Blog Archive

Sunday, November 14, 2021

The Trees on Beacon Hill Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. The official Tour of the Massachusetts State House only mentions "a line of poplars was planted along the west property line", all the rest of the site is only devoted to statues, plaques and the building itself. There may be some other internet site or brochure out there that deals with the landscaping of Beacon Hill but what about the business of legislating in relation to trees? There are a host of bills that address just that. Massachusetts forest protection bill H.912  "... would designate all 412,000 acres of park, forest, and watershed lands administered by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation as parks or reserves", while H.1002 "..would expand and make permanent the existing system of reserves on public Wildlife Management Areas administered by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife."  Also, with regard to dirty biomass H.3333 An Act to prevent biomass energy to protect the air we breathe. Janet Sinclair of Save Massachusetts Forests & David Meshoulam, Executive Director & Co-Founder of Speak for the Trees Boston  supporting H.905 /S. 504 An Act establishing the municipal reforestation program join us to see the forest for the trees. [UPDATE! Interviews HERE] As always, we will also take you to witness this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and to remind everyone "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!". Also, it's that time of year again for Valley Free Radio's Fall Fund Drive, that important moment when Enviro Show fans step up and support the show. Sooooo, Go HERE and THANKS very much! Now it's time for..........Revenge of the Critters!  Turkeys know about Thanksgiving and they are not pleased.

Another dangerous Fool-on-the-Hill this week because....well, Repugnicans we guess. We've had Repugnican Rep. and well known bobble head, Paul Gosar on before but this time he has stepped way over the line and was foolish enough to send up an animae of himself killing AOC and threatening The Prez? HuffPo reports: "In the video, Gosar is depicted fighting the animation’s “Titans” with far-right Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.). In one scene, Ocasio-Cortez’s face is superimposed on one of the Titans. Gosar slashes its neck and kills it. In another scene, Gosar swings two swords at an enemy with Biden’s face edited onto it."  Child's play or terrorism against a federal official? You decide! 

Apparently, more than a few attendees to the recent COP 26 Climate Meeting are actually unaware that "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!"  While more than 100 countries pledged to halt deforestation by 2030, as part of an agreement at COP26, the United Nations climate summit that took place in Glasgow, Scotland, there's no enforcement to back it up and it has a fatal flaw. That lack of accountability is one of the many complaints lodged at the summit as an estimated 100,000 protesters took to the streets in Glasgow to demand world leaders  take stronger action to curb the global crisis. Maybe those protesters are upset that attendees only came up with  a draft agreement late Wednesday that countries will use as a template for a global agreement on stronger action against global warming at some unspecified time in the future? Ya' think?? And this: "After nearly two weeks of negotiations, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland was expected to extend into the weekend Friday as policymakers missed the evening deadline for finalizing their deal on how countries will combat the climate crisis—with leaders unable to come to an agreement thus far regarding financial support for the Global South, fossil fuel subsidies, and other key issues" reports Common Dreams. Late Saturday the Globe reported: "Government negotiators from nearly 200 countries have adopted a new deal on climate action after a last-minute intervention by India to water down the language on cutting emissions from coal. Several countries including small island states said they were deeply disappointed by the move to “phase down,” rather than “phase out” coal power, the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions." And this from XR: " After all the fanfare, COP26 has failed. Not one of the G20 nations, the richest and most culpable for this crisis, will cut emissions to keep global heating even close to 1.5C. Global South nations have not been given the promised funds to rebuild from and defend against the extreme weather that already devastates their lands and people. Fossil fuel infrastructure will continue to expand and governments will continue to rig markets to encourage it. On all fronts, yet again, the can has been kicked down the road."  There will be, of course, some rosier takes on the end of COP-26. We will post them if they aren't just more Blaa Blaa Blaa.  


We guess we'll be Backslidin' with Biden on Wednesday when "The Biden administration will be holding the oil and gas lease auction on Nov. 17, 2021. On Aug. 31, Earthjustice filed a lawsuit in federal court in the District of Columbia against Interior and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on behalf of Healthy Gulf, Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, and the Center for Biological Diversity challenging Interior’s decision to hold lease sale 257. The lawsuit argues that the 2017 environmental analysis the Biden administration is relying on to hold the sale is outdated. Among other things, it ignores new information showing the rising dangers from pipeline leaks." That from Earth Justice.   And here's an update from Politico : "Since leaving the U.N. climate summit, Biden has jawboned OPEC to boost oil production, a plea that was rebuffed. He’s considering tapping the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve. He’s calculating whether closing a Michigan oil pipeline would lead to fuel price shocks. And on Nov. 17, just days after the COP26 summit wraps up, his administration will hold a court-ordered sale of oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico, an auction that environmental groups say he has the power to delay or even stop."  Will he? Stay tuned! 


In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber the The Partnership for Policy Integrity has created a sign-up form for joining a new statewide listserv to focus on ending Massachusetts subsidies for woody biomass energy and protecting our forests. And this: An Enviro Show Action Link to end offshore drilling  


Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week calls for a brief hop in the Wayback Machine:

"Revolution is about the need to re-evolve political, economic and social justice and power back into the hands of the people, preferably through legislation and policies that make human sense. That's what revolution is about. Revolution is not about shootouts."

 Bobby Seale


 After our guests have had their say it's on to The Bus stop Billboard




December 4 & 5, All Day.Massachusetts progressives are well aware of the crises we face. Climate catastrophes and COVID-19 ravage communities across the country, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and the poor always suffering most. The risk of nuclear war is as close as we have ever been.  In Massachusetts, the growing incidence of the diseases of despair; addiction, ODs, and suicide reflect the worsening misery of much of our population while Trumpism threatens our political will to make change happen.Come to our online Fall 2021 conference, Coming Together: Building Progressive Political Power, on Dec 4-5, where we will explore how we can move our programs forward with maximum impact, strategizing how to engage, unite and build the power needed to reverse the destructive policies of our current governmental structures. We acknowledge the urgency to center those whose lived experiences of resistance to oppression and injustice form the scaffold for our agenda. Go HERE.  



Wednesday December 8, 2:30-4pm. Stop the Money Pipeline action co-sponsored by XR WMass, CAN, Mothers Out Front, and ARHS Sunrise! STMP aims targets banks financing pipelines, like Line 3, demanding that they stop funding fossil fuel projects that destroy our planet. We'll be delivering letters to the mangers of TD Bank and Bank of America and voicing our demands loud and clear outside, with a festive march from TD Bank to BoA in-between. It's a half-day for Amherst schools so the high schoolers can make it! 

Please spread the word and hope to see you there!  Check out Climate Action Now's new "Stop the Money Pipeline" group.  Email Sue at susalson@gmail.com  for details.



Sunday December 12,  7:15pm.  Protecting Shutesbury Land & Water While Building Solar. Trees & Solar, We Need Both! Forum on Shutesbury Industrial Solar . Register HERE.   



That's all for now folks but do remember to.......LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER!  





 

 

 

 

 

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