Beware the Ides of March Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Isn’t this the right moment for us to take down the emperor one word at a time? Isn’t it us who really have the best words!  An untold number of poets, wordsmiths and strolling troubadours call in with all that (we trust). As usual we’ll also treat you to visits with His Malignancy himself and our Fool-on-the-Hill as well as a visit to The Enviro Show Echo Chamber but first it’s time for………….Revenge of the Critters! King Alexander of Greece ruled from June 1917 until his untimely death at 27 in 1920. He was bit by a domestic Barbary macaque and died of an infection (et tu pet!).

This week’s Fool-on-the-Hill may have sponsored the shortest legislation in the history of the U.S. House of Reprehensibles. Florida Repugnican, Matt Gaetz introduced H.R. 861. This beyond sketchy bill reads: “The Environmental Protection Agency shall terminate on December 31, 2018.” Full stop. We’re thinking, given the state of education in the state of Florida, Matt may have decided not to go too much into detail.

We may have stumbled on the reason His Malignancy’s senior aide, Stephen Miller always seems to come across a bit off. First we thought he might actually be Pee Wee Herman’s evil twin BUT then this came along! Yes, Miller may well be one of those mind-controlled robots reported about recently on NPR. Now, just guess whose mind controls him! Hint: The KGB was always interested in psychics! On to His Malignancy’s troll in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who has just stuck his oily foot in his mouth again. You can hear Scott Pruitt state: “carbon dioxide is not a primary contributor to global warming” HERE.  Let’s move on to another of the emperor’s appointees, T Rex the man from Exxon/Mobil…..or is it “Wayne Tracker”? Whatever you call him it seems like obstruction of justice is the name of the crime! This one may qualify as Great Moments in Wasted Efforts: MIT profs are trying to lobby His Malignancy about one of his chief climate deniers. Good luck with that, professor! It seems the emperor’s Forest Service has changed its priorities……but actually they’ve just gotten worse than ever. Read all about it here. Getting back to the subject at hand, we would mostly like to see the emperor taken down by the peaceful machination of the state. If you’ve been following the Valley’s own Rachel Maddow these past few weeks you’re fully aware that the evidence for running His Malignancy out of town on a rail is building. Watch this space.

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber our friends at Grist recently reported that the new and removed EPA has given Big Oil & Gas a pass on methane (so to speak). OK, that stinks, right? How about this: Antarctica sea ice has just hit its lowest level ever. No word on whether such levels are as low as the ones reached by the repugnicans in Washington. Here’s our Enviro Show blog Action Link for this week. Please do it for the bees! A few more repugnican assaults on life here on planet Earth to cover: Endangered species? Endangered species! We doin’ need no endangered species!!

We have an E-Vally-uation segment coming soon that should be of great interest. Sooooo, don’t just watch Rachel’s space as noted above, watch THIS SPACE as well, OK? And this: Our friend Karl Meyer has written a piece regarding the Connecticut River and pumped storage that puts new meaning to the term carrying water for the corporados. It’s a must read for anyone who loves the river that our valley embraces.

The Enviro Show Quote of the Week comes from Albert Hoffman via Glen:

In field and forest, and in the animal world sheltered therein, indeed in every garden, a reality is perceptible that is infinitely more real, older, deeper, and more wondrous than everything made by people, and that will yet endure, when the inanimate, mechanical, and concrete world again vanishes, becomes rusted and fallen into ruin.

 

After we take down the emperor it’s time for the Bus Stop Billboard:

 

 

Wednesday, March 22, 2:00 – 3:00 pm eastern. “Too Dirty, Too Dangerous: Why Health Professionals Reject Natural Gas”. Are you concerned about fracking and natural gas pipelines? Concerned about climate change? If you are—and you should be—you should join PSR for a webinar. Go to: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/255494997792545283

 

Wednesday, March 22, 6pm. Native American Ceremonial Landscapes – Otis State Forest. First Church, 27 East Street, Pittsfield, MA. 73 Ceremonial Stone Landscapes (CSLs) have been identified along the proposed route of the Kinder Morgan Ct. Expansion pipeline through a survey conducted by several Tribes in the second half of 2016. According to Mr. Harris, a full one-third of these CSLs will be disturbed or destroyed during the construction of this pipeline. To learn more go here.

 

Wednesday, March 22, 7:00pm. People’s Climate March Planning Meeting for Greenfield, 12 Federal St. Greenfield, MA 01301. Join our kick off planning meeting to be involved in all aspects of planning and organizing our community for the People’s Climate March! This is one of hundreds of planning meetings happening around the county dedicated to organizing, planning, and recruiting for the April 29th People’s Climate March in Washington D.C. Go HERE. Call: 413-320-7222.

 

Thursday, March 23, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Poetry reading and creative writing workshop featuring Don Ogden, author of Bad Atmosphere. A free copy of d.o.’s book will be given to the first 20 participants to arrive. Part of the Talking Truth: Finding Your Voice Around the Climate Crisis series. Room 2601, UMass Library , Amherst, MA. Contact: Madeleine Charney

 

Thursday, March 23, 6:00 – 9:00pm. VT Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel meting. Brattleboro Area Middle School Multi-Purpose Room, 109 Sunny Acres, Brattleboro, VT. Representatives from the Vermont Public Service Department, Agency of Natural Resources and Attorney General’s Office will provide the state’s overview of the Certificate of Public Good petition that Entergy and NorthStar have filed with the Vermont Public Service Board. Remote Access (via GoToWebinar) will be available for the March 23, 2017 meeting.  Please email Tony Leshinskie, Vermont State Nuclear Engineer at anthony.leshinskie@vermont.gov or via PSD.NDCAP@vermont.gov to request a remote access connection.  Remote access requests should be made no later than 12 noon on March 23, 2017.

 

Monday, March 27, 7:00 to 9:00pm. Climate Action Now! Monthly gathering. Unitarian Society of Amherst, 121 N Pleasant St, Amherst, MA. (Handicap accessible and on a bus line. Everyone is welcome!). Climate Action Now is a people powered, grassroots Western Massachusetts based organization dedicated to building a powerful, unstoppable climate justice movement. We work in our communities and in collaboration with diverse partners across the region to educate, advocate, and mobilize for climate action. Newcomers are welcome! Let’s work together to create an inclusive, unstoppable movement for climate justice!  VISIT OUR WEBSITE!

 

Saturday, April 1, 9am. to 5pm. Sugar Shack Alliance Non-violent Direct Action Training. Mt. Toby Friends Meeting House, Rt. 63, Leverett, MA. Go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/1788344298150406/

 

Thursday, April 6 — doors open at 6:15 p.m. and show starts at 7 p.m. Earth2Trump Resistance Roadshow, an evening of music and activism. Academy of Music Theatre, 274 Main St., Northampton, MA . The Earth2Trump Resistance Roadshow is coming to Northampton on April 6.Featuring exciting musicians and speakers, the roadshow will entertain, inspire and provide opportunities for everyone to help fight Trump’s disastrous environmental policies and attacks on Native Americans, including the Dakota Access Pipeline. Go here: http://biologicaldiversity.salsalabs.com/o/2167/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=83085

 

 Thursday April 6, 7pm. Vermont regulators want to hear what we think about Entergy selling VT Yankee to a new decommissioning company. An informational presentation by the Dept. of Public Service will be held at 6:00pm. The Public Service Board will begin hearing the people speak at 7:00pm. The hearing will be at Vernon Elementary School, on Governor Hunt Road (across the street from Vermont Yankee) in Vernon, VT. For details go to our Decommissioning Resources page and our news post here.

 

Wednesday, April 12, 7pm. Eversource Rate Case Hearing. Springfield City Hall, School Committee Meeting Room 220, 36 Court St., Springfied, MA. Eversource is proposing a bill increase to you that would increase their revenue by about $100 million dollars. Eversource is asking the Department of Public Utilities to give them a guaranteed return on equity of 10.5%, which would be among the highest rate of any utility in the country. There are many parts of this proposal that are bad for solar, including imposing “demand charges” on residential customers and higher “fixed customer charges”; which will both have the effect of lowering net metering credits. The proposal is also bad for low income households (western MA families could end up with an annual bill of $500 before they even turn on the lights!), and for energy conservation. Go to: http://www.massclimateaction.org/

 

Wednesday April 26, 7pm. Eversource Rate Case Hearing. Greenfield Middle School Auditorium, 195 Federal Street, Greenfield, MA. (see above).

 

Saturday, April 22, Noon to 5pm. March for Science – Boston Common. The March for Science champions publicly-funded and publicly-communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity. We unite as a diverse, non-partisan group to call for science that upholds the common good, and for political leaders and policy makers to enact evidence-based policies in the public interest. This group is inclusive of all individuals and types of science! Go to: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1283459638410385/

 

Saturday, April 22, 10am. All day. March for Science – Washington, DC. In Washington DC, our march through the streets will culminate in a rally on the Washington Mall. Co-hosted with the Earth Day Network, the rally will be both a call for politicians to implement science based policies and a public celebration of science.  The rally will feature main stage speakers and teach-in tents around the mall where scientists and science communicators from a wide variety of scientific fields will discuss their work and its impact on our everyday lives. Go to: https://www.marchforscience.com

 

Thursday & Friday April 27, 9am – April 28. Elders Climate Action Day. American University Washington College of Law & Capitol Hill, Washington DC, 4300 NW Nebraska Ave., Washington, DC Go to: http://www.eldersclimateactionday.org/

 

Saturday, April 29th, 2017. That’s the date of the People’s Climate Mobilization, a major march in Washington, D.C., when we will come together with hundreds of thousands of people to reject Trump’s attack on our communities and climate, and push forward with our vision of a clean energy economy that works for all. Go to: https://peoplesclimate.org/pledge/   MA bus sign-up HERE.

