The Shut it Down NOW! Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Continuing our monitoring of that radioactive ticking time bomb just over the border in Vermont we welcome Deb Katz of the Citizens Awareness Network back on the show to talk about all the recent events up there as well as the resurgence of the Clamshell Alliance and other protest activities. Like always we entertain you with our Fool-on-the-Hill and have you Meet the New Boss, as well as a trip to the E-Valley-uation segment and more, but first it's time for....Revenge of the Critters! Fox in the UK is feeling at home!

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill goes easily to Repugnican Rep. Eric Cantor who called for no funding for recent disaster relief unless funds are cut for.....are you ready?....first responders! Sounds like this guy is smokin' waayyyy too much tea! For what it's worth you can add your name to a petition for this fool.

Time to Meet the New Boss (have you noticed some similarity to the old boss lately?). Take a deep breath now: Obama caves on better air quality. And here's another take on this move by the Prez written by Massachusetts anti-corporado crusader, Jeff Clements. And yet another! You can take him to the woodshed here.

In the E-Valley-uation segment six of the usual Massachusetts suspects were arrested on August 30th after citing Vermont Yankee for polluting. No word on Entergy's response to the citation, but kudos to MA State Senator Stan Rosenberg for requesting that the MA Emergency Management Agency fill the position for its Nuclear Safety Engineer that's been vacant for.....are you ready? two years! And this Enviro Show Blog Bonus: GCC gets down and goes geothermal! Also, the Gov needs to hear from YOU one more time to stop the Biomonster. Watch this video! Finally, what's with the AFL-CIO hooking up with the so-called Environmental League of Massachusetts (ELM) for the worthy idea of a labor/enviro alliance? ELM is not just elitist and corporate friendly, they also recommend you see "a tremendously useful PowerPoint presentation by Frank Luntz's nationally-respected polling firm". Frank Luntz?? Just for the record, our friends at Mass Forest Watch note that in 2009, ELM supported a 400% increase in logging, 76% of it even aged, clearcut type logging, on Massachusetts State Parks and Forests. Did someone say "environmentalists"?

And, in our Enviro Show Echo Chamber we learn that the Japanese nuke industry dropped about 168 atomic bombs on their own country (OK, so the equivalent of 168 A-bombs). And this on the biomess from The Boston Phoenix: The Gov's Green Blues. You can send your protestations here: and here: . Also, from our friends at Climate Connections: Hurricane Irene worse cuz' of climate change. Did we say climate? How about this final wrap on "part one" of the Tar Sands Pipeline protest at the White House. If you want to take part in Part Two go here. Tar sands? How about dirty coal? Isn't it time we put put Massey Coal out of business? Go here to do it!

After our interview with Deb we swing over to a well-stocked Bus Stop Billboard:


Tuesday September 20, 11am-12:30pm, NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION: DON’T X OUT PUBLIC TRANSIT. Meet on the corner of Liberty St. and Main St. on the side of the Springfield Republican, across from the bus terminal (which is 1776 Main St), Springfield. Rally for increased – not decreased – investment in public transportation. Please visit www.supporttransit.org. Info: Richard Gardner, (413) 732-8041,
rgardner@atulocal448.com.

Tuesday, September 20, 7pm. Dr. Kinari Webb is speaking at the Northampton Friends Meeting about working with rainforest communities in Indonesia to save the environment and human health. She does this by providing quality medical care. She helps loggers become organic farmers. Go to: www.healthinharmony.org

Saturday, September 24. It's the Moving Planet Big Freeze and Fossil Fuel Funeral in Northampton. 11:30 Spread out around town. 12:00 noon - Strike a pose and freeze for five minutes! Be creative! Do not block people or traffic. Northampton sidewalks have a band of pink brick which is fine to use. FOSSIL FUEL FUNERAL - Wear a costume, improvise, dress in black, bring an umbrella, dance, sing, skateboard, bike! 12:05 Join the parade which starts on Main Street adjacent to Pulaski Park. We will march down Main Street, take a right on Pleasant St, right on Armory St., and congregate behind Thorne's Market where the Tuesday Farmer's Market is. Contact Director Jill Turner. jillturnerbigfreeze@gmail. com or 413 306 4813

Saturday, September 24, 10am Bikers will assemble at Mt Tom Power Plant on Rte 5 in Holyoke at 10 a.m. and move "en masse" up Rte 5, across the bridge, along Rte 9 in Hadley to the center of Amherst. Another group of walkers, skateboarders, dancers, stroller-pushers etc will assemble (10 a.m.) at the proposed solar array location at the old Amherst landfill on Rte 9 and head toward the center of Amherst. The two groups will converge for a rally calling for a move from dirty to clean energy. Contact: morrisfri@aol.com

Saturday, September 24,3-6PM. Run by trainers affiliated with The Public Interest Network, the Activist Workshops will cover the best techniques for citizens to take action. They will cover how to plan a campaign and develop your campaign’s goals, strategies and tactics - and how to recruit volunteers and get people plugged into the thing you are passionate about. It’s a chance to learn, share ideas and connect with other environmentally active citizens as well as activists from other causes. Click the link below for more details and to RSVP:
https://secure3.convio.net/engage/site/Donation2?idb=385250126&df_id=6221&6221.donation=form1
If you have any questions, email Jessie Miller atjmiller@publicinterestnetwork.org or call her at (978)621-7367.

Sunday, Sept. 25, 1-5pm. Chill-Out the Climate Rally! 1pm: Gather at Bridge Street School park next to Route 9 in Northampton, 1/2 mile east of downtown. Come by bike, skateboard, skates, feet, bus, car, carpool.Parking on side streets nearby. 2pm: Cross the bridge to a safe climate/clean energy future. March one mile east on Rt. 9 sidewalk to Coolidge Bridge. Cross over using walkway on north side. With hundreds on bridge walkway, 20 people in the middle hold big block letter signs saying: CHILL THE CLIMATE! 350.org. Photo will be taken for local media, and for 350.org to share online worldwide. Parade then connects with Bike Path/Rail Trail in Hadley, goes back across river, and back to Bridge St. School. 3:30-5pm: Rally. Contact: 413-625-6374 Johnpberk@gmail.com

Wednesday, September 28, 11am. Green Economy Principles meeting at the Central Labor Council Hall, 640 Page Blvd, Springfield. This meeting will be followed by the return of our regular public “roundtable” discussions, brown bag lunch at noon, roundtable 12:30-2pm.

Friday September 30, 2pm. TAKE BACK OUR CITIES! HISTORIC MARCH & RALLY. Boston Common Band Stand. 11am: Bus from Springfield Plaza, 1225 Liberty St. Big banks are destroying our communities! Big businesses are killing our jobs and our environment! Springfield No One Leaves will mobilize a brigade of buses from Western Mass. to join with thousands from the national organization Right to the City (RTTC). We need you to come and join us. Reserve your seat on the bus by email: nooneleavesspringfield@gmail.com or call 413-342-1804 or 347-385-8049. Info: 413-342-1804, nooneleavessspringfield@gmail.com, www.springfieldnooneleaves.org.

October 2, Jones Library, Amherst 2-4 PM; October 3, Art Space, Greenfield, 7-9 PM; October 4, Jones Library, Amherst, 7-9 PM. Auditions for RADIUM GIRLS, a play that takes an unflinching look at the peculiarly American obsession with health, wealth, and the commercialization of science as one lone woman battles a corporation, her own family, and friends to seek justice in the story of a landmark case in occupational safety and the environment. Large cast, multiple roles. Men and women, 17-70. Actresses 17-30 a necessity. Details: Robert Freedman, director, 413-586-6095, rpaulfre@gis.net.

Thursday, Oct. 6 - We call on people of conscience and courage—all who seek peace, economic justice, human rights and a healthy environment to join together in Washington, D.C., beginning on Oct. 6, 2011, in nonviolent resistance similar to the Arab Spring and the Midwest awakening. A concert, rally and protest will kick off a powerful and sustained nonviolent resistance to the corporate criminals that dominate our government. "Stop the Machine! • Create a New World!" is a clarion call for all who are deeply concerned with injustice, militarism and environmental destruction to join in ending concentrated corporate power and taking direct control of a real participatory democracy. Go to: http://october2011.org. Regional contact: peterawhite@excite.com

Whoa! Lots going on, yes? That's it for us but remember: listen to your Mother!

