Watchout Fossil Fools Enviro Show

Greetings Earthling. Sometimes we refer to corporados still desperately clinging to the energy sources of the 19th century as Fossil Fools. They are all the more foolish for overlooking young activists bound and determined to put them out of business. Climate activist Morgan Brown-McNeil joins us for some youth perspective on climate action and, perhaps, some poetry as well. [UPDATE: Interview HERE]As always, we will also bring you along to meet this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and those Whose Brains Are Small. Also we will take a peak into The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and remind anyone asleep at the wheel that "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" but first it's time for........Revenge of the Critters! in which the old expression "worming its way into your thoughts" gets new life.

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is none other than Repugnican Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy who, according to Left Action "announced an impeachment investigation into President Biden, even though McCarthy can't actually give a single reason why."  They go on to say, "Simply put, this effort is a joke. McCarthy is doing the bidding of the wild-eyed Republican extremists in the House, and their idiotic conspiracy theories." You can add your thoughts HERE.  

Here's a "Their Brains Were Small and They Died" segment we should have done back in 2021 except Glen hadn't dreamed up this segment until more recently. Probably everyone knows someone who was or is a COVID anti-vaxer, right? Sadly, when trash talking vaccinations became a political position, a whole lot of folks made some bad decisions. What was worse, were far-right talk show hosts talking up COVID conspiracy theories. Who knows how many of their listeners took such trash talk to heart and dearly paid the price. Sometimes those hosts paid the ultimate price themselves. We guess "Their Brains Were Small and They Died".

OK, time to remind anyone not paying attention that "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" There's been more than a few news stories lately concerning world-wide flooding, "Eight catastrophic floods in 11 days" and here in Massachusetts yet another "Once in a Hundred Years" event . Climate chaos is upon us and chances are it will only get worse. Meanwhile, life-threatening periods of high heat and humidity are spreading rapidly across the world while "G20 Leaders [are] Rebuked for Latest 'Incomprehensible Failure' on Climate Crisis". Starting to sound like science fiction? Nah! It's science fact.

And since we're getting all fictioney here how about we throw in some fascist saboteurs attacking the power grid nation-wide? Actually, that's NOT fiction, it just sounds like it and seems like a good Enviro Show Echo Chamber post from Politico. There's a lot of that going on and nobody's reporting on it. What's THAT about?? Here's another thing that's not being reported much: "..... energy development is additive: Although we think of types of energy as displacing each other — so that renewables replace natural gas, say, or coal replaced wood fires — humanity has largely added energy capacity since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. The world burned more coal last year than it ever has before. Although statistics are more scarce, biomass consumption — wood-burning — is said to also be at an all-time high." Leave it to us humans to just keep piling it on. 

Time for The Enviro Show Quote of the week to take us to our guest:

“The secret message communicated to most young people today by the society around them is that they are not needed, that the society will run itself quite nicely until they - at some distant point in the future - will take over the reigns. Yet the fact is that the society is not running itself nicely... because the rest of us need all the energy, brains, imagination and talent that young people can bring to bear down on our difficulties. For society to attempt to solve its desperate problems without the full participation of even very young people is imbecile.” 

 
― Alvin Toffler 

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

Monday October 2, 11am to 1pm. PUBLIC RALLY to Stop Private Jet Expansion
at Hanscom or Anywhere.  Meet at Boston State House steps, 24 Beacon Street, Boston, MA.
Please do your best to attend–and bring your friends & neighbors! Attending the rally is one of the best ways you can help right now. Numbers matter when we need to demonstrate that the will of citizens is to STOP this and any other private jet expansion to protect the climate. Following the outside portion of the rally, where we will hear remarks from Senator Barrett and others, we will deliver our (now more than!) 10,000 petition signatures to Governor Healey by her office with a message that: Massport’s plans are a direct and immediate threat to Massachusetts efforts to combat climate change–and we citizens look to her to show bold climate leadership by using her influence with Massport to cancel the project.  RSVP & more info HERE    