 

We are very much out of here now. Remember: Listen to your Mother, right?

Get The Lead Out Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Did you think we got the lead out of the U.S. in the ’70s? It wasn’t just about the gasoline and the paint. Earth to humans: You still have a problem! Ben Hellerstein, State Director of Environment Massachusetts joins us to talk about this rather unknown issue these days in the 21st century. Also, joining us in the studio is Dr. David A. Reckhow, Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst who headed a recent study of lead in our water. We still have lead in our air and water and it’s a BIG problem for our kids. As always, we’ll also take you to meet our Fool-on-the-Hill and His Malignancy, as well as a side trip to The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, but first it’s time for…………..Revenge of the Critters! Wait, do critters hate motor vehicles or just ones rich people drive?

It’s time for another two-fer in our Fool-on-the-Hill segment and this time they are Dems. Senators Joe Manchin and Heidi Heitkamp recently bailed on their party and voted to approve climate criminal Scott Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). No surprise that both come from the fossil fuel producing states of  West Virginia and North Dakota, the latter being the site of the much disputed DAPL pipeline. Meanwhile Pruitt is now in the building (we had advised the employees to change the locks but they didn’t listen to us) and recently released emails shows he is considered dangerous. Someone call 911!

Time to checkout the present resident in the White House, His Malignancy, the King of Nothing. Let’s start with Rep. Maxine Waters as she drills into Big Oil and their enablers in the Administration calling them what they really are! One of those players is, of course, “T” Rex Tillerson, Big Oil’s man at the head of the U.S. State Department who is no doubt gleefully awaiting the eviction of Water Protectors at Standing Rock so the Dakota Access Pipeline can continue its course of climate destruction. His Malignancy, who has green-lighted the DAPL project he is personally invested in, has a portrait of Indian butcher, Andrew Jackson on the wall in the Oval Office, a fitting symbol of the sort of person the fake president emulates as he carries on the U.S. tradition of treaty trashing. If this were the B-grade bad TV it comes across as on a daily basis we could simply change the channel, but it’s actually happening here in what passes for the real world. We’ll rerun that piece we didn’t get to last week about how the fake president needs help.  Michael Moore seems to think his 10-point plan will “make toast” of the present resident in the White House but we don’t see forced eviction on the list?

Over in The Enviro Show Echo Chamber you don’t want to stand HERE for more than a few minutes or you actually will be toast! The Independent in the UK gives us the latest on the hell hole called Fukushima. And this from Grist: Standing Rock camp torched in traditional Native ceremony but the struggle continues. This weeks science class has some important homework for you. Yes, there will be a test and it will be about deforestation, OK? . Finally, this report comes from Faux “News” so you might want some fact checking time. Be that as it may, we just love reports of flying reptiles as big as airliners (and their remains reportedly found in Transylvania no less)!

 

After our conversation with Dr. Reckhow and Ben we head over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

 

Saturday, March 11, Noon: Safe & Green is hosting a vigil at Noon in Pliny Park, Main St & High St., Brattleboro to once again call attention to the on-going nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan. Please stand in solidarity with the evacuees of a region once as productive, beautiful and productive as our own. Email: safeandgreencampaign@gmail.com

 

Saturday, March 11, 12 to 1:30pm. Standing WITH Standing Rock  on the Greenfield Town Common, Court Square, Greenfield, MA. Stand together in community prayer, song, and peaceful action in support of Standing Rock Water Protectors and Indigenous people. Standing Rock and Native Nations have called for solidarity actions to support their March 10th Washington DC march in prayer and action. The Standing Rock and Native Nations who are organizing the DC March say: “We ask that you rise in solidarity with the Indigenous peoples of the world whose rights protect Unci Maka (Grandmother Earth) for the future generations of all.” The Native Nations’ demands for the peaceful DC March include respect for tribal rights and the protection of the environment and future generations. Go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/1466248530054599/

 

Tuesday, March 14, 6pm.: The Public Service Board has scheduled a public hearing on the sale of Vermont Yankee. Entergy and NorthStar are asking for a Certificate of Public Good for the sale.  An informational presentation will be held at 6pm. The hearing will begin at 7pm.  Most likely it will be at Vernon Elementary School, but we will confirm the location at a later date. Email: safeandgreencampaign@gmail.com

 

Tuesday, March 14, 6 to 7pm. Beware the Ides of March Enviro Show. Taking down the emperor one word at a time. Actually, we have the best words……O, and real facts! Call-in with your brief poems, songs or prose, but let us know first, OK? Email: enviroshow@valleyfreeradio.org

 

Thursday, March 23, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Poetry reading and creative writing workshop featuring Don Ogden, author of Bad Atmosphere. A free copy of d.o.’s book will be given to the first 20 participants to arrive. Part of the Talking Truth: Finding Your Voice Around the Climate Crisis series. Room 2601, UMass Library , Amherst, MA. Contact: Madeleine Charney

 

Saturday, April 22, Noon to 5pm. March for Science – Boston Common. The March for Science champions publicly-funded and publicly-communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity. We unite as a diverse, non-partisan group to call for science that upholds the common good, and for political leaders and policy makers to enact evidence-based policies in the public interest. This group is inclusive of all individuals and types of science! Go to: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1283459638410385/

 

Saturday, April 22, 10am. All day. March for Science – Washington, DC. In Washington DC, our march through the streets will culminate in a rally on the Washington Mall. Co-hosted with the Earth Day Network, the rally will be both a call for politicians to implement science based policies and a public celebration of science.  The rally will feature main stage speakers and teach-in tents around the mall where scientists and science communicators from a wide variety of scientific fields will discuss their work and its impact on our everyday lives. Go to: https://www.marchforscience.com

 

Saturday, April 29th, 2017. That’s the date of the People’s Climate Mobilization, a major march in Washington, D.C., when we will come together with hundreds of thousands of people to reject Trump’s attack on our communities and climate, and push forward with our vision of a clean energy economy that works for all. Go to: https://peoplesclimate.org/pledge/   MA bus sign-up HERE.

 

That’s about it for now Earthlings. We go out with Eliot Bronson’s “Head of the River”.

Until next time remember: Listen to your Mother!

 

 

 

The Love Your Planet Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. An old Mass Earth First! bumper sticker says: “Earth, Love it or Leave it” and we really mean it when it comes to the new regime in Washington. Those climate criminals should be banished to the Phantom Zone for life so we can get on with the business of confronting the Climate Crisis for future generations on this beloved planet. Speaking of those generations, Phil Gregory from Our Children’s Trust calls in with news of their Landmark U.S. Federal Climate Lawsuit. “Their complaint asserts that, through the governments affirmative actions in causing climate change, it has violated the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, property, as well as failed to protect essential public trust resources.” There it is. And we guess this new cabal of evil doers in congress and the White House need to be hauled into the dock and punished for their crimes. We’ll get into this love fest soon enough, as well as take you to meet our Fool-on-the-Hill, His Malignancy and a trip to our Echo Chamber, but first it’s time for……..Revenge of the Critters!

The Dove is a symbol of love, right? So it stands to reason that this bird might take the opportunity to………occupy a cop car, right! And guess what? The cops helped out!

He’s baaaaack! This week’s Fool-on-the-Hill was last week’s (and possibly the week before that, who knows!). Yes, it’s House “Science” Committee chair and major Texas climate criminal, Lamar Smith again. This time he is busy trying to pump life into another NOAA “scandal”. Yes, it’s Climategate#2, more bad science to prove climate science is…..well, bad? What do they put in the water down there in the Lone Star state that creates folks like Lamar? Oil? Methane? Mercury? (that last one got the Mad Hatter after all).

We’re ditching our New Boss segment for the duration given that the present Boss is assuredly not the “same as the old boss” or any other boss in our memory for that matter. Soooo, a new bumper tune perhaps for the new “His Malignancy” segment? Let’s see what the Climate Criminal-in-Chief has been up to in his effort to destroy the plant. Of course, his so-called executive orders to restart DAPL & Keystone XL were expected, albeit disasters in the making. Then there’s his order to government agencies to ditch two existing rules before initiating a new one. It’s like a rollback for rolling over what’s left of the planet. By the time you read this Oklahoma climate criminal Scott Pruitt may have already been enthroned at the EPA by His Malignancy and his fellow enemies of the Earth in the U.S. Senate. So just how much damage can Pruitt do at the EPA? We go to MIT for the answer. But wait! Maybe the poor present occupant of the White House…..um…OK, so not poor…..maybe he just needs help?  A vacation to the Phantom Zone, as noted above, could give him and his cohorts in the Administration some much needed rest, yes?

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we learn that The Commonwealth of Massachusetts doesn’t actually need all that fracked gas Kinder Morgan’s been trying to fool us about. Surprise! Meanwhile, someone should tell the new occupants in the White House that “If Trump does not pull back from implementing these orders [DAPL & KXL], it will only result in more massive mobilization and civil disobedience on a scale never seen of a newly seated President of the United States.” Remember on our last show we said The Scientists’ March on Washington hadn’t set a date for their event? Now they have. The Paper of Record told us it’s Earth Day, of course!

