by Pat Gozemba
Our esteemed co-chair and Salem icon Jeff has left town, but he is not forgotten. Join SAFE in honoring him at the Hawthorne on Nov. 12 from 5:30-7:30. Tickets are available online Honoring Jeff Barz Snell or you can mail a check made out to SAFE to Treasurer David Rowand at 109 Columbus Ave. Salem, MA 01970. Costs on flyer. Please spread the word!
Posted in City of Salem, climate change, green energy, Uncategorized
Join us on Groundhog Day in Salem, for the first of two screenings and community discussions of the award winning and hopeful documentary film, Tomorrow. On February 2 we will watch part one, and February 9 part two.
Tomorrow depends on the human race living more sustainably. Come and hear stories about people doing just that, today.
A free screening sponsored by Citizen’s Climate Lobby North Shore, Team Tomorrow, and SAFE.
Dates: Watched over two succeeding Friday nights:
February 2 & February 9, from 6:45 – 8:45 pm each night (Snow date: February 16)
Venue: First Church in Salem, UU 316 Essex Street Salem, MA
http://www.firstchurchinsalem.org
Contacts: Jeff Barz-Snell, jeffreysnell@comcast.netJim Mulloy, jcmulloy@gmail.com
Background:
“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi
In 2012, “Nature” published a study led by more than 20 researchers from the top scientific institutions in the world predicting that humankind could disappear between 2040 and 2100. It also said that it could be avoided by drastically changing our way of life and take appropriate measures.
Two film makers travel the world in search of solutions that can help save the next generations. The result is Tomorrow, an inspiring documentary that presents concrete solutions implemented throughout the world by hundreds of communities.
From the US to the UK and through Finland and India, together they traveled to 10 countries to visit permaculture farms, urban agriculture projects and community-owned renewable initiatives to highlight people making a difference in the fields of food, energy, finance, democracy, and education.
Their common ideas and examples make Tomorrow one of the most essential and unexpectedly inspirational viewing experiences of our time.
TODAY, we sometimes feel powerless in front of the various crises of our times.
TODAY, we know that answers lie in a wide mobilization of the human race.
Over the course of a century, our dream of progress commonly called “the American Dream”, fundamentally changed the way we live and continues to inspire many developing countries. We are now aware of the setbacks and limits of such development policies. We urgently need to focus our efforts on changing our dreams before something irreversible happens to our planet.
TODAY, we need a new direction, objective… A new dream! The documentary Tomorrow sets out to showcase alternative and creative ways of viewing agriculture, economics, energy and education.
It offers constructive solutions to act on a local level to make a difference on a global level. So far, no other documentary has gone down such an optimistic road…
TOMORROW is not just a film, it is the beginning of a movement seeking to encourage local communities around the world to change the way they live for the sake of our planet.
Posted in City of Salem, climate change, green energy, Uncategorized
SAFE has been collaborating with 350MA and is happy to express support for this year’s legislative agenda. This year’s priorities are renewable energy, improving infrastructure to stop methane gas leaks, and stopping the expansion of gas pipelines that will carry fracked gas to coastal communities for export:
Stop the Pipeline Tax ✧ Oppose any legislative effort to restore the pipeline tax and pursue other legislative avenues to resist fossil fuel infrastructure
Make Utilities Buy More Renewables ✧ Raise the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) so that electric utilities must more rapidly increase the percentage of electricity sourced from renewables to get us on a faster track to 100% renewable electricity.
Put a Price on Carbon ✧ Levy a price on carbon pollution and redistribute the revenue back to taxpayers.
Expand Solar Energy ✧ Raise or eliminate net metering caps, restore the net metering retail rate for all project types including community and large-scale solar, and provide funding for community and low-income solar initiatives.
Fix Gas Leaks ✧ Require that consumers not pay for leaked gas, incentivizing companies to fix leaks faster.
