News Headlines
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Action Alert – Fix the Gas Leaks!
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Massachusetts May Not Meet 2020 Climate Mandate
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MassDEP Steps Up Waste Ban Compliance Strategy with New Inspectors, Issues 101 Enforcement Actions to Violators
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To Address Climate Crisis Berkshire Residents Link Efforts with Statewide Campaign
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Next MCLA “Green Living” Seminar to Focus on the Status of Farming in Berkshire County
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News on Farmland, Amphibians from Columbia Land Conservancy
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Increasing Farmland in the Berkshires April 12
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Registration Open for Massachusetts Land Conservation Conference
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Wildlife Habitat Council’s 26th Annual Symposium Call for Proposals
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CSA at Arrowhead Seeking Members for 2014 Season
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Youth and Student Grants from New Economy Coalition
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Mass Audubon is Hiring
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BNRC Job Opening
Action Alert – Fix the Gas Leaks!
from Clean Water Action
Gas leaks are epidemic in Massachusetts – we’re paying dearly for broken pipelines and lost fuel. 20,000+ leaks cost customers millions of dollars every year, endanger the public, kill trees and send huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Will you contact your elected officials today, and ask them to fix gas leaks?
We won a big victory last month in the Massachusetts House – advancing gas leaks legislation over to the Senate – but now, lobbyists for the gas companies are trying to make new customers foot the bill for expansion without fixing many of the leaks right in our neighborhoods. Please, let your lawmakers know this is unacceptable.
Neither our pocketbooks nor the planet can afford these gas leaks. Contact your state senator today and ask them fight for a good gas leaks bill.
Thank you for standing up today – we need you in the fight.
ROUGH CALL SCRIPT
I am concerned about gas pipeline leaks because of the costs to gas customers, risk to public safety and danger to our environment. There are over 20,000 leaks in Massachusetts and explosions have hurt communities like mine. House Bill 3873, An act enhancing natural gas pipeline safety, has recently come over to the Senate. This is an important bill, but it needs several changes to be effective.
- We need to put all leaks, including “grade 3” (or “non-emergency” leaks), on the schedule for repair, and repair them within 1 year. We are already paying for leaking fuel and we know that these leaks put an immense amount of methane into the atmosphere.
- To reduce our bills, protect residents, and stop any new pipelines from being built, we should fix leaks NOW. Fuel prices change frequently, and our state is already over reliant on gas.
- Thank you for taking the time to listen to me today!
Massachusetts May Not Meet 2020 Climate Mandate
from the Environmental League of Massachusetts
The ELM-coordinated Global Warming Solutions Project (GWSP) released its Clean Energy and Climate Scorecard this week. The Scorecard reveals that without intensified effort, Massachusetts will fall short of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction required by the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA), a Mass. law passed in 2008.
GWSA requires economy-wide GHG emissions reductions of 25% below 1990 levels by 2020, and at least 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. Based on analysis of implementation progress made to date, the Scorecard indicates that Massachusetts will fall short of the requirement by 5% – reaching only a 20% reduction by 2020.
Members of the GWSP commend the Patrick Administration for its leadership in pursuing the state’s clean energy and climate goals, but also urge the Governor and his team to do more in the remaining months of his term to ensure that Massachusetts is on track to meet its required reductions.
Included in the Scorecard are more than a dozen recommendations for action in 2014 – many of which are included in the state’s original clean energy and climate plan – that have the potential to close the 5% gap between what is required and what we are projecting will be achieved.
Of the many actionable steps to take in 2014, the GWSP has prioritized five:
– Meet efficiency targets in the Three Year Plans,
– Adopt a new stretch code,
– Codify MassDOT’s “mode-shift” goals,
– Pass zoning reform legislation,
– Cut methane leaks from natural gas pipelines.
MassDEP Steps Up Waste Ban Compliance Strategy with New Inspectors, Issues 101 Enforcement Actions to Violators
Greater Efforts Needed to Ensure Recycling of Paper, Cardboard, Metals and Electronics
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has stepped up its enforcement of solid waste disposal bans, issuing 98 notices of non-compliance and three waste ban penalties over the past year for violations involving the improper disposal of significant amounts of recyclable and recoverable materials. The list of violators covers a wide spectrum of public and private institutions, including the food and retail sectors, educational and medical facilities and waste haulers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
“An estimated 40 percent of the waste disposed of in Massachusetts is recyclable materials that are banned from disposal,” said MassDEP Commissioner Kenneth Kimmell. “These enforcement actions are a wake-up call, reminding waste generators and businesses of their obligations. MassDEP stands ready to help them achieve successful recycling programs. When we increase recycling, we protect the environment, create more green jobs, conserve energy and improve our economic competitiveness.”
