Volume 223, July 22, 2022
We need Massachusetts lawmakers to take this drought seriously

Here in Massachusetts, we are facing a Code Red. 100% of Massachusetts is now effectively in a drought. Now is the time for Senate Ways & Means to report out favorably S.530 An Act Relative to Maintaining Adequate Water Supplies Through Effective Draught Management.


Droughts have a devastating impact on our economy and on our environment. They cost farmers their livelihoods and devastate our rivers and streams and the ecosystems that depend on them. River herring, or alewives, that traditionally thrive in our streams struggle in low flows, sometimes resulting in fish kills.

Currently, each town decides their own water conservation measures during drought. Some municipalities impose stringent measures, while others do nothing at all, while both withdraw water from the same struggling basin.

S.530 would change that by giving EEA the authority to require regional water conservation measures during a declared drought, affecting only nonessential outdoor watering, as recommended in the state's 2019 Drought Management Plan. Water use for agriculture or business would be exempt.

This would make watering rules consistent across neighboring municipalities, making rules easier to understand for the public, while providing actual relief for our rivers, wildlife, and water supplies.

Climate change will only increase the frequency and severity of droughts - our state needs to have a better, coordinated response.

That’s why I’m asking you to speak out and act today.

Urge your Massachusetts State Senator today to support S. 530 to effectively manage the state’s drought.

As always, your comment will be most welcomed by legislators whose aids will read and report on.


From two lobstermen to the President

At Brayton Point on Mt. Hope Bay in Somerset, President Biden stood out in the blistering heat on the debris field of what once was the largest coal-fired power plant in Massachusetts to meet the existential threat of climate change. Protected only by his aviator glasses, Biden pledged to address extreme heat with $2.3 billion assistance to help communities increase resilience and prepare for heat waves, drought, wildfires, flood, hurricanes, and other hazards.

Biden's actions demonstrate the power of local activists. In 2014, Ken Ward (fellow Hampshire College alum) and Jay O'Hara blockaded with a lobster boat a delivery by The Energy Enterprise, a 700-foot-long freighter, hauling about 40,000 tons of coal. Their actions nearly caused a hiccup in the 1,528-megawatt Brayton Point power plant energy production.

The two lobstermen were made to pay $4,000 to the local police for their nautical escapade. However, Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter eventually dropped all charges, saying:
"I do believe they're right, that we're at a crisis point with climate change. Climate change is one of the gravest crises our planet has ever faced. In my humble opinion, the political leadership on this issue has been sorely lacking."

President Biden leadership demonstrated that leadership with alacrity Wednesday when he took on the challenges of climate change.

Biden will invest in environmental justice communities with $385 million to expand home energy assistance programs. This will address home heating issues, promote the delivery of efficient air conditioning equipment, community cooling centers, and other measures to beat the heat at the local level.

To speed up the development of offshore wind in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, where almost 100 windmills with 2,500 tons of steel foundations are to be installed, a new facility at Brayton Point will manufacture 248 miles of high-tech cable. The facility will employ 250 workers, the same number that were employed at the old power plant at its peak.

Biden is taking this opportunity to create jobs like never before. For example, $4 billion in Federal assistance will go to the 25 hardest hit coal communities from West Virginia to Wyoming to New Mexico, and $16 billion will help clean up abandoned mines and wells protecting communities.

Additionally, Biden will dispel the "uncertainty" cast by the prior administration by directing wind energy development in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida's western shore. This is a first for the Gulf of Mexico. Offshore wind power will also be developed off the mid- and southern Atlantic Coast.

This is a step in the right direction. From lobstermen to the President, local actions make a difference.
WCVB Channel 5 Chronicle features ORI’s Natural Lawns with Healthy Soils Challenge and the work of summer interns


If you like what we're doing, consider a donation to the Ocean River Institute.


You may join us in displaying with pride right whale day stickers for a contribution of $10. We'll send you 3 stickers, the 4 by 7.5 inch Swim Free and Prosper sticker, a 4.5 inch diameter mother and calf sticker, and a 2 inch diameter mother and calf sticker. If you like, we'll also include Natural Lawns with Healthy Soils Challenge stickers, both large and small. Please indicate your preferences when making a gift. Let's make it known before it's too late.



Here at the Ocean River Institute, we don’t just talk about the need to fight climate change. We’re using all of our knowledge about the threats we face to press others to take bold actions in many different ways. 

And bold action is exactly what the world needs in the fight against climate change. Who's in your corner?
 
Publications:




Zumi’s host Natural Lawn Care for Healthy Soils Challenge,Ipswich Chronicle Transcript, Aug 10, 2021

Peabody peak capacity generator need not burn fossil fuels,” The Salem News, Aug 5, 2021 

30% preserved or restored by 2030,” The Salem News, Sep 29, 2021

Pogie deaths, a Mystic River mystery,” Boston Herald, Oct 4, 2021

Remember the right whales with a special day,” CommonWealth, Oct 29, 2021


"Rob Moir, PhD, Science Advocate," Forbes, Oct/Nov 2021
We succeed by working together with other organizations and communitity groups. The Ocean River Institute is the only organization that raises a cacophony of diverse voices to decision-makers. When you speak out on any one of our campaigns, you are heard.  Thanks to those of you who took the time to make a pledge and write a comment. You are opening the doors of committees and the minds of politicians who are just looking for a way forward to climate justice.


For healthy oceans, green watersheds, and wildlife diversity.