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

 

Wednesday, February 22, 3:30. Mass Rally at TD Bank, Main Street, Brattleboro, VT. Please show up and take a stand against TD’s investments in tar sands, the Keystone XL & DAPL & Trump’s green lighting the Keystone XL & DAPL. Be a Witness to Our Peaceful, Direct Action. Bring your great signs & songs. Contact: BEREAL@VERMONTEL.NET  OR call: 802.869.2141

 

Thursday, February 23, 6 to 9pm. Sen. Ed Markey Town Hall. Ed Markey is a defender of the planet and was spot-on in the struggle to stop Trump appointee Scott Pruitt from taking over the EPA. Show up and thank him! Smith College Sweeney Concert Hall, 144 Green Street, Northampton, MA. Go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/1836458143289148/

 

Friday, February 24, 12:30-2:00 p.m. Meeting Our Ancestors: Exploring the Future Through the Present Moment, Campus Center, Room 917, UMass, Amherst, MA.  A sacred “deep time” practice session, inspired by the work of activist and Buddhist scholar Joanna Macy. In this workshop we will consider how we might act like ancestors of future generations and reinvigorate our commitment to climate justice action. The group is facilitated by Tim Beaucage, graduate advisor/teaching associate at UMass Amherst. Go to: http://blogs.umass.edu/talkingtruth/

 

Saturday, February 25, 10am. – 4pm. Non-violent Direct Action Training in Northampton, MA. This one is being organized by American Friends Service Committee although the trainers are also on the Sugar Shack roster. There will be some folks there who are training for purposes other than joining Sugar Shack Alliance to participate in our actions as members of Sugar Shack affinity groups. However, we want to encourage you, urge you, implore you to sign up for this training which will well prepare you for joining us. To register and get more information, go to www.AFSCwm.org and click on trainings at the top in bright green.

Saturday February 25, 1-4pm, The 350 Mass staff is coming to the Berkshires to hold a training to talk about techniques for new member outreach, how to act on our 100% renewables campaign, and how to be involved in our legislative work  at the UU Church in Pittsfield (175 Wendell Ave). Please register for this event here: https://goo.gl/LU7P50.  Contact: Talita Elizeu, Organizing Intern
350 Mass for a Better Future. Call: 617-435-9200. Email: talita@betterfutureproject.org

 

Sunday, February 26, 2:00pm – 4:00pm. An Evening with Jacqui Patterson – NAACP Env. & Climate Justice at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst, 121 N. Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA . Environmental injustice, including the proliferation of climate change, has a disproportionate impact on communities of color and low income communities in the United States and around the world. The NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program was created to support community leadership in addressing this human and civil rights issue. Call: (413) 253-2848

 

Sunday, February 26, 6:30pm. Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution‘s Climate Crisis Task Force meeting at Green Fields Market, 144 Main Street, Greenfield, MA. Go to: http://fccpr.us/taskforces/climate-crisis-taskforce/

 

Sunday, February 26, 7-8:30pm. Mass. Forest Rescue Campaign’s Monthly Phone Seminar: “The meaning of carbon neutral and why wood fuels such as wood chips and pellets do not qualify for this designation.” with Guest lecturer, Bill Moomaw, Professor of International Environmental Policy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, where he is the founding director of the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy, the Tufts Climate Initiative and co-founder of the Global Development and Environment Institute. Register before 2/26 at: massforestrescue@gmail.com

 

Monday, February 27, 2017, 7:00 – 9:00pm. Climate Action Now Monthly Gathering. Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence, 220 Main St., Northampton, MA. We come together once a month to meet each other, plan, and imagine how to contribute, in our corner of the world, to the urgent fight against climate change . Help us organize to protect constitutionally protected conservation land from Kinder Morgan, stop gas leaks statewide and biomass in Springfield, create a clean and renewable energy future in Massachusetts, and figure out how to build up urgency in the public so that we can pressure institutions as a movement. Go to: https://climateactionnowma.org

 

Saturday, March 4, 9:30am-5:30pm.  Non-Violent Direct Action Training with Sugar Shack Alliance in Great Barrington, MA! Exact location to be determined. This highly interactive training will give us a chance to evaluate our role in the CT Expansion Pipeline Resistance, both individually and collectively. Sugar Shack will provide us with great tools and information on building Affinity Groups within our community. Please leave your email on here or PM me if you’d like a direct update on the location once that’s been established. Go to: https://www.facebook.com/sugarshackalliance/

 

Sunday, March 5, 9am./All Day. 30th Annual Local Environmental Action 2017 Conference. This registration page is for both Toxics Action Center and Massachusetts Climate Action Network (MCAN) participants: https://tpin.webaction.org/c/72/t/12703/shop/shop.jsp?storefront_KEY=5  More info here: http://www.localenvironmentalaction.org/

 

Saturday, April 22, Noon to 5pm. March for Science – Boston Common. The March for Science champions publicly-funded and publicly-communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity. We unite as a diverse, non-partisan group to call for science that upholds the common good, and for political leaders and policy makers to enact evidence-based policies in the public interest. This group is inclusive of all individuals and types of science! Go to: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1283459638410385/

 

Saturday, April 22, All Day. March for Science – Washington, DC. In Washington DC, our march through the streets will culminate in a rally on the Washington Mall. Co-hosted with the Earth Day Network, the rally will be both a call for politicians to implement science based policies and a public celebration of science.  The rally will feature main stage speakers and teach-in tents around the mall where scientists and science communicators from a wide variety of scientific fields will discuss their work and its impact on our everyday lives. Go to: https://www.marchforscience.com

 

Saturday, April 29th, 2017. That’s the date of the People’s Climate Mobilization, a major march in Washington, D.C., when we will come together with hundreds of thousands of people to reject Trump’s attack on our communities and climate, and push forward with our vision of a clean energy economy that works for all. Go to: https://peoplesclimate.org/pledge/

 

Ok, that’s it for now. Remember, when you’re out there resisting, listen to your Mother, OK?

 

The Resist Much/Obey Little Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. We knew it would be bad but this?? It’s one thing to be the laughing stock of the civilized world as we become totally ruled by creepy clowns who have parked their creepy clown car on the People’s Lawn, but it’s quite another to have bonafide climate criminals enthroned in the few places left in the nation’s Capitol that were somewhat able to push back The Machine, albeit ineptly. Now The Machine and U.S. Government are one. Corporate America has overthrown the United States of America…….for the time being.  Susan Theberge and Irvine Sobelman of Climate Action Now WMass return to examine the remains and ask the inevitable question: Where do we go from here? Legislatively speaking we can start right HERE.  Our roving reporter and bard, Tom Neilson calls in from FLA to talk water. As usual we will also drag you over to Meet the New Boss (better bring your hot air sickness bags!) and see the Fool-on-the-Hill (if we can decide which one of soooo many to choose from), as well as visit The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, but first it’s time for…………Revenge of the Critters! My Goddess, isn’t THIS ONE worth a replay?? The nation’s preeminent symbol expresses outrage!

So many fools, so little time. This week we take you to meet repeat offender, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman and climate criminal Repugnican Rob Bishop of Utah. Rob, we guess in his position as guardian of all things natural, is working hard to gut the Endangered Species Act (where’s that angry Bald Eagle when we really need him?). He claimed recently the act “has never been used for the rehabilitation of species. It’s been used for control of the land”, which the eagle, for one, could easily refute. We guess Rob’s ill-advised effort will sail through congress and land on the Climate Criminal-in-Chief’s desk soon enough. We also guess history will remember these criminals and it won’t be pretty.

We have Breaking News! Kinder Morgan/TGP (in their eternal wisdom) “has filed a renewed request for Notice to Proceed with Tree Felling for the entire CT Expansion Project.  (Their initial request was filed last March, after receiving the FERC certificate.) KM is anxious to complete tree felling before March 31st, during the “environmentally preferred window” to protect migratory birds. [Yesterday] they filed their Biweekly Status Report, again claiming to have ‘received all federal permits needed for tree felling.’ That’s not quite true. In addition to not having a final section 401 water quality certification from MassDEP (because of our ongoing appeal), there are several issues as yet unresolved that must be completed before FERC can consider allowing tree felling for the project.  Please comment on Docket No. CP14-529 ! Obviously this is a time-sensitive request. (How to eComment.)  [from MassPlan].  Also go HERE regarding Native stone sites at Otis. 

The sketchy New Boss is, not unexpectedly, off to a rocky start in his new position as Climate Criminal-in-Chief, but right off, let’s let our own Rachel Maddow reveal what may be THE most unsettling aspect of the Boss’ reign: how he got there in the first place. OK, putting aside all the lies and lame-ass deception for the moment, it appears a host of federal employees are worried about the Boss, no doubt sensing the same sinking feeling many in Washington are feeling, including the Boss’s staff. On Wednesday the entire senior staff of the U.S. State Department was fired unexpectedly by the New Boss or their new boss, that guy from Big Oil.  Some other federal employees find themselves being muzzled by the Boss for disseminating those old-fashioned facts called…..well, facts. Some of them don’t much care for a two-bit Ministry of Truth coming down on them with gag orders so they are launching their own real news.  Scientists are not pleased with all this unscientific behavior and have just invented a….. Scientists March on Washington! Look out Secret Service and DCPD, it’s angry geeks wielding bunsen burners & pipettes! Back to fake news, it’s no longer just those creepy never heard of sites that troll onto your Facebook news feed anymore, now it comes straight out of the Oval Office and from down the hall. Adding insult to injury, another climate criminal and familiar troll (and former repeat offender Fool-on-the-Hill winner) thinks the White House is the ONLY PLACE you should get your news!  This should be in the news soon enough: The Boss is closing in on his choice to help congressional obstructionists stack the Supreme Court with some far-right ideologue (who, of course, would never dream of being one of those activist judges!). And you’ve probably already heard about the Climate Criminal-in-Chief’s executive order on DAPL and Son of Keystone XL, yes? Goddess knows we could go on and on, the Boss is an endless gushing sewer of polluted proclamations and twisted thoughts, but we have a show to put on. More next time!

You probably won’t be surprised to find our Enviro Show Quote of the Week referencing the New Boss but how about us quoting……ourselves? It’s true, d.o. can’t resist a little bit of poetry regarding the Boss and his proposed cabinet, something that has our in-house poet reflecting on Dr. Caligari’s Cabinet. Check it out HERE.