The Think LocaGlobo Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Time to talk local energy and sustainability as Chris Mason, Energy and Sustainability Officer for the City of Northampton returns to these microphones. You may recall Chris was on the show when he first started that position a few years back. We'll find out what he's been up to and look into some other related issues in our E-Valley-uation segment. We'll also visit The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and our Fool-on-the-Hill as well as give you the Quote of the week, but first it's time for.....Revenge of the Critters! Jaws comes home!

Since 2011 is the International Year of Forests we thought we'd check out some forests in our neck of the woods for the E-Valley-uation segment. Maybe you caught Chris Matera's recent letter in the Valley Advocate on the alleged biomass windfall(!) in the Brimfield State Forest. Chris points out that "even if 100 percent of the trees on all 1,200 acres of blown down Brimfield forest were chipped and burned it would only fuel a single biomass plant like the one in Russell for less than two months or all of the proposed Pioneer Valley biomass plants for only three weeks. Then what?" Hmm, let's take a stab at this...........clearcut the entire state?!

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is U.S. Repugnican Rep. Rich Nugent. This from Grist: "Florida Tea Party members believe that federal efforts to protect manatees from extinction are part of a United Nations conspiracy to place manatee over man. Freshman Rep. Nugent is standing up for the Tea Partiers against the feared manatee overlords, offering an amendment to the FY 2012 Interior and Environment appropriations bill (HR 2584) that would block the creation of a manatee refuge in Citrus County" Did we mention manatees are listed as an Endangered Species? We're thinking if anything should become extinct the so-called Tea Party is the perfect candidate.

Our Quote of the Week goes out to all the corporados out there.

"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." -- Thomas Jefferson

Dave Rovics' "Corporations are People, Too" seems like a good follow-up for Tom Jefferson. Then it's on to The Enviro Show Echo Chamber where the Tar Sands Action across from the White House has led to hundreds of arrests. Even union guys are coming out against the proposed Keystone pipeline. You can send YOUR protest to Obama here!

After our interview with Chris we move over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

August 30 to September 27 - Court appearances for the Shut it Down Affinity Group members following their most recent arrest at Vermont Yankee. Go here for specific dates.

Thursday, Sept. 8, 5:30pm. Shutdown VT. Yankee contingent in the Franklin County Parade. Line up in Parking Lot, behind Greenfield Middle School, Federal St, Greenfield, MA . Join us for the parade through downtown Greenfield and then party at the Fair! Get free entrance passes into the fair after the parade!

Saturday, Sept 10, 1:00-2:30. Rally to Support Vermont in its decision to shutter Vermont Yankee and replace it with sustainable energy solutions. Wells Fountain, Court House, Brattleboro, VT. Monday, September 12, Entergy's lawsuit against the state will be heard in Federal court in Brattleboro. It is important that people express their support for Vermont's courageous act to support the will of the people. Join us for good music and speeches!! Call: (413)339-5781

Wednesday, September 14 at 8:00pm - September 15 at 9:00pm. 24 Hours of Reality is a worldwide event that will share the reality of the climate crisis. From Tonga to Cape Verde, Mexico City to Alaska, Jakarta to London, people living with the impacts of climate change every day will tell their story. The event features a new multimedia presentation created by Al Gore and delivered once per hour for 24 hours, in every time zone around the globe. Go to: http://climaterealityproje​ct.org/the-event/

Saturday, September 17 at 6:00am. Occupy Wall Street! On September 17, we want to see 20,000 people flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months. Once there, we shall incessantly repeat one simple demand in a plurality of voices. It's time for DEMOCRACY NOT CORPORATOCRACY! Go to: http://www.adbusters.org/b​logs/adbusters-blog/occupy​wallstreet.html

Saturday, September 24, 11:40 Gather at Pulaski Park for this year's 350.org parade in Northampton. It's the Moving Planet Big Freeze and Fossil Fuel Funeral. Go to: http://www.moving-planet.org/events/us/downtown-northampton/613

October 2, Jones Library, Amherst 2-4 PM; October 3, Art Space, Greenfield, 7-9 PM; October 4, Jones Library, Amherst, 7-9 PM. Auditions for RADIUM GIRLS, a play that takes an unflinching look at the peculiarly American obsession with health, wealth, and the commercialization of science as one lone woman battles a corporation, her own family, and friends to seek justice in the story of a landmark case in occupational safety and the environment. Large cast, multiple roles. Men and women, 17-70. Actresses 17-30 a necessity. Details: Robert Freedman, director, 413-586-6095, rpaulfre@gis.net.


Thursday, Oct. 6 - We call on people of conscience and courage—all who seek peace, economic justice, human rights and a healthy environment to join together in Washington, D.C., beginning on Oct. 6, 2011, in nonviolent resistance similar to the Arab Spring and the Midwest awakening. A concert, rally and protest will kick off a powerful and sustained nonviolent resistance to the corporate criminals that dominate our government. "Stop the Machine! • Create a New World!" is a clarion call for all who are deeply concerned with injustice, militarism and environmental destruction to join in ending concentrated corporate power and taking direct control of a real participatory democracy. Go to: http://october2011.org. Regional contact: deross2@yahoo.com, tel: 802-922-4029

OK, we are soooo out of here. Until next time, remember, listen to your Mother!

The Enviro Justice Show

Greetings Earthlings. Guess who suffers more than most from pollution and environmental degradation? OK, probably the critters, but next in line are low-income communities and people of color. Surprise! Some of this may become obvious as class warfare makes itself at home in the UK. The poor get dumped on amidst the plenty. Aron Goldman of The Springfield Institute's Environmental Justice Bike Tour joins us for the virtual tour. As always we take YOU for a tour in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, our E-Valley-uation segment, a visit with the Fool-on-the-Hill among other familiar stops, but first it's time for.... Revenge of the Critters! Raccoon battles woman over turf!

In our E-Valley-uation segment we find radioactive Strontium in fish taken from the Connecticut River. The Union of Concerned Scientists wants the NRC to investigate Entergy Nuclear officials for lying to the public. What? Entergy lying? Can't be! And btw, why are fish being taken from their river anyway??

We have a two for the price of one BIG Fool-on-the-Hill. It's none other than Repugnican Rep. Bachman "solving" the energy problem and vowing to shut down the EPA!

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber you can join Public Citizen and Friends of the Earth in calling on President Obama to reject the proposed tar sands pipeline and focus on clean, safe energy alternatives OR you can go right down to the White House on August 20th with a bunch of well-dressed protesters and make your voice heard! Speaking of protests, indigenous people are not pleased with plans for uranium mining in the Grand Canyon. And this: Anonymous hacks corporados here. Also: Friends of the Earth on what the debt deal means to the planet and the poor.

Then it's time to Meet the New Boss again and it's a sad state of affairs. We meld in our Quote of the Week from a New York Times op-ed by Drew Weston with the New Boss's latest cave-in to the Repugs:

"The president is fond of referring to “the arc of history,” paraphrasing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous statement that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” But with his deep-seated aversion to conflict and his profound failure to understand bully dynamics — in which conciliation is always the wrong course of action, because bullies perceive it as weakness and just punch harder the next time — he has broken that arc and has likely bent it backward for at least a generation."

On the up side you can always sign on to the Contract for the American Dream, but we'd be negligent in our duty here if we didn't point out that much of that "dream" is a nightmare for the planet. After all, so much of prosperity involves over-consumption and waste. Hey, how about a NEW American Dream (this time we could include all of America!).

The Joshua Marcus song "Invisible City" takes us to our interview with Aron Goldman we move on to the Bus Stop Billboard:


Friday/Satruday August 19-20. Boston Greenfest. See: http://bostongreenfest.org/

Saturday, August 20th – September 3rd. Protest tar sands mining and the proposed Keystone pipeline! With people power and time-tested tactics of civil disobedience - join thousands of people from across the continent in a wave of sustained sit-ins at the White House. Together we’ll amplify our voices and escalate the movement and stop the Keystone XL pipeline to the Canadian tar sands. Go to:
http://www.tarsandsaction.org/ or Contact tarsandsaction@gmail.com

Saturday, August 27,1-4pm. Western Mass Green Consortium’s annual BBQ & Clambake: “Celebrate Sustainable Living” . Come have learn about projects, have fun, eat great food, dance to live music!! If you plan on attending, please register at www.westernmassgreenconsor​tium.org

Sunday, August 28, 11:30 am – 5:30 pm. JOIN THE ORGANIZING OF A REGIONAL CAMPAIGN OF NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION TO SHUT DOWN VERMONT YANKEE at the Norwich Congregational Church, 15 Church St, Norwich, VT. Informational sessions about Vermont Yankee and nonviolence training workshops will be scheduled for later dates, including a VT Yankee Action Camp at Wheelock Mountain Farm, in Wheelock, VT, on Friday evening Sept 9th – Saturday evening, Sept 10th – for info call Robin at 802-533-2296.

