Seeing the Forest & the Trees Enviro Show

Greeting Earthlings. There's a lot going on in terms of forest protection as well as efforts to protect trees in other places, maybe even near your place. Aalana Feaster joins us to discuss the Morton Street Tree Canopy, "one of only a few unprotected natural assets left in the City of Boston". Also, Michael Kellett of Restore the North Woods returns to the show as does Janet Sinclair who wrote much of the former H.912 (now listed as H.4784 Register your support HERE!) An Relative to forest protection". [UPDATE: Hear interviews HERE ] As always, we will also bring you along (perhaps against your own will?) to meet this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and to see if we are Abidin' with Biden, as well as checking out our Charlie Baker Good Riddance Countdown Timer. Additionally, we will remind anyone who isn't paying attention that "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" but first it's time for..........Revenge of the Critters! Rusty Crayfish go after swimmers in turf war!

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is yet another dangerous fool bent on overthrowing our federal government. It is Rep. Barry Loudermilk (Repug-Ga.), who apparently led a Capitol MAGA recon tour the day before the deadly insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. We guess Barry isn't too swift, at first he denied the accusation filed by Representative Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, who alleged that she saw some of her colleagues leading "reconnaissance" tours in the Capitol. Then Barry went on the offense and called for an ethics investigation against Sherrill. "My Republican colleagues and I will not sit by while Democrats accuse their colleagues of treason for political gain. This type of conduct must not be tolerated," he wrote, urging the House Ethics Committee to "take quick and decisive action to ensure this never happens again." However, the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection said it has evidence that GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk led a tour of the US Capitol complex the day before pro-Trump rioters stormed the building. We'll see if Loudermilk shows up for his hearing. Do fools rush in (to the U.S. Capitol) where angels fear to tread? Stay tuned! 

Speaking of fools, if your MAGA hat wearing neighbor still claims climate change is a hoax and you are sick of reminding him "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" you might want to inform him that monthly average carbon dioxide levels are very likely to hit or even exceed 420 parts per million according to readings at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. This is a new record high for human history, and very likely the highest level seen in 4.1 million to 4.5 million years. Maybe tell him that we won, we got the highest score ever!  How about this from The Atlantic, "Delhi, the world’s second-largest city, has suffered through back-to-back days of 110-degree Fahrenheit heat. And Nawabshah, Pakistan—a city of nearly 230,000 people in the country’s desert south—came within half a degree of 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), the temperature at which the human body starts to cook."  It's not fiction folks, "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!"  

We are definitely NOT Abidin' with Biden if his Department of Justice tries to crush the lawsuit, Juliana v. United States, which was brought by 21 young plaintiffs in 2015 and seeks to establish a federal, constitutional right to a livable planet. If the case is successful, any federal policies that enable more fossil fuel development could be challenged as unconstitutional. Stay tuned for more on that. 

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington tells us: "Since the insurrection, fossil fuel companies have given more than $1 million to campaigns and political groups supporting the Sedition. What ARE they thinking?? And this: An Enviro Show Blog Action Link reminding us that Monarch Butterflies are still in serious trouble.  

OK sports fans are you ready to checkout the score board on our Charlie Baker Good Riddance Countdown Timer? Here goes...

 

We imagine Glen has a few words to say on this one.

Finally, before we move on to our guests, an Enviro Show Quote of the Week seems to be in order and this repeat quote is just what we need for this show:

"A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people."

                                                                   ― Franklin D. Roosevelt 

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

Thursday nights in June for our Justice in June: Connecting Impacted Communities Series. All events begin at 7PM ET. This is your opportunity to learn more about the on-the-ground effects of biomass. You’ll hear directly from environmental justice leaders and the community members who are suffering the health and economic impacts of the wood pellet biomass industry. All events in this series are FREE.  Register to attend this free online event. https://bit.ly/3yOf4ci

June 18, 2022 Mass Poor People’s and Low Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington, and to the Polls. Buses leave Massachusetts the evening of June 17th. Time depends on the exact location. They will arrive near the National Mall around 9 am Saturday, and depart for the return trip around 3:45. We have 16 bus stops currently planned in Massachusetts. Click on the stop closest to you to reserve a ticket. All bookings are 100% refundable if cancelled. If you are buying a Free/No-Cost ticket, sign up with the promotional code PPC100MA when asked if you have a promotion. We also have the option of low-cost $10 seats; and full fare tickets (around $100).  f you are going to DC, please RSVP here. We have hundreds of no-cost bus seats available for impacted persons. If you would like to sign up for a no-cost bus seat, please click here and choose "free ticket" 