Over here in The Echo Chamber we find the Humane Society here in the Commonwealth working to bypass this week’s Fool-on-the-Hill with some state sponsored endangered and threatened species legislation. You can add your voice to that effort, OK? Did you know that two commonly used pesticides are likely to harm 97% of Endangered Species in the U.S.? We shudder to think what a Pruitt led EPA would do……rather, NOT do about this information. After you’ve voiced your concern and/or outrage we have a gift for you! Stop by our table at this Saturday’s “Climate Action in a Time of Crisis” in the sanctuary of First Churches, 129 Main Street in Northampton for some of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Endangered Species condoms!  (yes, it’s the exploding human population that endangers the other lifeforms on planet Earth). If you miss us there just drop us an email and we’ll get some to you.

 

After our conversation with Susan and Irvine we take you to the Bus Stop Billboard:

 

Wednesday, February 8, 2017, 2:00pm. Public hearing on MA Global Warming Solutions Act. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), under its authority pursuant to the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA), sections 3(c), 3(d), 4 and 7, will hold public hearings at the Springfield Central Library, 220 State Street, Springfield, MA. Testimony may be presented orally or in writing at the public hearings. MassDEP will accept written comments until 5:00 PM on February 24, 2017. Written comments may be submitted in the following three ways: through the online portal available at: http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/air/climate/section3d-comments.html, by email to climate.strategies@state.ma.us or by mail to: Jordan Garfinkle, MassDEP, 7th floor, One Winter Street, Boston, MA 02108. For special accommodations for these hearings, please call MassDEP Diversity Office at 617-292-5751. TTY# MassRelay Service 1-800-439-2370. This information is available in alternate format upon request.

 

Wednesday, February 8, 4pm. #HoDAPLLastStand! TD Bank, 175 Main Street, Northampton, MA. On February 7th the US Army Corps of Engineers gave notice of intent to grant the final easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross the Mni Sose (Missouri River). They are skipping the Environmental Impact Statment ordered in December, and skipping the congressional notification period required by law. This is a response to President Trump’s Presidential Memorandum directing the Corps to expedite approval of the project. The Water Protectors still on the ground have made a call for an INTERNATIONAL DAY OF EMERGENCY ACTIONS on WEDNESDAY FEB. 8. In Western Massachusetts we are answering that call. Go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/1799108267008398/

 

Thursday, February 9, 4:00pm. The Changing Landscape: Environmental Journalism in the Age of Trump . Ziff Gallery, S414 Integrative Learning Center, 4th Fl. (located in the center of the UMASS campus, between the campus pond and Campus Center, map). Editors for global conservation news service Mongabay.com will share how they developed careers covering this beat, how they see the media landscape changing during this pivotal period, and the role of nonprofit and entrepreneurial journalism in 2017 and beyond. Contact Erik Hoffner to learn more about these events or to arrange a meeting, erik@mongabay.com or 413-429-5296

 

Thursday Feb 9, 7:00pm. Changes to the Land: Discussion & Live Podcast Taping w/ Harvard Forest & Mongabay. Holdsworth Hall #308 (UMASS campus, third building north of campus parking garage). Harvard Forest scientists will discuss with Mongabay.com editors their landmark report “Changes to the Land,” about forest fragmentation, climate change, and more in the Bay State and the wider region. [Be sure to ask them why increased logging in this age of Climate Crisis??] Come hear this discussion and query the panel about climate change and other changes to the land, regionally to globally. Contact Erik Hoffner to learn more about these events or to arrange a meeting, erik@mongabay.com or 413-429-5296
Thursday, February, 9, 7:00-9:00 p.m. Finding Work with Meaning in the Anthropocene: Panel Discussion, Room 2601, the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, UMass Amherst. Part of Talking Truth: Finding Your Voice Around the Climate Crisis Spring 2017 series. Gain insights into your personal journey toward forward-thinking work in sustainable living and community building within the fields of education, entrepreneurialism, and green building, with Ofer Sharone, assistant professor, Sociology, UMass Amherst, Sara Schley, co-founder of the sustainable consulting firm Seed Systems; Ezra Small , UMass Amherst Sustainability Manager; Sarah Hebert G’13, Trinity Solar employee; and John Fabel, building and construction technology adjunct faculty member, UMass Amherst. More information on our blog: http://blogs.umass.edu/talkingtruth/
And Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TalkingTruthUMass/

 

Saturday, February 11, 9:30am. to 5:30pm.  Multi-generational NVDA Training, First Churches, Main Street, Northampton, MA. This workshop will introduce you to the spirit of nonviolence and to the continuum of Non Violent Direct Actions (NVDA) and will prepare you to be part of Sugar Shack Alliance actions. The day includes time for personal reflections on Civil Disobedience, an introduction to the basic tenets of consensus decision making and horizontal leadership, exploring the purpose of affinity groups and learning about the structure of Sugar Shack Alliance. An important part of the day is to raise awareness of dynamics related to power and privilege. Please register HERE. You will  receive a confirmation email with details. Contact sugarshackalliance@gmail.com 

 

Sunday, February 12, 6:30 to 8:00pm. Frankin County Continuing the Political Revolution Climate Crisis Task Force. Green Fields Market, 144 Main St, Greenfield, MA. Go to: http://fccpr.us/taskforces/climate-crisis-taskforce/

 

Saturday, February 25, 10am. – 4pm. Non-violent Direct Action Training in Northampton, MA. This one is being organized by American Friends Service Committee although the trainers are also on the Sugar Shack roster. There will be some folks there who are training for purposes other than joining Sugar Shack Alliance to participate in our actions as members of Sugar Shack affinity groups. However, we want to encourage you, urge you, implore you to sign up for this training which will well prepare you for joining us. To register and get more information, go to www.AFSCwm.org and click on trainings at the top in bright green.

 

February 26, 2:00pm – 4:00pm. An Evening with Jacqui Patterson – NAACP Env. & Climate Justice at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst, 121 N. Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA . Environmental injustice, including the proliferation of climate change, has a disproportionate impact on communities of color and low income communities in the United States and around the world. The NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program was created to support community leadership in addressing this human and civil rights issue. Call: (413) 253-2848

 

Saturday, March 4, 9:30am-5:30pm.  Non-Violent Direct Action Training with Sugar Shack Alliance in Great Barrington, MA! Exact location to be determined. This highly interactive training will give us a chance to evaluate our role in the CT Expansion Pipeline Resistance, both individually and collectively. Sugar Shack will provide us with great tools and information on building Affinity Groups within our community. Please leave your email on here or PM me if you’d like a direct update on the location once that’s been established. Go to: https://www.facebook.com/sugarshackalliance/

 

Saturday, April 29th, 2017. That’s the date of the People’s Climate Mobilization, a major march in Washington, D.C., when we will come together with hundreds of thousands of people to reject Trump’s attack on our communities and climate, and push forward with our vision of a clean energy economy that works for all. Go to: https://peoplesclimate.org/pledge/

 

That’s all folks! For now. Remember, when you’re out there, listen to your Mother.

The Worst New Boss Ever Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. Yes, we said it and we’re glad. There’s no way we’re going to be all nice and civil with a president who is not. Admit it, your new president is a monster, THE worst president ever. Chances are the office was stolen anyway through foreign influence, voter suppression, hacking, and the work of the Devil. We’ll spend most of the show trashing the man who is about to trash the nation, OK? If turning the entire show into one long New Boss segment offends you, just wait a few days until he actually occupies the Oval Office and starts taking down what remains of your government. Anyway,  Paki will be calling in from DC with an update on the action. As usual, we’ll also take you to visit our Fool-on-the-Hill and into The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, as well as a listen to our Quote of the Week, but first it’s time for……..Revenge of the Critters! You’ve probably heard that the New Boss’ sons are trophy hunters, yes? This one became a kind of trophy himself! Mother Earth had him mounted on her mantle!

Our Fool-on-the-Hill may well be your next U.S. Attorney General, Yes, Senate Repugnican Jeff Sessions has a long history of climate change denial he will bring with him into the top-cop office, should he be confirmed. Do you think Sessions will be enforcing any of the dwindling environmental laws on the books? Ha,ha,ha,h,ha,ha,ha,ha……

Our Quote of the Week is, of course, about our subject this week: “”Donald Trump is not a leader or a presidential candidate. He is an outcome, a viral manifestation of a serious malignant illness … He is the outcome of the rich being able to buy anything, including our democracy … He is the outcome of an insanely violent culture, increasingly unkind with more bullying, that normalizes cruelty, industrializes punishment and declares endless war on its own citizens.” – Eve Ensler

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we pass on this news from Reuters confirming “many projections that 2016 will exceed 2015 as the warmest since reliable records began in the 19th century”. Guess what? The Northeast U.S. is THE warmingest! :O  We’re thinking The New Boss might agree that’s one hot “Chinese conspiracy”! Maybe he can explain away why “a chunk of ice bigger than New York’s Long Island is hanging on by a relative thread” in Antarctica?…….Nah!  Meanwhile his ill-advised pick for Secretary of Oil…..O, wait, that’s State, Exxon/Mobil’s Rex Tillerson is taking a great deal of heat as his Senate confirmation hearing proceeds. Meanwhile, the Boss’ pick for head of the EPA, Oklahoma climate criminal  Senator Scott Pruitt’s Senate confirmation hearing starts tomorrow, January 18. As Common Dreams reported recently, “Pruitt has deep ties to the fossil fuel industry and the rightwing billionaires Charles and David Koch.” O wait, did we mention he’s a Climate Crisis denier? Here’s your Enviro Show Blog Action link on that one! Some sort of good news from Metropolis that seems not to involve the Boss at all: the Indian Point nukes situated dangerously close to New York City and about a gazillion people is set to be finally shutdown in April of 2021. What’s the rush, Entergy?? And this: Our own AG Maura Healey kicks Exxon/Mobil’s oily butt.