August 30 to September 27 - Court appearances for the Shut it Down Affinity Group members following their most recent arrest at Vermont Yankee. Go here for specific dates.

Thursday, Sept. 8, 5:30pm. Shutdown VT. Yankee contingent in the Franklin County Parade. Line up in Parking Lot, behind Greenfield Middle School, Federal St, Greenfield, MA . Join us for the parade through downtown Greenfield and then party at the Fair! Get free entrance passes into the fair after the parade!

Saturday, Sept 10, 1:00-2:30. Rally to Support Vermont in its decision to shutter Vermont Yankee and replace it with sustainable energy solutions. Wells Fountain, Court House, Brattleboro, VT. Monday, September 12, Entergy's lawsuit against the state will be heard in Federal court in Brattleboro. It is important that people express their support for Vermont's courageous act to support the will of the people.
Join us for good music and speeches!! Call: (413)339-5781

Wednesday, September 14 at 8:00pm - September 15 at 9:00pm. 24 Hours of Reality is a worldwide event that will share the reality of the climate crisis. From Tonga to Cape Verde, Mexico City to Alaska, Jakarta to London, people living with the impacts of climate change every day will tell their story. The event features a new multimedia presentation created by Al Gore and delivered once per hour for 24 hours, in every time zone around the globe. Go to: http://climaterealityproje​ct.org/the-event/

Saturday, September 17 at 6:00am. Occupy Wall Street! On September 17, we want to see 20,000 people flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months. Once there, we shall incessantly repeat one simple demand in a plurality of voices. It's time for DEMOCRACY NOT CORPORATOCRACY! Go to: http://www.adbusters.org/b​logs/adbusters-blog/occupy​wallstreet.html

Saturday, September 24, 11:40 Gather at Pulaski Park for this year's 350.org parade in Northampton. It's the Moving Planet Big Freeze and Fossil Fuel Funeral. Go to: http://www.moving-planet.org/events/us/downtown-northampton/613

Thursday, Oct. 6 - We call on people of conscience and courage—all who seek peace, economic justice, human rights and a healthy environment to join together in Washington, D.C., beginning on Oct. 6, 2011, in nonviolent resistance similar to the Arab Spring and the Midwest awakening. A concert, rally and protest will kick off a powerful and sustained nonviolent resistance to the corporate criminals that dominate our government. "Stop the Machine! • Create a New World!" is a clarion call for all who are deeply concerned with injustice, militarism and environmental destruction to join in ending concentrated corporate power and taking direct control of a real participatory democracy. Go to: http://october2011.org. Regional contact: deross2@yahoo.com, tel: 802-922-4029

There. You are rid of us 'til next time, but remember: listen to your Mother!

Michael Perlman, presenta!

I just had the disturbing experience of finding one of the early voices on the climate crisis slipping down the cyber memory hole. Dr. Michael Perlman, author of "The Power of Trees - A reforesting of the soul" and other works lived here in the Valley in the '90s. He helped greatly to raise awareness of what he insisted we call "climate chaos" or "climate disruption" (instead of the less cogent phrase "global warming"). Below I've reposted Bob Leverett's heart felt tribute to Perlman. It is vital that we honor those who have sounded the alarm about what is the gravest threat to life on planet Earth. This, even more so since it is believed that Michael Perlman took his own life out of despair over humanity's lack of or concern or action regarding climate disruption.

- d.o.

In the 1990s I had a great friend named Dr. Michael Perlman, one of the co-founders of ENTS. He died in April 1998. Michael was absolutely brilliant. He had many credits. He wrote The Power of Trees - A reforesting of the soul . He was an adjunct professor at Vermont College, a Jungian psychologist, and an ecologist. He was editing the Einstein papers for Princeton University at the time of his death - a testament to his immense intellect. He was also working on a paper that explored the basis of mathematics as an expression of inherent universal structure and properties. He had previously thought of mathematics as a product of abstract human thinking divorced from any natural roots - an artificially developed discipline carried on within the confines of classrooms, private studies, and lecture halls, but not outdoors - conceptually perhaps, but seldom in practice. I don't know precisely what was in Mike's mind, but his new hypothesis may have been that true mathematics is in encoded in our DNA as an expression of the universal physical laws - and of course the architecture of trees. When mathematics is observed to ooze out of the brain of some precocious genius, Mike would likely maintain that that expression isn't a consequence of some sternly developed human talent, but the song of the spheres, so to speak, manifesting itself through genetic pathways formed from several million years of trial and error.

Mike and I used to walk the forest together and he would unabashedly hug trees. Feeling uncomfortable, I would always look around first to make sure nobody was watching. But, Mike? No hesitation. He talked freely of going to meet a tree. He saw trees as life forms with psychological structures as surely as he accepted the obvious physical ones. He didn't see the psychological structures of trees as human. He wasn't projecting his own traits into their outstretched branches. He was far too intelligent for that. His thinking occurred on many levels, and that left those of us trying to understand him groping. Language is not always a sufficient tool to convey understanding, so Mike's explanations as transmitted through his words were seldom sufficient to enable the rest of us to understand how he came to his conclusions. I finally gave up, but not before many conversations had taken place both in the forest and over a beer or two in the comfort of my living room.

Mike probably influenced me more than I can fully comprehend, and I can also say with humility that I influenced him. When in his presence, he coaxed me to think more deeply about the role of forests and tree and our interaction with them. Were he with us today, I can well imagine him struggling hard with the Forest Futures process, currently underway. He had little tolerance for corporatized thinking. He certainly would not have seen most of the TSC members as visionaries. By contrast, I am more tolerant and pragmatic. He sometimes envied that in me, and I sometimes disliked it in myself. We often served as a balance for each other - idealism and pragmatism. I suppose he could be pragmatic, but I don't think I ever fully witnessed it.

I have to smile when I think of Michael returning from a convention with his fellow and lady psychologists. He would come back fuming and complaining that none could climb out of the deep well of anthropocentric values and priorities. He would explain that everything of value to them had to be a byproduct of human emotions and personality traits, a self-absorbed examination of how one felt instant by instant. Such a preoccupation with a moment by moment fretting over what what is inside of one's head left no room for thinking more broadly, about what is good for plants and animals. I often wondered what had lead him to Jungian Psychology. Of course I always had the answer. It was his great compassion. He saved many from taking their own lives. He could save them, but not himself.

Mike has a tree named for him in Mohawk Trail State Forest. Mike's tree is perfectly straight and is located right on the Mahican- Mohawk Recreational Trail. His tree was not chosen out of impulse. It is the site of two friends coming together, Mike and John Knuerr. Mike's tree is on the docket to reach 150 feet in height at the end of next season's growth, an accomplishment that Mike would not have concerned himself from his own inner priorities, but would have indulged on my account.

I often think of Mike and visit his tree when in the Algonquin Grove. If I think of Mike, I must also think separately of his tree. To think only of Mike and not of his tree as a separate being would be to miss the whole point of Mike's life and what was important to him.

Bob

Bee with The Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Do you think bees are just nasty little critters out to ruin your picnic? (What? that sweet critter pictured here by our friends at the Beehive Design Collective?) Suppose we told you there would bee no fruit in your bowl or few veggies on your plate without them? Dan Conlon of Warm Colors Apiary in South Deerfield gives us the latest buzz on the dreaded Colony Collapse Disorder and other issues facing our winged companions. As always, we visit the Enviro Show Echo Chamber, The Quote of the Week, Meet the New Boss and the week's Fool-on-the-Hill, but first it's time for....
Revenge of the Critters! Golfers beware! There's a fox guarding the links!

In our Enviro Show Echo Chamber we find Smokey the Bear getting a clue about carbon sequestering trees. And on the subject of trees: the EPA needs to hear from You about its decision not to regulate biomass carbon emissions. Also this: the WWF's greenwashing timber scheme! Did someone say scheme? We checkout Bobby Kennedy's piece on the Cape Wind rip-off as well as the trailer for a new film, "Cape Spin". And this: Tim Dechristopher gets two years for punking Big Oil! Finally, wonder what you can do at home to help stem the climate crisis besides changing light bulbs and your lifestyle? How about painting your roof white?