Monday, October 2, 11am.  Growing Solar, Protecting Nature: Release Event.  Solar energy development has come at too high a cost to forests, farmlands, and biodiversity. That’s why Harvard Forest and Mass Audubon have teamed up to publish the Growing Solar, Protecting Nature report that analyzes Massachusetts’ pathways for future solar development. The results, which are broadly applicable to every state in the Northeast, are promising: with key changes to policy incentives and land use planning, Massachusetts can meet its ambitious goals for solar while protecting the majority of natural and working lands. WWF&C firmly supports integrated policy approaches that balance clean energy and nature, like the ones outlined in this report. Register for this event    

Tuesday, October 3, 11 am. To speak in favor of  S.1976/H.2989 – An Act establishing an Indigenous Peoples Day, folks must register by Sept. 29at 5 pm. Written testimony (which can be brief) needs to be submitted by Wednesday, Oct. 4th at 5 pm. HERE.  Massachusetts has been honoring Columbus, and teaching our school children to do likewise, for far too long, though he is the father of slave trading in the Americas, and according to his own diaries, a rapist and perpetrator of genocide against Indigenous People. Let us follow the lead of Maine, Vermont, and many other states in declaring the second Monday in October a day to honor and celebrate the Indigenous People of this land, rather than their enslaver. Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight HERE.  

 Tuesday October 3, 4-6 p.m. Amherst Solar Bylaw Working Group meeting.  The final SBWG meetings present an opportunity for the public to voice an opinion, either through email or a comment during the public comment portion of the meetings on Zoom. Go HERE.  

Thursday, October 5, 6—7pm. Rodent Control: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.  Dexter Hall, Charlton Public Library, 40 Main St., Charlton, MA, 01507  Join Gary Menin, advocate for R.A.T.S. (Raptors Are The Solution) for a presentation on the catastrophic effects of rodenticides on owls, hawks, falcons, eagles, and other wildlife. He will also discuss alternatives to rodenticides, current proposed legislation, and ways we can all help to preserve our treasured wildlife. Registration is requested HERE. 

Thursday October 5,  8 – 9pm.  Join us for a virtual Townhall discussion of why Article 14.3 of the Constitution prevents our former President Donald Trump from running for office. We cannot wait until the next election cycle, we need to act now to protect our democracy. Join us to learn how we can protect our vote and our voice in our democracy. Go HERE. 

Monday, October 2, 5:30 p.m. Please join Western Mass Science for the People for an open Zoom meeting with Bart Bouricius of the Wendell State Forest Alliance. Bart will share the Alliance's mission and current projects, and there will be plenty of time for Q&A. Find out how you might get involved, and let's brainstorm how we can be resources for their work.Go HERE.

Wednesday October 18, 6:00 pm. Panel Discussion "Peoples Forum on Nature Based Solutions".  Open Space Plan; Tree Canopy; Heat Impacts, Inland Flooding and Extreme Weather &
Environmental Justice.  In person at the Audubon Nature Center in Mattapan or Virtual Zoom link TBD. Crane Ledge Woods Coalition (CLWC) T: 617.690.7848   E: craneledgeinfo@gmail.com    W: www.savecraneledgewoods.org 

Monday, October 23, 7 - 8:30 p.m. Climate Action Now Gathering via Zoom. Hear from Louisiana Bucket Brigade Director, Anne Rolfes and other frontline organizers in Cameron Parish working to end the expansion of LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) exports.  Learn about what's at stake and the strategies they are using to hold government and industry accountable for the true costs. Register here

Wednesday, October 25, 6:30-8:00pm.  Lawrence Buell—Henry David Thoreau: Thinking Disobediently.  The Walden Woods Project, 44 Baker Farm Rd., Lincoln, MA.  Doors will open at 6:30 pm for a wine and cheese reception with the author.  The talk will begin at 7:00 pm. Register HERE.  

That's all for now, folks but please remember to listen to your Mother! 

 

 

 

 

A Hot Take Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. We here in New England may have escaped the Dog Days of August but not everyone out there was so lucky. Records for historic heat are, literally off the charts across the planet. The Climate Crisis, as we've been pointing out on this show since.......forever!, is upon us and it's an  unprecedented existential threat to life on Mother Earth. Got it? Juley Fulcher, Worker Health and Safety Advocate at Public Citizen and author of "Hot Take – Urgent Heat Crisis For Workers" joins us in the wake of Labor Day to talk about how workers are taking the heat, not just from the biosphere but from the bosses as well. [UPDATE: Interview HERE] Here's an Enviro Show Action LINK on this very subject. As usual, we will also try and cheer you up with a visit to this week's Fool-on-the-Hill and Those Whose Brains are Small, as well as an inspirational Enviro Show Quote of the Week and more, but first it's time for.......Revenge of the Critters! Ticks, mosquitos, bacteria, algae, even fungi are on the move, guess who's in the way?

