A Northeast Wildlands Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Some weeks back "the first study in the US to document all forever-wildlands in a single region" was released under the title, "Wildlands in New England, Past, Present, and Future". You know we here on The Enviro Show are all about forever wild, so we've invited Dr. Susan A. Masino back to the show to help us suss out that study. [UPDATE: Interview HERE] As always, we'll try not to go too wild with this week's Fool-on-the-Hill or those Who Brains Were Small, as well as reminding any laggards out there that "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" and more but first it's Revenge of the Critters! College wrestlers meet their match!

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is Rep. Clay Higgins (Repug-LA) who, like many of his MAGA Death Cult fanatics, needs some serious rewiring. Recently Higgins posted a tweet that  referenced military-grade maps and made allusions to taking over bridges in Miami where Trump was arraigned. One Representative pointed out, "Most of this guy's House GOP colleagues know he's dangerous and unhinged but they tolerate him."  Surprise! 

Nearly all those House GOP colleagues seem unaware that "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" but we'd like to think they would wake-up after reading headlines like this in the Boston Globe: "‘Nothing like this has ever happened before’: The world’s oceans are at record high temps". Ya' think?.......Nah!  Also, in keeping with that sorry news we find this: A new study published by researchers in South Korea, Germany, and Canada in Nature Communications found that even far-reaching action will no longer save the sea ice. The scientists found that even in a low-emissions scenario, summer ice in the Arctic will be gone by the 2050s. Here's a headline they might get behind: "The Climate Crisis Canceled Our Climate Rally." The story at Common Dreams went on to say: "We planned a forceful but joyful teach-in and art action featuring stickers, screen printing, and a giant story book. But with the climate crisis causing NYC to suffer the world’s worst air quality due to smoke billowing from Canada’s unabated wildfires, there was no way we could gather people to chant and sing. The danger to our health is too great. We had to cancel. The climate crisis canceled our climate rally." Presumably we'll be seeing more of that and hopefully MORE RALLIES! Of course, one answer to all this climate chaos is something we've been discussing on this show forever. Our guest will be talking about it as well, it's "Wildlands, the Natural Answer to Climate Change"

Meanwhile, over in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we repeat an NPR story on the obnoxious practice of bleeding prehistoric Horseshoe Crabs for biomedical purposes even though a synthetic option is available. Sad to say, one of those operators is reportedly "Charles River Laboratories, a publicly traded company based in Massachusetts". Maybe they need to hear from residents of the Commonwealth....ya' think?  And this: folks in Lee, MA are suing Monsanto for the PCP dumping taking place there. And now, THIS.

On to "Their Brains were small & they died"and the sordid tale of a Kenya death cult whose leader "Paul Mackenzie ordered congregants to starve to death in order to meet Jesus....More than 600 people are missing." Yes, we have our own MAGA Death Cult here in the States responsible for untold thousands of deaths due to their highly promoted COVID vaccine resistance. We don't remember any meme like "Own the Libs and Meet Jesus" but you know, not-so great minds think alike.

Time for Quotes of the Week

“In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir

 

 "In Wildness is the Preservation of the World" -Henry David Thoreau

 After our conversation with Susan we move on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Thursday July 6, 7 pm. A chemical recycling action party co-sponsored by Beyond Plastics and hosted by Climate Action Now. We'll hear from Josephine Gingerich of the Climate Reality Project and Dr. Arthur Bowman III of the Center for Environmental Health. Then together we'll use the Climate Action Now app to quickly and easily email and call our elected officials. Go HERE  

Tuesday July 11, 7 to 8:30am.  Join us in a public stand-out to oppose private jet expansion at Hanscom or anywhere. Make a sign, join us, and invite your friends as well. More info here: https://www.stopprivatejetexpansion.org/  

 Wednesday July 12,  Noon to 1pm.Want to be an informed advocate so you can help pass laws with us? Expect a succinct and informative update about the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s work at the federal, state, and local levels to advance important animal protection legislation. We advocate across the country for laws that promote or protect the lives and interests of animals. This webinar will bring you up to speed on the latest legislative developments so you can get active and save lives with us. Join us on Wednesday, July 12, for Legislative Affairs Program Mid-Year Review.

Wednesday July 12, 1 p.m. S.2090 – An Act incorporating embodied carbon into state climate policy and S.2093 – An Act expanding access to the fossil fuel free demonstration project, will have a hearing before the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. You can learn more about S.2090 on the Massachusetts Climate Action Network site, here. You can learn more about S.2093 on the Zero Carbon MA site, here. To testify in-person or virtually: Register by completing this form by 11 a.m. on Wednesday, July 12th. 