Our Fool-on-the-Hill, Republican Rep. Sandy Adams (Repugnican-Fla.) wants to limit funding for Department of Energy websites that educate kids about efficiency. Way to go smarty-pants Sandy. Maybe we can put those kids to work in the coal mines while we're at it.

Then it's time to Meet the New Boss, who still hasn't got it right on mileage standards for all that 19th century technology jamming our roads and highways out there. We think he needs to hear from Enviro Show listeners like You 'cuz he won't listen to us at all! It seems like he isn't listening to other enviros either. Maybe he's kicking the environment can down the road? ARRGHHHH!

Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week is attributed to both Mark Twain and Robert Heinlein. Take your pick.

"Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get."

We move into our interview with Dan Conlon with a clip from the film, "Queen of the Sun". Like the guy in the film says, without bees we'd all be eating oatmeal and a few nuts. Borrrrring! But hey, what's happening to the bees is no laughing matter. In China things are so bad that people have to hand pollinate fruit trees! And now we learn that even the bumblebees are dying off.

Finally, over at the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday, August 3,7pm. Charlie King & Karen Brandow in concert with special guest Leon Rosselson. Unity Church, 6 Arch St., Greenfield. Call Charlie and Karen 413-625-8115 for advance tickets.

Thursday, August 4th, 3 pm, the Climate Reality Check coalition will hold the latest in our series of national conference calls to help strengthen community organizing on climate, entitled: The Labor Movement and Climate Change Organizing. If you have any questions please contact Rose Braz, Center for Biological Diversity:rbraz@biologicaldiveristy.org

Wednesday, August 10th,10:00AM to Noon. Sustainability workshops for families and kids. North Amherst Community Farm, home of Simple Gifts Farm, 1089 North Pleasant St. (across from Puffton Village) in North Amherst. In this workshop we will visit the Simple Gifts sheep and learn about their wool. Other workshops scheduled. Registration required. Email Michelle Parrish at programs@nacfonline.org or call 413-624-6223.

Wednesday, August 10, 11am. Demo asking Kerry and Brown to Support the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011! Boston City Hall Plaza. Free superhero capes for all kids who attend (please RSVP to guarantee a cape for your kid(s) at cluppi@cleanwater.org)** Kids can participate in the fun and ask their Senators to be a hero by supporting The Safe Chemicals Act of 2011. For more information, please contact: Cindy Luppi by email or phone: cluppi@cleanwater.org or call: 617/338-8131 x208.

Monday-Friday, August 15-19, 8:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. LATE SUMMER NATURE DISCOVERY DAYS (AGES 6-8). Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst. Pre-registration required; please call 256-6006.

August 20th – September 3rd. Protest tar sands mining and the proposed Keystone pipeline! With people power and time-tested tactics of civil disobedience - join thousands of people from across the continent in a wave of sustained sit-ins at the White House. Together we’ll amplify our voices and escalate the movement and stop the Keystone XL pipeline to the Canadian tar sands. Go to: http://www.tarsandsaction.org/ or Contact tarsandsaction@gmail.com

Saturday, August 27,1-4pm. Western Mass Green Consortium’s annual BBQ & Clambake: “Celebrate Sustainable Living” . Come have learn about projects, have fun, eat great food, dance to live music!! If you plan on attending, please register at www.westernmassgreenconsor​tium.org

Wednesday, September 14 at 8:00pm - September 15 at 9:00pm. 24 Hours of Reality is a worldwide event that will share the reality of the climate crisis. From Tonga to Cape Verde, Mexico City to Alaska, Jakarta to London, people living with the impacts of climate change every day will tell their story. The event features a new multimedia presentation created by Al Gore and delivered once per hour for 24 hours, in every time zone around the globe. Go to: http://climaterealityproje​ct.org/the-event/

Saturday, September 17 at 6:00am. Occupy Wall Street! On September 17, we want to see 20,000 people flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months. Once there, we shall incessantly repeat one simple demand in a plurality of voices. It's time for DEMOCRACY NOT CORPORATOCRACY!
Go to: http://www.adbusters.org/b​logs/adbusters-blog/occupy​wallstreet.html

That is all and remember.....listen to your Mother!

The Revenge of the Critters Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. In the wake of the UN's World Population Day we've turned our favorite segment into an entire show. Guess what happens to the critters and their habitats when the human population hits 7 billion. Jason Hribal, author of Fear of the Animal Planet - The Hidden History of Animal Resistance" calls in to share tales of four legged revenge. We'll see who this week's Fool-on-the-Hill might be, checkout The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and our E-Valley-uation segment, but first it's time for... Revenge of the Critters - The Segment! It's News of the Weird's Least Competent Do-it-yourself exterminators. Don't try this at home!

The Fool-on-the-Hill meets the Revenge of The Critters! Not sure if algae blooms qualify as critters but they sure took a piece out of this arch enemy of the Earth! Speaking of enemies of the Earth, the anti-environment climate crisis deniers over at Faux "News" are in a bit of trouble. Tooooo bad! There are plenty of actual critters out there that could use your help. Be good to them, maybe they'll reciprocate!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber: We have some fishy Blog Bonus Take Action links. And, Common Dreams discovers direct action, but Anonymous is already there. Of course, as always, Earth First! is all over direct action. Sounds like Great White Sharks are looking for some direct action out by the Cape! It's said they're looking for Grey Seals for lunch, but hey, look at all those slow swimmers! About those seals? They sure could use your help. You know what other critters need your help? Bats! Finally, it looks like BP's trying to back out of its commitments in the Gulf. Did someone say slimy corporados?

In our E-Valley-uation segment we ask the disturbing question: Is toxic Giant Hogweed invading this Valley.......yet? So, the EPA issued tougher rules for power plants but not in Massachusetts? What's that about?? Power plants like those proposed biomass incinerators? We don't think so! Notify the Gov here not to cave in to biomass boosters.

Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week here: "For the animal shall not be measured by man.In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not bretheren; they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the Earth" -- Henry Beston

After our interview with Jason Hribal, author of Fear of the Animal Planet" we move on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Friday, July 22 through Sunday, July 24. Clamshell Alliance reunion & resurgence:For rooms, tenting and dining, the World Fellowship can accommodate up to 150 overnight, so reserve soon (www.worldfellowship.org) if you plan to stay over. For information, connection and conversation, join clamshellalliance@yahoo.com, visit the www.clamshellalliance.org website and Facebook at http://facebook.com/ClamshellAlliance.

Saturday, July 23, 10am-6pm. The Worcester Green Jobs Coalition and the Making a Green Solidarity Economy Planning Committee invites Organizers, Activists, Academics, Media, and Community Members to participate in workshops, discussions, music and fun. Worcester Youth Center, 326 Chandler St., Worcester. Contact: Lazri DiSalvoPhone: (860) 309-5690

Wednesday, August 3,7pm. Charlie King & Karen Brandow in concert with special guest Leon Rosselson. Unity Church, 6 Arch St., Greenfield. Call Charlie and Karen 413-625-8115 for advance tickets.

Monday-Friday, August 15-19, 8:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. LATE SUMMER NATURE DISCOVERY DAYS (AGES 6-8). Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst. Pre-registration required; please call 256-6006.

August 20th – September 3rd. Protest tar sands mining and the proposed Keystone pipeline! With people power and time-tested tactics of civil disobedience - join thousands of people from across the continent in a wave of sustained sit-ins at the White House. Together we’ll amplify our voices and escalate the movement and stop the Keystone XL pipeline to the Canadian tar sands. Go to: http://www.tarsandsaction.org/ or Contact tarsandsaction@gmail.com

We are out of here! Until next time remember: Listen to your Mother!

The Troubled Atmosphere Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Noticed how hard it is to breath easy here in the Valley, especially in the summer? And how about those fireworks? We have Sylvia Brandt, Associate Professor at UMass in the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics joining us to talk air quality, asthma, biomass incineration, maybe we'll even get to her work on the effects of climate change on Mid-Atlantic fisheries (or is that another show?). We'll do the Enviro Show Echo Chamber, Meet the New Boss, the Enviro Show Quote of the Week, and our E-Valley-uation thingy, but first it's time for...Revenge of the Critters! Macho "sports" fisherman gets caught! Sorry, you'll have to see it to believe it.

