For those of you, like us, who are stunned and dismayed at the outcomes of the election on November 5, the next few days may be a time for grieving, recovery, connecting with others who share our reactions, pondering the meaning of the change in our nation we are witnessing, and expressing gratitude for all that makes our lives rich and fulfilling.

As a community of like-minded, caring, and supportive climate activists,

Elders Climate Action Mass Chapter remains committed to mobilizing elders and the nation to address the climate crisis while there is still time to protect the well-being of our grandchildren and future generations. In the months and years to come, some of the climate gains we have made may come under fire and making progress will be more difficult. Collectively, we can meet these challenges with renewed dedication to our mission, solidarity with our allies, and creative strategies rooted in elderhood wisdom. The future is unpredictable and we should remain vigilant to maintain our connection with each other and work to make sure that Massachusetts remains a leader in climate mitigation and resilience. This is the time to redouble our efforts, so if you are interested in contributing your skills and time to our work, please email tgrosowsky@verizon.net. Thank you for all you do.

Your Leadership Team: Rick, Arnie, Launa, Maiyim, Roger, Seth, and Tina

Staci Rubin, Esq, MPH, MELP

Ann-Christine Duhaime MD

DEEP DIALOGUE

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18

(One week early because of Thanksgiving)

4 - 5:30 PM On Zoom

Zoom link: https://bit.ly/3XoMOc8

Minding the Climate: How Neuroscience Can Help

Solve Our Environmental Crisis 

Increasingly, politicians, activists, media figures, and the public at large agree that climate change is an urgent problem. Yet that sense of urgency rarely translates into serious remedies. If we believe the climate crisis is real, why is it so difficult to change our behavior and our consumer tendencies?



In this talk, a neurosurgeon with a career pivot to working on climate change will discuss how an understanding of brain evolution and reward functions can shed light on why climate change is such a challenging problem for us to recognize and solve.

Maiyim Baron

Massachusetts, working through the state Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Program, is developing a Resilient Coasts plan. The purpose of the plan is to establish coastal resilience districts, identify options for making communities more resilient, explore financing tools, and to identify regulations needed to be developed or revised to enhance coastal community resilience. The plan is also intended to facilitate increased collaboration within districts and to develop coastwide strategies. 

The state drafted a map of 15 districts and is now seeking comments on those districts, as well as thoughts about priorities for seven identified strategies. A survey for getting input for developing a draft plan is now open on the Resilient Coasts web page through November 18^th. In this survey, CZM is also asking the public to help identify community risk “hot spots.” 

The state plans to release a draft plan this winter and that plan will also be available for public review and comment. 

If you live in or frequently visit a Massachusetts coastal community, consider responding to the survey. The link to the survey and additional information may be found here.

1]

Sherry Morgan

As the U.S. offshore wind industry gathers momentum, the choices we make today will affect future outcomes for years to come. With the right frame of mind, we can move the U.S. offshore wind industry along a trajectory that prioritizes ocean health, lasting infrastructure, and high-quality jobs. We are standing in a historic moment, ripe with creative potential, and ready to make the most of our cutting edge of science, policies, and investments. This talk shared a long-term vision for practical engineering solutions and New England’s role as a global innovation hub.

Eric Hines, Ph.D., P.E. directs the offshore wind energy graduate program at Tufts University. Dr. Hines has over 25 years of experience in engineering innovative infrastructure. Major offshore wind related projects include: the Wind Technology Testing Center in Charlestown, MA; the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal; the Partnership for Offshore Wind Energy Research (POWER-US); Digital Twinning the Block Island Wind Farm; and Transmission Expansion Planning for U.S. Offshore Wind.  

If you missed the presentation or would like to view it again, the video is here and the slides from the presentation are here.

Arnie Epstein 

Climate Bill Advances While Nation Faces Climate Peril

First, the good news: The climate bill we have been advocating for was finally reported out of committee and passed by the Senate after they agreed to a rule change to allow a formal session. Republicans in the House, however, blocked a vote there so the House won't vote on the bill until a formal session is called to deal with the Economic Development Bond Bill, which was just reported out of conference committee.

Related good news is that the bill includes gas system reforms we and our allies have been calling for, as well as a number of other provisions addressing offshore wind, electric vehicle charging, embodied carbon in construction, the responsibility of Massport to include climate concerns in decision making, and some additional progressive proposals. The siting and permitting section, which is a large part of the bill, includes a revision to the scope of cumulative impact analysis that environmental justice advocates support. See here for a summary of key provisions of the bill and for links to detailed reviews of all sections.

Preparing for Setbacks in Climate Programs and Progress

Climate movement leaders have already identified a number of ways the new administration in Washington will likely attempt to unravel climate gains and block future efforts to curb global warming. They Include:

Roger Luckmann

Michael Judge

Undersecretary for Energy for the

Governor’s Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs

Michael Judge, the Undersecretary for Energy for the Governor’s Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, recently met with our Legislative Team. During the hour-long session, we focused on where the Commonwealth stands in meeting our greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals. Here are some highlights.

We started with the status of climate legislation (S.2967), which was still being negotiated. See the legislative update in this newsletter for details on its status.

Why hasn’t the administration alleviated fears over the loss of local control in permitting reform? Siting and permitting are major focuses of the pending climate bill (S.2967). Western Mass residents in particular have been concerned about language that calls for loss of local authority. Sec. Judge acknowledged that the administration worked early in the session to alleviate concerns about a streamlined process, but did not continue as the bill was being negotiated. He said that it’s time to re-engage communities, and that the bill’s rulemaking process will be another opportunity to address these concerns.

Where is energy policy going? Judge’s team is focused on decarbonizing the power sector. There are many obstacles in terms of grid planning and connecting it to offshore wind, solar, and the New England Clean Energy Connect project. He said, “When siting and permitting is passed, we’ll be in multi-agency work to set up the rules and regulations.” It will take months before we see the impact of streamlined permitting. 

Jeff Clark

The wrapping paper, ribbons, and tape we use to wrap holiday presents is pretty, but it is not a gift to the environment. A December 2023 report by Sarah Tribelhorn at San Diego State University noted that:

• Approximately 2.6 billion pounds of wrapping paper is thrown away each year.
• Discarded paper takes up valuable landfill space and can take years to decompose, releasing harmful methane gas in the process.
• Wrapping paper is usually coated with dyes and glitter, making it difficult/impossible to recycle.

Instead, you can wrap “green” by using recycled or upcycled materials like fabric, paper bags, or newspapers.

• You should also avoid using excessive tape or glitter. Instead, you can use natural decorations like dried flowers or leaves.
• And you can always give experiences or homemade gifts that don't require any wrapping.

Rick Lent 

Climate-XChange is an organization that researches and shares state climate change policies within the United States to support legislative action by climate advocates. They recently created a State Climate Policy Dashboard “to meet the need for an accurate, publicly-accessible, and comprehensive database on the current landscape of state-level climate policy.”

The dashboard includes new tools and interactive features so you can easily compare one state’s policies with another’s or view the entire policy landscape within a state. It also supports comparison of policies across multiple states. It tracks policies related to electricity, transportation, natural and working lands, and other climate related issues.You can find it here.

Tina Grosowsky

During the last legislative session, ECA Mass members visited the State House and met with Senator Mike Barrett (D-Watertown) to get an update on the climate bill.

We send announcements of our meetings and Action Alerts to eca-mass@googlegroups.com, which includes all those on our active list. 

Please contact Dawn Edell if you want to confirm you are on our active list.

Maiyim Baron