How about a bit of E-Valley-uation? Our friend, fellow traveler & roving reporter, Tom Neilson has applied for one of those Trump Ambassador positions! Hear all about it HERE.  Also, our friend and regional hero, Elizabeth Kolbert, author of “The Sixth Extinction” is the headliner at The Jones Library in Amherst these days. The Jones’ On The Same Page program features the book as part of this reading program and YOU can be a part of it. Then, after a series of related events (see here) Elizabeth makes a guest appearance at the Amherst Regional Middle School Auditorium on Tuesday, February 28 starting at 6:30pm. See you there!

We have Broken News! (from the Wall Street Journal of all places) Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau calls for phase out of tar sands oil! That should go over well with the New Boss. And this just in: Karl Meyer tells us NOAA has a once-in-a-lifetime op to help those endangered sturgeon in the CT River deadfall. Your support is needed HERE.

 

After we’re done insulting The Climate Criminal-in-Chief we take you to the Bus Stop Billboard:

 

Saturday, January 28, 3pm. “Climate Action in a Time of Crisis” in the sanctuary of First Churches, 129 Main Street in Northampton. Featured will be State Senate President Stan Rosenberg and other representatives from the Massachusetts legislature, climate scientists and activists to discuss the problem and an action plan that will protect our earth from climate destruction. The forum will be one step in forming our segment of the massive movement that will be necessary to protect our earth and the generations to come. Contact Marty Nathan at martygjf@comcast.net

 

Sunday, January 29th, 7-8:30pm. Mass. Forest Rescue Campaign’s Monthly Phone Seminar with guest lecturer, author, scientist Bill Moomaw, Professor of International Environmental Policy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, where he is the founding director of the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy, the Tufts Climate Initiative and co-founder of the Global Development and Environment Institute. Bill will cover the following topics:

1) The meaning of “carbon neutral” and why wood fuels such as wood chips and pellets do not qualify for this designation.

2) The Effects of wood fuel production on forest ecology and climate.

3) What do we need to know about what really qualifies as “renewable” energy and what does not? (

4.) What might we do to preserve forests to sequester carbon and toxins out of the atmosphere and prevent these forests from being cut down and used as fuel for large commercial uses?

To participate in the call/receive call-in information register before the 29th at: massforestrescue@gmail.com

 

Monday, January 30, 6:30pm. DOE is coming to western Massachusetts to do two trainings for people who are interested in this “Solar in your Community” grant solicitation. Co-op Power will host one training in Northampton likely at the MLK Middle School. Call: 413-552-6446. Go to: https://energy.gov/eere/sunshot/sunshot-prize-solar-your-community-challenge

 

Tuesday, January 31, 8:00am to 5:00pm. Landscape Heroes: Carbon, Water, and Biodiversity. UMass Amherst Campus Center. Northeast Organic Farming Association presents: in-depth, inspiring conversation on carbon sequestration. Come and learn about practical steps you can take to make a positive impact in your interactions with the landscape. From yards to farms to greenways to commons to gardens, how we treat our soils impacts the climate. read more here.

 

Tuesday, January 31, Noon. #Resisttrump #2. Keep Resisting! Senate Repugnicans are trying to jam as many confirmation hearings through their respective committees as possible to confirm Trump’s notorious nominees. It must be stopped. Rally to Resist Trump’s Nominees at Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey’s Springfield District Offices, 1550 Main St, Springfield, Massachusetts. Elizabeth Warren confirmed Ben Carson to HUD?? We need to keep up the pressure and ensure that she does not confirm anymore! Go to:moveon.org/jan31  or https://www.facebook.com/events/249468255479285/

 

Tuesday, January 31, 7 p.m. Climate Change and the Connecticut River: What Unexpected Events We Should Begin to Expect – Dr. Richard Palmer explores what we can expect to occur to with respect stream-flows in the Connecticut River basin as we move into the 21st century. The talk will begin with a brief introduction to why our climate is changing and evidence for that change. The impact of these changes on stream-flows in the Connecticut River and the related impact on hydro-power and the river’s ecosystems will also be discussed. Woodbury Room, Jones Library, Amity Street, Amherst, MA. For more info and other related events go to: http://www.joneslibrary.org/onthesamepage

 

Monday, February 6, Rally & Hearing on Otis State Forest Settlement. 1pm Rally around Park Square, Pittsfield/ 2pm. Hearing in Berkshire Superior Court, Pittsfield. On December 29, 2016 the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office announced that, on behalf of the Mass. Dept. of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), they reached a settlement with Kinder Morgan for the pipeline Right of Way through Otis State Forest in Sandisfield.. A hearing on this settlement will take place on at 2:00 pm at Berkshire Superior Court, 76 East Street, Pittsfield, MA. 1:00 pm – Stand-Out in Opposition to the OSF Settlement on the Sidewalks around Park Square area
(See maps for acceptable protest locations and parking)

 

Wednesday, February 8, 2017, 2:00pm. Public hearing on MA Global Warming Solutions Act. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), under its authority pursuant to the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA), sections 3(c), 3(d), 4 and 7, will hold public hearings at the Springfield Central Library, 220 State Street, Springfield, MA. Testimony may be presented orally or in writing at the public hearings. MassDEP will accept written comments until 5:00 PM on February 24, 2017. Written comments may be submitted in the following three ways: through the online portal available at: http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/air/climate/section3d-comments.html, by email to climate.strategies@state.ma.us or by mail to: Jordan Garfinkle, MassDEP, 7th floor, One Winter Street, Boston, MA 02108. For special accommodations for these hearings, please call MassDEP Diversity Office at 617-292-5751. TTY# MassRelay Service 1-800-439-2370. This information is available in alternate format upon request.

 

Saturday, February 11, 9:30am. to 5:30pm.  Multi-generational NVDA Training, First Churches, Main Street, Northampton, MA. This workshop will introduce you to the spirit of nonviolence and to the continuum of Non Violent Direct Actions (NVDA) and will prepare you to be part of Sugar Shack Alliance actions. The day includes time for personal reflections on Civil Disobedience, an introduction to the basic tenets of consensus decision making and horizontal leadership, exploring the purpose of affinity groups and learning about the structure of Sugar Shack Alliance. An important part of the day is to raise awareness of dynamics related to power and privilege. Please register HERE. You will  receive a confirmation email with details. Contact sugarshackalliance@gmail.com 

 

Saturday, April 29th, 2017. That’s the date of the People’s Climate Mobilization, a major march in Washington, D.C., when we will come together with hundreds of thousands of people to reject Trump’s attack on our communities and climate, and push forward with our vision of a clean energy economy that works for all. Go to: https://peoplesclimate.org/pledge/

 

OK, our work is done here….for now. Remember to listen to your Mother!

 

Standing with Standing Rock Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. [UPDATE: Standing Rock national ride board HERE] In case you were operating under the mistaken assumption the Indian Wars out West were a thing of the past allow us to enlighten you! Paki Wieland of Occupy the Airways fame back from Standing Rock to shed some light on that and get into some depth about the Dakota Access Pipeline and Energy Transfer Partners, (where the alleged President-elect is invested) as well as the Standing Rock defenders. The most recent attack on the Water Protectors calls for immediate solidarity. Dallas Goldtooth, of the Indigenous Environmental Network reported that nearly 200 people were injured and 12 people were hospitalized for head injuries. One protester went into cardiac arrest but was revived by the medic team. As always we’ll also take you to visit our Fool-on-the-Hill and to Meet the New Boss. If you behave and stop asking “are we there yet?” we’ll also take you to The Enviro Show Echo Chamber and out for ice cream, but first it’s tie for…………Revenge of the Critters! Deer attacks driver who hit him!

Time to really Meet the New Boss and a good place to start is here with his transition team….such as it is. Yes, we may as well replace Obama with that other guy in the silly wig ‘cuz we just can’t resist……..No, wait! We CAN resist! Sorry, bad choice of words…..’cuz we have sooooo much material to work with we have to start now or we’ll be backed-up like a failed septic system by the time January rolls around. For starters the Boss just promised [on Day One] to “cancel job-killing restrictions on the production of American energy — including shale energy and clean coal,” but didn’t say which restrictions he wanted to eliminate. Another interesting aspect of The New Boss is his tendency to deny the Climate Crisis. Noam Chomsky had something to say about that recently. O hey, here’s something that might qualify as Breaking News: “Trump’s Top Environmental Adviser Says Pesticides Aren’t Bad for You“! Who knew! Finally, are you familiar with The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari? Here’s a Wikipedia quote for you: “In his influential book From Caligari to Hitler, Siegfried Kracauer says the film reflects a subconscious need in German society for a tyrant, and it is an example of Germany’s obedience to authority and unwillingness to rebel against deranged authority”.  OK? Let’s talk about the New Boss’s cabinet! 

This week’s Fool-on-the-Hill is 4% better than Sen. James Inhofe. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, who will succeed current Senate Committee on “Environment” and Public Works Chair James Inhofe, is new & improved! Yes, he’s a Climate Crisis denier like Inhofe and “has voted against nearly every pro-planet bill since joining the Senate in 2007” BUT his lifetime League of Conservation Voters score is 9 percent while Inhofe scored 5 percent. See? Barrasso is 4% better! OK? Celebrate! Things are looking up!!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we find the fossil fools falling all over each other to get back into the fracking fuel export race. In a Trump era there will be way more stories like this. What could possibly go wrong?? Speaking of wrong, Chomsky returns here again to remind us about what was mostly overlooked during that whole selection process. We could not agree more. Time for our Enviro Show Blog Action link and it has everything to do with Standing Rock & YOU. Finally, here’s one of our favorite rants on the vote rote from our friend at The Center for Biological Diversity.

We have Breaking News! (and it’s actually good news). Riverkeeper reports ““This is a monumental day. This [NY Supreme Court] decision effectively stops the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from re-licensing Indian Point.” We love New York!

