Showing posts with label climate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label climate. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

New Blog from NOAA Climate.gov on the #PolarVortex

NOAA Climate.gov (@NOAAClimate) posted  on Tue, Dec 05, 2023:
"We are excited to announce the new #PolarVortex Blog where we plan to explore various facets of the winds, #climate, and chemistry within this fascinating region of the atmosphere. 
Our first post is HOT off the press:
https://t.co/gZOmT9A3ss"

Shared from -> https://twitter.com/NOAAClimate/status/1732155988671664570

stratospheric polar vortex
stratospheric polar vortex

Polar Vortex on Dec 4, 2023
Polar Vortex on Dec 4, 2023

Sunday, September 24, 2023

A Regional Collaboration - Charles River Climate Compact (CRCC)

A Regional Collaboration

Charles River Climate Compact Municipal Member Since 2019

Did you know that Franklin has been a member of the Charles River Climate Compact (CRCC) since its creation in 2019? 

The CRCC is a regional collaborative effort to increase climate resilience for the people and natural ecosystems in the Charles River watershed by implementing climate adaption and mitigation solutions. 

We work monthly with our neighboring communities to achieve these goals. Participating communities include Arlington, Bellingham, Belmont, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Dedham, Dover, Holliston, Hopkinton, Lincoln, Medfield, Medway, Millis, Natick, Needham, Newton, Norfolk, Sherborn, Somerville, Walpole, Waltham, Watertown, Wellesley, Weston, Westwood, and Wrentham. 

For more information on the work we do, visit https://www.crwa.org/climate-compact.

Shared from -> https://www.franklinma.gov/conservation/news/regional-collaboration

Franklin has been a member of the Charles River Climate Compact (CRCC) since its creation in 2019
Franklin has been a member of the Charles River Climate Compact (CRCC) since its creation in 2019

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Talking with Ted McIntyre - Making Sense of Climate - 01/20/22 (audio)

FM #709 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 709 in the series. 


This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Franklin resident and climate activist Ted McIntyre. We recorded this via the Zoom conference bridge Jan 20, 2022.  


We cover the following topics within the realm of climate change

  • The 12 points of the MA legislation passes 2021
  • Define some key terms (greenhouse gas), net zero, environmental justice, and geo micro-district)

As we did not get to cover all the points of the legislation, stay tuned we’ll schedule at least another session.


The recording runs about 38 minutes, so let’s listen to my conversation with Ted McIntyre. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-709-ted-mcintyre-making-sense-of-climate-change-01-20-22



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Climate related links

From WBUR -> “What you need to know about the new MASS Climate law” https://www.wbur.org/news/2021/03/26/new-mass-climate-law-faq

 

Net zero info:

https://www.carbontrust.com/news-and-events/insights/net-zero-an-ambition-in-need-of-a-definition

 

CommonWealth Magazine on the Maine transmission line

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/mass-financed-power-line-in-maine-is-a-mess/

 

Mass Climate Action links:

https://www.massclimateaction.org/2021_mlp_scorecard

https://www.massclimateaction.org/net_zero

https://www.massclimateaction.org/clean_the_peak

 

Electric buildings:  https://environmentamerica.org/feature/ame/electric-buildings-2021

 

Video describing the “Geo micro-district”  https://heet.org/2022/01/14/were-on-the-radio/

 

Geo micro-district feasibility study  https://heet.org/energy-shift/geomicrodistrict-feasibility-study/


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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.  


This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

 

How can you help?

  • If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

  • If you don't like something here, please let me know


Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.


For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/


If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com


The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.


I hope you enjoy!

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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

 

The transportation sector accounts for about 40% of Massachusetts' greenhouse gas emissions. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
The transportation sector accounts for about 40% of Massachusetts' greenhouse gas emissions. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Saturday, July 17, 2021

"The total health and climate consequences of the American food system cost three times as much as the food itself"

"The true cost of food is even higher than you think, a new report out Thursday says.

The U.S. spends $1.1 trillion a year on food. But when the impacts of the food system on different parts of our society — including rising health care costs, climate change and biodiversity loss — are factored in, the bill is around three times that, according to a report by the Rockefeller Foundation, a private charity that funds medical and agricultural research.