Of these 101 violations, 83 were identified from October 2013 through January 2014, when new MassDEP waste ban compliance inspectors began work. The five-fold increase in inspections is part of a comprehensive state strategy to hike waste ban compliance rates. That effort relies on a combination of third-party monitoring data, increased MassDEP inspections and enforcement, and enhanced outreach, education and assistance delivered through the RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts program. RecyclingWorks is a MassDEP-funded program that helps businesses and institutions reduce waste and increase recycling and composting.
The Commonwealth’s waste bans include materials such as paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, metal containers, electronics, leaves and wood wastes. The entire list and further descriptions can be found at Waste Bans
Waste bans have benefitted the environment and the Commonwealth by helping stimulate the market for recyclable materials, preserving the state’s limited disposal capacity, conserving natural resources and reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
MassDEP encourages businesses to follow the letter of the law when it comes to recycling. Businesses typically receive a notice of non-compliance if inspectors discover that recyclable materials are improperly being sent for disposal. The violators are required to correct the problem. But if waste ban violations continue, further enforcement action, including financial penalties, may result.
In the Commonwealth’s 2010-2020 Solid Waste Master Plan, increased waste ban compliance and enforcement efforts were highlighted as one of the key strategies to move recycling forward. While Massachusetts recycles 45 percent of the waste generated, that rate has leveled off over the past few years and millions of tons of recyclables continue to be disposed of in-state each year, demonstrating the need for improved MassDEP oversight of the waste bans and disposal practices.
Businesses that receive a notice of non-compliance are required to respond to MassDEP with their plan of action to stop the disposal of banned materials. Businesses that are looking for assistance with managing their waste materials, whether through re-use outlets, commodity brokers or recycling service providers, can obtain information and assistance through the RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts program at www.recyclingworksma.com or at 1-888-254-5525.
MassDEP is responsible for ensuring clean air and water, safe management and recycling of solid and hazardous wastes, timely cleanup of hazardous waste sites and spills and the preservation of wetlands and coastal resources.
To Address Climate Crisis Berkshire Residents Link Efforts with Statewide Campaign
What:
Massachusetts Senator Benjamin Downing and Craig Altemose, executive director of Better Future Project, will speak about the action they and others are taking to address climate change at the kick-off meeting of the Berkshire chapter of 350 Massachusetts. Senator Downing introduced a bill to divest Massachusetts’ pension system from fossil fuels and Craig Altemose will speak about the scale of the challenge and the opportunity he sees working with people across the region to transition away from all fossil fuels. Following the presentation, there will be a meeting to discuss local action, whether by supporting the MA divestment bill, stopping any expansion of the Tennessee natural gas pipeline through Berkshire County, or other initiatives.
350 Massachusetts is a statewide initiative coordinated by the Better Future Project to address the climate crisis through grassroots action in Massachusetts. This effort is independent but aligned with 350.org. The number 350 (parts per million) represents the maximum level of global CO2 in the atmosphere determined to be safe for sustaining a livable planet (currently we’ve exceeded that amount and reached the unsafe level of 398ppm).
When:
Monday, March 31, 2014
6:30 pm sign-in
7:00 pm Senator Downing and Craig Altemose
8:00 pm Meeting to initiate Berkshire 350MA
Where:
Berkshire Community College, Room K111, 1350 West St, Pittsfield, MA
Who:
Craig Altemose, J.D. is the founder and executive director of the Better Future Project. He is an award-winning activist who has served on a number of statewide and national non-profit boards, written and led a successful effort to pass the nation’s most ambitious call for climate action by a state legislature, and co-founded and led Students for a Just and Stable Future, a network of students dedicating to promoting climate stability. He holds a law degree and masters in public policy from Harvard.
MA Senator Benjamin Downing serves as the Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, which is tasked with reviewing all matters concerning renewable and non-renewable energy sources. He has introduced Bill S.1225 to the MA legislature proposing state divestment from fossil fuels.