 

After Paki fills us in on the latest from Standing Rock we take you to the Bus Stop Billboard:

 

Thursday, December 1, All Day.  NoDAPL Day of Action: Divest TD Bank As part of the #NoDAPL Dec. 1 Day of Action, this event will bring community members together to put pressure on TD Bank to divest their funding from the Dakota Pipeline project. TD Bank Northampton, 175 Main Street, Northampton, MA. For 10am. action go to: https://actionnetwork.org/events/nodapl-day-of-action-divest-td-bank Host Contact Info: kgkollman@gmail.com. For 4 to 6pm. action go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/1683404271971115/

 

Friday, December 2, 10:30am. to 4:30pm. “Modern” Wood Heat Presentation & Tour for Municipal Officials. Pellet pirates’ dog & pony show  to promote the invasion of more bad forestry and the climate crushing pellet industry. First Floor Meeting Room, Olver Transit Center, Greenfield, MA. Wood Heat Magical Mystery Tour leaves Transit Center at Noon. Come early to protest outside or to attend if you are a town official.

 

Saturday, December 3, 2016. March for Jobs, Justice, and a Livable Earth! Hartford, CT (time and location TBD). The fight to preserve our planet and halt climate warming is inextricably tied to the struggle for all the other elements of a decent human life: jobs, health, equality, and justice.  The threat of catastrophic global warming requires a just emergency transition, in Connecticut and every other state, to an energy grid and mass transportation system powered by 100% clean, renewable sources like solar and wind. Send your endorsement to: organizers@350ct.org. For more information, call Ben at 203-215-0395 or Diane at 203-922-2151.

 

Saturday, December 10, 9:30A to 5:30PM. (Location TBA) Sugar Shack Nonviolence Training in Amherst MA. We will help you connect to an Affinity Group. You need to have this training and be in a Sugar Shack Affinity Group to participate in a Sugar Shack direct action where folks are risking arrest. The training is a full day from 9:30 to 5:30 with trainers Paki Wieland and Mary Link. Go HERE.

 

Saturday, December 10, 5 to 8pm. Standing Rock Benefit Dinner and Lecture. In observance of Human Rights Day, Nuestras Raices and the United Congregational Church of Holyoke invite you to a benefit dinner and lecture about the Standing Rock Water Protectors and how to support their cause. We are honored to host Jennifer Weston, a researcher, writer, and producer from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in the Dakotas. United Congregational Church of Holyoke, 395 High St., Holyoke, MA

 

We go out with Tom Neilson’s “Echos of Wounded Knee”

Now,we are sooooo out of here……’til next time, remember: Listen to your Mother!

The Wastelands Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. “What are the wastelands and how do they transform into the wild?” Walken Shweigert, Artistic Director of Children of the Wild asks that and Gus Ganley, one of those Wild Children, returns to the show to talk about their Wastelands Project, an experimental folk opera investigating the seven stages of grief in a time of violent political and environmental unraveling. It’s not all gloom and doom, like this show. On this, the 30th anniversary of Chernobyl, the worst nuclear power disaster to date the concept of the wastelands is all the more sobering. But wait! we have somewhat humorous moments awaiting you in our Enviro Show Echo Chamber or when we take you to meet our Fool-on-the-Hill, right? And how about this: Revenge of the Critters! Deer for dinner (No, it’s not what you think).

We have Broken News! In case you were still hibernating in some den recently you’ve probably already heard that Kinder Morgan’s fracked gas pipedream targeting WMass has been suspended. If you read their cleverly worded…..make that corporatespeak press release [pdf] you’ll see they left the door open to plague us with their bullshit in the future, but for now it’s time to pat our collective selves on the back for all our efforts and…..PARTY! This Broken News is a two-fer: We also just learned that “In an amazing victory for our forests, waterways and communities, New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation has formally denied the water quality certification as required by the Clean Water Act for the proposed Constitution Pipeline.” However, all these fossil fools have taken a page from Freddie Krueger and could easily be baaaaack! To which we say: bring it on fools!

It saddens us to say Our Fools-on-the-Hill  this week are also our favorite Massachusetts senators, Markey & Warren who foolishly voted for the laughably titled “Energy Policy ‘Modernization Act’ ”. This sorry planet-trashing act (which may contain a few good things) brings us all that much closer to a….dare we say, green flag? for exports of fracked LNG, the promotion of biomass clearcutting and reportedly “limits state and local controls that can impede pipeline development, and applies eminent domain for ‘economic development’ ” as well as ““It is the sense of Congress that all Federal authorizations required for a project or facility should be issued by not later than the date that is 90 days after the date on which an application is considered to be complete by the Commission.”  (among other things not so modern). We ask Enviro Show listeners to go HERE and have a word with our senators gone astray. Soooo, as over 150 nations sign-off on the Paris Climate Agreement on Earth Day the U.S. Senate agrees to trash the planet the day before. USA! USA?

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we can’t seem to get away from the….umm…blowback? surrounding that Methane blowout at Porter Ranch on the Other Coast. Now we learn that a looming methane threat exists in the Great Lakes region (where the Children are headed!). Michigan has a total natural gas storage capacity of 1,079 billion cubic feet, the most of any state!  James Clift, policy director for the Michigan Environmental Council, said the safety of underground natural gas storage is just starting to become an issue. “We have a lot of storage and we have a lot of clay pipes we are distributing natural gas through. The other question is, are we contributing more methane to the climate change issue than we should be?”  Ya’ think? We have a Blog Action Bonus for you. Time to rein in the U.S. Market for Endangered Wildlife.

How about a Quote of the Week? “I believe alien life is quite common in the universe, although intelligent life is less so. Some say it has yet to appear on planet Earth.” — Stephen Hawking

We have a lot of E-Valley-uation to get through this week. Let’s start with our Valley free Radio Spring Fun Drive, OK? This is where YOU show your support for the show and the folks who bring it to you.  We’re counting on you to do your part. Then we have a follow-up from our last show about the mishandling of our state lands, especially here in WMass. One of our guests last time, Michael Kellett, released this item recently: Plans to Cut State Forests Could Worsen Climate Change and the State Budget. We signed on to that one (surprise!) and the Greenfield Recorder reported on it. Also, remember the show we did on the plight of the Shortnose Sturgeon in the CT River? Now there’s an activist Facebook page on that. Check it out HERE.  And this: We received a disturbing email from Sara Moffett at Clean Water Action the other day with this headline: “Two Out of Three Food Cans Tested Have Toxic BPA in the Linings, New Report Says – Five of Six Cans From Hadley Walmart Tested Positive for BPA” The message directed us to this page. Canned food is pretty much 20th century but hey, do we really need BPA? Finally, about that proposed fracked gas pipeline the Son of Enron’s trying to ram through WMass? The MA State Senate Committee on Global Warming & Climate Change is holding a hearing on May 3 on Beacon Hill, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Massachusetts Statehouse in Room 428 to FINALLY connect the dots from fracked gas to our Global Warming Solutions Act and the Commonwealth’s energy future. All we can say is….ALL OUT! 

It’s time to Meet the New Boss once again and once again it’s his Interior Secretary, Sally Jewell who comes into question (isn’t there a place for this person somewhere in the exterior??). As we come upon the 6th anniversary of the infamous BP oil platform catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, an f’ing disaster that should never have happened and the results of which are worse than previously thought, it seems the Obama Administration’s  oversight is…well….kind of out of sight? “The [new] rule says that they have three more years to set up real-time monitoring [of oil-well safety by onshore personnel],” Liz Birnbaum, former director of the Minerals Management Service told Grist. “Which is just insane.” Insane like still pumping oil out of the planet in the midst of the Climate Crisis? What’s that saying about what to do when you find yourself in a hole?

 

After our conversation with Gus we drag you over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

 

Saturday, May 7, 11am – 11pm. (Rain date: Sunday, May 8, 2016) Climate Action and Sustainability Fair, Shire City Sanctuary, 40 Melville St, Pittsfield. LIVING THE CHANGE is a major celebration of the growing community and positive momentum of Berkshire County’s climate action network, 350Mass Berkshires, and environmental organizations, activists, sustainable businesses, individuals, and volunteers who work to address the planetary challenge of climate change. For more information, contact livingthechangeberkshires@gmail.com or call 413-329-3514

 

Saturday, May 7, 3-7pm. Cleaner, Greener, More Just Earth Care Fair at Mt. Toby Meetinghouse, 194 Long Plain Road, Leverett, MA. Drawing upon the multitude of Middle Connecticut River Valley talent, of grassroots, non-profit and commercial entities dedicated to co-creating a more just and thus greener, cleaner, and healthier future for all beings, the Earth Care Fair is a “celebration of creative, persistent moral imagination to mitigate climate change in the Middle Connecticut River Valley and beyond”. It is a family-friendly event and all are welcome!  d.o. will be reading from his book “Bad Atmosphere“! Tom Neilson & Lynn Waldron will be performing! Ellen Moyer, Ph.D., P.E. is doing an important talk there called, Forests: Our Best Allies in Fixing the Climate Problem”. Contact: Beth Adams <eadams333@gmail.com>; (413) 522-7505 

Saturday, May 14, All Day. Break Free From Fossil Fuels! We will gather in Albany knowing that, whether we are planning on taking direct action or rallying in support, to “Keep it in the Ground” and protect our communities we are going to have to step out of our comfort zones to take on a fossil fuel industry that does not have our interests in mind. On May 14th our action will be centered on taking direct action to stop the bomb trains, imbued with hope and in solidarity with frontline communities from extraction to refinery. By acting together we will be safe, respectful and powerful. There will be ample room for those to participate without risking arrest, so all are truly welcome. Go to: www.albany2016.org/

Saturday, May 21, 9 AM – 5pm. Non-violence Training. Friends Meeting House Leverett MA. This training is necessary for anyone considering participating in a Sugar Shack Alliance action that could involve arrest. To register, please contact Carole Horowitz, horowitz.carole@gmail.com

 

Saturday,. May 21, 9:00am. to 5:00pm. Green-Rainbow Party Convention 2016 Green-Rainbow Party Rising. Go Green in 2016. First Unitarian Church, 90 Main Street, Worcester. Details on Workshops at THIS LINK. For info go to: http://www.green-rainbow.org/

 

Monday, May 23, 7pm – 9pm. Climate Action Now General Meeting in AMHERST. Everyone is welcome! To change everything, we need everyone! Unitarian Universalist Society, 121 N Pleasant St, Amherst, MA 01004, United States (map). Whether you’re a seasoned activist or a concerned citizen who wants to find out more about actions being taken in our area, we would love to have you join us. Go to: climateactionnowma.org

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Tuesdays & Fridays!   Please plan to routinely picket Kinder Morgan’s North St office at 137 North Street ( near the corner of North St. and Depot St. Park at McKay St., off Depot St) in Pittsfield at Noon on Fridays and at Berkshire Gas, 115 Cheshire Rd, Pittsfield, MA on Tuesdays noon-1pm. weather permitting.  Contact Jan Bradley 413-684-3732 for updates & more information.