This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is not only a climate denier but, met with His Malignancy ahead of the Capitol attack and strategized about how they could block the results at the Jan. 6 electoral count. That goes way beyond foolish and runs smack into fascist insurrection but we still want to call him on his stupidity during this exchange with John Kerry regarding the Climate Crisis: "In the most heated confrontation, Republican Rep. Scott Perry accused Kerry of drumming up a “problem that doesn’t exist” in global warming. When Kerry asked why the world’s scientists and the 195 global governments behind the Paris climate accord would make up global warming, Perry responded, “Because they’re grifting, like you are,” drawing gasps from lawmakers." No gasps here, only ill will, if for no other reason than he's making a bundle trashing the planet. 

In the Enviro Show Echo Chamber the New York Times tells us: "The Biden administration on [last] Tuesday lifted protections from pollution for millions of acres of wetlands, three months after the Supreme Court found that it lacked the authority to regulate them." Remind us why we call that court "Supreme"?? We have an Action Link where you can join with United Farm Workers to tell OSHA: Provide heat stress injury protections for farm workers! And, speaking of workers, Bernie has a message for all of us HERE.  Are you a resident of Newton, MA? Is so, go HERE! Finally some good news, The Sierra Club tells us the American Marten is returning home to the Keystone state.

Just in case that good news is getting you all Pollyanna let us remind you "It's the Climate Crisis, Stupid!" The good news here is Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and other South American leaders have formed a pact to protect the Amazon Rain Forest. "We are going to COP28 with the aim of telling the rich world that if they want to effectively preserve the forest that exists, they need to pay money not only to take care of the canopy, but to take care of the people who live under it," Lula said. The bad news is it may be too late. "Global warming is driving leafy tropical canopies close to temperatures where they can no longer transform sunlight and CO2 into energy, threatening total collapse if the thermometer keeps climbing, according to a study" The study points to a lack of law enforcement as the contributing factor. Wake-up people! More bad news (sorry): "Fungal infections are rising worldwide and climate change may be to blame. Medicine isn’t ready." Click on the link, if you dare. Finally this headline from Common Dreams: " 'The Pyrocene Is Well and Truly Here': Climate Crisis Made Eastern Canada's Fires 2 Times More Likely" Had enough?

We promised you an inspiring Enviro Show Quote of the Week at the top of the show (and you deserve one after that last segment) so here it is:

“Choose only one master—Nature.”        –Rembrandt

Time to remember "Their Brains Were Small and They Died" and that we have such dinosaurs treading the Earth to this day. One such example is Alex Epstein. The New Republic (now recovered from its rocky past) tells us: "Epstein began his career at the Ayn Rand Institute, where he rose to prominence with op-eds on subjects like abortion, animal rights, and keeping the United States hooked on oil, which he described in 2006 as “a wonderful, life-sustaining product.” In 2011, after leaving the organization, he founded the Center for Industrial Progress; per its website, CIP is devoted to “helping industry fight for its freedom, with new ideas, arguments, and policies that will improve our economy and our environment.”Nuf' said?

After our conversation with Juley we head over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Saturday September 16, 11am to Noon. Members and supporters of Traprock's Franklin County for Peace gather on the Greenfield town common in support of the march in New York City the following day calling for an end to government support for fossil fuels. The Saturday vigil gives local residents not joining the NYC march the opportunity to publicly call for reduction of military spending and emissions and prevent both nuclear war and a related climate meltdown by signing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Sunday September 17,10am,  Join The March to End Fossil Fuels at the Amherst Town Common downtown! We all want fresh air to breathe, good soil and native forests and a planet where our lands and waters thrive. But in the massive midst of plastic pollution,heat waves, fires, and floods, the continued burning of coal, oil, and gas is threatening our future while wealthy fossil fuel CEOs rake in record profits. Email HERE. 

