350 Mass Greater Franklin Node: Meeting, Thursday, September 21, 2023

Please join us for the next meeting of the 350 Mass Greater Franklin Node, Thursday, September 21, 7:00-9:00 pm. 

 

This will be a ZOOM meeting only. 

   

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81930304274?pwd=Tm9VdGxYcDFaVTVDUkwyT3YvUnlFdz09             

Meeting ID: 819 3030 4274

Passcode: 350ma

Dial-in +1 646 876 9923

350 Mass Greater Franklin Node

 

As always, we will discuss 350 Mass' campaigns for 2023-24, and review local and statewide developments and opportunities in climate and energy advocacy. We will also hear from our members who participated in the March to End Fossil Fuels in New York City this past Sunday. 

 

Here are a few additional items and actions for your attention:

Evaluating Climate Solutions: A National Forum Series. Are the various proposed climate solutions effective, scalable, affordable, technically possible, and politically feasible? Come to a series of virtual forums by national experts to explore the options. See information and registration for all forums here.

(final forum in the series:) Creating Sustainable Systems: Soil, Carbon, and Food. Thu, Sep 28, 7:30 pm. 

This series is sponsored by 350 Mass and Elder Climate Action Massachusetts and National in cooperation with Food Tank, 350.org, and Massachusetts Sierra Club.

 

Boston Globe Summit, Climate Sessions, Thursday, September 21. The Globe Summit is online (and in-person) from Sept, 19-21. See the schedule of climate sessions and speakers here.  There are 4 sessions on climate and energy on Thursday morning. (Register to stream them.) 

Housing and Climate Justice Lobby Day, Tuesday Sept. 26.  Join us at the Massachusetts State House to meet with our legislators and advocate on behalf of two critical initiatives: The Housing Environment and Revenue Opportunities (HERO) bill; see the fact sheet. AND The Zero Carbon Renovation Fund (ZCRF) bill; see the fact sheet. Learn more and RSVP here. Tue, Sep 26, 10 am-3 pm, Massachusetts State House, Room 428.

 

Please try to join us for Thursday's meeting. If you have questions or items for the agenda, you can contact the Node coordinators,  carolyncbarthel@gmail.com  and/or ralph.halpern@comcast.net. We will send a reminder on Thursday.  

Thank you.

 

Node Co-coordinators,
Carolyn Barthel
Ralph Halpern

Ralph Halpern
ralph.halpern@comcast.net
781-784-3839 (h)

339-203-5017   

NOAA: "Nation struck by all-time highest number of billion-dollar disasters"

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shared:

"(1 of 5) JUST IN: The all-time highest number of billion dollar disasters on record occurred.

23 confirmed year-to-date B$D events.

More from our #August 2023 #StateofClimate.

Report: https://t.co/DMEkGeGbNf

@NOAANCEI #Climate https://t.co/gwTtx5Czcu

Shared from -> https://x.com/NOAA/status/1701249536578945385

NOAA: "Nation struck by all-time highest number of billion-dollar disasters"

In this Making Sense of Climate we find bits of hope amid the doom scrolling (audio)

FM #1044 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1044 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist via the Zoom conference bridge Monday, August 21, 2023.  

In this episode we have another wide running conversation with a starting point on the headlines, and how to avoid doom scrolling.  Links to the articles we talk of are collected in one PDF linked to below.  

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.  

The conversation runs about 46 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Ted McIntyre as we help ‘make sense of climate.’ Audio file -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1044-making-sense-of-climate-31-08-21-23

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Links to articles referenced:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KdmIkPGFpCYIrbHXakDQZ0vJpcq6keY8/view?usp=drive_link 

** See the page that collects all 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 www.franklin.news/ or  www.Franklinmatters.org/ 

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"

In this Making Sense of Climate we find bits of hope amid the doom scrolling (audio)

In this Making Sense of Climate we start with ship tracks and get into geoengineering (audio)

FM #1030 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1030 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist via the Zoom conference bridge Monday, August 7, 2023.  

In this episode we have another wide running conversation with a starting point on the ship tracks  Links to the articles we talk of are located in a section below.  

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.  

The conversation runs about 46 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Ted McIntyre as we help ‘make sense of climate.’ Audio file -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1037-making-sense-of-climate-30-08-07-23

--------------

  

Links to articles referenced:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Fu_Yg-0pQc4mNpYBMQnwgwfq3f0_vSvX/view?usp=drive_link 

** See the page that collects all 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 www.franklin.news/ or  www.Franklinmatters.org/ 

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"

In this Making Sense of Climate we start with ship tracks and get into geoengineering (audio)

8 things the world must do to avoid the worst of #ClimateCrisis

Prof. Peter Strachan (@ProfStrachan) tweeted on Tue, Aug 01, 2023:

Eight things the world must do to avoid the worst of #ClimateCrisis
1. Stop methane emissions
2. Stop deforestation
3. Restore degraded land
4. Change what we eat
5. Go #RenewableEnergy
6. Use energy more efficiently
7. Stop burning #FossilFuels
8. #ActNow 

Read more about the steps and actions required ->   https://t.co/8wNURqsLfL

The IPCC updated report referenced ->  https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/

Shared from Twitter -> https://twitter.com/ProfStrachan/status/1686449318507462675

Wind turbines on a snowfield in Tongliao, Inner Mongolia. Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

Making Sense of Climate: Ted & I talk emergency preparedness with Chief McLaughlin (audio)

FM #1030 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1030 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist via the Zoom conference bridge Thursday, July 27, 2023.  