 

Wednesdays! Winchester, NH No Pipeline Visibility Vigils are every week at the Town Hall corner 4:30 to 5:30. Corner of route 10 and 119. Time change in November 4-5. Just over the border from Northfield, MA.

 

Thursdays, 3pm – 4pm. Weekly Stop the Pipeline vigil at Town Hall, Northfield, MA. Weekly protest about proposed compresser station site on Gulf Road in Northfield every Thursday. Contact Hattie for more info 978-790-3074

 

Saturdays! Northfield 8:30 AM Downtown Stop the Pipeline Vigil in front of Town Hall. We had alot of traffic honking of horns, thumbs up and waving. Come on by next week and chat. Northfield Gas Pipeline Group.

 

That pretty much does it for us…..for now. There’s just one more thing: Remember to listen to your Mother, OK?

 

 

The Climate Chaos Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. We return to the Climate Crisis yet again (not that we or it ever left) with guests from Climate Action Now! MA and the Hampshire Climate Justice League in the studio. The upcoming COP 21 Paris Climate Conference is supposed to be the long awaited breakthrough that will set the world on course to deal with…..well, the END OF THE WORLD! (Sorry….the end of the world as we know it, OK?). All that and way more, but first it’s time for……..Revenge of the Critters! Cats takeover stage at the G20! Take that, corporados!

Our Broken News segment is a good news segment, in case you missed it Massachusetts favorite Attorney General Maura Healey released that Regional Electric Reliability Options Study  which confirms what many of us have been saying regarding the proposed Kinder Morgan facked gas pipeline. “The Study found that, under existing market conditions (status quo), there is no electric sector reliability deficiency through 2030, and that no additional pipeline gas capacity is needed to meet electric reliability needs.” Got that? Of course, the fossil fools over at Kinder Morgan say the study is flawed but we know that old dodge, it’s called transference. Having said that, how far is our favorite AG willing to go with this resistance? Will she challenge the corporate captured agency FERC and their shoddy record of allowing for profit corporate money schemes to trash communities and the planet? Ask her!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we are pleased to pass on info on yet another successful anti-fracked gas pipeline protest, this one over in  the Hudson Valley where Spectra’s AIM fracked gas pipeline is beginning to tear up the planet. Property owner Nancy Vann will have none of it. Her lone protest has grown to include others who share her concern. To lend a hand go here on Facebook or go here. Speaking of challenging the Fossil Fools, will a federal judge allow Big Oil to throw children out of the courtroom because they’re concerned about the future of the planet? And, speaking of the planet, will the suits at the COP21 continue to allow tree plantations to be included along with natural forests in their carbon capture accounting? Stay tuned! Also, Grist tells us Climate scientists the University of California, Irvine drew on 40 years of satellite data and aerial surveys to show that the enormous Zachariae Isstrom glacier in Greenland began to recede three times faster from 2012. An article in Science magazine revealed the area of the glacier’s floating shelf shrank by a massive 95 percent and has now become detached from a stabilizing sill losing ice at a rate of 4.5 billion tons a year. Now, shall we play Tom Neilson’s “Where Greenfield Used to Be“? Let’s wrap this segment up with some good news, OK? Ready? Another nasty oil pipeline project down the tubes! Trudeau goes thumbs down on Northern Gateway.

We have a Fool-on-the-Hill! Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), Chairman of the House “Science” Committee accused the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of “publicizing” his demand for the internal emails of agency scientists and officials. The science committee’s modus operandi is similar to the Benghazi committee’s — sweeping, catchall investigations, with no specific allegations of wrongdoing or clear rationale, searching through private documents for out-of-context bits and pieces to leak to the press, hoping to gain short-term political advantage. Wait! Leak to the press, as in publicizing? Where did we hear that? Just now?

Our Quote of the Week comes from one of our favorite Enviro Show guests: “Right now, in the amazing moment that to us counts as the present, we are deciding, without quite meaning to, which evolutionary pathways will remain open and which will forever be closed. No other creature has ever managed this and it will, unfortunately, be our most enduring legacy.” ― Elizabeth Kolbert

Time to Meet the New Boss! Maybe it’s not Obama’s fault? Maybe he was too busy to see Gina McCarthy, head of the Environmental “Protection” Agency get all cozy with biomass incineration in their so-called Clean Power Plans. Bad enough they’re giving fracking a pass. Didn’t they get the memo on the biomess??

 

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

 

 

Tuesday, December 1, 6pm. Do you have questions or concerns about the proposed gas pipeline? Come to a roundtable of activists & experts at the Sunderland Public Library, 20 School Street, Sunderland, MA. Call: 413-665-2642 or go to www.sunderlandpubliclibrary.org

 

Wednesday, December 2, 3:30pm. Massachusetts Climate Action Tool Webinar. Morrill Science Center, Room: 134, UMass Amherst Campus. Go to: https://necsc.umass.edu/webinars/massachusetts-wildlife-climate-action-tool

 

Wednesday, December 2, 4:30PM. WORLD ON EDGE: WAR & PEACE IN THE CLIMATE CHANGE ERA. Michael Klare, Five College Professor of Peace & World Security Studies, at Hampshire College, Franklin Patterson Hall, Amherst, MA.
Free and Open to the Public.

Saturday, December 5, 7:00pm. Screening of “Promised Land” at First Parish Unitarian Church, Northfield, MA. Bring a snack and a friend; sit back and enjoy the show! Info at:  https://www.facebook.com/events/2099104083561913/

 

Saturday, December 12, 1 to 3PM. Rally to Defend New England’s Future! Mass mobilization for local solutions to the global Climate Crisis. On December 12, people will come together from every corner of New England to call for bold climate solutions that create secure union jobs, strengthen community power and help build a more resilient future. We envision a movement that unites us all, and we will lift up the voices of New England’s organized labor, immigrant rights, racial justice, and climate justice groups as we call for jobs, justice and climate action together. Website here: https://jobsjusticeclimate.squarespace.com/#intro

 

 

Saturday, December 19 All Day +: The Billion People March

 

 

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Tuesdays & Fridays!   Please plan to routinely picket Kinder Morgan’s North St office at 137 North Street ( near the corner of North St. and Depot St. Park at McKay St., off Depot St) in Pittsfield at Noon on Fridays and at Berkshire Gas, 115 Cheshire Rd, Pittsfield, MA on Tuesdays noon-1pm.   Contact Jan Bradley 684-3732 for more information. Hope to see you there!

 

Wednesdays! Winchester, NH No Pipeline Visibility Vigils are every week at the Town Hall corner 4:30 to 5:30. Corner of route 10 and 119. Time change in November 4-5. Just over the border from Northfield, MA.

Thursdays, 4:30pm – 5:30pm. Weekly Stop the Pipeline vigil at Town Hall, Northfield, MA. Weekly protest about proposed compresser station site on Gulf Road in Northfield every Thursday 4:30 to 5:30 (EXCEPT Nov. 26). Contact Hattie for more info 978-790-3074

 

Saturdays! Northfield 8:30 AM Downtown Stop the Pipeline Vigil in front of Town Hall. We had alot of traffic honking of horns, thumbs up and waving. Come on by next week and chat. Northfield Gas Pipeline Group.

 

 

 

 OK, that’s it for now. We may as well go out with Tom’s song. Pleeeeeeze remember to listen to your Mother, OK?

Yet Another Summer Solstice Enviro Show!

Greetings Earthlings. Can you believe we’ve been at this for ten years already? Now, another Summer Solstice is upon us and our most favorite witch joins us to mark the occasion (June 21, 2015). The Good Green Witch  will give us the goods on the Solstice and we’ll light the bonfire on the air! As always, we’ll stroll on over to see The Fool-on-the-Hill and to Meet the New Boss, as well as a trip to The Enviro Show Echo Chamber, but first it’s time for………Revenge of the Critters! June is the month for fireflies but don’t try eating them!

We have a two-fer for our Fool-on-the-hill this time. A bill filed by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) would eliminate the gas tax used to pay for federal transportation projects. The Hill reports,  “The concept, commonly referred to by transportation observers as “devolution,” is popular with staunch conservatives who argue that development of road and transit infrastructure should be left up to states.” (Who would likely privatize YOUR crumbling roads while they take the chopper to their next taxpayer funded vacation!)

The New Boss took a big hit from his fellow Dems on Friday. His fixation on getting that disastrous TPP trade agreement (you know, SHAFTA?) on his resume blew up in his face when the votes went against him in the U.S. House or Reprehensibles. Sorry, Barry. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all? On the other hand Obama’s approval for oil drilling in the storm-tossed Arctic is going swimmingly as kayactivists were unable to block Shell’s behemoth floating rig as it left Seattle harbor on its journey to trash the planet. We have an ironic twist on that. Tune in.

