Greetings Earthlings. We spend a good deal of time criticizing the Massachusetts Department of Cut & Run (usually known as Conservation & Recreation), and for good reason, given they are trashing our public forests. There's another state agency we haven't spent as nearly as much time getting on their case for similar climate crimes, The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, sometimes referred to as MassWildlife, an agency of the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, within the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. We shift our focus on them now with the help, once again, of Michael Kellett, of Restore the North Woods. Michael is the lead author of a newly released study, Forest-clearing to create early-successional habitats: Questionable benefits, significant costs (it's long and detailed with all sorts of citations and footnotes on how a lot of our public lands are being subjected to what we call sketchy science and ill-advised experimentation). [UPDATE: Interview HERE] As usual, we will also bring you along to meet this week's Fool-on-the-Hill, our candidate for a new segment "Their Brains Were Small & They Died", and a peek into The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, and our other new gadget "The Gov. Healey Logging Moritorium Announcement Timer" on our blog (we're waiting!) but first it's time for..........Revenge of the Critters! "Bull on a Rope" sounds ill-advised from here.
Our Fool-on-the-Hill is a repeat offender, this time Sen. Tom Cotton, (R-Ark) made the bogus statement "Democrats are coming for your kitchen appliances. Their desire to control every aspect of your life knows no bounds—including how you make breakfast. They just can’t help themselves" in response to mere warnings about the dangers of fracked gas in the home. Yes folks, it's the Repugs tired old gaslighting again. 😉
Let's go directly to our new "Their Brains Were Small & They Died" segment where we find some folks from Finland giving new meaning to the term shortsighted. Stora Enso, in Finland, describes itself as "one of the largest private forest owners in the world" so hey, why not turn a bunch of those trees into........batteries? Lauri Lehtonen, head of Stora Enso's lignin-based battery scheme called, Lignode says: "With more and more people buying electric cars and storing energy at home, the global appetite for batteries is expected to grow sharply in the coming years". As Lehtonen sees it, "the demand is just mind-blowing". If you say so, Lauri but not as mind-blowing as clearcutting carbon capturing forests to make business-as-usual batteries.
There's a reason we say "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" We're not sure which segment this clunker should go in 'cuz surely some people behind this idea may have small brain issues. That said, this is assuredly a Climate Crisis issue too, besides being epic stupid. It was announced recently that the UN's COP 28 climate conference next November will be led by Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company? You might want to click on that link to register your....um...thoughts. Also, The Guardian reported on a disturbing trend, mostly out West where forests ravaged by climate-driven wildfires are not returning, mostly due to climate-driven drought and heat. And this: climate activists in Germany have been occupying a small village near a coal mine for the past few years in an effort to stop the expansion of the mine. Sadly, they were recently removed and Germany (no longer purchasing Russian gas due to the invasion of Ukraine) now takes a giant step backwards in energy.
In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber Inside Climate News informs us, "In
the first half of 2022, the United States became the world’s top
exporter of liquified natural gas. Then, in September, crude oil exports
hit an all-time high when the country sent abroad about 4 million
barrels per day." It gets worse: "The rise in oil and gas exports has been supported by three consecutive
presidential administrations that each viewed energy exports as a lever
of foreign policy. More than anything, though, it is the culmination of a sustained campaign by the oil industry that has seen production soar even as domestic demand for its fuels threatens to decline." Looks like we're "Back Slidin' with Biden" and Obama before him. We are sad and angry to report the shooting of forest protector Manuel Teran by the Atlanta Police. Tort was shot and killed by police last Wednesday during a violent raid of the
protest camp and community gathering space that has blocked construction
of an enormous police training facility known as “Cop City” on roughly 100 acres of public forest in southeast Atlanta. Also, you know how we go on-and-on about plastics, right? There might be some good news about recycling plastics. Are you ready?......worms. Problem is, they just don't eat fast enough. And finally, PETA is getting into UMass Amherst's face yet again over animal torture. "PETA supporters were kicked out by security
at the Westin St. Francis hotel in San Francisco, CA after invading the
University of Massachusetts–Amherst (UMass) alumni event and confronting President Marty Meehan and Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy over the
school’s
horrific menopause experiments on marmoset monkeys. Video footage is available
here".
A bit of a new twist to our Enviro Show Quote of the Week. Glen has suggested d.o. read his latest poem titled "Eugenics.....for Trees!":
Select the very best and kill the rest seems
at best a fascist test for those who attest
to love the woodlands but should most likely
give it a rest, take some time to quiet the mind
sit with the trees and wait in time not fall back
to some kind of rewind and status quo bind
sit with the wood until understood future is
not the past but the last chance to get passed
old notions and assembled motions leading
forward to flooding oceans and tortured
skies brought on by business-as-usual and
far too many lies
After our conversation with Michael it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:
APRIL 11, 7pm. Via Zoom: PFAS: The Forever Chemicals. Sponsored by Brookline Mothers Out Front and Brookline Department of Public Health & Human Services. Co-sponsors: Brookline Rotary and Friends of Brookline Public Health. Register in advance: https://tinyurl.com/
Thursday April 13, 6:30pm. Turning a Barren Lawn into Thriving Habitat, by naturalists Charley Eiseman and Julia Blyth – ZOOM talk. Email contact: info@greeninggreenfieldma.org
April 21-24, All Day. The Big One. This invitation is for everybody to Unite to Survive – and come together from the 21st to the 24th April at The Houses of Parliament, Westminster, UK. Go HERE.
Monday April 24, 7pm. Climate Action Now Gathering with Melissa Hoffer - First ever Climate Chief in the Commonwealth. Go HERE.
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