 

June 21, 4-6 pm. Climate Action in front of the State House. Please RSVP at this link: bit.ly/wakeup6-21   This creative, fun, intergenerational action will revolve around the theme "Wake Up". Pots, pans, alarm clocks, and pajamas may be involved. There may also be an early afternoon lit drop in the State House and a social afterwards. Stay tuned for updates when the organizers from Mass Power Forward (MPF), Massachusetts Youth Climate Coalition (MYCC) and our partners finalize plan. Together, we can make an impact so bring friends and family!

Sunday June 26, 1 to 4pm.  Pine Barrens Walk Carver, Plymouth, Carver, MA. Join biologist Bill Stubblefield and ecologist Bart Bouricius for a tour of the sand mining and solar building in Southeastern Massachusetts.  Organized by Save the Pine Barrens.  Go to: Facebook Page @LandWaterPlymouthArea.www.savethepinebarrens.org

Monday June 27, 7:00 pm.   Fitchburg Forest Forum. The Fitchburg Conservation Commission is hosting the event at City Hall, 718 Main St, Fitchburg, MA 01420 after discovering that in Fitchburg and in neighboring towns, there has been a sharp increase in the number of privately-owned forest tracts being logged, due probably to high current timber prices, aggressive marketing by foresters and loggers, and elevated land values, as well as industrial solar. Dr. Susan Masino of Trinity College is one of the speakers.  Contact: Ralph Baker <ralphsbaker27@gmail.com>   

Monday June 27, 7 to 8:30pm.  Climate Action Now Monthly Gathering on Zoom. See the newsletter to get the Zoom registration link. 

Monday June 27, 7 to 8:30pm

That's it for now Enviro Show listeners. We probably don't have to remind you to listen to your Mother, right?

 

 

 

A Smart Solar Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Surely by now Enviro Show listeners know deforestation is no way to erect solar arrays, yes? Sharon Weizenbaum of Smart Solar Shutesbury & Smart Solar Western Mass joins us for a conversation on what not to do for clean renewable energy including the "We Speak for the Trees" March & Rally on May 22, 9:15am to 2pm. As always we will also bring you along to meet this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and to see and/or hear the Charlie Baker Good Riddance Countdown Timer, as well as a reminder that "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" and more but first it's time for...........Revenge of the Critters! Bear break-ins in Aspen?

 

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is back again. Yes, she's a dangerous fool to be sure, but a fool nonetheless. It's Marge again who late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel cut to a clip of Greene speaking to a reporter on Capitol Hill and saying of the Jan. 6 insurrection that left several people dead in an attempt to overthrow the presidential election, “You know what I think? I think the American people are fed up with this overdramatization of a riot that happened here at the Capitol one time.” Just one time! An insurrection, what's all the fuss? 😠

 

We know most rational people here on Planet Earth are aware but it seems most members of the GOP need to be reminded that "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!"  We guess the Repugs are unaware research published in the journal Science warned us runaway global warming driven by CO2 emissions has put marine life at risk?  We are, according to the study, primed for the most catastrophic mass extinction since the "Great Dying" 250 million years ago, when 90% of all ocean species were wiped out. We're pretty sure that's not Biden's fault. Sadly, Inside Climate News informs us, "In the last two weeks alone, a slew of research papers predicting horrific outcomes of biodiversity loss and mass extinction were published in major journals at an alarming pace, underscoring warnings from the scientific community that the consequences of global warming are becoming more intense and accelerating far faster than previously understood." If you're feeling strong enough to learn more go HERE.

 

Speaking of The Prez, we were truly Abidin' with Biden last week at the White House correspondents’ dinner were he roasted the Repugs and gave credit where credit is due (for the most part). We're thinking the audience might have been a bit more enthusiastic with Biden ........before THEY got roasted by Treavor. 😄  More to abide with here from NPR: "The Biden administration is restoring federal regulations that require rigorous environmental review of major infrastructure projects such as highways, pipelines and oil wells — including likely impacts on climate change and nearby communities. The longstanding reviews were scaled back by His Malignancy.   

  

OK, time to bring out our Charlie Baker Good Riddance Countdown Timer

 

Chances are Glen might have something to say about this? 