In our E-Valley-uation segment guess who got busted again at the Vermont Yankee nuke? That would be our own Jean (she's the shifty looking one in the back row with the shades on). Hey, they're just a bit concerned about nuclear safety, aren't you too? And, in keeping with the show's theme: Massachusetts Department of Environmental Rejection...err...that's Protection issues a new air pollution permit! Timing is everything! And, time for some good news (albeit a bit dated): 335 acres saved from McMansions in B-town!

Speaking of getting busted, in the Enviro Show Echo Chamber we note that Bill McKibben (of all people!) is inviting YOU to get busted in DC in a protest against tar sands and the proposed Keystone Pipeline. Protest....in DC....in August! Eeeww! Go ahead, you can tell your grandchildren between backstrokes that you actually tried to save the planet. Also this: New Mass. Bottle Bill coming to a vote. Take action!

Then it's time to Meet the New boss again! Looks like one of the old bosses (Al Gore in this case) has taken a piece out of the New Boss on confronting, or NOT, the climate crisis. So what do you think, has O lost your vote?

In case you missed it the first time around, our Quote of the Week is an instant replay (above) from the winner of the 2000 Presidential election:

"Here is the core of it: we are destroying the climate balance that is essential to the survival of our civilization. This is not a distant or abstract threat; it is happening now. The United States is the only nation that can rally a global effort to save our future." - Al Gore

"Fable" by Medollic takes us to our interview with Sylvia Brandt. Then it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Friday July 8, 2011, deadline for submissions to The Healthy Environment/Healthy Springfield CARE Project. HEHS calls on Springfield’s organizations, churches and groups to submit ideas for an environmental education event that they would be willing to host. The proposed event may be a forum, community dialogue or specific educational presentation. Call 413-794-1803 for application for and guidance.

July 9-10, TRAINING for TRANSITION. The Transition movement in the U.K. ignited a global conversation and sharing about positive, creative actions to build community resilience in the face of economic instability, energy cost increases, worsening social inequity, and environmental crisis. Hefty fee. Info: www.TransitionUS.org or TinaClarke@TransitionNetwork.org, 413-658-8165

Sunday, July 10, 11am to 7pm, the first-ever Common Good Festival. Amherst Common. Award-winning activist songwriters Tom Neilson, Emma’s Revolution and Appleseed recording artists Kim and Reggie Harris headline a star-studded lineup. In addition, the festival will feature local sustainability and social justice activist groups and businesses, craft vendors, cooperative games, children's activities, a magician and more. For more information call (413) 628-3336 (9 AM to 7:30 PM)

Sunday, July 10, 4:00pm - 7:00pm. Pioneer Valley Green-Rainbow Local Monthly Meeting. Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA. Contact mlikins@hotmail.com

Saturday, July 16, 2011, 2-5pm. Festival for a Nuclear Free Future. Copley Square, Boston. The "nuclear age" began on this date 66 years ago – July 16, 1945 – with the Trinity atomic bomb test in the New Mexico desert. After a string of nuclear disaters, it’s time for the nuclear age to end. Let’s begin to end it in Copley Square on July 16, 2011! Co-sponsored by the Sierra Club. Go to: nukefreefest.org or Call 617-354-2169

Monday, July 18 to August 6. Walk for a Nuclear Free World. Starting at the Leverett Peace Pagoda, the walk goes to both Vermont Yankee and the Pilgrim nuke in Plymouth, MA ending at the Grafton, NY pagoda. Call: (413)485-8469.

Friday, July 22 through Sunday, July 24. Clamshell Alliance reunion & resurgence:For rooms, tenting and dining, the World Fellowship can accommodate up to 150 overnight, so reserve soon (www.worldfellowship.org) if you plan to stay over. For information, connection and conversation, join clamshellalliance@yahoo.com, visit the www.clamshellalliance.org website and Facebook at http://facebook.com/ClamshellAlliance.

Monday-Friday, August 15-19, 8:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. LATE SUMMER NATURE DISCOVERY DAYS (AGES 6-8). Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst. Pre-registration required; please call 256-6006.

Done. Next time: the Revenge of the Critters Enviro Show. Author Jason Hribal joins us to talk about one of our favorite subjects! Until then remember.....listen to your Mother.

The Summer Solstice '11 Enviro Show

Solstice Greetings Earthlings. It's the longest day and time once again to honor the Earth with a Summer Solstice celebration! Also, Happy Birthday Arky Markham: Summer solstice baby extraordinaire! Mark Maynard of Urban Power USA steps into the studio to talk small wind. We visit the Enviro Show Echo Chamber, revisit the Fool-on-the-Hill and re-meet The New Boss, but first it's time for...Revenge of the Critters! Boating on the Thames this summer? Keep your hands inside the rails!

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber we find Sea Shepherd freed illegally caught Bluefin Tuna....off the coast of Libya no less! Arab Spring? Spring the Tuna! On the down side, someone on the Cape is shooting listed gray seals. What kind of person does that?? Also: Take Action to save the horseshoe crabs (who aren't crabs at all). And this: Ken has a hissy fit over rainforest destruction. That's an Enviro Show Video Blog Bonus and so is THIS! How about one of the Ten Worst Ideas of 2011: Auzzies kill camels to save the planet? BUT, in our Ten BEST Ideas Dept.: reboot the CCC! Remember our past shows on floating isles of garbage? Will you take the pledge to be part of the solution? Since we're on the Oceana page here, how about speaking up against offshore drilling? Finally, down in South America it's dammed if you do, dammed if you don't!

In our E-Valley-uation segment we ask the musical question: Is the creaky old Vermont Yankee nuke shut down yet? No? But isn't it the same type of nuke as the ones still melting down in Fukushima? While everyone was fixated on Rep. Weiner's weiner, TEPCO announced that the meltdowns probably released more radioactive material into the environment than Chernobyl, making it the worst nuclear accident on record (just like D.O. said it would be). What? You haven't heard about that announcement in the news recently? Gosh, maybe it's not really happening! We checkout Vermont's legal struggle with the Entergy corporados. And, this update on the struggle in Wendell to live off the grid legally (why are we even having that conversation?).

In our Meet the New Boss segment we direct Enviro Show blog readers to Bill McKibben's "Obama Strikes Out on Global Warming" at Mother Jones AND his thoughts on the abusive relationship between O & the enviros at Grist. Goodness gracious, when former nice guy Sunday School teachers like Bill become disillusioned with the Prez....what can we say other than: say hello to the new boss! Why not call Obama to say hello and ask about putting those solar panels back on the White House? While you're at it, why not tell him to STOP SHILLING FOR THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY!!

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is House Natural Resources Committee Chair Doc Hastings (a Repugnican, of course). Apparently the doctor is out. He thinks the discovery of one months worth of oil proves we have abundant oil reserves!
Wait,don't you have to go to college for years and years to be a doc? Maybe Doc is also one of the 34% of the U.S. population who say there is no solid evidence of a climate crisis. You want stupid? We've got stupid!. Thanks, Faux "News"!

The King's Drummers at the Stonehenge Summer Solstice event takes us to our Solstice celebration. Then it's off to the Bus Stop Billboard:


Wednesday June 22,6:30 p.m. to 9:00 P.M. Annual Assessment of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet with the public to discuss the NRC's assessment of safety performance at Brattleboro Union High School, 131 Fairground Road, Brattleboro, VT. Meeting contact: Donald E. Jackson , chief, Projects Branch 5, NRC. (610)337-5306

Thursday & Friday, June 23-24, 9am. US District Court Hearing - Entergy vs Peter Shumlin et al. US District Court, Brattleboro, VT. Contact CAN: (413) 339-5781 Email: can@nukebusters.org Anti-nuke Vigil 7:30 – 9:00 AM on Thursday & Friday on the sidewalks in front of, and across the street from the Brattleboro Post Office on Main Street. The federal courtroom is upstairs in the Post Office building.

Saturday, June 25, 1 to 8pm. No Nukes Party! (And discuss non-violent action plans 3-5:30pm) Sponsored by: Wendell Conservation Commission. Co-sponsors: Clamshell Legacy and Antinuclear Mobilization; Citizens Awareness Network ; Safe & Green Campaign; Green Mtn. Post Films; W. MA AFSC; Traprock Center for Peace and Justice and the Solar Rollers. More information, call Sharon (978) 544-8822 or Tom (978) 544-3911

Friday July 8, 2011, deadline for submissions to The Healthy Environment/Healthy Springfield CARE Project. HEHS calls on Springfield’s organizations, churches and groups to submit ideas for an environmental education event that they would be willing to host. The proposed event may be a forum, community dialogue or specific educational presentation. Call 413-794-1803 for application for and guidance.

