We are affiliated with national Elders Climate Action, a project of Elders Action Network. Check out our websites: ECA Mass and ECA national. | |
- Chapter Meeting Details
- Deep Dialogue Details
- Greenwashing
- Climate in the Age of Disinformation Webinar
- Legislative Update
- Let's Make Polluters Pay
- Mass Energize Conference
- May Day Pics!
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MONTHLY CHAPTER MEETING
TUESDAY, MAY 12
At Noon On Zoom
We need your advocacy!
Register here for Zoom link!
The Massachusetts Senate is writing its version of the energy affordability bill this month, and the House is taking up the environmental bond bill. These two bills will set the stage for statewide climate action in 2026 and beyond. We need to focus our advocacy and start reaching out to our legislators ASAP.
We will review and discuss ECA Mass and our allies’ priorities for these bills. Legislative and climate policy leaders will share their thoughts in a conversation about the bills and strategies for gaining support for our proposals.
You will come away prepared to jump start your own advocacy for the legislation we need to advance Massachusetts’ clean energy and decarbonization goals and to join in the efforts of ECA Mass and other climate groups working to get these passed.
YES! We do record our meetings, and they’re usually posted on our website within a few days here.
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DEEP DIALOGUE
MONDAY, MAY 18
(One Week Early Due to Memorial Day)
4 - 5:30 PM on Zoom
Is Nuclear Power the Answer?
Register here for Zoom link!
Dr. Brita Lundberg will present a review of the health risks related to nuclear power. She believes that proponents of nuclear energy generally portray it as “safe, clean, and affordable” and describe its health risks as “remote” or “trivial.” She will examine the ways in which she believes this benign characterization is inaccurate.
She will explain why the assessment of nuclear energy’s harms to health must examine these harms across the entire nuclear fuel cycle - from mining of uranium, the fuel of nuclear power, through to disposal of radioactive waste and the potential for rare but catastrophic events. She will also examine the excess fossil fuel emissions created all along the nuclear fuel cycle.
Dr. Brita Lundberg is Chair of the Environmental and Occupational Health Committee at the Massachusetts Medical Society, a member of the Board of Directors at Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, and an active member of Climate Code Blue, a physician-led advocacy group dedicated to raising public awareness around the health effects of climate change. She is the current CEO and founder of Lundberg Health Advocates, LLC, a patient advocacy group and a former Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Emory University.
| | Greenwashing Aims at Halting Environmental Progress | | |
With consumers becoming more environmentally conscious, marketers prey on their desire to be more environmentally responsible by creating an aura of sustainability about the products they purchase, particularly those involving plastic. At its core, greenwashing’s false advertising is not only untrue, but deceptive in purposely leading consumers to believe they’re making “green” decisions – when they aren’t. The plastics industry is duping us, which is not surprising, since plastics have been described as the future for fossil fuel.
Tactics Include:
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The Power of Suggestion: Wrapping water bottles in pictures of evergreens
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False Pledges:PepsiCo’s 2021 pledge to achieve 100% recyclable, compostable, or reusable containers by 2025, which was subsequently reversed
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Vague Claims: Using words like “eco-friendly,” “green” or “sustainable” without factual authority
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Visual Misdirection: Labeling products with “please recycle” or showing the recycle logo without accepting any responsibility for reducing waste
What Can You Do?
Look for clear evidence that a company understands the full environmental impact of their products.
Rely on 3rd party certification, but research to verify this certification is issued by a legitimate independent reviewer, not by an industry organization.
Learn more: Greenwashed 2025 is Just Zero’s second annual report on recognizing misinformation and opposing deceptive practices.
Jeanne Krieger
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Climate in the Age of Disinformation
with Katherine Hayhoe
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Who: Katherine Hayhoe & Bernadette Woods Placky
What: Talking Climate in the Age of Disinformation Webinar
Host: Jessica Craven
Date: Tuesday, May 19
Time: 7:00 PM
Register here.
Join this Climate Action Party to explore how climate communication and bold conversations can cut through disinformation! "The most important thing you can do to fight climate change: [is] talk about it." That's the famous rallying cry of climate scientist and communicator Dr. Katharine Hayhoe. No group has taken it more to heart than Climate Action Now's community of CAN-Doers, with nearly four million messages sent and thousands more going out every week.
But we're living in a new Age of Disinformation. People inhabit alternate information universes. The fossil fuel industry controls the conversation in one of them. The word "climate" has become a culture war trigger that causes minds to slam shut. And even among climate advocates, climate action is losing ground to fears for our democracy. So the question we have to ask is: is talking about climate still an effective strategy?
We'll hear from Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist and author of Talking Climate, whose research shows that values-based conversations can open minds even across deep political divides; and Bernadette Woods Placky, Chief Meteorologist, whose work connects local weather to climate change for audiences across the country. The conversation will be moderated by Jessica Craven, community organizer and author of the popular Substack newsletter Chop Wood, Carry Water. Together, we'll get their fresh takes on what's working, what's changed, and how to keep climate in the conversation when the odds feel stacked against us.While we learn from our experts, you’ll also be invited to take action with the free CAN Action Carousel from Climate Action Now. Let's keep the climate conversation alive and turn it into action!
