Berkshire Conservation District Native Plant & Seedling Sale is Now Open for Ordering

Berkshire Conservation District

"The Berkshire Conservation District, a non-profit conservation organization, is presently taking orders for their Native Plant & Seedling Sale fundraiser. This year the District is focusing on native perennials, shrubs, and tree seedlings that benefit pollinators. With the increasing loss of habitat, use of pesticides and introduction of non-native species of plants, pollinators are in decline in the US. Pollinators provide a vital ecosystem service by transferring pollen between plants to facilitate reproduction, making them responsible for 1/3 of the bites of food eaten by humans each day. 'Gardening for pollinators creates links between humans and nature while fostering environmental stewardship,' notes the District’s Board of Supervisor Chair, Adam Galambos. 'Stresses on pollinators exacerbated by climate change is disrupting biological systems including the pollinator-flower relationship which poses challenges for all pollinators. By planting a variety of native pesticide-free pollinator gardens, we can help to support pollinators in our communities.'" Read More

^{Photo taken from WBUR}

Wood-burning power plants in Mass. won't qualify for renewable energy credits. Local activists are celebrating

Luis Fieldman | Mass Live

"The enactment of a new climate law in Massachusetts has given environmental groups cause to celebrate. An Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind will expand clean energy development and end renewable energy subsidies for wood-burning power plants, according to a press release from Climate Action Now Western Massachusetts. [...] The new law makes Massachusetts remove woody biomass from its Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS). There were only two biomass plants that qualified for the state’s RPS, according to Climate Action Now, but climate activists expected that number to increase dramatically due to changes by the Department of Energy Resources. By removing woody biomass from the RPS program altogether, the new law will prevent DOER’s rule changes from going into effect, according to Climate Action Now. [...] Climate activists said the effort to enact this law goes back to 2008, when western Massachusetts residents organized to oppose several large biomass plants that were proposed in Springfield, Greenfield and Russell. [...] Thousands of individuals testified and submitted comments over the past three years opposing DOER’s plans to roll back the stringent health and environmental requirements for biomass power plants to qualify for rate-payer subsidies through the RPS. When DOER continued to advance this proposal, more than one hundred groups, elected officials and countless individuals across the state called on the Legislature to change the law and end subsidies for woody biomass energy altogether." Read More

Boston seeks to ban fossil fuels in new buildings

The Associated Press | WBUR

"Boston is seeking to ban fossil fuels from new building projects and major renovations, Mayor Michelle Wu announced Tuesday. The Democrat said the state’s largest city will take advantage of a key provision in the climate change bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker last week. That legislation, which is meant to bring the state closer to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, calls for a pilot project allowing 10 Massachusetts cities and towns to require new building projects be all-electric, with the exception of life sciences labs and health care facilities. Wu said the city will file a home rule petition with the state Legislature to join the pilot. [...] Wu's office said natural gas, oil, and other fossil fuels used in buildings represent more than one-third of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. Other major U.S. cities have already moved to ban fossil fuel hookups in new buildings, including New York City and Washington, D.C." Read More

Baker signs major climate bill into law

Sabrina Shankman and Dharna Noor | The Boston Globe

"Governor Charlie Baker signed a major climate bill into law on Thursday that will accelerate the clean energy transition in the state by boosting offshore wind and solar, and — in a first for Massachusetts — allowing some cities and towns to ban the use of fossil fuels in new buildings and major renovations. Baker’s approval comes after weeks of speculation that he might veto the bill, and just days after he said he particularly disapproved of the fossil fuel ban because of his concern it could make it harder to construct affordable housing. Ultimately, though, he said the bill’s changes to the offshore wind procurement process and its advances in clean energy were important enough to secure his signature. [...] Though the legislation could kick off sweeping changes to state climate policy, it does not include funding for all of the programs it creates. Much of that funding is meant to come from a separate multibillion-dollar economic development bill that the Legislature failed to complete before the end of the legislative session last month. Lawmakers say they plan to continue negotiations on the bill in informal sessions, but the timing and outcome remain uncertain." Read More

Federal government announces historic water cuts as Colorado River falls to new lows

Zoya Teirstein and Jake Bittle | Grist

"The Interior Department announced sweeping changes on Tuesday to the way Colorado River water is doled out in the western United States and Mexico in response to the climate change-fueled megadrought that is desiccating freshwater resources in the region. For the first time ever, federal officials declared a Tier 2a water shortage, which requires Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico to reduce the amount of water they draw from Lake Mead starting at the beginning of next year. Arizona will have to reduce its water withdrawals by 21 percent, Nevada by 8 percent, and Mexico by 7 percent; California, the largest water user on the river, avoided taking any cuts. 'The system is approaching a tipping point,' Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said at a press conference. 'Without action, we cannot protect the system and the millions of Americans who rely on this critical resource.' Further cuts may be on the horizon, and for the whole basin rather than a select few states.  Earlier this summer, Touton told the seven Colorado River states that they would have to conserve between 2 and 4 million acre-feet of water in the next year in order to stabilize Lakes Powell and Mead. This would require the states to reduce their water usage by 15 to 30 percent in addition to the reductions they’ve already made as part of the 2019 Drought Contingency Plan. If the states didn’t find 2 million acre-feet of savings by mid-August, Touton said at the time, the federal government could 'act unilaterally to protect the system,' imposing long-term water restrictions over and beyond the new cuts to the Lower Basin states. The states blew past Touton’s deadline, but it isn’t clear yet whether the federal government will intervene and force another round of cuts, or which states would absorb those cuts. At Tuesday’s press conference, Reclamation officials only issued vague calls for “basin-wide conservation” beyond the cuts brought about by the Tier 2a declaration beyond the cut Tier 2 declaration.[...] Meanwhile, the Upper Basin states — Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico — have refused to make any definitive commitments; the states told the federal government in June that 'additional efforts to protect critical reservoir elevations must include significant actions focused downstream [in the Lower Basin],' and promised only that the states would consider reviving some dormant water conservation programs." Read More

Reader Photo Gallery: July 2022

Northern Woodlands

"Insects, spiders, and flowers were frequent subjects for your July photos, as were water scenes. In Wilmington, New York, Bekky Honkala encountered an iridescent dogbane leaf beetle on its host plant, and in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, Richard Philben admired 'the best decorated beaver lodge.' Also in this gallery: an American chestnut in bloom, a sunset view at Foss Mountain, and a chipmunk with a unique surveillance spot." Read More