Using government statistics, scientific literature and insights from experts across the food system, the researchers quantified things like the share of direct medical costs attributable to diet and food, as well as the productivity loss associated with those health problems. They also looked at how crop cultivation and ranching, and other aspects of U.S. food production impacted the environment. Focusing on the production, processing, distribution, retail and consumption stages of the food system (not including food service), they evaluated what it would cost to restore people’s health, wealth or environment back to an undamaged state, as well as the cost of preventing a recurrence of the problems."
Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)
The Rockefeller Foundation report can be downloaded 

The Rockefeller Foundation report
The Rockefeller Foundation report



Friday, August 28, 2020

In the News: "conditions have made 2020 a record-setter"

 From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:
"Texas and Louisiana may have braced for the worst this week as back-to-back hurricanes Marco and Laura barreled toward them, but in this record-setting Atlantic hurricane season, almost every coastal U.S. state east of the Mississippi River should also be on high alert. 
All but one of the 18 states bordering the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico face a greater risk this year of a hurricane strike, according to the forecast from Colorado State University’s Department of Atmospheric Science, which has issued seasonal hurricane forecasts every year since 1984. 
Only New Hampshire’s risk remains unchanged at a 1% chance of a direct hit. Every other state’s risk increased by 33-100%. 
In Massachusetts, the CSU team predicted the odds of a land-falling hurricane this year at 10%, compared to a historical probability of 6%."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

In the News: "conditions have made 2020 a record-setter"
In the News: "conditions have made 2020 a record-setter"


Saturday, September 14, 2019

Franklin Democratic Town Committee Votes To Endorse The Green New Deal

The Franklin Democratic Town Committee approved a motion to endorse The Road To The Green New Deal at their September 9 monthly meeting voicing their support of the principles of the Green New Deal, which include:a rapid decarbonization of the economy and government investment in green jobs and infrastructure.

The Committee has been working hard to promote awareness among Franklin voters of the impact of the Climate Crisis on our environment and citizen's health. The Committee has six active sub-committees, including a Forum Committee chaired by Richard Halpern that chose as its first activity to cosponsor a climate crisis forum: "Franklin 2050:The Climate Crisis." 

The Climate Crisis forum will be held October 17 from 7 - 9:00 pm at the Elks Lodge,1077 Pond Street. Speakers will include Marjorie Decker, State Representative, 25th Middlesex District, FDTC member Ted McIntyre, PhD, Board Member, Mass Climate Action Network (MCAN), and Carolyn Barthel from 350 Mass for a Better Future, Carolyn Barthel, Coordinator and Steering Team, 350 Massachusetts For A Better Future.

"Franklin 2050:The Climate Crisis" is free, but seating is limited. Registration is recommended. Pre-registration is available at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/franklin-2050-the-climate-crisis-tickets-65325208457

Franklin 2050:The Climate Crisis
Franklin 2050:The Climate Crisis

Thursday, February 7, 2019

In the News: Gov Baker talks climate change in DC; Housing crisis leads to homelessness

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

Gov Baker talks climate change in DC
"In testimony before a U.S. House committee Wednesday, Gov. Charlie Baker told Congress to set politics aside and follow Massachusetts’ lead on adapting to a changing climate and preparing to deal with more powerful weather, including setting specific targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions. 
The Republican governor has made climate change adaptation and resilience a central part of his agenda as he begins a second term in office. Last month, he proposed raising a real estate transfer tax to pay for a $1 billion, decade-long program to help Massachusetts cities and towns prepare for and clean up after the impacts of climate change. 
The governor told the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee that states “need strong federal leadership and a bold bipartisan vision on climate change.” He said climate policy is not a partisan issue in Massachusetts because “we understand the science and know the impacts are real because we are experiencing them firsthand,” and called on federal lawmakers to row in the same direction. 
“The magnitude of the impacts from climate change requires all of us - at the federal, state and local levels - to put politics aside and work together. That is the path we have taken in Massachusetts,” Baker said."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190206/baker-talks-climate-change-in-dc