 

How about an Enviro Show Quote of the Week? You'll have to strap in to the Wayback Machine for this one

"If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen."

                                                                      - Henry David Thoreau

 

Now a brief trip to The Enviro Show Echo Chamber where we echo ourselves from last week (in case you missed it) and  Smart Solar Shutesbury's eye-popping presentation on W D Cowls' scheme of deforestation-for-solar. The video runs a bit over one hour so break out the popcorn and go HERE. 

 

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

Thursday, May 26, 11am-3pm. Stop the Peabody Peaker Mass Action.  Construction has started on the new gas power plant in Peabody. We can't allow things to keep moving forward with blatant disregard for our health and environment. Join us for a mass action in Peabody to tell the Baker Administration: do the health and environment studies that have never been done. We'll be making it clear that our opposition to this project continues, and we want the answers to the questions we've been asking for over a year. We're still finalizing the details of the action, but there will be lots of ways to participate! Please RSVP if you're interested in coming, and we'll follow up with more information. If you have any questions, reach out to Mireille Bejjani: mbejjani8@gmail.com 

Thursday May 26, 2pm. Join the John Muir Project for a webinar featuring a panel of independent scientists & field analysts as they discuss their work in Wildfire Ecology, Biodiversity, & Post Fire Snag Forest Habitats. REGISTER NOW: http://ow.ly/KMYB50J3eHI    

Friday May 27, 8AM.  Join Boston XR in Belmont to put an end to new fossil fuel infrastructure, big and small. We make this demand of MA municipalities because despite the vast scientific consensus on the dangers of "natural gas", local governments are continuing to invest in new fracked gas distribution pipelines and hookups, new gas-fired peaker plants, and other greenwashing solutions. According to a recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, without an immediate transition to renewable energy, humanity “will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all.” New research shows that methane leaks are more dangerous than previously understood, making them as damaging to the climate as coal. RSVP here for Friday's action so we can make fracked gas past tense

Tuesday June 7, 6 to 7:30pm.  DCR's Central Highlands Resource Management Plan Kickoff Public Listening Session.   Questionable plans for state forests & parks in Central & Western MA.  The public will be invited to submit comments after the meeting, with a deadline for receipt by DCR of June 28th, 2022. Comments may be submitted online at https://www.mass.gov/forms/dcr-public-comments. Please note that public
comments submitted to DCR may be posted on the DCR website in their entirety, and no information, including personal information, may be redacted.Register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LAzhHJ-ORYycwO6MKV3tJQ 

June 18, 2022 Mass Poor People’s and Low Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington, and to the Polls. Buses leave Massachusetts the evening of June 17th. Time depends on the exact location. They will arrive near the National Mall around 9 am Saturday, and depart for the return trip around 3:45. We have 16 bus stops currently planned in Massachusetts. Click on the stop closest to you to reserve a ticket. All bookings are 100% refundable if cancelled. If you are buying a Free/No-Cost ticket, sign up with the promotional code PPC100MA when asked if you have a promotion. We also have the option of low-cost $10 seats; and full fare tickets (around $100).  f you are going to DC, please RSVP here. We have hundreds of no-cost bus seats available for impacted persons. If you would like to sign up for a no-cost bus seat, please click here and choose "free ticket" 

 

Sunday June 26, 1pm.  Pine Barrens Walk Carver, Plymouth, Carver, MA. More info coming. Go to: Facebook Page @LandWaterPlymouthArea.  

Twitter @SavePineBarrens

Instagram @savepinebarrens

www.savethepinebarrens.org

That's it for now Enviro Show listeners. We probably don't have to remind you to listen to your Mother, right?

The Green Mountain National Deforestation Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Our home base here in Massachusetts isn't home to any of our National Forests but just over the line in Vermont there's the Green Mountain National Forest where the business-as-usual U.S. Forest Service is planning on logging 43,440 acres of your public lands.  Zack Porter, Executive Director of Standing Trees joins us for the details. So, if that's not bad enough maybe you'd like to join us to meet this week's Fool-on-the-Hill? How about a reminder that "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!"? Another peak at the Charlie Baker Good Riddance Countdown Timer? (OK, that's actually good news 'cuz it means we'll be rid of him soon). All that and more but first it's time for........Revenge of the Critters! Not sure how we missed this one last Halloween but here it is: Lawns trashed by wild hogs in California!

