A regional resource for climate advocates
April 20, 2022
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How a little-discussed revision of climate science could help avert doom
We can reduce global temperatures faster than we once thought — if we act now
By Mark Hertsgaard, Saleemul Huq and Michael E. Mann, The Washington Post, February 23, 2022 | Photo credit: Susan Montoya Bryan/AP
One of the biggest obstacles to avoiding global climate breakdown is that so many people think there’s nothing we can do about it.
They point out that record-breaking heat waves, fires and storms are already devastating communities and economies throughout the world. And they’ve long been told that temperatures will keep rising for decades to come, no matter how many solar panels replace oil derricks or how many meat-eaters go vegetarian. No wonder they think we’re doomed.
But climate science actually doesn’t say this. To the contrary, the best climate science you’ve probably never heard of suggests that humanity can still limit the damage to a fraction of the worst projections if — and, we admit, this is a big if — governments, businesses and all of us take strong action starting now. Read more.
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Climate change and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: A nexus?
Climate change, and climate change policy, surely don’t operate in isolation from other important goings-on in the world.
By Sueellen Campbell, Yale Climate Connections, February 28, 2022, Photo Credit: stock photo
Nothing happens in isolation. That is certainly true of all things related to climate change. And it is true of Russia’s invasion of and war on Ukraine. Although it’s too soon to know what will happen in either of these urgent stories – let alone know how and where it will all “end” – the many and complex connections between them are important to understand as the Ukrainian crisis continues to unfold.
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What Putin’s war could mean for fossil fuels
By Somini Sengupta, New York Times, March 4, 2022, Photo Credit: New York Times, Shutterstock
How do you ensure energy security on a hotter planet? That’s the thorny new question that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine presents to many countries, most immediately in Europe.
The leaders of the European Union are expected to announce a proposal next week that would “accelerate the clean energy transition and reduce permanently our dependence on imports of natural gas.” If it goes through, it could significantly blunt one of the Kremlin’s most formidable economic weapons: piped gas to heat and power the continent.
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2022 Cape Cod Youth Climate Action Summit Set for May
Students from Cape Cod high schools will gather in Sandwich Wednesday, May 18 for a day of learning about responding to climate change and taking an active role in local policy making.
The 2022 Cape Cod Youth Climate Action Summit will be held from 8:00am–3:00pm at First Church in Sandwich. Students will alternate between break-out sessions and a mock town meeting at nearby Sandwich Town Hall. It’s the second summit organized by the Cape Cod Youth Climate Leaders, a group of teens from local high schools that staged their first Cape-wide summit in 2019 in Harwich. Read more.
How to Get Involved:
FOR STUDENTS: High school students interested in attending this year’s Cape Cod Youth Climate Action Summit should contact a teacher or administrator at their schools, or email Morgan Peck ( mpeck@massaudubon.org).
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Some lawmakers want to pair a Russian oil embargo with climate action. Will it work?
By Maxine Joselow, with research by Vanessa Montalbano, The Washington Post, March 8, 2022 | Photo credit:(Jemal Countess/ Getty Images for Green New Deal Network)
A chorus of bipartisan support emerged on Capitol Hill on Monday for fast-tracking legislation to halt U.S. imports of Russian oil following the Kremlin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
But some lawmakers made a legislative push yesterday to not only ban shipments of Russian oil, but also to boost U.S. deployment of clean energy — an effort that faces long odds amid soaring gas prices for American consumers. What happened: A quartet of tax- and trade-focused lawmakers yesterday announced a new bipartisan agreement to limit Russian energy imports, suspend normal trade relations between the United States and the Kremlin, and direct the Biden administration to seek Russia's suspension from the World Trade Association. Read more.
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How does the Ukraine War affect climate change?
By Burt Jaffe*, Environmental Forum Newsletter, April 1, 2022
Extra carbon dioxide is given off in war. The countries that signed a 2015 agreement in Paris had the choice of whether to report military emissions. An individual country could choose to report those military emission. (1) But Russia and Ukraine are not reporting their military carbon emissions. As a result, the full picture of carbon emissions from this war between Russia and Ukraine are unknown. Read more.
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Burton F. Jaffee is a member of Am Hayam Climate Action Committee and a resident of Orleans.
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The Climate Collaborative kicked off its "Climate Conversations" webinar series, focusing on all things climate and the Cape and Islands on Friday, March 18.
"Organizing for Local Climate Action: Stories from the Cape and Islands" featured four climate activists from across the region, drawing nearly 300 registrants.
If you missed the conversation, no problem. Watch the full recording here. |
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The S.E.C. moves closer to enacting a sweeping climate disclosure rule.
The much-anticipated rule would require companies to report the climate-related impact of their businesses.
By Matthew Goldstein, The New York Times, March 21, 2022,
Securities regulators in the United States are moving closer to enacting a sweeping new rule that would require all publicly traded companies to report more information to investors about the impact of their activities on climate change and the creation of greenhouse gases.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering the much-anticipated climate disclosure rule at a meeting Monday morning. It has been a centerpiece in the regulatory agenda of Gary Gensler, the commission’s chairman, and a longtime demand of climate advocates. The commission could vote on the measure at the meeting. Read more.
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Climate Action Networks CAN Do it! |
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Falmouth “CAN” Brings Sustainability Director Position to Town
By Rosemary Dreger Carey, Falmouth Climate Action Network, April 19, 2022
Climate organizing at the local level.
That’s the mantra of “CAN” groups, or climate action networks, across Cape Cod and the Islands. In April, members of the Falmouth Climate Action Network (FalCAN), including this writer, acted on that guiding principle by bringing a warrant article to town meeting to create a full-time Sustainability Director position. The new position, which would be focused on climate mitigation and coastal resiliency initiatives, was overwhelmingly approved.