Sunday, July 10, 11am to 7pm, the first-ever Common Good Festival. Amherst Common. Award-winning activist songwriters Emma’s Revolution and Appleseed recording artists Kim and Reggie Harris headline a star-studded lineup. In addition, the festival will feature local sustainability and social justice activist groups and businesses, craft vendors, cooperative games, children's activities, a magician and more. For more information call (413) 628-3336 (9 AM to 7:30 PM)

Monday, July 18 to August 6. Walk for a Nuclear Free World. Starting at the Leverett Peace Pagoda, the walk goes to both Vermont Yankee and the Pilgrim nuke in Plymouth, MA ending at the Grafton, NY pagoda. Call: (413)485-8469.

Friday, July 22 through Sunday, July 24. Clamshell Alliance reunion & resurgence:For rooms, tenting and dining, the World Fellowship can accommodate up to 150 overnight, so reserve soon (www.worldfellowship.org) if you plan to stay over. For information, connection and conversation, join clamshellalliance@yahoo.com, visit the www.clamshellalliance.org website and Facebook at http://facebook.com/ClamshellAlliance.

We go out with "Litha - (Summer Solstice Song)" by Lisa Thiel. It's the Summer Solstice, what better time to listen to your Mother, right?

Enviro Show Roadtrip to Hell

I took a road trip through Monson and Wilbraham today, towns eastward of Springfield and dead in the pathway of the tornado that tore up parts of western Massachusetts a week ago. I knew I was going to witness a whole lot of devastation going in so I tried to ready myself psychologically for the experience. Guess what? There's no way you can prepare yourself for what you'll see in the wake of a strong tornado. And I only saw a small portion of the destruction. Just imagine what it's like for someone who lives within that path.

In Monson the tornado came pretty much through the town center, taking out church steeples, walls, roofs on the school, stores and homes, trees, fences and whatever else it could tear up. The only thing in my experience I could compare it to was the town of Bluefields, Nicaragua in the wake of Hurricane Joan back in 1988. But Monson isn't the so-called Third World, it only looks like it. I can't even imagine what it felt like last Thursday when the sun rose over what remained. Words like devastation lose their meaning under such circumstances.

Doubling back and driving eastward toward Wilbraham I was again out of the path of the tornado and except for an occasional tree branch, everything appeared pretty much like always. Even as I headed into the town on Springfield Street past shopping centers, gas stations and all the rest, it was business as usual. But then I drove south a few blocks after noting a police chopper hovering out that way and the whole world came to an abrupt change. Given the denser suburban population of this area, block after block of modest single family homes, the destruction was magnified beyond belief. Here, I had absolutely nothing to compare it to. Nothing over twelve feet high remained. Tarps were everywhere, 360 degrees of total desolation. No tree left standing for blocks. Countless homes seemingly beyond repair. Emergency and utility vehicles everywhere. A few blocks north women are going to the tanning salon, guys are having lunch in sports bars. Kafka couldn't write this stuff.

I could go on and on about the contrasts, the seeming lack of connection between one world and the other even though they are all neighbors, just a few blocks apart. But hey, these are just words on a page. We are just that much more removed from neighborhoods where thousands of families live, blasted almost beyond recognition. How do I describe the indescribable? All that pain, all the countless lives, human and non-human, actually terrorized (as opposed to being told you're terrorized) by the massive destruction of their homes. Who can tell that story?

Tomorrow I'll be delivering supplies to Springfield. I'll try describing it.

- d.o.

The Amherst Chainsaw Massacre Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Are we sick & tired yet of 19th century internal combustion vehicles dictating our infrastructure needs? How about the destruction of scores of trees to make way for roundabouts? It's like a merry-go-round ride made in a little corner of hell and it's round about time we reconsidered our priorities given the oncoming climate crisis. Amherst Tree Warden, Alan Snow and Shade Tree Committee member Hope Crolius join us to talk trees. We checkout some other valley news in our E-Valley-uation segment as well as news from the outside world in our Echo Chamber. How about we see who this week's Fool-on-the-Hill might be? All that and more, but first it's time for... Revenge of the Critters! Golfers beware: trees can ruin your game.

In our E-Valley-uation segment we revisit the chainsaw massacre in the Quabbin just in case you forgot, but Mother Nature delivered her own massacre last week in the form of tornadoes here in Western Mass. See the pics here and here and video here and here. Then ask yourself about so-called weather anomalies and the climate crisis (see Bill McKibben below). We applaud Massachusetts AG, Martha Coakley for backing Vermont's lawsuit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). We wish the nuke-boosters at the NRC would wean themselves of the industry kool-aide and REALLY listen to Arnie Gundersen for once.

This Week's Fool-on-the-Hill is Repugnican congressman Dana Rohrabacher who says since 80 percent of carbon emissions come from decaying plant matter, we should clear-cut rainforests in order to reduce carbon! Whoa! Why didn't WE think of that??

In our Enviro Show Eco Chamber...er...Echo Chamber, we replay Germany's Biggest Anti-nuke action EVER!. And this: McKibben, with tongue uncharacteristically embedded in cheek, nails corporate media and climate crisis deniers on mega-storms. Did someone say tornado? Speaking of massacres, check this out! And for good measure this!

We try once again to air "Earth" by The Green Rockers leading to our interview. Then it's on to the good ol' Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday June 8, 10am, Room A-1 at the State House in Boston. The Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy holds a public hearing on the Muni bill H869. Bill H869 amends a century-old, obsolete State law which gives NStar, Unitil, National
Grid and WMECO a permanent monopoly. We need your help! Go to: http://massmunichoice.org

June 8, 2011. An informational meeting on a new National Wolf Strategy will be held from 6:00 PM to 7:15 PM followed by the public hearings from 7:30 to 9:00 PM. at the Augusta Civic Center, Augusta, Maine. Contact: Martin Miller, Chief, Div. of Endangered Species, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 300 Westgate Center Dr., Hadley, 413-253-8615.

Wednesday June 8, 7:00 to 10:00 PM. Jazz benefit to raise money for the Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO's charitable organization, the Union Community Fund, to help ease the financial burden on those unfortunate families that suffered life-changing setbacks as a result of the tornados that devastated our region. Montenia's restaurant located at 137 State Street in Springfield. Contact: MarkJazz64@aol.com

Thursday, June 9, 8pm? War criminal Karl Rove will be Keynote speaker for the 2011 Annual Landmen (Big Oil businessmen) Meeting at the The Boston Park Plaza Hotel (50 Park Plaza At Arlington Street, Boston). Rove is scheduled to speak at 9 AM. Bring handcuffs! Email: neimpeach@gmail.com

Saturday, June 11, 9am to Noon. Geo Plus River Walk. Steve Winters, now working as Holyoke Community College’s first full-time Earth Science instructor, will again make the geologic rounds in Turners. Great Falls Discovery Center, Avenue A, Turners Falls. Call: (413)863-3221

Satruday June 11. 10am to 4pm. Riverfest, celebrating the Deerfield RIver. Shelburne Falls. Call (413) 625-2526

Saturday, June 11, 3:00 p.m.: 250th Shutesbury Anniversary Parade, hopefully featuring our friends the trees. Parade from elementary school to town common along Leverett Road., after the parade: Festivities at Shutesbury Athletic Club! 5:30 p.m. barbecue; 7:00 - 10:00 p.m., performance by Briefcase Full of Blues. See: http://www.shutesbury.org/250th

Monday, June 13, 7 to 9pm. Edible Forest Garden Workshop. Wendell Town Hall. Go to: www.PermacultureNursery.com or Call (360)797-4034

June 23-24, 9am. US District Court Hearing - Entergy vs Peter Shumlin et al. US District Court, Brattleboro, VT. Contact CAN: (413) 339-5781 Email: can@nukebusters.org

Saturday, June 25, 1 to 8pm. No Nukes Party! (And discuss non-violent action plans 3-5:30pm) Sponsored by: Wendell Conservation Commission. Co-sponsors: Clamshell Legacy and Antinuclear Mobilization; Citizens Awareness Network ; Safe & Green Campaign; Green Mtn. Post Films; W. MA AFSC; Traprock Center for Peace and Justice and the Solar Rollers. More information, call Sharon (978) 544-8822 or Tom (978) 544-3911

Monday, July 18 to August 6. Walk for a Nuclear Free World. Starting at the Leverett Peace Pagoda, the walk goes to both Vermont Yankee and the Pilgrim nuke in Plymouth, MA ending at the Grafton, NY pagoda. Call: (413)485-8469.

