This week's Fool-on-the-Hill hasn't even arrived yet newly elected Repugnican George Santos (Repug- NY) has already been outed as a fraud and a liar. According to the NY Times: "Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, the marquee Wall Street firms on Santos’ campaign biography, told The New York Times they had no record of his ever working there. Officials at Baruch College, which Santos has said he graduated from in 2010, could find no record of anyone matching his name and date of birth graduating that year. There was also little evidence that his animal rescue group, Friends of Pets United, was, as Santos claimed, a tax-exempt organization: The Internal Revenue Service could locate no record of a registered charity with that name." Welcome to the Party, George!
And now, something completely different: Our Fool-of-the-Year!
We're quite sure neither of the fools above agree when we inform them "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" but those of us who believe science instead of business-as-usual will never stop trying to clue them in. Here's a headline that should shock them if they weren't so brainwashed: "Giant Methane Leak Tops List of Worst US Climate Disasters in 2022". The Equitrans fracked gas storage well in rural Pennsylvania is the culprit. Are we surprised? Nah! We don't wish to mess with your Holidaze but you should be aware "global demand for chocolate, not least during the holiday season, has devoured tropical forests where cocoa trees grow." The New York Times' Climate Forward story cites one example, "According to Trase, which tracks the impact of global commodities on forests, Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa exporter, has lost most of its tropical forests in the last half century. Between 2000 and 2019 alone, 2.4 million hectares of forest were cleared to make room for cocoa plantations." Sorry, revelers but the good news is "You can learn how chocolate makers compare with each other on efforts to address deforestation, farmer incomes and the use of child labor by checking out the Chocolate Scorecard, compiled by advocates and academics."
In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we find that "Roughly 190 nations, aiming to halt a dangerous decline in biodiversity, agreed [at the COP Biodiversity summit] to preserve 30 percent of the planet’s land and seas. The United States is not officially a participant." The Times tells us: "The agreement comes as biodiversity is declining worldwide at rates never seen before in human history. Researchers have projected that a million plants and animals are at risk of extinction, many within decades. The last extinction event of that magnitude was the one that killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago." Care for more bad news to start off the New Year? "With its latest leak of nearly 600,000 gallons in northern Kansas, the sprawling Keystone pipeline system has now spilled more crude oil in the United States than any other pipeline, according to a new analysis by Bloomberg." Perhaps some Enviro Show fans are under the impression high profile groups like The Nature Conservancy are out there making things better? Sorry, some of us think TNC stands for The Nature Conspiracy. Finally, we were very pleased to hear that Maura Healey has tapped a true tree champion, Melissa Hoffer, to be her Climate Chief, a new Cabinet-level position in the Healey Administration. If you don't know who Melissa is, take a look at this video from a presentation that she organized a couple of years ago when she worked in the AG's Office. Also, featuring Melissa is this Enviro Show interview from the same time period. These two recordings will give you a good sense of who Melissa Hoffer is and explain why we are very excited to know that she will be leading the effort to address the climate emergency in this new Administration.
Now it is time for an Enviro Show Quote of the Year. This one wasn't spoken this past year BUT it certainly is one to remember in the coming years:
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
—Albert Einstein
Time for the last Good Riddance Biomass Baker Countdown Timer of 2022
After Glen tears Baker a new one we move on to our conversation with Leah and then it's on to The Bus Stop Billboard:
January 26, 11am. Boston Fee Party on Thursday, next to the Boston Children's Museum. Right now, our state leaders have no representation on the Board of Directors for ISO-NE - it's a black box of decision-making that is keeping us hooked on fossil fuels. That over-dependence on fracked gas is what has put us in the situation this winter with skyrocketing electric bills. We can't afford more delays in the transition to clean energy! We're calling on Maura Healey to be a leader in pushing for key governance reforms: no rate elevation without representation! RSVP here and invite your friends!
Friday January 27 Deadline Comment at: https://www.regulations.
February 15, 10:00am & 5pm. Virtual Public hearings on 310 CMR 7.74 Reducing CO2 Emissions from Electricity Generating Facilities. On January 4, 2022, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection filed proposed regulation amendments to 310 CMR
7.74 Reducing CO2 Emissions from Electricity Generating Facilities. The
proposed amendments address CO2 emissions attributable to the production
of useful net thermal energy by facilities regulated under 310 CMR
7.74. Go HERE.
That's it for 2022 folks, see you next year and don't forget to.....LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER!
No comments:
Post a Comment