"Draft Stretch Energy Code Regulations have been filed with the Secretary of State on June 24th.These codes are now open for public comment. Please join the dates below and provide your feedback. Virtual Link for August 8th meeting:
 |
| Updated Stretch Energy Code Regulations scheduled for hearing & public comment |
"Hear an inspiring young activist describe why she cares about climate change and what she is doing about it."
Executive Summary
Fossil fuel companies are advocating blending hydrogen with “natural” gas (methane) for cooking and space and water heating. They claim this will generate heat while lowering the carbon footprint of the methane gas system. In fact, it will not. Most hydrogen gas is derived from methane or coal, both of which are major sources of greenhouse gasses, so utilizing hydrogen will actually increase greenhouse gas emissions. And using hydrogen to blend with methane increases the demand for and prolongs our dependence on methane, an extremely potent greenhouse gas. Meanwhile, it distracts from the uptake of renewable energy sources and cost-effective, efficient electric technologies proven to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With the window closing to address the climate crisis, we cannot afford this false solution.
Working for over 50 years to create a healthy, just, and peaceful world for both present and future generations, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) uses medical and public health expertise to educate and advocate on urgent issues that threaten human health and survival. Our goals are to slow and eventually reverse climate change and to abolish nuclear weapons.
 |
| Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) - Hydrogen Pipe Dreams |
"Up on the fourth floor of Westin Copley Place this week, hundreds of natural gas representatives mingled among glossy posters and tables littered with branded baseball hats and Oreos. Among the niceties and exchanges of business cards it became quickly clear — the climate crisis is very much on people’s minds. Another thing became clear, too. The solution, as they see it, is more gas.“Additional natural gas pipelines are the answer to many of the questions we face today,” Amy Andryszak, chief executive of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, told a panel audience Tuesday.It was the 27th annual gathering of the Northeast LDC Gas Forum — nicknamed the “Best Deal-Making Conference” in the industry, according to the organizers, and seemingly as good a place as any to get the gas industry’s view of the climate crisis as it is lived every day in the executive suites, field sites, and maintenance trucks of the scores of companies that operate in New England."
"The rapidly shrinking window of opportunity for the US to pass significant climate legislation will have mortal, as well as political, stakes. Millions of lives around the world will be saved, or lost, depending on whether America manages to propel itself towards a future without planet-heating emissions.For the first time, researchers have calculated exactly how many people the US could save by acting on the climate crisis. A total of 7.4 million lives around the world will be saved over this century if the US manages to cut its emissions to net zero by 2050, according to the analysis.The financial savings would be enormous, too, with a net zero America able to save the world $3.7tn in costs to adapt to the rising heat. As the world’s second largest polluter of greenhouse gases, the US and its political vagaries will in large part decide how many people in faraway countries will be subjected to deadly heat, as well as endure punishing storms, floods, drought and other consequences of the climate emergency."
 |
| Just 10 US states could save 3.7 million lives worldwide by cutting their emissions to net zero. Photograph: Iuliia Bondar/Getty Images |
FM #817 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 817 in the series.
This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist. We recorded this via the Zoom conference bridge Thursday, May 19, 2022.
This discussion continues our journey understanding the MA roadmap toward net zero and while helping me “make sense of climate”, we hope it helps with your understanding as well.
If you have climate questions or Franklin specific climate questions, send them in and we’ll try to answer them in a future session.
The conversation runs about 44 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Ted.
--------------
Articles referenced are collected in one PDF
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rczYh14x-r6emEQM7QXSHIkKIKHD7hQ6/view?usp=sharing
See the page that collects the “Making Sense of Climate” episodes -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html
Conference committee members (3 from MA House & 3 from MA Senate)
House of Representatives:
MA Senate:
--------------
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!
------------------
You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
 |
| Making Sense of Climate #11 - Steve talks with Ted McIntyre - 06/09/22 (audio) |
 |
| High water levels in the Gardner River alongside the North Entrance Road. NPS photo |
National Park Service video of their helicopter surveying the damage on Monday
If the Great Salt Lake, which has already shrunk by two-thirds, continues to dry up, here’s what’s in store:
The lake’s flies and brine shrimp would die off — scientists warn it could start as soon as this summer — threatening the 10 million migratory birds that stop at the lake annually to feed on the tiny creatures. Ski conditions at the resorts above Salt Lake City, a vital source of revenue, would deteriorate. The lucrative extraction of magnesium and other minerals from the lake could stop.
Most alarming, the air surrounding Salt Lake City would occasionally turn poisonous. The lake bed contains high levels of arsenic and as more of it becomes exposed, wind storms carry that arsenic into the lungs of nearby residents, who make up three-quarters of Utah’s population.