Friday, July 22 through Sunday, July 24. Clamshell Alliance reunion & resurgence:For rooms, tenting and dining, the World Fellowship can accommodate up to 150 overnight, so reserve soon (www.worldfellowship.org) if you plan to stay over. For information, connection and conversation, join clamshellalliance@yahoo.com, visit the www.clamshellalliance.org website and Facebook at http://facebook.com/ClamshellAlliance.

We go out with "The Memory of Trees" by Enya; this in memory of all the trees recently killed to make way for yet more humans and their mistaken priorities. Next time it's our Summer Solstice show. Until then remember to listen to your Mother.

The Little Green Schoolhouse Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. With the Five College Area headed for summer break and young kids thinking about anything but school, we have a look at green education (what? contrary?). Abbie Jenks, founder of the Peace, Justice and Environmental Studies program at Greenfield Community College calls in. Also joining us in the studio, Marcy Gregoire, founder and proud member of Under the Tree Music Company where they practice "kidTunage to Love Up the Earth Mamacita" (sounds like we're on the same page, yes?). As usual, we see who this week's Fool-on-the-Hill might be, checkout our E-Valley-uation segment, as well as The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, but first it's time for......Revenge of the Critters! Since owls seem to be associated with wisdom, and since we're talking education here, did these guys score some smarts? Maybe not target #1, Byron Unger, "an award-winning world class racer [who] owns a wide variety of racing boats and automobiles". Maybe this wise owl was teaching Byron a lesson about carbon footprints?

It's E-Vally-uation time: Does Springfield really need fewer trees? We don't think so! And while we're in Springfield we report back on last week's Rally and City Council Meeting on the Springfield biomass incinerator that threatens Western Mass air, forests and communities! [This just in: City Council votes to revoke biomess permit!]. Meanwhile, up the river by Turners Falls we get an update from Karl Meyer on fixing the ocean connection on the Connecticut River. Karl is asking Enviro Show fans to notify their MA state reps and State Senator Stan Rosenberg about the need to "Build the long-overdue fish lift at the dam and return regulated spring flows to the crippled dead reach of the river below the dam". Save the shad! And a follow-up on Mass. Sierra Club's Elisa Campbell and her winning The Enviro Show Big Green Clearcutters Award. We can't get pro-clearcutting Campbell to pick-up the award no matter how hard we try, even offering it to her on the Mass. Sierra Facebook page (said offer vanished soon after posting....what's that about?).

We get in the Wayback Machine for our Enviro Quote of the Week which comes from Chief Luther Standing Bear of the Lakota Sioux:

"I am going to venture that the man who sat on the ground in his tipi meditating on life and its meaning, accepting the kinship of all creatures, and acknowledging unity with the universe of things, was infusing into his being the true essence of civilization."

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber we can only wish we were echoing the corporate media about the ongoing multiple radioactive meltdowns at Fukushima but hey, that story is so last month! Not here though, we spotlight nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen who says that the containment vessels for reactors 1, 2 and 3 are all leaking. This is not good news, but here is something to cheer you up: direct action against the biomess in the UK (we celebrate where we can!). Our Enviro Show Blog Bonus is this Greenpeace action link. Stop whaling! Also: everyone loses on the Upper Big Branch mine disaster. And finally (and we really mean finally): Mickey & Minnie busted for tree-hugging!

This week's Fool-on-the-hill? Utah Rep. Rob Bishop who wants you to believe, "There are no special subsidies or tax breaks for oil companies, period." We used to call that lying, these days it's called.....messaging? How about a gaggle of fools: Senate wimps out on oil subsidies bill.

"Earth" by The Green Rockers takes us to our interviews. Then we're on to the Bus Stop Billboard (look at all these post-End of the World events!):

Wednesday May 25, 12:30pm (brown bag lunch at noon). Green Works meeting. Pioneer Valley Central Labor Council, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield. Call: (413) 827-0301, Email: jon@wmjwj.org.

Wednesday, May 25, 2-4 pm. Deadly Deal: From Nuclear Waste to Depleted Uranium Weapons –What Have We Learned? A discussion will feature the 30-minute documentary film,
“Uranio 238”. Bangs Center - Room 101, Boltwood Walk, Amherst. Call: (413)522-7505

Friday, May 27, 10:30 to 11:30am. Fourth Friday Young Children's Story Hour explores Fish (especially for children ages 3-6). After the story, you can join us for an age appropriate activity. Great Falls Discovery Center, Avenue A, Turners Falls. Call: (413)863-3221

Friday, May 27, 7pm. Screening of A Killer Bargain The work that globalization offers often comes with pollution and life-threatening working conditions. Media Education Foundation, 60 Masonic Street in Northampton. Enter via Woodstar Cafe, at the front of the building. The venue is accessible. The screenings are free unless otherwise noted. Discussion follows.

Tuesday, May 31, 5:30pm. Citizens Action Network organizing meeting. Solar Store of Greenfield, 2 Fiske Ave, Greenfield. Come and get the latest info on ENVY, Entergy's lawsuit, Fukushima catastrophe. Come with ideas for possible actions. Come and help determine the next steps for CAN

Wed.-Fri. June 1-3, All day. Slow Living Summit, an intensive two-and-a-half day exploration to find ways to build healthy, thriving local economies while encouraging, mentoring and supporting a new generation of activists, entrepreneurs and engaged citizens. Featuring Bill McKibben. WARNING: Pricey! Go to: http://www.strollingoftheheifers.com/slow-living-summit

Saturday, June 4, 10am to 2pm. Fort River Celebration Day in Amherst. Please visit www.fortriverdiscovery.org for more information and further program and event listings.

Sunday, June 5, 2011, 4-5:30, potluck at 5:30. 7:00pm, meeting. Green-Rainbow Party - Pioneer Valley Chapter. Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst. Call: 413-320-3747.

On June 6, environmental groups, labor unions and other activists and organizations will unite for the March on Blair Mountain, a five-day trek merged with workshops, cultural festivities and music. On the sixth day, a large rally will be held in Blair, followed by a march to the crest of Blair Mountain. MA contact: barefootreehugger@gmail.com or call (304)854-0390

Thursday, June 9, 8pm? War criminal Karl Rove will be Keynote speaker for the 2011 Annual Landmen (Big Oil businessmen) Meeting at the The Boston Park Plaza Hotel (50 Park Plaza At Arlington Street, Boston). Rove is scheduled to speak at 9 AM. Bring handcuffs! Email: neimpeach@gmail.com

Saturday, June 11, 9am to Noon. Geo Plus River Walk. Steve Winters, now working as Holyoke Community College’s first full-time Earth Science instructor, will again make the geologic rounds in Turners. Great Falls Discovery Center, Avenue A, Turners Falls. Call: (413)863-3221

Satruday June 11. 10am to 4pm. Riverfest, celebrating the Deerfield RIver, Shelburne Falls. Call (413) 625-2526

Saturday, June 11, 3:00 p.m.: 250th Shutesbury Anniversary Parade, hopefully featuring our friends the trees. Parade from elementary school to town common along Leverett Road., after the parade: Festivities at Shutesbury Athletic Club! 5:30 p.m. barbecue; 7:00 - 10:00 p.m., performance by Briefcase Full of Blues. See: http://www.shutesbury.org/250th

Friday, July 22 through Sunday, July 24. Clamshell Alliance reunion & resurgence:For rooms, tenting and dining, the World Fellowship can accommodate up to 150 overnight, so reserve soon (www.worldfellowship.org) if you plan to stay over. This is a link to organizing materials on the Clamshell Alliance website: http://clamshellalliance.org/?page_id=58. For information, connection and conversation, join clamshellalliance@yahoo.com, visit the www.clamshellalliance.org website and Facebook at http://facebook.com/ClamshellAlliance.

Lots to do, yes? We go out with "Teach your children well" by Crosby, Stills & Nash (not sure if Neil Young is in there). In any case, remember to listen to your Mother, ok?