Housing crisis leads to homelessness
"Looking out her window, Kristen McCorquodale reflected on eight years of chasing affordable housing to avoid homelessness. 
It was a January afternoon and temperatures the day before fell below zero degrees. 
“This isn’t May. This isn’t like the last time,” she said, referencing a few years prior when her family lived out of a Ford Expedition. 
McCorquodale, 35, is from Somerville. But over the last decade, she and her husband, Dan, along with their three children, have lived in Beverly, Gardner, Worcester, Marlborough, Dorchester and – most recently – Fitchburg. Their homes during that time included apartments, basements, shelters and a small Boston unit with two families and no working toilet."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190205/housing-crisis-fuels-homelessness-in-massachusetts

Friday, March 9, 2018

“The time on some of this stuff seems to be now”

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"As Massachusetts continued to clean up Thursday from its second nor’easter in a week, Gov. Charlie Baker said he plans to file legislation next week addressing climate change. 
Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito surveyed storm damage on the North and South shores last weekend, and Baker said it occurred to him then that “fixing whatever it is that’s there may just translate in something similar happening again at some point.” 
“A lot of these places got hit pretty hard in the Jan. 4 storm as well, and I think we’re going to have to come up with a different kind of strategy around resilience,” Baker said during his monthly appearance on WGBH Radio. 
Storms in January and March combined with high tides to inundate coastal communities with floodwaters, events that have put a spotlight on strategies to prepare for and respond to climate change.
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20180308/baker-to-file-climate-change-bill-next-week

https://350.org/about/
https://350.org/about/

Monday, April 20, 2015

Should MA lead or follow?

From the Mass Climate Action Network we share this episode of The Climate Minute
New Governor Charley Baker’s Executive Order 562 would substitute weak federal environmental standards for the existing superior state regulations here in Massachusetts. Based on overheated rhetoric claiming that state regulations are “confusing, unnecessary, inconsistent and redundant” the governor orders “each secretariat, agency, department, board, commission, authority or other body”… “to promptly undertake a review of each and every regulation” and retain only those which do “not exceed federal requirements.” 
The rule means that any Massachusetts environmental regulations stronger than their Federal counterparts will be dropped, and the weaker Federal ones will be used. Our state is a national leader in many areas, including the fight against carbon pollution and global warming. The regulations that embody that leadership are now at risk. If we rely on the Federal regulations, Massachusetts’ environmental policy will be set by the likes of Senator Ted Cruz. Think that is a good idea? There is more. Listen in.




Mass Climate Action Network
Mass Climate Action Network

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Gas pains in Massachusetts- The Climate Minute Podcast

In this week's edition of the Climate Minute podcast, they focus on what is happening in MA

The town of Wilmington rejects the pipeline. 
A couple of heavyweights opine that Governor Baker should focus on wind.It turns out that gas pipelines in Boston are really, really leaky! 
But a company wants to put yet another one in West Roxbury near a quarry. What could go wrong? Go to the rally on Sunday.

MassClimate Action Network
Mass Climate Action Network


You can listen to it here or click through to the MCAN page and listen there


Monday, January 19, 2015

Mass Climate Action Network: Selma and Science




New post on Mass Climate Action Network (MCAN)

