-on activities designed for children with an adult companion. Northfield Public Library. For further info, call Northfield Public Library 498-2455

This July 29th-31 the political and economic elite of the Northeast are meeting in Burlington, VT for the 36th Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers. In closed door meetings at the golf course and dinner table, greenwashed resolutions for trade, energy, climate change, transportation and infrastructure policies for the region will be developed.  The People are organizing too! JULY 29,12pm Welcoming March and Rally, City Hall Park. Go to: www.btvconvergence.net/wordpress/

Sunday, August 5 Cecile Pineda will be on a New England book tour August 5th -13th. She will talk about and autograph her new book "Devil’s Tango (how I learned the Fukushima step by step)"

First Churches, 129 Main Street, Northampton • Potluck at 5:30pm talk and book signing • 7:00 pm

Paradise Pond at Smith College for Hiroshima Day Ceremony and candle float • 8:00 pm

Monday, August 6. Meet with Cecile Pineda • 1:30 pm. for refreshments and book signing

Hosted by Dade Singapuri, 142 High Street, Amherst. 

August 9-12, Climate Justice Direct Action Camp. Wheelock Mountain Farm. Northeast Kingdom, Vermont. Go here: www.theflashbulb.org/direct-action-camp.html or call: 802-338-1613.

That's all folks!......except don't forget........listen to your Mother. 

The Last Minute Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. We were down to the wire with this show given that our annual Pilgrimage to the Sea fell during production time and SOME people didn't do their homework. Be that as it may, we managed to get Amy Donovan, Program Director of the Franklin County Solid Waste Management District calling in for an update on....well, solid waste! Also we'll find time for a visit with the Fool-on-the-Hill as well as The Enviro Show Echo Chamber. We can do some E-Valley-uation and maybe Meet the New Boss as well, but first it's time for...Revenge of the Critters! Roo stalks Aussie Woman (Disclaimer: this comes from Faux "News")

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill goes once again to former car thief, Rep. Darrell Issa who continues the Repugnican safe energy witch hunt in his capacity as head of the House Inquisition...er...Oversight Committee.

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber this AP headline certainly caught our attention while zoning out by the sea on the Cape: "Sea level rising fastest on East Coast". And....sadly...this: Earth summit bombs...again. It gets worse: fishermen who spoke out at the summit were murdered! Meanwhile, closer to home, it looks like it's the Roseate Tern's turn to try and shutdown the Pilgrim nuke in Plymouth. On June 28, 2012, "Pilgrim Watch and the Jones River Watershed Association challenged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, saying their approvals for Entergy's relicensing are arbitrary and capricious and not based on credible data". Also, an Enviro Show Blog Bonus Action Link: the Massachusetts House will vote on a bill to expand the state's most successful solar program this week. Add your voice here.

In our E-Valley-uation segment we take a look at Sunday's "Declare Independence from Entergy" action at the gates of that dangerous dilapidated old nuke in Vernon, VT. 40 protesters were arrested. All were released on personal recognizance ('cuz Vermont knows they are the good citizens as opposed to the corporados at Entergy). And, from the June 28 issue of The Montague Reporter we learn "Shad Rebound in Annual River Count", a fascinating article with quotes from Karl Meyer and others on the problems with the Turners Falls fish ladder. You'll have to pick-up a copy at your news stand 'cuz The Reporter is traditional, it doesn't do digital.

Our Quote of the Week: "Licensing a nuclear power plant is in my view, licensing random premeditated murder. First of all, when you license a plant, you know what you're doing--so it's premeditated. You can't say, "I didn't know." Second, the evidence on radiation-producing cancer is beyond doubt. I've worked fifteen years on it [as of 1982], and so have many others. It is not a question any more: radiation produces cancer, and the evidence is good all the way down to the lowest doses." -- John Gofman

Finally, it's time to scope out the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday, July 4,9am by the Brattleboro high school gather to be part of the No Nukes contingent in the parade! If you need inspiration, here's a few ideas: "Clean it up and mooooove it out!" is a message that fits the float. Our message from the July 1st action "Declare Independence from Entergy!" has a patriotic ring to it! And the 4th is always a good time to "Defend Democracy!" Contact Ed at ema@svcable.net

Wednesday July 4, 4 - 8 pm. July 4th Pitch-in Picnic. Rain or Shine. 3 McClelland Farm Rd, Deerfield. A wonderful place for the picnic and a great variety of ways to enjoy it. Can you come? Can you bring your own utensils? folding chairs? Can you volunteer for a task? RSVP to joanjon@gogtt.net or call 413-467-3944