To learn more, and see the bill names and numbers of 350 Mass priority legislation, visit 350 Massachusetts 2017-2018 Legislative Agenda (PDF).
Installation is now complete at the new Block Island wind power facility. On August 8, one member of the team tweeted, “I think it now qualifies as a ‘farm’ -2nd turbine completed last night #BlockIslandWindFarm@DeepwaterWind ”
From the blog of Greg Alvarez, on the American Wind Energy Association’s website (awea.org) —
American offshore wind power is one step closer to becoming a reality, with installation of the first turbines at Deepwater Wind’s Block Island project now complete.
Construction on the country’s first offshore wind farm began last spring, off the coast of Rhode Island, and the project is expected to be fully operational later this fall.
With an installed capacity of 30 megawatts, the five-turbine Deepwater Wind wind farm will generate enough electricity to supply all of Block Island’s needs, while also sending some to mainland Rhode Island. This will be a clean, affordable and welcome development for Block Island’s residents, who have long had to rely on imported, expensive and polluting diesel fuel for energy.
Posted in offshore wind, wind turbines
Ratepayers will not have not pay a special tax so that new natural gas pipelines can be built in Massachusetts.
From Bruce Mohl (Editor, CommonWealth Magazine) —
THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT ruled on Wednesday that the Baker administration can not authorize the state’s electric utilities to tap their ratepayers for the money to finance a new natural gas pipeline into the region…
A new pipeline was expected to bring more cheap gas into the region and reduce electric prices, but opponents said a new pipeline would only increase the region’s over-reliance on a fossil fuel that is contributing to global warming…
The ruling means efforts to build a new natural gas pipeline into the region are effectively dead, although pipeline backers have said they will find another way to get the job done…
Attorney General Maura Healey joined the plaintiffs in opposing the DPU order. In a statement, she said “we know from our 2015 electric reliability study that there are cleaner and more affordable options for meeting our energy needs. The court’s decision makes clear that if pipeline developers want to build new projects in this state, they will need to find a source of financing other than electric ratepayers’ wallets.”
Posted in fossil fuels, hydrofracking, legislation, natural gas leaks
Energy, Efficiency and The Environment
5:00 PM, Wednesday, 7/20/16
Salem Five Community Room, 210 Essex St, Salem, MA
Created by: Endless Energy
From Endless Energy:
Come find out how you can make your home more energy efficient through the use of green technologies and renewable energy. Make your home more efficient, valuable and better for the environment. Be green and make some green too!
Endless Energy and our partners, Coastal Windows & Exteriors and Healthy Home Healthy Planet, will show you how you can take advantage of incentives to implement affordable programs that could potentially result in a positive net energy home.
In addition to making our homes more sustainable, we can work together to save our planet, which will be better for today and future generations. There will be presentations/information by Jeff Elie (Salem’s Energy & Sustainability Manager), Citizen’s Climate Lobby, Salem Sound Coastwatch, SalemRecycles and SAFE (Salem Alliance for the Environment) and other community leaders.
Posted in City of Salem, green energy, solar power
Go to SAFE’s YouTube channel to watch the recording of the June 28th event.
Video published on Jul 9, 2016
Avoiding Flint – Protecting the Climate
Sponsored by SAFE
Part I (0 to 32 minute marker)
Introductions by Jeff Barz-Snell, Co-Chair of SAFE
“The Voice of the River,” by Wayne Castonguay (Executive Director of the Ipswich River Watershed Association)
Part II (32 minute marker to 1 hour and 44 minute marker)
“Glyphosate 101: What is this stuff & how does it behave in the environment?” by Erin Bennett, PhD, (Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor)
“Update on Gas Pipelines,” by Cathy Kristofferson (Liaison for Stop Northeast Energy Direct: StopNED) and Paula Terrasi (also with StopNED)
Ends with a question-and-answer period.
Go directly to “Gas Pipelines and Salem’s Water Supply,” Parts I and II.
Natural gas leaks plague Massachusetts infrastructure
