EPA Funds Clean School Bus Program - Announces $1B in Grants

"The US has announced nearly $1bn in grants to replace diesel-powered school buses with electric and lower-emitting vehicles.

The Environmental Protection Agency will disburse funds to 280 school districts serving 7 million children across the country in an effort to curb harmful air pollution and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Today we’re once again accelerating the transition to electric and low-emission school buses in America, helping to secure a healthier future where all our children can breathe cleaner air,” the EPA administrator, Michael Regan, said in a statement.

Diesel emissions have been linked to higher rates of asthma, cancer and school absenteeism. Communities of color and people living in low-income neighborhoods are more likely to suffer from higher rates of air pollution."

Continue reading on The Guardian web page (subscription may be required)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/08/us-school-buses-diesel-electric

EPA press release -> https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-announces-nearly-1b-awards-clean-school-buses-across

The details on the 67 grant recipients, 3 of which seem to be MA based. Lawrence, Fall River and a bus service for part of New Bedford. ->   https://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus/clean-school-bus-program-awards

EPA Funds Clean School Bus Program - Announces $1B in Grants

Mass Power Forward event: July 11 at 11 AM

Only 10 Days Left for Climate & Environmental Justice!

Monday, July 11, 11AM

We are sounding the alarm! Wake up legislators! 

Find an event near you- we are hosting many across the state!

 

Join us, Mass Power Forward, in calling on our legislators to wake up and do more for environmental and climate justice! Air Quality! Siting Reform! Housing Justice and Retrofits! 100% Renewable Energy! Just Transition for workers! Indigenous Justice! Here is the full list of bills on a letter we delivered in May. 

 

Join an Action Near you! Exact Locations to follow. Monday, July 11th at 11AM

1. Roy: Franklin (Median strip: Main St & E. Central St. (Rt. 140))

We need all of these policies before the end of the session in July- which is just around the corner, 10 days from this action. We must show up so our leaders know that we demand climate action now. The conference committee is deliberating this month and aim to have their mash-up bill out in early July. Now is the time to make noise, together in community.

Mass Power Forward event: July 11 at 11 AM

On the Climate front: gas companies say more gas is the answer; researchers finally calculate the cost in lives by acting now

Boston Globe:  "As gas companies plan for a climate future, their vision: more gas "

"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."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/06/16/science/gas-companies-plan-climate-future-their-vision-more-gas/

The Guardian: "How millions of lives can be saved if the US acts now on climate"

"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."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/16/us-climate-crisis-millions-lives-saved

Just 10 US states could save 3.7 million lives worldwide by cutting their emissions to net zero. Photograph: Iuliia Bondar/Getty Images

Making Sense of Climate #11 - Steve talks with Ted McIntyre - 06/09/22 (audio)

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.

Audio file -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-817-making-sense-of-climate-11-06-09-22

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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: 

• Roy - https://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/JNR1 

• Chan - https://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/T_C1 

• Jones - https://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/BHJ1 

 

MA Senate: 

• Barrett - https://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/MJB0 

• Creem - https://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/CSC0 

• Tarr - https://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/BET0 

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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!

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

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)

Maybe 6 disasters across the US on the same day will catch someone's attention?

What are the odds of 6 environmental disasters happening on the same day across the US? Torrential rains, derecho, extreme heat wave, etc...

 

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

Find the other environmental disasters in Edgar McGregor's Twitter thread captured here in PDF form ->   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NcDQfy_WAQ6ze_0HxWkdlHHY_A5LGnwk/view?usp=sharing

Edgar is a climate scientist at San Jose State Univ in CA ->   https://twitter.com/edgarrmcgregor

“This history of racist planning is so deeply ingrained in American cities"

"Urban neighborhoods that were redlined by federal officials in the 1930s tended to have higher levels of harmful air pollution eight decades later, a new study has found, adding to a body of evidence that reveals how racist policies in the past have contributed to inequalities across the United States today.

In the wake of the Great Depression, when the federal government graded neighborhoods in hundreds of cities for real estate investment, Black and immigrant areas were typically outlined in red on maps to denote risky places to lend. Racial discrimination in housing was outlawed in 1968. But the redlining maps entrenched discriminatory practices whose effects reverberate nearly a century later.

To this day, historically redlined neighborhoods are more likely to have high populations of Black, Latino and Asian residents than areas that were favorably assessed at the time."

Continue reading the editorial online (subscription may be required)

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/09/climate/redlining-racism-air-pollution.html

“This history of racist planning is so deeply ingrained in American cities"

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/

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

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"

 

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