 

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is Florida Repugnican Rep.Vern Buchanan who doesn't seem to know what he's doing in Congress but most everyone else does! “House G.O.P., banding together, kills bid to honor pioneering black judge,” by New York Times’ Annie Karni: “A bill to name a federal courthouse in Tallahassee after Justice Joseph W. Hatchett, the first Black man to serve on the Florida Supreme Court — sponsored by the state’s two Republican senators and backed unanimously by its 27 House members — was set to pass the House last month and become law with broad bipartisan support” until someone realized the guy is not white. “Asked what made him vote against a measure that he had co-sponsored, Representative Vern Buchanan, Republican of Florida, was brief and blunt: ‘I don’t know,’ he said. … A spokesman for Mr. Buchanan... clarified that the congressman had opposed the bill ‘because of the judge’s position against prayer at graduation ceremonies.”  😏

 

While the Freddies at the Green Mountain National Forest prepare to trash our public forest we'd like to remind them "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" And just one of the many features of this EMERGENCY is more powerful storms and hurricanes.  "A study published on Wednesday in the journal Weather and Climate Dynamics reinforces the growing consensus that the hurricane threat to vulnerable coastal communities will keep increasing. The research shows global warming has “contributed to a decisive increase in Atlantic Ocean hurricane activity” in the last 40 years and doubled the chances for extreme seasons like 2020."  Another aspect of climate chaos concerns the fact that Alaska is collapsing. Yes, it's the melting permafrost once again. "The word permafrost, after all, is simply an abbreviation of “permanently frozen ground.” Much of Alaska’s permafrost is tens to hundreds of thousands of years old, first frozen when Goldstream Valley was grazed by mammoths. Now, that sense of immutability is slipping."  

 

We were surely Abidin' with Biden during E-Day when The White House announced a new policy to protect mature and old-growth trees........until we read this:  "Unfortunately, the president’s order will not ban logging of mature and old-growth forests or even protect the trees.  Instead, the President’s order is the latest version of a long bipartisan, Orwellian plan to subsidize the destruction of America’s national forests and the carbon sinks they contain." Read the link if you dare, we did and now we think it's just more Backslidin' with Biden. 😖

 

Hey kids, what time is it? Time for a visit to our kinda' new Charlie Baker Good Riddance Countdown Timer!

 We wonder what Biomass Baker did for Earth Day? Maybe Glen knows? 

 

 We have Breaking News!   "Climate Katie" better known  as  MA Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides, who announced Wednesday that she is resigning on May 6. Theoharides would not say... what "new professional opportunity" she is leaving the administration for" Who knows, maybe she snagged a high paying spot at some international logging corporation!  So long, Katie, thanks for all the entertainment. 

 

Are you ready for  our Quote of the Week?  This one is a bit....novel?

Humanity is cutting down its forests, apparently oblivious to the fact that we may not be able to live without them.

                                       - Isaac  Asimov

 

And finally a brief trip to The Enviro Show Echo Chamber where we echo Smart Solar Shutesbury's eye-popping presentation on W D Cowls' scheme of deforestation-for-solar. The video runs a bit over one hour so break out the popcorn and go HERE.

  

Following our conversation with Zack we move on to the Bus Stop Billboard: 

 

 Saturday, May 14, 10 AM to Noon. We will be having another Stand-Out Rally to save Crane Ledge Woods at 980 American Legion Hwy, Roslindale, MA. We will also clean up the DCR public land at the perimeter of the woods.   More  info:  https://www.savecraneledgewoods.org/

 

Saturday May 21, 10am to 3:30pm. A Day of Remembrance. Join the Nolumbeka project to celebrate of the release of the video series “Indigenous Voices: Stories from the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts—A Series of Short Videos about Native Life Past and Present,” from 10 a.m.—12:00 p.m. in the Great Hall. From 1:00 –3:30 p.m., a commemoration of the 346th Anniversary of the Great Falls Massacre, outdoors weather permitting, or in the Great Hall. Members of the Tribal and non-Tribal public are welcome. Free and open to all. Speakers include filmmaker Robbie Leppzer, video producer Jennifer Lee, Doug Harris, one of the organizers of the Reconciliation Ceremony in 2004, and Robert Peters, Mashpee Wampanoag artist whose paintings will be on display. http://www.nolumbekaproject.org. Co-sponsored by the Nolumbeka Project and Mass Humanities.  