“We have this potential environmental nuclear bomb that’s going to go off if we don’t take some pretty dramatic action,” said Joel Ferry, a Republican state lawmaker and rancher who lives on the north side of the lake."
 |
| Left: A satellite view of the Great Salt Lake captured in September 1987.Credit...EROS Center, U.S.G.S. - Right: The Great Salt Lake in May 2021.Credit...EROS Center, U.S.G.S. |
"In 1980, a report circulated to a division of one of the biggest coal-burning utilities in the US warned that “fossil fuel combustion” was rapidly warming the atmosphere and could cause a “massive extinction of plant and animal species” along with a “5 to 6-meter rise in sea level” across the world.Several years later an official at the utility co-chaired a conference where scientific researchers fretted that “as we continue to exploit the vast deposits of fossil fuels” it could cause “disruptive climate changes”.Not only did Southern Company fail to adjust its business model towards cleaner energy sources, it began paying for print advertisements saying climate change was not real. “Who told you the earth was warming,” asks one ad from 1991."
 |
| The Robert W Scherer Power Plant, a coal-fired electricity plant operated by Georgia Power, a subsidiary of the Southern Company in Georgia. Photograph: Christopher Aluka Berry/Reuters |
 |
| 350 Mass Greater Franklin Node |
The Environmental League of Massachusetts (ELM) Action Fund is a nonpartisan organization that helps pass laws that protect our environmental legacy, holds our elected officials accountable, and works to build the political power of the environmental community. To learn more about our work and our recent electoral victories visit www.elmaction.org/elections.
https://twitter.com/EnviroLeagueMA/status/1526571203992989696
 |
| State Representative Jeffrey Roy Endorsed for 10th Norfolk District by Environmental League of Massachusetts Action Fund |
This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist. We recorded this via the Zoom conference bridge Thursday, May 19, 2022.
Ted and I are joined by Lisa Cunningham and Wendy Stahl. They are climate activists and co-founders of ZeroCarbonMA.org/
This discussion continues our journey understanding the MA roadmap toward net zero and while it helps me “make sense of climate”, we hope it helps with your understanding as well.
If you have climate questions or Franklin specific climate questions, send them in and we’ll try to answer them in a future session. Wendy and Lisa are also happy to answer questions.
The recording runs about 50 minutes, so let’s listen to my conversation with Ted, Lisa, and Wendy as we discuss Brookline’s initiative, heat pumps, gas leaks, and the health and financial implications of these.
Audio file -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-801-making-sense-of-climate-10-05-19-22
--------------
House of Representatives:
MA Senate:
Articles referenced
Stanford Study on gas leaks
https://news.stanford.edu/press-releases/2022/03/24/methane-leaks-mues-fix-available/
and
RMI article on gas stoves https://rmi.org/insight/gas-stoves-pollution-health/
And to buy a low-cost induction cook plate to try induction cooking
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-portable-induction-cooktop/
We recommend the least expensive “no frills” – works great! And cast iron pans are magnetic and low cost (Ikea and Amazon also have low-cost magnetic/induction cookware).
Globe article on Senate Drive Forward act
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/04/07/science/senate-unveils-sweeping-climate-bill/
Electrify your home guide https://www.rewiringamerica.org/electrify-home-guide
IPCC report “Code Red” “The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable."
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/08/1097362
Mass Clean Energy Center (MCEC) on heat pumps https://www.masscec.com/blog/2021/09/13/masscec-pilot-showcases-success-whole-home-heat-pumps
Talking Points on Section 65 of the Senate’s Drive Act (S. 2842)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XCxBnnmgBaGkDEsziqhzAgASJLCoOqxhUe5VZKF-9EY/edit
Text of the MA Senate Drive Act
https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/S2819/BillHistory?pageNumber=2 or here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TDKb_6gw9HjE8q7ZPbU2hhM9ZS1mU6q9/view?usp=sharing
See the page that collects the “Making Sense of Climate” episodes -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html
--------------
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!
FM #800 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 800 in the series.
This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist. We recorded this via the Zoom conference bridge Thursday, May 12, 2022.
Ted helps me “make sense of climate” and we hope this helps with your understanding as well.
If you have climate questions or Franklin specific climate questions, send them in and we’ll try to answer them in a future session
The recording runs about 48 minutes, so let’s listen to my conversation with Ted McIntyre as he helps me “make sense of climate.”
Audio file -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-800-making-sense-of-climate-9-05-12-22
--------------
Articles referenced
The MA Legislature needs to step in.
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/spending-billions-fixing-gas-system-makes-no-sense/
Healey files to reject DPU plan crafted by utilities
Example of $$ co-opting perhaps legitimate local concerns. MA needs to build its own power… but this is a threat to managing the grid plan on a national level
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/06/climate/hydro-quebec-maine-clean-energy.html
Environs fought building stuff in 1970, but now want to build stuff,. how manage???
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/13/opinion/berkeley-enrollment-climate-crisis.html
Theoharides goes to German wind company
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/theoharides-takes-us-offshore-wind-job-for-german-company/
This is an equity issue (only a tiny fraction of humans will ever fly) and a challenge to linear thinking. Would the sun still come up if you couldn’t get to Beijing in 12 hours?
See the page that collects the “Making Sense of Climate” episodes -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html
--------------
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!
------------------
You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