The Annual Enviro Show Big Green Clearcutters Award!

Now listen-up! for our Annual Enviro Show Big Green Clearcutters Award: this year's award goes to (drum roll please) Elisa Campbell! Again!! For two years running, Mass Sierra Club's Elisa Campbell, the pro-nuke, pro-development, pro-clearcutting "environmentalist" proves her worth....lessness. She even undercuts the Sierra Club! That's right, the MA Sierra Club representative in charge of Public Lands and Forestry is trying to subvert the group's own principals. Checkout Campbell's comment at last November's Forest Forum:

"I'm still trying to plug away at subverting the usual paradigm at the Sierra Club"

What? You mean Sierra Club's stand against CLEARCUTTING! Someone get the hook!

Barking up The Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Have you been barking up the wrong tree lately? Michael Wojtech, author of the just released book Bark: A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast, joins us to talk trees. As always, we scope out the latest news in the Enviro Show Echo Chamber and locally in our E-Valley-uation segment. We'll Meet the New Boss this time, as well as this week's Fool-on-the-Hill, but first it's time for...Revenge of Critters: This bad player? His goat got him!.

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we stick with the critters for openers. Checkout the awesome lyrebird who apparently imitates sound of its own habitat destruction. So, how different is that from two-legged workers who imitate the sounds of the wealthy corporados? More critters in trouble: bees and colony collapse. Maybe it's NOT such a mystery. Neurotoxic pesticides that are known to be particularly toxic to honey bees has rapidly taken over the global insecticide market. Checkout this campaign. In case you're thinking we've moved on from what may be the worst nuclear power disaster ever, fear not....er..well...checkout this video from Fairwinds. Also this. O, and speaking of nuclear: uranium mining in the Grand Canyon? No thanks! Take action here. And, the New York Times discovers the truth about the NRC. Another environmental horror show is on deck: the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would carry environmentally destructive tar sands oil straight across the Canadian border across the width of the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Take action here.

Time to Meet the New Boss again. We know Obama has scored all sorts of kudos for the reported hit on Osama (what's with these names?), but even if you happen to celebrate assassinations or are a knee-jerk Dem, the guy is still shilling for the corporados.

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (Repugnican-Wash.) who authored the bill passed in the House to expedite oil drilling lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and off the Virginia coast. Repugnicans are falsely claiming that supply is the reason for rising oil prices when in fact Wall Street commodity speculation jacks up the prices you pay at the pump. The cop on the beat that's supposed to stop such nefarious activity is the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, but it seems they're asleep in the patrol car. Guess who wants to punish them anyway? The same Repugnicans who want to drill baby, drill!

In our E-Valley-uation segment we take a moment to scan the newly released proposed biomass energy regulations. Given that Western Mass is ground zero in the Biomess, these proposed regs have special meaning to Mass Forest Watch[pdf]. That reminds us: Happy Asthma Awareness Month? Kidding! It just seems since our air quality in the Valley is soooo awful we should maybe think about making it worse with a new incinerator? Ya' think?

Now for our Annual Enviro Show Big Green Clearcutters Award: this year's award goes to..(TADA!!)....Elisa Campbell! Again!! For two years running, Mass Sierra Club's Board of Directors member Elisa Campbell, the pro-nuke, pro-development, pro-clearcutting "environmentalist" proves her worth....lessness. She even undercuts the Sierra Club! That's right, the MA Sierra Club representative in charge of Public Lands and Forestry is trying to subvert her group's own principals! Checkout Campbell's comment at last November's Forest Forum: "I'm still trying to plug away at subverting the usual paradigm at the Sierra Club" What? like advocating CLEARCUTTING! Someone get the hook!

"C is for Conifers" by They Might be Giants takes us to our interview with Michael Wojtech, author of the just released book Bark: A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast.

Finally, it's on to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Thursday May 12th, 6:30 PM. Screening of "Into Eternity", a compelling Danish film about the construction of the world's first permanent repository for high level radioactive waste in Finland. Greenfield Comm. College Main Campus, Main Building 3rd floor, Stinchfield Hall,Park in E lot, walk on service road that goes behind the main building, follow the signs. Admission: Contributions greatly appreciated.

Friday May 13 at 11:15am at the Central Labor Council Hall, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield, there will be a report-back on the recent Green Jobs workshop that explored some of the issues around a possible Greening Mount Tom campaign, a community effort that might transform the coal-burning power plant in Holyoke into a more sustainable and socially just operation.

Sat, May 14, 1pm – 4pm. Bay State Village Big Bike Bonanza. Bike tune-ups, games, bike decorating, show off your interesting bike, face painting, try out the pedal people's bike with loaded trailer. Field in Bay State Village, Northampton. A Bay State Bike Week event. For more information, contact vhfath@verizon.net.

Saturday, May 14 · 9:00am - 12:30pm, North Amherst Community farm Plant Swap & Sale. Simple Gifts Farm in North Amherst, 1089 N. Pleasant Street, Amherst. Contact: kemgall@gmail.com

Sun, May 15, 9:00am – 10:30am. Another Bay State Bike Week event: Join naturalist David King as he leads a tour of the natural history and ecology and conservation efforts around Hadley. Meet at the Connecticut River levee and North and West Street. Bring binoculars. For more information, contact Heather Vinski at hvinski@yahoo.com.

Tuesday, May 17, 4:30 pm. Springfield City Council will hold a hearing at Springfield City Hall to consider amending or revoking Palmer Renewable Energy's permit to construct a biomass incinerator in Springfield. ALL OUT TO STOP IT! Rally at 3:30pm. SPRINGFIELD RESIDENTS: please call your City Councilor and At-Large City Councilors. It is now crucial that we secure nine city councilor votes to revoke this permit, and we need your help to do this. Go to: www.springfieldincinerator.info/actions.html

Thursday, May 19, 7pm, Sea Lamprey with Expert Boyd Kynard— Come learn about one of the most fascinating, misunderstood fish of the Fort River! Rivaling beavers for their stream engineering, sea lamprey are a keystone fish species of great ecological importance to both aquatic and riparian life. Hitchcock Center, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst.

Saturday, May 21, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. From the Grassroots Up: Stop Incentives for Incinerators. A strategy meeting for activists working to stop biomass and waste burners. Doyle Center, Leominster MA. RSVP: Biomass Accountability Project at 800-729-1363 or stopbiomassburning@gmail.com

Saturday, May 21, 8:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. (Rain Date: Sunday, May 22) OLD GROWTH AT DUNBAR BROOK. Visit a spectacular remnant of native old growth forests of the high Berkshires in Monroe in northwest Franklin County. The trees are impressive in size, although the old growth stand is limited to about 150 acres. Pre-registration & fee required, please call the Hitchcock Center at 413-256-6006

Sunday, May 22, All Day. The Rapture......maybe. Prepare to lock-down unless you want to spend eternity with a lot of really strange people. It's that or deal with some nasty guys on horseback.

Sunday, Sunday, May 22, 10am. Manhan Rail Trail Grand Opening Ceremony and Rolling Party. Bike riders and walkers are invited to explore the new rail trail and art spots along the way. Riders can meet at 10am at Millside Park in Easthampton for bagels and musical performances, and then at 11 ride to the Route 10 Bridge. At 12, Mayor Higgins and Mayor Tautznik will cut the ribbon on the Bridge, and afterwards the procession will make its way to a concluding lunch at Veteran's Field in Northampton. Contact: julianecasey@gmail.com

Tuesday, May 31, 5:30pm. CAN organizing meeting. Solar Store of Greenfield, 2 Fiske Ave, Greenfield. Come and get the latest info on ENVY, Entergy's lawsuit, Fukushima catastrophe. Come with ideas for possible actions. Come and help determine the next steps for CAN

Sunday, June 5, 2011, 4-5:30, potluck at 5:30. 7:00pm, meeting. Green-Rainbow Party - Pioneer Valley Chapter. Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant Street, Amherst. Call: 413-320-3747.


On June 6, environmental groups, labor unions and other activists and organizations will unite for the March on Blair Mountain, a five-day trek merged with workshops,
cultural festivities and music. On the sixth day, a large rally will be held in Blair, followed by a march to the crest of Blair Mountain. Go to:
MA contact: barefootreehugger@gmail.com or call (304)854-0390

That's all folks. We go out with "De Light", by The Morning Birds and.....until next time, f'get about Osama and Obama, just listen to Yo' Mama!