 

Wednesday July 12,  7 to 8pm. Please join us for a virtual conversation with author and environmental leader, Bill McKibben and Pullitzer-Prize winning journalist and author, Elizabeth Kolbert about Plastics & The Future of Our Planet.  Register now for this free webinar.

Monday July 13, 1pm. Stand Out & Rally. Brockton Superior Court, 72 Belmont St. at 1 p.m.  Support local residents asking the court for a preliminary injunction to shut down the Maki - Lopes sand mining site on Meadow St.! Press conference and rally! Contact HERE. 

Thursday July 20, 11am. An MCAN event, titled "Clean Energy Infrastructure, Environmental Justice, & Community Needs" will include a blockbuster panel of key members of the MA administration and the Attorney General's Office as well as Greenroots and members of Prince Lobel and Tye. The panel will discuss critical questions for our clean energy transition and touch on the need for necessary reforms that are needed to advance environmental justice. Go HERE.  

Saturday July 22, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Rally to Protect Forests, Water and Communities and to Stop Sand Mining in Southeastern Massachusetts. Plymouth MA: Specific Location To Be Announced Later. Join us for a rally and to support grassroots activists working protecting the Pine Barrens forests, rivers, wetlands, ecosystems and communities throughout Southeastern Massachusetts! Learn about the threats, why the destruction is happening on

environmentwatchsoutheasternma@gmail.com

 July 24-27  The 2023 NOFA Summer Conference will be happening online, and online and in person at Worcester State University. This shift to Worcester is a change that we’re excited about, and we have a long-standing relationship with WSU as it has been the home of the NOFA/Mass Winter Conference for many years. On Friday, July 28, we kick off the in-person portion of the conference in the evening, with dinner and salsa dancing for a good cause, and then on Saturday, July 29, we’ll be in person and online all day, hosting workshops, caucus groups, a fair, and opportunities for networking and community! This year’s conference theme is “Buen Vivir: Celebrating Harmony with Nature and our Communities” Go HERE

Sunday July 30, 5:30 to 6:30pm. Where are the Wildlands.  The Case for New National Parks with Susan Masino & Michael Kellett. Free & Open to the Oublic. Presentation followed by Dinner at 7:00 p.m.Menu  posted on Dining Page   HERE Bascom Lodge, 30 Rockwell Road, Lanesboro, MA 01237

That's all, folks (at least for this show) but do remember to.....Listen to yur' Mother!

  

 

The New Forestry Initiative Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. So, we've....um...sort of turned off our Gov. Healey's Logging Moratorium Announcement Timer on our blog since the administration announced their "New Climate-Focused Forestry Initiative" (complete with some of the cut & run euphemisms we warned them about). Michael Kellett of Restore the North Woods returns to dig deep into the plan. [UPDATE: Interview HERE] As always, we will intro you to this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and to some of those Whose Brains Were Small, as well as that reminder to those who seem to have forgotten that......"It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!"and more, but first it's time for.....Revenge of the Critters! It's said an Elephant never forgets but this? 

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill seems to prove her foolishness by the day (much less her toxicity) but we just stumbled on Rep. Marge Greene's global-warming-is-good-for-you comment from last year at this time. Not sure how that got by us, could be 'cuz of all the other fools going off on The Hill. So, here it is snagged by Newsweek last June, "This Earth warming and carbon is actually healthy for us. It helps us to feed people, it helps keep people alive, the Earth is more green than it was years and years ago and that is because of the Earth warming." Alternative Facts anyone? 

Our recent encounter with certain bureaucrats in charge of certain interests yours truly hold dearly reminds us that "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!"  Last week's dystopian brush with what looked like a world on fire (it actually was Canada on fire) was a record breaking reminder "U.S. Hits New Atmospheric Carbon Record, While Wildfires Blanket Continent In Smoke" The HuffPo piece notes, "United States scientists documented the highest level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in millions of years, at the same time as record wildfires blazed through Canada, lacing the air from the Midwest to the East Coast in a blanket of smoke with enough disease-causing particles to make venturing outside unsafe for people with breathing problems."  NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad points out, “Every year, we see the impacts of climate change in the heat waves, droughts, flooding, wildfires and storms happening all around us. While we will have to adapt to the climate impacts we cannot avoid, we must expend every effort to slash carbon pollution and safeguard this planet and the life that calls it home.” There it is, anybody listening? 

