The MCAN Climate Minute – thoughts on Activism.

Good morning everybody, it's time for the MCAN Climate Minute! Rob's sitting at home under blankets working through a 102 degree fever, so Ted flies solo today and talks about the climate week in review. First, last Sunday night thousands upon thousands of people linked up to participate in a viewing and discussion of Bill McKibben's "Do the Math" movie and talk about what may be next.  If you didn't get to see the movie, or want to see it again, it's still online; here's the link to see the movie.  If you haven't read it yet, here's Bill's original Rolling Stone piece from last July. The Keystone SDEIS comment period closed on Monday, with over 1,000,000 comments.   The EPA's comments found the State Department's work as insufficient.  You can read more about this at Grist.  Naturally certain Republican legislators are incensed that the EPA would do its job... The lousy thing about being an activist is being right when you worry about worst-case scenarios.  Here's a story about a waste truck being turned away from a landfill in Pennsylvania due to radioactivity.  I think it was just last week that Ted spoke about the occurance of radiation in fracking wastewater. As for this week in history, there are a couple of important milestones this week.  In April 1938 Guy Callendar, an amateur weatherman from England linked fossil fuel use to climate change.  Also, this is the anniversary of the British Petroleum Gulf of Mexico spill.  Here's a sobering piece on the lingering health and environmental effects of the pipeline spill. The events of the past several weeks have brought to the fore several sombering and troubled facts about America.  The recent failure of Congress to address the continued gun violence in this country points to a congress that is in the thrall of special interests.  In some equally troubling news is word that the Koch brothers are contemplating putting together a newspaper chain to pursue their ideology. However, on the other hand laws are being passed to penalize folks just trying to make thing better.  "Big Ag" is going after those crusaders looking to improve the short lives of factory farmed animals; did nobody read "The Jungle" in high school?  And as the climate activists (including Bill McKibben and Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune) will testify to, may place you at odds with authority. It's gotten to the point where Rush Limbuagh - who has 14 million listeners per week - posits that "environmental extremists" could have been responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings...  Here's a Youtube of his rant, proceed at you're own risk...) If we contemplate civil disobedience, it must be transparent, ennobling and non-violent. It must be consistent with Thoreau, Gandhi and King.  Here's a wonderful piece from McKibben expressing his continued admiration for the challenges King faced. The story of Gandhi's salt march draws interesting parallels to the contemporary fight over Keystone XL, and of course King's letter from Birmingham jail is required reading for all activists. As you know, the need for a carbon tax to establish clear signals and encourage a reduction in carbon emissions is one of our favorite topics.  Tom Friedman was the subject of an NPR "On Point" episode giving his thoughts as to why a carbon tax would be a benefit for the country.  More locally, the authors of the proposed carbon tax for Massachusetts, State Representative Tom Conroy (Lincoln, Wayland, Sudbury) and State Senator Mike Barrett (Lexington, Bedford, Concord etc.) will be at Cary Memorial Library on Saturday, May 4th, along with an expert in the field who will provide background on the issue including how it works and the economic impact. Tom and Mike will provide more information on their proposal. State Senator Will Brownsberger and State Representative Dave Rogers will also be part of the panel discussion. As always, it's been a pleasure sharing climate news and views with you.  You know, you can subscribe to our iTunes feed and get our podcasts automatically here.  Feel free to give us your thoughts on our Facebook page, or through old-fashioned email. You can donate and support the Climate Minute and all of MCAN's other climate change fighting activities by hitting that "donate now" button, or going to www.massclimateaction.net/donate. Remember, for climate activities near you check out our MCAN climate action calendar.  You can enter events as well as browse for interesting things to do. As always -- remember, for these reasons we have discussed, the United States must place a price on carbon.  Stay safe.  We will see you next week.