Selma and Science

by massclimateaction
Back in January 1995, I read a great piece in the now-defunct Boston Phoenix about Martin Luther King Jr.'s April 1967 "Beyond Vietnam" speech, in which King strongly denounced the Vietnam War. The Phoenix piece noted that "Beyond Vietnam" was the most controversial speech of King's career; he was viciously denounced by many of his former supporters, who argued that his condemnation of the Vietnam War would alienate those who might otherwise support King on the issue of civil rights. (It reminds me of the criticism Naomi Klein received last year over her condemnation of the economic assumptions and attitudes that gave rise to the climate crisis.)
Ted McIntyre and I discussed King's legacy and lessons for climate hawks at the conclusion of the January 15 MCAN Climate Minute. King's legacy has certainly been distorted and abused over the years; I remember a January 2004 piece by Wall Street Journal columnist James Taranto in which he asserted, "Would Dr. King really have favored leaving [Saddam Hussein] in power in Iraq? There's no way of answering that question, but [it] surely correct to say Dr. King believed in liberty and democracy--the very values for which America is fighting in Iraq."
Based on his remarks about Vietnam, I doubt very much that Dr. King, had he lived, would have been a supporter of the Iraq War. However, I'm quite certain that King would have joined the 400,000 of us who marched in New York last year--and his concluding words in the "Beyond Vietnam" speech also apply to the climate crisis:
We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked and dejected with a lost opportunity. The "tide in the affairs of men" does not remain at the flood; it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is deaf to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: "Too late." There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect.
We must move past indecision to action. We must find new ways to speak for peace...and justice throughout the developing world -- a world that borders on our doors. If we do not act we shall surely be dragged down the long dark and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.
Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter -- but beautiful -- struggle for a new world. This is the calling of the sons of God, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. Shall we say the odds are too great? Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? Will our message be that the forces of American life militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest regrets? Or will there be another message, of longing, of hope, of solidarity with their yearnings, of commitment to their cause, whatever the cost? The choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise we must choose in this crucial moment of human history...
And if we will only make the right choice, we will be able to transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of peace. If we will make the right choice, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our world into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. If we will but make the right choice, we will be able to speed up the day, all over America and all over the world, when "justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."
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Mass Climate Action Network
Mass Climate Action Network

Friday, January 2, 2015

2014 from the Climate Hawk’s Perspective – The Climate Minute Podcast




New post on Mass Climate Action Network (MCAN)

2014 from the Climate Hawk's Perspective – The Climate Minute Podcast

by massclimateaction
The year 2014 was hot, the climate movement became conscious of itself and saw new dimensions in a big world.
This year is likely to be the hottest year on record and one where climate change undeniably arrived in clear force.
The year will also be remembered as one where climate activism took center stage with lots of rabble-rousing. The President said "Our citizens keep marching. We cannot pretend we do not hear them." From EPA regulations to the Climate March, Climate Hawks were out in force. The KXL pipeline is in deep Presidential trouble because of activism. In NY, fracking was banned, and the polls approve. On top of all that, Kinder Morgan blinked in the face of local opposition.
The climate movement's conception of itself changed in 2014 as well, not the least due to Naomi Klein's book "This Changes Everything". Rebecca Solnit is getting lots of mileage out of a comparison of our times to the French Revolution. She says: "…physics is inevitable…Politics, on the other hand, is not inevitable." In the same way, the #BlackLivesMatter movement is a big one for Climate Hawks. From a convergence of interests, to environmental justice to a simple realization that cities are a locus of climate opportunity, a new way of thinking was born.
The year also saw hopeful signs of an independent media as well as price parity for renewables, and a great window of opportunity for a carbon tax.
Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon.
Thanks for listening.
…Ted McIntyre
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Saturday, December 13, 2014

Pipelines to Powerlines - The Climate Minute Podcast



New post on Mass Climate Action Network (MCAN)

Pipelines to Powerlines- The Climate Minute Podcast

by massclimateaction
As a leader in the fight against climate change, Massachusetts often has to deal with problems at the leading edge. Is a natural gas pipeline through the state a good idea? Is it wise to import hydro-power from Quebec in order to achieve our emissions goals? We discuss these topics, along with a review of the proceedings down in Lima.
Kinder Morgan re-routes it's controversial pipeline. We talk with Rich Cowan about what is happening on the front lines of the struggle. Better Futures Project's Craig Altemouse provides a run down of reasons to oppose the pipeline on the Huffington Post. For even more info, check out the MA Pipeline Action Network . The next hearing on the low-demand scenario is scheduled for December 18th.
The Globe's Business Page gives a somewhat unclear discussion of the Hydro-Quebec question. But the Op-Ed page has a simpler explanation. Alternatively, the State could save emissions by adjusting our thermostats or using tidal power.
In Peru, the COP20 in Lima has been on-going. ThinkProgress gives an update , and DemocracyNow talks to Pablo Solon. If you do nothing else, watch John Kerry's remarkable speech.
Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon.
Thanks for listening.
…Ted McIntyre
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screen grab of MASS Climate Action webpage
screen grab of MASS Climate Action webpage

You can click through to the Climate Action page or listen to the podcast here: