A Somewhat Presidential Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Presidents Day starts the week off and we're hoping you'll stick with the one we have and not go with the one who will destroy near everything in the USA. Yes, His Malignancy The Mad King is creeping around in the wings again (when he's not in court for 91 counts in four criminal cases), hoping to slither into the White House home base before being dragged off to prison. We're hoping for the latter and thus, Abidin' with Biden regardless of just about anything. Our guest this week is MA Sierra Club organizer Celeste Venolia who will discuss MA Sierra Club's Forest Protection Team's efforts in their Watershed Forest Subcommittee. As always, we will bring you with us to meet this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and Those Whose Brains Were Small and more but first it's time for.......Revenge of the Critters! Revenge of the Leopard.....on video.

Our lying Fool-on-the-Hill is Rep. Andrew Clyde, one of 65 Repugnicans brazenly sponsoring a resolution [last] week declaring that Donald Trump “did not engage in insurrection or rebellion against the United States.” Clyde even claimed January 6 rioters were coming on a “normal tourist visit.” This is Clyde on January 6, 2021, clearly understanding that an insurrection was coming for him as he hid behind a Capitol Police officer: 

 A reminder to Presidents everywhere: "It's the Climate Crisis,Stupid!" And this new study is another in the "worse than we thought" category. "The study, published last month in the journal Nature, effectively captures ice loss at the edges of glaciers where they meet the sea. The researchers manually recorded changes at the edges of the ice and also trained algorithms to track melting along the border where the glacier meets the sea. Previous research focused primarily on capturing melting within a fixed ice mask, an established perimeter, of the ice sheet, which often missed the notable impacts of calving ice breaking off from the edges of the ice sheet. The new research indicates that 1,000 gigatons of ice went unaccounted for in previous estimates. "  reports Inside Climate News.  

 On to "Their Brains Were Small and They Died" We reported on the avocado controversy on a past show but given the mentality of the cartels in this sorry business we thought we'd echo our friends at the center for Biological Diversity for this segment: "Most avocados sold in the United States come from a single region in Mexico, where the industry burns forests and uses an enormous amount of water — 18.5 gallons to produce one avocado — in a region already suffering from extreme drought [where millions of monarch butterflies migrate to spend the winter and other imperiled wildlife struggle to survive.] Avocado production also brings land grabs, pollution, and violence to Indigenous and other local communities. Research from Climate Rights International has linked this devastation to importers [try Climate Criminals] that supply major U.S. grocery stores with avocados." Here's an Action Link:
Tell U.S. grocery stores to adopt avocado-sourcing policies that protect human rights and monarch habitat.

For our Abidin' with Biden segment yours truly d.o. has a special Presidents Day commentary for you. Let's start with a pithy quote from Emerson:

"The years teach much which the days never know."

In many cultures around the world, cultures far older than what we have here in the United States, elders are held in high regard. Their experience and knowledge serve to guide those less experienced as they grow into their roles as leaders and teachers. It seems our fashionable youth oriented culture in the U.S. missed the memo. Worse, our mainstream media with its tendency toward constant replay goes along to get along, thus reinforcing youth culture's failure to grasp what ancient cultures knew all along. 
The more progressive or thoughtful among us, while quick to point out racism, sexism or other gender inequalities, appear to have overlooked ageism as another form of oppression. During the current presidential cycle, most likely between two older men, issues of age related capabilities have arisen in the media and elsewhere focusing mostly on the slightly older but more articulate candidate, President Joe Biden. The President has had his share of memory lapses and gaffs in his speeches and comments over time, but his opponent has gone far beyond mere forgetfulness into outright incoherence. The media, for the most part, has chosen to focus on the few years older President rather than an opponent who actually acts unhinged. It's called ageism and it threatens the future of our democratic republic.
My advice to the mainstream media is to immediately balance the scales before history condemns them for contributing to the end of the Republic because that is what the other candidate has called for.

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we replay an alert that Glen found: "Due to the lack of snow, the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has closed all snowmobile trails in Western Mass including: Mount Greylock State Reservation, Monroe State Forest, Savoy Mountain State Forest, Mohawk Trail State Forest, Windsor State Forest, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) State Forest, and Dubuque State Forest. Trails will reopen if conditions improve, but we encourage visitors to enjoy cross-country skiing and snowshoeing at these locations" Thanks, Mother Nature! 

Time for our Enviro Show Quote of the Week:

God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools.

- John Muir       

After our conversation with Celeste we go to the Bus Stop Billboard:

 you can help make positive change in 2024. Go HERE.   

Thursday February 29, 6-8 pm . Community Land & Water Network Meeting. Agenda:  6:00 - 6:15 Introductions; 6:15 to 6:30 Plymouth Updates: Airport expansion, protecting our ponds and wetlands, town elections, sand mining; 6:45 - 7:00 Wareham Updates: numerous AD Makepeace solar/clearcut projects, other solar and development projects, sand mining enforcement; 7:00 - 7:15 Carver Updates: sand mining expansion, elections, town meeting warrant article on Cranberry Point; 7:15 - 7:30 Industrial solar projects/ statewide networking, solar legislation to strengthen zoning powers for solar; 7:30 - 8:00 Action steps, discussion. Go HERE.  



Thursday February 29, 6pm. State Wildlife Biologist (and Cummington Resident) Nathan Buckhout will give a presentation about Living with Black Bears. He will talk about the life history and status of black bears in Massachusetts and how to coexist with them. This event is cosponsored by the Cummington Tree Alliance, Cummington Cultural Council and Berkshire Voters for Animals.  Light Refreshments will be served.  Cummington Community House, 33 Main Street, Cummington, MA  

 Monday March 4th, 12-1pm.  The 2024 Omnibus Climate Bill legislation is currently gaining momentum within the MA Statehouse. Don't miss this upcoming Zoom meeting to hear experts unpack the bill and provide insights on effective advocacy. Please come together, connect, learn and SPEAK FOR THE TREES!  Go HERE.  

Tuesday, March 5, 6:00-7:30pm.  Resarch Discussion: Growing Solar, Protecting Nature . Fisher Museum at Harvard Forest, 324 North Main Street, Petersham, MA 01366  Massachusetts needs more solar energy to meet its goal of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. But so far, much of the solar energy deployed in central and western Massachusetts has been built at the expense of forests, farmlands, and some of our most biodiverse habitats. This pattern isn’t good for the climate; forests, wetlands, and farm soils absorb one tenth of our state’s greenhouse gas emissions each year. 




Wednesday March 6, 7pm.  Webinar: Hear the latest updates on Hanscom private jet expansion. The private jet hangar expansion plans – what the developers are saying now;  Climate impacts of the proposed expansion & why it’s a statewide issue; Next steps in MEPA state environmental review, including public comments  &  What you can do to help stop the largest private jet hangar expansion in New England, and possibly the nation. Go HERE.    

 Thursday, March 7, 8 p.m.  Horse Slaughter: Ending America’s Secret Shame. The next installment in the Claudia Miller Ignites Series on Animal Welfare focuses on America’s dirty little secret of horse slaughter for human consumption. Specifically, we’ll be addressing the export of thousands of healthy American horses to be butchered for meat in Mexico and then sent to foreign diners in Asia. Go HERE. 

Monday March 18, 7-8:30pm. Climate Action Now invites you to a virtual community conversation about the future of our Regenerative Farming, Forests and Food Systems Group (RF3).  Our intention is to bring together people who have worked with us over the years and to encourage new voices and leadership as we envision the next chapter of our work. Go HERE 

Monday March 11, any time 7:45am – 4:30pm (TBA)  You may remember that last fall, eight of our friends were scooped out of their boats in the middle of the Merrimack River and charged with trespassing on Granite Shore Power property. The defendants are waiting to hear about plea offers, but based on the strength of their cases, it's clear that some number of these folks will be at trial in Concord, NH District Court all day on March 11th.Stay tuned for more detailed information, and feel free to reach out to me (Marla marla@climatedisobedience.org) if you'd like to volunteer to support trial organizing in the lead-up or if you are available to take on support tasks on March 11th   

Saturday March 23, All Day.  Fix the Grid Community Summit. Please register now for our summit on Saturday, March 23rd in Southern NH. If you already registered for November, your ticket is still valid. I’ll be reaching out separately to ask you to confirm or withdraw your registration.

Tuesday March 26 All Day. The situation is simple. On March 26, the Supreme Court will hear arguments about access to Mifepristone. This will be the first major case to go in front of the GOP-compromised SCOTUS since Dobbs, and there are more to come. 1,000 people have already committed to putting their bodies on the line to stop this in any way we can. We have marched, and now it is time to escalate. Go HERE.  

Saturday April 20 All Day (Rain Date April 21)  Solar Rollers Earth Day River Ride. Bicycle ride from Greenfield, MA to Northfield, MA with stops along the way and a Rally at the Riverview Picnic area in Northfield to Shutdown Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage Station. Contact: ctriverdefenders@gmail.com  

Monday April 22, 4pm.  This Earth Day, join XR Boston’s Rebels and others to throw a party in honor of our planet in downtown Boston. This is an event for everyone, and will be celebratory in nature, featuring art, music, chanting, and a short walk through the district to share our love of the planet — and the need for greater action to protect it — with fellow Bostonians. We will gather on the Greenway (exact location TBA) at 4pm on Monday, April 22. Join us in celebration, love, and rage for the planet! RSVP Here  

 OK, let's keep up The Resistance AND also remember to listen to your Mother!