Wednesday,July 10,11 a.m., Rally at the Courthouse on Obery St. in Plymouth to support the Plymouth14 protesters. For details contact Cape Downwinders, David Agnew, dagnew@gmail.com

Thursday, July 11, 6pm there will be a Public Hearing on Easthampton Bicycle Ordinances 50 Payson Ave., Second Floor Meeting Room, Easthampton. Call Eli Damon at 413-530-3861

Tuesday,July 17,7pm. A Public Lecture by Michael Klare based on his new book,"The Race for What's Left". Will provide a global overview of the corporate drive to exploit what's left of the world's oil, natural gas, coal, uranium, rare minerals, food, water, and land. Bring your questions about hydro-fracking, rare earths, the new oil boom, etc. - and what can be done to address these issues. SMITH COLLEGE, 103 McConnell Hall, Northampton.

July 20 - 22. Occupy Nuclear Power. Annual Clamshell Alliance Reunion & Anti-Entergy strategy session. World Fellowship Camp and Conference Center, Conway, NH. A day-long Anti-Entergy strategy session will be held on Saturday, half-day on Sunday, to develop a unified opposition campaign targeting Entergy, (which also owns many GE BWRs including VY). We invite activists organizing against Entergy-owned nukes Vermont Yankee, Pilgrim, Indian Point, and Fitzpatrick (NY), (and also activists from New Orleans, site of Entergy HQ, and the Entergy-owned Palisades nuke in Michigan). Additional discussion led by Linda and Paul Gunter of Beyond Nuclear on national and international resistance to nuclear power, the aim to shut the 23 US GE Boiling Water Reactors that are twins to at Fukushima, Japan, and lessons learned from Germany, Italy, India, and elsewhere. World Fellowship is an affordable, child friendly location in the White Mountains, founded and run by progressives. Camping and rooms are available, and rates include three excellent meals served family style each day. Please spread the word, check out the website, and make reservations. worldfellowship.org; reservations@worldfellowship.org

Beginning on July 25, Radical Action for Mountain People’s Survival (RAMPS) will be convening the Mountain Mobilization to shut down a strip mine and build momentum that will finish off mountaintop removal once and for all. Join the West Virginia Mountain Mobilization. Go to: http://rampscampaign.org/mountain-mobilization/register/

That's it. We are so out of here. Did you remember to listen to your Mother?

July 1st Declare Independence from Entergy!

The Enviro Show Goes Extinct

Greetings Earthlings. Will the show become extinct? Let us know below if you'd miss us if we vanished from the face of the Earth. Les Knight of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement phones in to talk about "the hopeful alternative to the extinction of millions of species of plants and animals [being] the voluntary extinction of one species: Homo sapiens... us." Besides the disappearing act, we'll also be celebrating (while we still can!) the upcoming Summer Solstice with our favorite house witch, Michelle. And, like always, we'll checkout The Fool-on-the-Hill, The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and do some E-Valley-uation, but first it's time for.......Revenge of the Critters! Hyenas Wreak Havoc in Karatu!

In our E-Valley-uation segment The Shut It Down Affinity Group Brings Health Information to Entergy Headquarters (just in case they weren't aware of the health and safety issues relating to their old crumbling nuke!). Then we set Michelle lose on you for the Summer Solstice!

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, who (for some reason) leads the energy and mineral resources subcommittee under the House Committee on Natural Resources. Lamborn censored a photo that was going to be displayed at a hearing about the effects of mountaintop removal coal mining. The picture showed a kid bathing in the murky water that results from mountain top removal. Even though Lamborn never saw the photo he called it "child porn", presumably because he abhors photos that don't support his world view. We thought photos of destroyed mountains were porn! Did we mention Lamborn got in trouble last year for comparing President Barack Obama to a "tar baby" on a radio show. No? Did we mention that people actually voted this man into office....into the U.S. House of Representatives??

Our Quote of the Week from George Carlin is right on theme: "The planet will be here for a long, long, LONG time after we’re gone, and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself, ’cause that’s what it does. It’s a self-correcting system. The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed. And if it’s true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new paradigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn’t share our prejudice toward plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn’t know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, “Why are we here?.....Plastic.”

There's enough going on out there to fill several Enviro Show Echo Chambers but we'll keep it to a dull roar. First off, the BIG news from the journal Nature: are we at a planetary-scale 'tipping point'? Well, have you been listening for say, the past few decades?? May as well stick an Enviro Show Blog Action Bonus in here: help protect the majestic Blue Fin Tuna, OK? And, speaking of Bluefins, their Pacific cousins have shown up on the Other Coast radiated from Fukushima. The BIG news on the nuclear front comes from the New York Times: Court Forces a Rethinking of Nuclear Fuel Storage (not that the NRC pays much attention to such things).