 

Sunday May 22, 9:15am. Smart Solar Shutesbury Walk. "We Speak for the Trees March & Rally" from 359 Montague Road, Shutesbury to the Amherst Town Common at 1pm. Walk, bike, drive - Rain or Shine. "Are you concerned about  local clearcutting of hundreds of acres of forest for multinational corporate solar sites?"  Email: smartsolarshutesbury@gmail.com 

 

 Tuesday, May 24, 10am.  &  6pm. A public hearing in accordance with M.G.L. c. 30A on proposed amendments to 310 CMR 7.75 Clean Energy Standard. The proposed amendments would provide additional certainty to regulated entities regarding the need to accelerate the schedule for decarbonizing the electricity supply and Alternative Compliance Payment (ACP) rates. The accelerated schedule is consistent with Massachusetts’ Net Zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions goal for 2050, announced in January 2020, the 2050 Decarbonization Roadmap, and the goals set out for 2030 and 2050 in the Interim CECP and Chapter 8 of the Acts of 2021 - An Act Creating a Next Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy.  10am meeting link HERE.   6pm meeting link HERE. Testimony may be presented orally at the public hearing. MassDEP will accept written comments until 5:00 PM on Friday, June 3, 2022. Written comments must be submitted by email to climate.strategies@mass.gov or by mail to: Joshua Cook, MassDEP, One Winter Street, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02108. 

Thursday, May 26, 11am-3pm. Stop the Peabody Peaker Mass Action.  Construction has started on the new gas power plant in Peabody. We can't allow things to keep moving forward with blatant disregard for our health and environment. Join us for a mass action in Peabody to tell the Baker Administration: do the health and environment studies that have never been done. We'll be making it clear that our opposition to this project continues, and we want the answers to the questions we've been asking for over a year. We're still finalizing the details of the action, but there will be lots of ways to participate! Please RSVP if you're interested in coming, and we'll follow up with more information. If you have any questions, reach out to Mireille Bejjani: mbejjani8@gmail.com 

June 18, 2022 Mass Poor People’s and Low Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington, and to the Polls. Buses leave Massachusetts the evening of June 17th. Time depends on the exact location. They will arrive near the National Mall around 9 am Saturday, and depart for the return trip around 3:45. We have 16 bus stops currently planned in Massachusetts. Click on the stop closest to you to reserve a ticket. All bookings are 100% refundable if cancelled. If you are buying a Free/No-Cost ticket, sign up with the promotional code PPC100MA when asked if you have a promotion. We also have the option of low-cost $10 seats; and full fare tickets (around $100).  f you are going to DC, please RSVP here. We have hundreds of no-cost bus seats available for impacted persons. If you would like to sign up for a no-cost bus seat, please click here and choose "free ticket" 

 

Sunday June 26, 1 to 4pm. Plymouth Sand Mining Tour. Join biologist Bill Stubblefield and ecologist Bart Bouricius for a tour of the sand mining and solar building in Southeastern Massachusetts. Plymouth- meeting place TBA.  Gather 1-2 talk lecture;  2-3 walk ramble; 3-4 closing. Organized by Save the Pine Barrens. Contacts:environmentwatchsoutheasternma@gmail.com

That's all for now but pleeeeease remember to listen to your Mother!

Another Earth Week Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Yes, we know every day is Earth Day and every week is Earth Week, in fact every year is Earth Year here on The Enviro Show but what's anyone doing about it?? Christene DeJong, Kate O'Connor and a Parrot named Sophie of Extinction Rebellion WMass join us to find out. [UPDATE! Checkout our "Trees as a Public Good" E-Week event HERE ]  As always, we will also bring you along to learn about this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and to see if we are Abidin' with Biden, as well as another peak at the Charlie Baker Good Riddance Countdown Timer and more, but first it's time for...........Revenge of the Critters! You may have heard about Jonah and the Whale but who believes anything in that book written so long ago by unknowns? Today we have recorded evidence! (though it probably wasn't anyone named Jonah)

 We have Breaking News!   AG Healey's  position paper on climate for her bid as Gov states: "Burning wood for bioenergy depletes our forests, increases greenhouse gas emissions, and is a threat to human health. Maura will end subsidies for forest bioenergy for electricity and commercial-scale heat.  Maura will place a temporary moratorium on commercial harvesting on state-owned public forest land. Within her first year as Governor, she will develop and implement a science-based state forest management plan that accounts for the impacts of climate change on our forest resources and the role our forests can play in protecting the climate."