"Their Brains were small & they died" returns with the sorry tale of a Colorado state Repugnican with some serious issues. During debate on a bill addressing discrimination of those with disabilities  State Rep. Richard Holtorf (R-Akron) argued against civil liability for disability discrimination by likening people with disabilities to those hurt during Pamplona's running of the bulls. "If you're dumb enough to get on this road and run... you own it" Holtorf said. Further evidence of Holtorf's ignorance: "In 2021, Democrats confronted him for calling a colleague "Buckwheat" during a floor debate. That same year, he suggested state Sen. Tom Sullivan, D-Aurora, whose son was killed in the Aurora theater shooting, needed to "let go" of his son's murder."  

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber we shamelessly parrot ourselves regarding the struggle against vested interests and rogue agencies lording it over the people of Massachusetts with regard to our Public Lands and municipal trees. Our interview with Michael Kellett of Restore the North Woods on this show (and in past shows) no longer seem like voices in the wilderness; people all across the Commonwealth and groups like Massachusetts Sierra Club's Forest Protection Team; Trees as a Public Good Network; Wendell State Forest Alliance; Climate Action Now; ORMA Climate Working Group;  Elders Climate Action Massachusetts and others are rising up in rapidly growing numbers to protect trees & forests. We call upon our listeners, their friends & neighbors and all people of goodwill to join us in an existential struggle for the public good and for future generations. It's the Climate Crisis, let's get to work!  

Perhaps this is an appropriate time to check in with the Prez, are we Abidin' with Biden or Backslidin' with Biden?  Maybe, like recently here in the Commonwealth, a bit of both. That said, should we really be making deals with The Takers in the midst of a climate emergency?? As Bill McKibben noted last week, sitting in front of the White House at a protest: the Biden Administration approved plans for an enormous new oil-drilling complex in Alaska (and liquefied-natural-gas exports), huge new offshore-drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico, and more recently the Mountain Valley Pipeline as part of the Debt Ceiling deal. All that around the same time he did more than any president in recent memory to move us toward clean renewable energy. Sorry Joe, the days of having it both ways are over, OK?

 

On to our Enviro Show Quote of the Week which says something about compromise:

"The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible”

— Arthur C. Clarke

After our conversation with Michael it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Saturday, June 24, 10am to 4pm. Women's March Nationwide Day of Action. Northampton City Hall steps, 210 Main Street, Northampton, MA, 01060. On June 24th, 2022, the SCOTUS struck down one of womens most fundamental rights: The right to abortion. One year later, we are still fighting for our rights back. Join us, and rally for our rights. We will mobilize to let partisan extremists know that we will not let democracy die; we’re not done fighting. We will mobilize to let authoritarians know that we will not allow protest or freedom of speech to be chilled or killed in our country.Our fight is bigger than Roe. We are fighting for nothing less than democracy itself. We are not done fighting. And together, we will win.  Go HERE.  

June 24-July 1 for the next Week of Action to Stop Cop City. You can read more about the Week of Action, what to bring, and what to expect here: stopcopcitysolidarity.org/mobilize

 

Monday June 26, 7p.m. Shutesbury solar forum where we will provide a thorough explanation about the current situation with Cowls et al lawsuit, what it means for you and our town, and what needs to happen next. Register to attend. Keynote speakers include State Representative for our district, Aaron Saunders and Environmental Lawyer Meg Sheehan 

Wednesday, June 28th at 10 am (House) and 1 pm (Senate).  With your help, Massachusetts can continue to be a leader in rejecting the false climate solution of burning our forests for energy.  You can testify in person or virtually, and/or submit written comments. Either way, we now have to submit our testimony separately to the House and the Senate TUE committees, until they work things out. For more information and for talking points, please visit the NoToxicBiomass website. 

Thursday June 29,7:00-8:30pm. MA: Forever Chemicals and the Climate Crisis. Robbins Public Library, 700 Massachusetts Ave, Arlington , Massachusetts, 02476  Contact: info.ma.healthy.soils@mothersoutfront.org. Healthy Soil, Livable Future invites you to learn more about “forever chemicals”. Because of their widespread and persistent use, PFAS are found in water, air, fish, humans, and soil.  

 

 

That's it except this: Remember to listen to your Mother, OK?