Rick Lent
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Legislative Update: Bond Bill Victories &
Gearing Up for More Advocacy
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What's in the Enviromental Bond Bill?
On April 15, the Senate passed an environmental bond bill authorizing $3.64 billion in bonds to address important climate, resilience, and environmental priorities including infrastructure upgrades, water source protection, and permitting reform for housing and environmental initiatives. The bill moved to House Ways and Means where it could be revised and amended. It includes some items that we and our allies advocated for including:
- A statewide drought management policy
- A study of options for developing a climate bank
- A project addressing indoor air pollution
- A statewide plastic bag ban
- A municipal reforestation program
Amendments we and our allies supported for comprehensive protection of state-owned forests and funding decarbonization of affordable housing did not pass. Your advocacy may be needed again in the House to ensure items we fought for stay in the bill and others we support are added. Any bond funding for these items in the bill requires future government action to actually approve issuing the bonds and spending the money.
Climate Bank Push Continues
A bill that would go beyond the study in the environmental bond bill to actually establish a Climate Bank (CB) is still alive in House Ways and Means. The CB coalition is organizing advocacy to move it to a floor vote. If your representative is key to moving this bill, you will be receiving a request to reach out to them soon.
Push for Energy Affordability
Next on the legislative agenda is advocating with our allies for an energy affordability bill in the Senate that improves on the bill that came out of the House (see the April Legislative Report for details). The Legislative team is working on a pilot project to maximize participation of ECA Mass members in key districts in outreach to key senators. Work continues to advance our agendas on plastics, natural solutions, buildings and transportation.
Roger Luckmann
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On Saturday April 25, Make Polluters Pay (MPP) activists came together to strategize next steps for the campaign. The MPP legislation was “sent to study” this spring so a revitalized campaign is beginning.
What's next? Participants shared many ideas on how to expand and strengthen the Make Polluters Pay campaign with a focus on base building in key districts. Ideas include in-district canvassing, municipal resolutions, teach-ins, and storytelling around the personal toll of climate change. Participants also shared some resources and training ideas to equip activists to be more effective organizers, such as public narrative training, canvassing training, and educational resources that break down the policy jargon of the Make Polluters Pay bill.
The campaign team took these ideas and wove them into a district-focused action proposal that begins with a general training on public narrative and canvassing, then builds to a local teach-in to engage local communities and their elected officials. The timeframe for action can be as little as one month per district but can be drawn out longer to accommodate other actions and/or availability -- there were SO MANY different tactics mentioned on Saturday and any one of them can be woven into this 3-step process of activist training, in-district canvassing and in-district teach-ins. For more information please contact: Rachael Boyce rachael@climatecrew.org.
Tina Grosowsky
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Mass Energize Conference:
Treasure Trove of Climate Resources
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The Mass Energize Climate Leaders Conference at Bentley University in April offered opportunities to learn about innovative programs and projects in Massachusetts and connect with a wide range of community resource providers through:
If you are engaged in your community with any effort to promote energy efficiency, solar, or heat pumps, or to educate residents and municipal leaders about new and innovative approaches to affordable decarbonization, use the links above to visit these three events virtually and check out the programs, resources, and businesses that speak to your interests. You may find just the thing you were looking for to jump start a project in your town - or inspiration to take on a climate challenge in your community.
Here are just a few of the resources that I found intriguing and potentially useful in my climate-related work with municipal officials and local organizations in Natick:
Browse the campaign showcase, resource fair, and tabling event webpages. There is an amazing wealth and diversity of individual and organizational talent out there to energize our climate efforts. The Mass Energize conference organizers did a great job bringing it all together.
Roger Luckmann
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ECA Mass members, including Maiyim Baron, Dave Damm-Luhr, and Tina Grosowsky were part of the new "Climate Contingent" that is coming together, and they joined hundreds of activists in Boston on May 1.
Tina Grosowsky
| | Get More Involved & Join an ECA Team | | |
If you would like to become more involved with ECA Mass on one of our teams (Communication, Education, Legislative, Membership or Research) please contact Tina Grosowsky, tgrosowsky@verizon.net.
Tina Grosowsky
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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.
| | Did you miss a past meeting? | | |
Did you miss an ECA Mass Chapter Meeting or Deep Dialogue? Or do you want to share one with friends and family?
We have you covered! Videos of past chapter meetings are here and videos of past deep dialogues are here.
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This Newsletter is Published for Members and Friends of
Elders Climate Action - Massachusetts Chapter
ECA Massachusetts is a chapter of the national Elders Climate Action. We are a movement of elders committed to making our voices heard to change our nation's policies while there is still time to avoid catastrophic changes in the Earth's climate. Visit the ECA Massachusetts website, event calendar, and Facebook page to learn more about our chapter's activities and climate news. JOIN ECA MASSACHUSETTS AND STAY CONNECTED! Subscribe to our monthly newsletter, and for more active participation, sign up to receive Action Alerts and meeting announcements. Fill out our subscription form.
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