 

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is another dangerous fool, the worst kind in fact 'cuz he's a bona fide fascist tool. Yes, it's a return appearance for Rep. Paul Gosar (Repugnican-AZ) who, after five weeks of silence, blames his staff for him showing up to speak at a white nationalist conference.  Gosar claims "there was a miscommunication" even though Gosar attended the same event last year. 😏

We were Abidin' with Biden the other day when he referred to Putin's murderous war on Ukraine as genocide, and for being true to his word about putting an African-American woman on the Supreme Court as well as Low-income families will be able to lower their utility bills with $3.16 billion in funding for home retrofits made available by the Biden administration. However, that said, we also learned the "Biden administration announced it would uphold former President Donald Trump's decision to not regulate drinking water levels of a chemical used to make rocket fuel and explosives."? What's THAT about??  

 

 

There it is!  Our relatively new  Charlie Baker Good Riddance Countdown Timer and Glen will most likely have something to say about that.

 

We've said it before, we'll say it again: Biomass Baker needs to wake-up 'cuz "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!"  And with that in mind there's this: "Our data show that global emissions continue to move in the wrong direction at a rapid pace," National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Rick Spinrad said in a statement. "The evidence is consistent, alarming, and undeniable." As NOAA notes, carbon dioxide remains the biggest climate change threat. However, scientists say that reducing methane emissions—the largest anthropogenic sources of which are animal agriculture and energy production—is relatively easy."  [Full story HERE]  And here is yet another example of climate criminals at work: "The publication of the third and final part of the United Nations' latest comprehensive climate assessment... was postponed by several hours after a contentious weekend of negotiations in which wealthy governments attempted to weaken statements about green financing for low-income nations and fossil fuel-producing countries objected to unequivocal language about the need to quickly ditch coal, oil, and gas." 

 

On to The Enviro Show Echo Chamber where Laura Haight, U.S. Policy Director at Partnership for Policy Integrity passes on the good news, "..the Massachusetts Senate passed a climate package (S.2819) that includes, for the first time ever, provisions to remove subsidies for woody biomass energy. We are thrilled that the Senate has affirmed that burning woody biomass is not clean energy and should not receive the same subsidies as clean renewable energy like wind and solar." That said, the next hurdle is in the House so, Enviro Show listeners, be sure to "call your State Representative and urge them to join the Senate in taking woody biomass out of the definition of clean energy sources. They can show their support in two ways: 1. Co-sponsoring H3333, and 2. Asking House TUE Chair Jeff Roy and House leadership to include the same biomass provisions in the House climate bill." Finally, an Enviro Show Blog Action link on Endangered Species is HERE. 

 

Time for our Quote of the Week and given it's Earth Week how about this:

"For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver." —Martin Luther King Jr

 

Following our conversation with this week's guests we go to the Bus Stop Billboard: 

Friday April 29, 6pm. Vigil for Wynn Bruce. Extinction Rebellion Western Massachusetts will be conducting a reflective and regenerative vigil this Friday at 6 pm to honor the life of climate activist Wynn Bruce. This event will involve silent contemplation. We will gather outside the Northampton District Court.  Go here for trigger warning and details 

 

Saturday April 30, 8:30 to 11:30am. Community Tree Planting in Greenfield, MA. SAVE THE DATE! Please join us for our all-volunteer community tree planting on April 30th. We will plant about two dozen trees, with your help. Great family event and opportunity to meet new people and do something good for our City and our environment.  Meeting place TBA.  For updates go HERE. 

 

Monday May 2, 7pm.  This is Not a Drill: Climate Poetry Vigil. Northampton High School, 380 Elm Street, Northampton, MA. Join us for a celebratory night to hear creative climate poetry from young activists, inspiring protest songs & more connections between art & activism. Go HERE.

Tuesday May 3, 7pm.  Deep Roots for Food Justice: Grow Food Northampton Nourishing the Community and the Earth. Grow Food Northampton's (GFN) mission is to build a resilient local food system rooted in racial, economic, and environmental justice. The organization's food access, land access and stewardship, and community education endeavors not only meet the immediate needs of community members experiencing food insecurity, but provide long-term, foundational solutions for food justice and increased climate resilience. With a 121-acre Community Farm in Florence as the heart of all GFN does, the organization is working comprehensively to ensure that everyone can garden, farm, and grow and access food in ways that nourish our community and the earth. Go HERE   

 

Have a good Earth Week folks and remember to listen to your Mother, OK?  

 

 

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