We’re melding The Enviro Show Echo Chamber with our E-Valley-uation segment with the GCTV video of last Thursday’s Department of “Public” Utilities/Berk Gas hearing in Greenfield. If you weren’t there (we thought we saw all of you!) it’s HERE, including Holly Lovelace’s stirring testimony that moved her to go on bended knee to some startled DPU officials begging them to save her home from Kinder Morgan’s proposed pipeline. Our guess is the DPU won’t do anything but rubber stamp their corporate masters demands so you might want to think about helping Holly yourself by going here. Meanwhile the Gazette reports “The attorney general’s office maintains that the DPU’s mission is to find whether the proposed Berkshire Gas long-term contract with Tennessee Gas Pipeline is in the public interest, and must first examine regional pipeline capacity conditions and potential future needs, along with reasonable alternatives and other issues.”  Like our sign at the hearing said: “We’re looking at you DPU!” Back to Kinder Morgan itself: it looks like some investors are not happy with KM’s debt load. Getting back to Berkshire Gas, our guy Glen pointed out clearly at the DPU hearing that such a bucolic name belies Berk Gas’ real ownership which is right HERE (PDF). Finally, our friends at FANG got into the faces of Gas Man at an industry forum in Boston multiple times (word has it besides some rough treatment by security they also tried playing loud music to drown out the protesters – why not just play a recording of a compressor station blowdown, that’s LOUD!)

Breaking News! The Pope has released his climate crisis bombshell. Climate change deniers are already preparing their defense: the Earth is flat, OK??  “Everyone is going to ride the pope now. Isn’t that wonderful,” said Denier-in-Chief Sen. James Inhofe, who chairs the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment (!) and Public Works. “The pope ought to stay with his job, and we’ll stay with ours.” Actually Jim, the Pope IS doing his job, how about you do yours….for a change!!

For our Enviro Show Quote of the Week you don’t have to go very far:  “Right now, in the amazing moment that to us counts as the present, we are deciding, without quite meaning to, which evolutionary pathways will remain open and which will forever be closed. No other creature has ever managed this and it will, unfortunately, be our most enduring legacy.”
― Elizabeth Kolbert

 

On to the Bus Stop Billboard!

 

July 1-8, The 2015 Earth First! Round River Rendezvous, hosted by Green Mountain Earth First!, will be held on occupied Abenaki land in so-called Vermont.  Website for more info on this Rondy.

Thursday, July 2, 7pm. Montague Against the Pipeline meeting. Montague Public Safety building (180 Turnpike Rd.),  Turners Falls, MA. Montague is not only effected by the Berkshire Gas moratorium, but it is also in the path of the pipeline! All out to defend the Plains!

Monday, July 6, 7pm. Interfaith Eco-action meeting. There will be a Moral Action on Climate March on Sunday, September 20th and your church, mosque, temple, sangha, congregation, Friend’s meeting, or other community can join in!! Come to First Churches in Northampton (corner of Main and Center St.) and participate in the local planning.

Thursday July 9, 6:15 pm (and Saturday July 25th at 12:45pm). Mothers Out front house parties. We are a group of mothers who refuse to stand idle while climate change threatens the future of all our children. Join us in learning how to build and flex our civic muscle as we TAKE ACTION.  If you can make either house oparty, email GreenZinnia@hotmail.com. If not, or to check out their local work beforehand, go to their website at http://mothersoutfront.org/amherst_community_team

Sunday, July 12, 2015, 1 to 9PM. Benefit Event: Midsummernight Faerie-Concert Against the Pipeline!
 – A broad assortment of local music and comedy at the Singing Bridge Arts Center, beside the Westfield River, just a couple of miles from where the NED pipeline would cross it. Gaia Star Band, Rachel Laitman, Visioning BEAR Singers, Sarah Stockwell, Burrie Jenkins and more. Potluck refreshments and dinner.  All proceeds go to fight the pipeline. Singing Bridge Arts Center, West Main St. (right off Rte. 9) West Cummington, MA.

July 18th & 19th.  Intro to Direct Action Climbing in Washington DC. Greenpeace is hosting a 2-day Intro to Direct Action Climbing workshop at their DC warehouse.  This workshop is designed to expose potential climbers to a couple of the most popular climb systems and to develop basic climbing skills.  If you have ever wondered if climbing is for you, this is an ideal place to have a bash and see if you like it.  Skills covered will include learning basic knots, set up on rope, basic ascent and descent, rappeling, switching systems on rope, and basic problem solving.  Breakfast and lunch are provided.  Please contact James Brady directly if interested: james.brady@greenpeace.org

Tuesday, July 21 11am-1pm 350MA holds monthly demonstrations in support of fossil fuel divestment outside the state pension management board meetings at 55 State Street, Boston. For further information or to join a carpool going to Boston call Adele Franks at 413 320 9418.

 

That’s all folks! remember to listen to your Mother, OK?

 

Marching to a Different Beat Enviro Show

Greetings Earthlings. [ Here’s the Podcast link for this show]  The Rolling March to Stop the Pipeline, going from one end of Massachusetts to the other, is now in the Valley.  Mary King joins us just after coming off the Orange/Athol leg of the March.  Also, Jim Cutler who was recently featured in The Valley Advocate concerning his opposition to the Kinder Morgan fracked gas pipeline will call-in with some background and updates. As usual we’ll drag you to the Enviro Show Echo Chamber and for a visit with The-Fool-on-the-Hill and some E-Valley-uation. Maybe we’ll finish you off with our Quote of the Week, but first it’s time for……..Revenge of the Critters!  Speaking of The Advocate, this week’s entry was in their News of the Weird column: Deadly spiders as big as dinner plates!

In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we replay Clean Water Action’s press release on the Gov signing that leaking gas pipeline legislation. The bill, like all that leaking methane, STINKS! Clean Water Action notes: “More work remains to be done to address the methane pollution and ratepayer burden from gas pipeline leaks.”  Our translation?  O so green Massachusetts is letting Big Gas charge YOU for its leaks and doesn’t give a damn about methane’s disastrous effect on the Climate Crisis. Legislation doesn’t always go to Beacon Hill to die, it also goes there to be abused!  Apparently no one on Beacon Hill has read THIS.  We rerun Grist’s news that “kudzu and other invasives can release carbon that had been sequestered in the soil” just in case you thought all green things are our friends. Dare we mention invasives in the Quabbin watershed? Well…..yeah! O, and speaking of Grist (and of STINKS!) they did an op-ed that relates directly to our last show. “Should Wilderness get the ax?” they ask. How about giving the ax to the corporados who’ve taken over The Nature Connivancy…..er…Conservancy?

We have a fresh new face for our Fool-on-the-Hill (because Congress is the gift that keeps on giving) in the person of Freshman Rep. Jim Bridenstine, Repugnican-Okla. It seems ol’ Jim is “ready to accept President Barack Obama’s “apology” for spending too much on climate change research”.  Go to the link and check this fool out. We think Central Casting sent him down to do the classic big far-right slob out to destroy the universe. Hey, it’s Oklahoma! Small labor & gene pool.

Our Enviro Show Quote of the Week is one of our all-time favorites:

“Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist”   – Kenneth Boulding

Our E-Valley-uation segment is pretty much taken up by our guests but we’ll make time for tales of The Enviro Show’s Frankenstein Pipeline being chased off the Montague Plains by angry townspeople! Also, we do want to note that some of our…..friends? over at Climate Action Now MA have taken the Quabbin logging issue down from their website. That’s odd given that even some mainstream Dems are opposed to the destructive logging. We have asked for time at their next meeting to do a presentation on the Quabbin & the Climate.  No word back yet.  We know that some folks over there have connected the dots between CO2 emissions and sequestration, but not everyone!   After that we head over to the Bus Stop Billboard:

Wednesday July 16, 9:30 AM Athol leg of the Rolling March to Stop the Pipeline meets at the Hannafords on Rte 2A. We will walk 2.5 miles to have a quick break for water and snacks at the Athol Environmental Center. We’ll walk to the town common for a rally (around 11:00 am). Afterwards, we’ll walk up Rte. 32 to Tully Lake. Go to: http://www.nofrackedgasinmass.org/rolling-march/

July 26, 10:30 am – 11:30 am. Bike Path Bingo! Kids, grab your parents, bug spray, and sunscreen, and then we’ll go exploring. All ages are welcome as we practice examining the natural world with field guides, binoculars, and a fun game to see just how much you can see! Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA. Free & open to the public.
Go to: greatfallsdiscoverycenter.org/

July 28, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm. Join Climate Action Now/350MA Pioneer Valley for our General Meeting at the Social Hall of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst, 121 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA.

Wednesday, July 30th – Rally at the State House to Say NO to the Kinder Morgan Fracked Gas Pipeline. The Rolling March to Stop the Pipeline will deliver postcards and petitions to the statehouse, and a rally will be held across the Boston Common. We (pipeline opponents from around the state) imagine this being populated by any citizens and organizations who have been waiting to bring this fight to the State House. Go to: http://www.nofrackedgasinmass.org

Saturday & Sunday, Sept. 21 The biggest demonstration in the history of the climate movement is happening in New York City. The People’s Climate March will be held as world leaders and members of the United Nations gather to discuss the climate crisis. If we expect real action on global warming, we need to make our voices heard. Tens of thousands of activists are gathering for this important event. This peaceful protest for a healthy climate will include a massive march through New York City, street theater, music, speakers and whatever creative energy you and your friends can bring. Go to: http://peoplesclimate.org/march/

 

We are so out of here…..for the moment BUT remember: Listen to Your Mother! (not people who act like your mother)

 

The Enviro Show’s Frankenstein Pipeline being run off the Montague Plains by angry townsfolk. That’ll teach us to get all ironic!