Contact:
Ellie Johnston (Great Barrington) – johnstonellie@gmail.com (413) 528-4948
Jane Winn (Pittsfield) – jane@thebeatnews.org (413) 230-7321
Event on online at: https://www.facebook.com/events/708139385876130/
Next MCLA “Green Living” Seminar to Focus on the Status of Farming in Berkshire County
NORTH ADAMS, MA – The Spring 2014 “Green Living” seminars at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) will continue on Thursday, Mar. 20th, at 5:30 p.m. in Murdock 218 with a presentation titled: “Current Status of Farming in Berkshire County”.
The public is invited to attend this free series, “Cultivating a Sustainable Food System.”
The Mar. 20th event will include Melissa Adams, the Massachusetts Representative of the Keep Farming Program at the non-profit Glynwood organization, and Sarah Gardner, a lecturer and associate director of the Center for Environmental Studies. Gardner was a lead researcher in the three-year Keep Berkshire Farming effort and is now chairing a committee of Berkshire Grown to implement many of the Keep Berkshire Farming recommendations to strengthen farming and the regional food system in Berkshire County.
The series will continue on Thursdays through April 24th. For more information, go to www.mcla.edu/greenliving or contact Elena Traister at (413) 662-5303.
The 2013 Green Living Seminar series is a presentation of MCLA’s Berkshire Environmental Resource Center and the MCLA Environmental Studies Department.
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From CLC March 2014 News
CLC Conserves Nearly 500 Acres of Working Farmland
Close to 500 acres of prime farmland is our latest addition to conserved land in Columbia County. In partnership with farmland protection projects in Stuyvesant, Kinderhook, and Clermont, NY. These victories include a multi-generational dairy farm that sustains the state’s second-largest Registered Jersey herd and a vineyard that supplies Concord grapes to a local winery. You can read more about these success stories in our upcoming Newsletter!
Become a Citizen Scientist – Help Save Native Amphibians!
Amphibians are declining throughout the world. The North American Amphibian Monitoring Program is a nationwide effort to monitor their populations. This program relies on volunteer citizen scientists – like you! On Tuesday, March 11th, at 6:00 pm Suzanne Beyeler, PhD of the Hudson River Estuary Program will lead a training session in our office for all interested volunteers. We hope you help with this effort, so we can protect our native amphibian populations! For more information, please contact Suzanne Beyeler, PhD.
Are You Looking To Buy or Sell Farmland? CALF Can Help!
Increasing Farmland April 12
Farmland Access in the Berkshires:
A public conversation among people and organizations working to put more farmers on the land and more land into farming
Saturday April 12, 10 am to 2 pm
Berkshire Athenaeum (Pittsfield’s Public Library)
One Wendell Avenue, Downtown Pittsfield
Lunch, RSVP Required
This event is a collaboration:
Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires, Berkshire Grown, Berkshire Co-op Market, Land for Good, Greater Berkshire Agriculture Fund of The Carrot Project, Great Barrington Agriculture Commission, Berkshire Natural Resources Council, and Schumacher Center for a New Economics
Massachusetts Land Conservation Conference: Healthy Land – Healthy Communities
When: Saturday, March 22, 2014 | 8AM – 4PM
Where: Worcester Technical High School, Worcester, MA
Convened by the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition
For more information about the conference including speakers, registration fees, workshop schedule and materials, see www.massland.org/conference
This year’s Keynote Speaker is Dr. Eric Chivian, Nobel Laureate, Founder of Harvard Medical School’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, Director of The Program for Preserving the Natural World, and heirloom apple farmer.
About the conference: This annual, day-long training and networking event provides land trust board members and staff, parks administrators and advocates, colleagues from federal, state and local government agencies, students, and philanthropists an opportunity to participate in a full day of workshops and discussions that focus on fostering healthy communities in MA through land conservation. Join your colleagues in land conservation and acquire the information, skills, and connections you need to be most effective.
We are very grateful to the growing list of organizations who have already committed to sponsor the conference!
Benefactor Level:
Conservator Level:
Land Trust Alliance
The Nature Conservancy
Steward Level:
Appalachian Mountain Club
Berkshire Natural Resources Council
Epsilon Associates
Fields Pond Foundation
Groundwork Lawrence
Kestrel Land Trust
Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust
Sudbury Valley Trustees
Wildlands Trust
Buzzards Bay Coalition
Essex County Greenbelt
Franklin Land Trust
Harvard School of Public Health
Mirick O’Connell
Nantucket Conservation Foundation
The Conservation Fund
The Fine Fund
The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts
Wildlife Habitat Council’s 26th Annual Symposium: Celebrating Corporate Conservation
November
10-11, 2014
Hilton Baltimore
2014 Call for Presentations, Workshops and Field Trips
The Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) seeks presentations for the conservation and community-engagement topics below to be presented at its 26th Annual Symposium:
* Habitat remediation and ecological restoration
* Climate change
* Outdoor classrooms
* Employee and community engagement
* Native plants landscaping/propagation
* Invasive species control
* Landscape level conservation initiatives
* Connectivity (between habitats, corporations,
community)
The overarching theme of this year’s Symposium is “Connectivity” in all its manifestations. Papers that include or highlight connectivity will be reviewed favorably.