Sunday September 17, Noon to 1:30pm. Event-Farming in the Climate Crisis: Panel and Action Plan with Local farmers and State Rep Natalie Blais. The Episcopal Church of Saints James and Andrew, 8 Church Street, Greenfield, MA.   

 Sunday September 17,  1pm. March to End Fossil Fuels.The march will start at 1pm at the intersection of 5th Ave and W 59th St, near the southeast corner of Central Park. Please keep in mind that thousands of people (let alone dozens of buses) can not all meet at the same intersection. We will provide more detailed instructions for buses and group meeting locations closer to the date of the march. The exact route and end point of the march are still being determined. We will update this website HERE  If you are organizing a bus, please email griffin@climateorganizinghub.org so we can keep you updated. WMass , MA. buses HERE  

If you are unable to travel to NYC ON 9/17, there is a local action in solidarity in Bedford, MA you may wish to join: 160 Great Road, Veterans Memorial Park, Bedford, MA from 2:00-3:00 pm.  Our support will be noticed!Contact marjorieroemer38@gmail.com for more information.  

The morning after the historic March to End Fossil Fuels, thousands of us will converge on Wall Street to demand that President Biden choose People over Climate Change Profiteers. As we choke on the smoke of burned homes, bake and die in heatwaves, and live in societies increasingly destabilized by climate chaos, President Biden continues to put the interests of Wall St. and his donors above life on this planet. Join us and engage in a historic Mass Civil Disobedience targeting President Biden and Wall St. and calling on Biden to end the era of fossil fuels. Whether you can risk arrest or not, we need everyone to join us to support those risking arrest to end this fossil fuel industry. Go HERE. 

Sunday September 17, 1pm. March to End Fossil Fuels in Shelburne Falls. Meet at Memorial Hall, 51 Bridge Street. 1:30pm March to bandshell at Bucklend Shelburne Elementary School. Bring signs and costumes. 2pm on rally & music.  

September 18 to 21, Various Times. Extinction Rebellion Boston's 2023 Week of Rebellion. The calendar is still forming, as action planners meet and collaborate to prepare an electrifying (get the pun?) series of events. The daily drumbeat of climate disaster headlines about forest fires, extreme drought, flooding, record-breaking heat domes, and life-threatening storms leave no doubt that these consequences of our failure to break our addiction to fossil fuels are now a part of daily existence. And it's not just happening "somewhere else, far away." It is happening HERE. With 3 months to go, 2023 is already the worst "year of disasters" ever, with 23 "natural" disasters costing more than $1 Billion each.Be sure to check in for updates on our website calendar: https://xrboston.org/action/  

Monday September 18,  5p.m. Public Hearing H.2193/S.1339 An Act expanding after-death care options. LINK TO PRE-REGISTER TO TESTIFY: Persons who wish to testify in person or virtually or submit written testimony may do so by completing this form linked here (http s://forms.gle/bP4yBVNp8MgvFko28). DEADLINE TO PRE-REGISTER: Persons planning to testify virtually must sign up no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, September 18, 2023. Individuals and groups testifying in person are strongly encouraged to register using the form above prior to the deadline. Registration by the deadline is required for those who wish to testify virtually during the live hearing and encouraged for those who wish to testify in person. WRITTEN TESTIMONY: If you would like to provide written testimony, please include the bill number in the subject line of the email, as well as your name, address, phone number, and organization, if any, on the submitted testimony. Written testimony is encouraged and will continue to be accepted after the hearing until the relevant bill is acted upon. Such testimony may be submitted via email to JointCommittee.PublicHealth@malegislature.gov. Please include "Public Health Committee Testimony, [Relevant Bill Number]" in the subject line of the email. Those who plan to submit only written testimony may do so before or after the signup deadline. If you have any questions, you may email Marisa.Bartolotta@mahouse.gov and Alexander.Nally@masenate.gov.  

 

Tuesday  September 19, 4pm. Where Do the Birds Go? ABC's Newest Strategies to Bring Back Migratory Birds. The  American Bird Conservancy's webinar to learn more about the incredible journey that migratory birds take each fall, the perils they face, and how ABC is working with a wide range of partners to scale up habitat conservation in the places they need it most. Go HERE.  

Wednesday September 20, 8:30am and on. Critcal Mass Day at MA Staehouse. 

Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon St, Boston, MA 02133. Volunteers from a coalition of climate and community groups stand outside the State House every business day from 9-5, demanding that our leadership take immediate action to ban new fossil fuel infrastructure. In full public view, we process climate grief, sing, engage passerby in conversation. On Critical Mass Day, we're inviting YOU to stand with us. This is a great event for climate-conscious folks who want to make a risk-free statement. We'll have our normal Stand-Out in the morning, then we'll gather for a lunchtime celebration between 12 pm and 1 pm, after which we'll all write postcards and deliver them to Governor Healey in a giant group around 2 pm! We'll clean up and head home around 4:30 pm. Everyone is welcome to join for any portion of the day. Go HERE.

Saturday September 23, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Forest Walk: This is our third in a series of forest walks. This event will be at the Quabbin Reservoir and guided by experts Dr. Bill Stubblefield, biologist, and Michael Kellett, Executive Director of RESTORE: The North Woods. Exact meeting place to be announced soon.  

Saturday, September 23, to noon on Sunday, September 24, Berkshire Biodiversity Days at Greenagers’ April Hill Education and Conservation Center. This year’s program is packed with guided walks, presentations, and demonstrations led by experts. Presentation topics include leaf-mining insects from Charley Eiseman, fungi and mushrooms from John Wheeler, arachnids from Joseph Warfel, and native bees from Aliza Fassler, who will also lead a wild bee walk. Professor Tom Tyning will lead an amphibian and reptile walk that will involve checking under cover boards — a common surveying method used by herpetologists. Rene Wendell from Hoffmann Bird Club will lead an owl prowl and early morning bird walk, and Ben Nickley of Berkshire Bird Observatory will also conduct a bird banding demo. You can find a detailed schedule of the program at www.berkshirebioblitz.org. 

 

 

Wednesday September 27, 5:45pm.  Clean Energy Incentives for All - A Public Forum & Discussion. Westfield State University. If you are interested but unable to attend in-person or watch the livestream, you may watch the forum through a recorded video available approximately two weeks after the event through the member libraries of the PVLC (see below for a listing of libraries). The Forum’s goal is to highlight existing MA and federal clean energy incentives for individuals, homeowners, renters, businesses, municipalities and nonprofits. Attendees will learn how to access these federal and state tax-based incentives that are available for implementing cleaner means of heating and cooling, transportation, energy efficient appliances, and whole-building energy efficiency. Go HERE. 

 

 

Saturday September 30, 10am to 4:30pm. First Annual Gathering of Standing Trees & Save Public Forests Coalition. Can you believe how far we've come since we came together as a community in 2020? Join us at the Chittenden Reservoir on Saturday September 30th for outdoor fun, great food, and wild friends at the first-ever annual gathering of Standing Trees and the Save Public Forests Coalition. Please RSVP HERE  to help us plan, to join a carpool, and to make sure you get updates as the event approaches.

Monday October 2  11am to 1pm. MA Statehouse for a Rally & Presentation of our Stop Private Jet Expansion at Hanscom Airfield Petition Signatures to Governor Healey & Climate Chief Hoffer! We will send a resounding message to the Governor that citizens across the state are urging her to do everything within her power to stop this outrageous private luxury jet expansion which so clearly runs contrary to her—and our efforts—to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.  Sign & circulate the petition to the Governor here!  To date, we have over 8,000 signatures!  Let’s reach 10,000 by the Oct 2 rally!

Thursday October 5,  8 – 9pm.  Join us for a virtual Townhall discussion of why Article 14.3 of the Constitution prevents our former President Donald Trump from running for office. We cannot wait until the next election cycle, we need to act now to protect our democracy. Join us to learn how we can protect our vote and our voice in our democracy. Go HERE. 

Wednesday October 18, 6:00 pm. Panel Discussion "Peoples Forum on Nature Based Solutions".  Open Space Plan; Tree Canopy; Heat Impacts, Inland Flooding and Extreme Weather &
Environmental Justice.  In person at the Audubon Nature Center in Mattapan or Virtual Zoom link TBD. Crane Ledge Woods Coalition (CLWC)
T: 617.690.7848   E: craneledgeinfo@gmail.com    W: www.savecraneledgewoods.org 

OK Earthlings,  please remember to listen to your Mother and support workers everywhere