In this episode we welcome Town of Franklin (ToF) Fire Chief James McLaughlin. The Chief is also the ToF Emergency Management Director. Given the headlines and climate weather related emergencies around us, it was a good time to talk about Franklin’s planning efforts.  Links to the articles we talk of are located in a section below.  

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.  

The conversation runs about 42 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Ted McIntyre and Chief McLaughlin as we help ‘make sense of climate.’

Audio file -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1030-making-sense-of-climate-29-07-27-23

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Links to articles referenced:

Resources available on Town page https://www.franklinma.gov/fire-department/pages/emergency-preparedness 

Hazard mitigation plan https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/franklin_ma_hazard_mitigation_plan_2020_update_-_adopted_01-06-21.pdf 

Home emergency guide https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/home_emergency_guide_2018.pdf 

The Mass Emergency Mgt Agency (MEMA) posted a reminder on important docs to have ready in an emergency (good timing!)

Mass Emergency Mgt Agency (MEMA) posted a reminder on important docs to have ready in an emergency (good timing!)

Not to be left out, the Federal Emergency Mgt Agency (FEMA - they must have been listening to us) just released a planning guide for working on climate change emergencies -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/19CHPJsmBN40DMKlBea9RKbqiE6lf_--G/view?usp=drive_link

** See the page that collects all 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 www.franklin.news/ or  www.Franklinmatters.org/ 

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: Ted & I talk emergency preparedness with Chief McLaughlin (audio)

Watch "This is Earth in the next 100 years if we don't act on climate change | Ways to Change the World" on YouTube

The impact of human activity on climate is becoming more and more visible each year. If we do nothing to change our current way of life, this is what we can expect from our planet in 100 years.

The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.

World Economic Forum Website ► http://www.weforum.org/

Vide link -> https://youtu.be/o-KyEYa3vuM

This is Earth in the next 100 years if we don't act on climate change

The Guardian: "We can’t afford to be climate doomers"

"Stanford engineering professor and renewable energy expert Mark Z Jacobson tweeted the other day, “Given that scientists who study 100% renewable energy systems are unanimous that it can be done why do we hear daily on twitter and everywhere else by those who don’t study such systems that it can’t be done?” 

A significant percentage of the general public speaks of climate change with a strange combination of confidence and defeatism: confidence in positions often based on inaccurate or outdated or maybe no information; defeatism about what we can do to make a livable future. 

Maybe they just get their facts from other doom evangelists, who flourish on the internet, no matter how much reputable scientists demonstrate their errors."

Continue reading the article in The Guardian (subscription maybe required)

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/26/we-cant-afford-to-be-climate-doomers

‘They’re surrendering in advance and inspiring others to do the same.’ Photograph: Vuk Valcic/Sopa Images/Shutterstock

The Guardian: "Why aren’t we more scared of the climate crisis? It’s complicated"

"The emotional response to the climate crisis – even if we feel fearful during an episode of wildfire smoke or flooding – is similar to what many people who live in war zones may experience, Lickel said. While at first, the threat of bombs and attacks are imminent and extremely frightening, eventually those who remain in these areas adapt somewhat to a life in which the threat becomes just another thing to deal with daily. “If they’re not escalating or the nature of the threat’s not changing,” Lickel said, “it is to be expected that the felt emotion is going to go down.”

Though the climate crisis is altering our planet rapidly on a geologic time scale, on a human one, changes are happening relatively slowly. That means that even if we see record-setting temperatures or experience our first indoors-due-to-smoke-days, those occurrences will become a new normal within the timespan of our lives. “I’m skeptical that there is going to be an event that’s going to catalyze us more than any of the things that have already happened,” Lickel said."

Continue reading The Guardian article online (subscription maybe required) ->

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/22/climate-crisis-fear-psychology

Psychologists say we aren’t designed to remain in a high state of fear for long. Photograph: John Locher/AP

Making Sense of Climate #28: Catching up on climate news, touting action as antidote to despair (audio)

FM #1022 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1022 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist via the Zoom conference bridge Thursday, July 13, 2023.  

In this episode we cover multiple topics as we caught up on what has happened since our prior recording. Links to the articles we talk of are located below.  

Briefly

• Climate challenges are here, when will it be recognized that change is required?

• Solar, agrivoltaics, home wind turbines, nuclear

• ISO New England & grid intersections 

• Energize Franklin, action is the antidote to despair

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.  

The conversation runs about 42 minutes. 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-1022-making-sense-of-climate-28-07-13-23

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Links to articles referenced:

Temperature records ->  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/05/tuesday-was-worlds-hottest-day-on-record-breaking-mondays-record

Solar power roof maps -> https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/07/06/solar-power-rooftop-map-technical-potential-climate-goals 

Electrical grid interconnections (ISO New England to ISO New York, etc.)

https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/07/05/electrical-transmission-power-lines-massachusetts-new-england-clean-energy-doe 

Shift in thinking about nuclear -> https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/shift-in-thinking-on-nuclear-power/ 

Agrivoltaics -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrivoltaics 

Home wind turbines -> https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/07/11/home-wind-turbine-renewable-energy/ 

Power cell efficiency ->

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/06/revolutionary-solar-power-cell-innovations-break-key-energy-threshold 

Turbine efficiency -> https://www.vernier.com/experiment/rev-12_turbine-efficiency/ 

** See the page that collects all 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"

Making Sense of Climate #28: Catching up on climate news, touting action as antidote to despair (audio)