ALL SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE BY APRIL 30, 2014.
Please note: Submissions will be considered and evaluated on a rolling basis and the Wildlife Habitat Council’s decision will be returned to the author in a timely fashion.
Arrowhead Farm CSA Share
What’s a CSA share you ask?
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It is a system supported by a community of consumers who each purchase a share in an agricultural production. With their purchase they support a local grower and receive a portion of fresh, nutritious, and locally produced food.
Interested in purchasing a CSA share?
We break ground at Herman Melville’s historic farm, Arrowhead, in April.
A large share feeds a family of four and costs $500.
A small share feeds one or two people and costs $275.
The CSA will run from mid-June through October and includes eggs!
What we need from you:
$250 deposit due by March 31st and the rest by June 1st
a cooler for pickups
a couple of plastic egg cartons
20 hours of your time per share (divided up however you see fit).
We have 10 large (or 20small) shares available this year.
If you’re interested or know someone who might be interested please contact Kristen Laney at MelvillesArrowheadFarm@gmail.com.
Youth and Student Grants from New Economy Coalition
Many exciting things are happening at the New Economy Coalition! We have just hired some fantastic new talent onto our Organizing Team to build on our existing Youth and Student Network, jumpstart our Faith Communities Organizing and launch a brand new Racial and Economic Justice Initiative.
And we’re re-launching our Youth and Student grants program! Read to the end for more information about that program and how to apply.
We are again issuing a Request for Proposals for young people working to build the New Economy. On a rolling basis, we will be offering small grants (up to $5000) for convenings, projects and campaigns. The grants will be accompanied by support for planning and executing your project and access to NEC’s large and growing network.
Start the application process by submitting a letter of interest.
Last year’s Campus Network program supported fourteen campuses across the US and Canada in exploring big questions about how to build an economy that prioritizes people, place and planet, culminating in the reRoute convergence, which gathered more than 300 young people to talk about building youth and student power for a new economy. This year, we are making funding available to young people on and off campuses, to talk about and get to work building a new economy.
There are infinite possibilities. Map the solidarity economy in your community; plan a convening on your campus about community reinvestment; develop curriculum or bring in trainers to help with starting cooperatives, time banks or land trusts in your community; envision together what it would look like for your hometown to adopt policies to support an economy based on solidarity rather than extraction.
Most importantly, we want to hear from you about your ideas. We know they’re going to be great.
With excitement,
Rachel Plattus on behalf of the NEC Organizing Team
Mass Audubon is Hiring
Mass Audubon is seeking a dynamic individual experienced in community planning, outreach, and project management to coordinate our Shaping the Future of Your Community Program as it enters its next phase.
The program helps communities in Massachusetts understand, formulate, adopt, and implement tools for charting a more sustainable future through customized community workshops and direct assistance. We are helping to develop more resilient and vibrant communities for the benefit of both people and nature while addressing the challenges of climate change. See the full job description here.
And we say a fond farewell to Stephanie Elson, who is leaving the Shaping program after five years to spend more time with her family and to build their beekeeping business. She will be missed, and we wish her luck in this new chapter!
BNRC Job Opening
Donor Relations Assistant, part-time. Successful and stable Pittsfield-based charitable organization focused on land conservation seeks an energetic, organized, detail-oriented person to help chief executive and office manager with member-donor relations. Task areas will include database management, scheduling, correspondence and public outreach. Clerical duties are a significant component of the job, but for a person with ideas and initiative there’s great opportunity for growth, creativity and initiative in areas of fundraising, communications and personal outreach. Competitive pay, benefits. 20 hours per week with some flexibility. Send resume to Sally Cornwell, Berkshire Natural Resources Council, 20 Bank Row, Pittsfield, MA 01201 or scornwell@bnrc.net. No phone calls. Will advertise until position is filled.