Bob Dylan's "When the Deal Goes Down", from his Modern Times album takes us to our interview with Les Knight of Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. Then it's on to the Bus stop Billboard:

Wednesday, June 20, 5:30 - 9:00 p.m. Seeds of Resistance Gathering. Join us to Occupy/Resist the BIO Int'l Convention! NO to Monsanto! NO to GMOs! Join us to build community power, resistance, justice, and autonomy! COUNTER CONFERENCE Spontaneous Celebrations, 45 Danforth Street, Jamaica Plain. Contact: ashley@ciclovida.org, 774-460-1274

Thursday, June 21, 11am. Day of Action Against Biodevastation. Dewey Square (near South Station & the Boston Convention Center). Join the Ciclovida team in working to build power in resistance to BIO International, an annual gathering of some of the biggest behemoths in industrial agriculture and the big pharma industry. Contact ashley@ciclovida.org, 774-460-1274

Thursday, June 21, 7pm. Habitat Restoration & the Montague Sand Plain with Tim Simmons. Pre-lecture walk at 5:30 (call first). Great Falls Discovery Center, Avenue A, Turners Falls. Call (413)863-3221.

Monday, June 25, 8:30 am—12:00 pm. Massachusetts Regional WasteWise Forum, EcoBuilding Bargains, 83 Warwick Street, Springfield. Who Should Attend: Businesses, Institutions, Non-profits, Recycling Professionals, Colleges & Universities, Municipalities, and Other Organizations. RSVP: June 18, (413) 586-7350 x 289.

Wed June 27 10:30 – 12:30. Frogs 'N Friends for the Family. Join naturalist Dawn Marvin Ward for a two hour hands-on science program about some special wetland creatures at the Leverett Library. All ages of children are welcome (accompanied by an adult) however the program is geared for 3rd grade and under. This program will start inside with an introduction slide show then head outside (weather permitting) for a walk to a stream. Call: 367-9562

Thursdaqy, June 28th Regional Occupy gathering at Occupy New Haven perhaps with a true All New England March that evening, then the next day Occupy Caravan goes to Occupy Wall Street en route to final overnight in Newark June 29th before reaching Philly for the 5-day National Gathering on June 30th (the big day there will be the final day, July 4th). Go to: occupycaravan.webs.com/

Thursday June 28: COMMUNITY FORUM ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS Thursday June 28 6:45 – 9:00 p.m. Greenfield Middle School Auditorium, Greenfield MA. Come hear what the emergency preparedness plans are and bring your questions about potential nuclear meltdown, etc. Emergency response personnel present will be: Mayor William Martin; Bob Strahan, Director of Emergency Response; Bob Berry, MEMA; Nicole Zabko, Dir of Gfld Dept. Public Health; Tracy Rogers, FRCOG Medic vet expert in radiation emergency Contact : Sandra Boston 413-774-5952, Dorothy McIver 413-772-3747 Sponsored by Citizens for Emergency Preparedness http://sagealliance.net/event/greenfield-6-28-12

Thursday, June 28 at 7:00pm Pioneer Valley Green Rainbow Party Meeting in the Frances Crowe Community Room, 60 Masonic Street, Northampton

Sunday July 1, 10am. Independence from Entergy! Brattleboro Common. After a 45 minute Rally, school buses will be leaving the Common for the gates of the Vermont Yankee nuke. A small donation will be asked for before boarding the bus. Alternatively, we encourage people to join a bicycle procession from the Common to Vermont Yankee in Vernon. This is a relatively flat 8 mile ride. All riders should be able to keep pace with a large group of Adult riders. Once assembled at Vermont Yankee we will engage in non-violent civil disobedience action involving blocking the reactor’s main gates. People engaging in the CD will need to have had nonviolence training, and be in affinity groups. Buses will return to Brattleboro from VY at the conclusion of the action. Email: safeandgreencampaign@gmail.com

Wednesday July 4, 4 - 8 pm. July 4th Pitch-in Picnic. Rain or Shine. 3 McClelland Farm Rd, Deerfield. A wonderful place for the picnic and a great variety of ways to enjoy it. Can you come? Can you bring your own utensils? folding chairs? Can you volunteer for a task? RSVP to joanjon@gogtt.net or call 413-467-3944

Wednesday,July 11th, 8 AM - Rally at Plymouth District Courthouse in support of the Pilgrim 14. Email: gogreens@comcast.net

That about does it for us. Shall we continue on or go extinct? Your call! Drop us an email at enviroshow@valleyfreeradio.org or leave a comment below, and remember: listen to your Mother!