The petition was the collective brainchild of our team after passage of a Climate Emergency declaration at the previous year’s town meeting. Once that resolution had passed, we asked ourselves, “What’s next?” It wasn’t long before we identified the need for a dedicated professional to drive the sustainability agenda through all town decisions. Read more.
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What's Cookin' at Cape Light Compact |
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Cape Light Compact to Offer E-Bike Rebates to Residents Through Equitable Clean Transportation Grant
Cape Light Compact, Photo Credit: Gabrielle Mannino
YARMOUTH – Cape Light Compact will receive $496,125 in funding for a new electric bike (e-bike) rebate program for income eligible residents on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, as announced Wednesday by the Baker-Polito administration as part of a $5 million grant supporting equitable clean transportation projects across the state. The funding was provided by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s (MassCEC) new Accelerating Clean Transportation for All (ACT4All) program and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER)...
The projects, including Cape Light Compact’s forthcoming program, aim to serve a range of Massachusetts residents such as those in Environmental Justice (EJ) communities across the state, with the goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions while improving overall quality of life for Massachusetts residents... “The e-bike rebate program will add to the Compact’s comprehensive list of customer rebates and incentives to assist Cape and Vineyard residents reduce their carbon footprint and save energy,” said Compact Administrator Maggie Downey.
Bike shops on the Cape and Vineyard who are interested in participating in the program should contact Mariel Marchand at mariel.marchand@capelightcompact.org. Customers interested in receiving a rebate should contact Cape Light Compact at 1-800-797-6699.
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New 2022 Incentives from Cape Light Compact
Mass Save® is now offering up to $10,000 in rebates for whole home air-source heat pump systems and $15,000 in rebates for ground-source heat pump systems. Residents with natural gas as their current heating source are eligible for these rebates too!
Learn more about heat pump rebates and other incentives at Cape Light Compact. Read more.
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Heating Comparison Calculator
Compare the annual cost and carbon emissions savings from investing in a new heating and cooling system
If you’re considering an upgrade to your current heating and cooling equipment, use the Mass Save® Heating Comparison Calculator (HCC) to see how installing a high-efficiency heating system could impact your heating costs—and how much it could reduce your carbon emissions. Click here for more information.
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Clean Heat is Hot HOT HOT!
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Amid push for electric heat pumps, Baker could join early adopters
Governor to look into installing system in his Swampscott home
By Colin A. Young, State House News Service | Photo: The Sentinel
To get to the required 50 percent reduction in statewide greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, the Baker administration says about a third of Massachusetts homes will have to be heated and cooled with electric heat pumps, and Gov. Charlie Baker is looking into whether it makes sense for his Swampscott home to be among them.
“I’m actually going to have somebody come take a look at my house and see what they think,” Baker said Tuesday, April 19, adding that his communications staff would be upset with him for sharing the detail. “But I think there’s like a mythology out there that heat pumps won’t work in single-family freestanding homes in a cold climate like this one. Well, I would like to put that to the test. And I think given the advancement in the technology there, it’s probably no longer true.” Read more.
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Interview by Kathryn Eident, CAI, March 1, 2022
Buildings make up more than a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts.
Now, a first-of-its-kind commission has been tasked with coming up with ways to reduce building emissions, and has until November to present policy ideas.
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Sue Donaldson, who retired as a psychiatrist in 2014, said boomers like herself, who’ve led comfortable lives as the planet has warmed, have an obligation now to change its course. Photo Credit: Craig F. Walker/Globe |
Facing climate and social justice crises, older people are getting back into the protest battle
Older activists seek to draw on ‘generational DNA’ to redeem legacy
By Robert Weisman, The Boston Globe, February 23, 2022
When protesters marched through downtown Boston last October to demand that banks and insurers stop doing business with the fossil fuel industry, the young activists who organized the rally were joined by a surprisingly large contingent of gray-haired supporters.
Some hoisted signs that read “Old and Bold” and “No Time to Waste,” artfully highlighting their stage of life and sense of urgency. “It’s definitely time for people to spring back to action,” said author and environmentalist Bill McKibben, 61, who took part in the Boston march on his way to the UN climate change conference in Scotland. Read more.
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A Poem
By Jim Cornell of Truro
Seas shall rise
Not to anyone’s surprise
Low lying lands
Will be inundated
Where thar be land
There will be no place
Left to stand
Boats will launch
To rescue those in need
Of salvation
Storms will come
Despite preparations being done
With increasing
Strength and vigor
Frame and fabric of manmade
Structures and institutions
Will be torn asunder
Massive trees will topple
Landscapes will go dark
Increasing the worlds trepidation
Wildfires light our skies
Obscuring sunset and sunrise
Man and beast flee in terror
Fueled by drought dried tinder
Fanned by malevolent winds
Terraforming begins
Adjusting to several increased
Degrees of Celsius
Unlike the Phoenix
There will be no resurrection
***
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Around the Commonwealth & Region |
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Offshore wind lease funds seen as potential aid for fishing industry
By Colin A. Young, State House News Service, Mar. 18, 2022 | Photo: Colin Young
The Baker administration and the Massachusetts Legislature have been gung-ho about pursuing offshore wind power and preparing the state's infrastructure to deal with the consequences of climate change, but lawmakers during the week of March 7 impressed upon the administration the importance of keeping the state's historic fishing industry in mind as well. Read more.
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Pilgrim Nuclear is closed, yet emissions are up
Other power plants producing more due to financial, safety reasons
By Hadley Barndollar, USA TODAY NETWORK, March 13, 2022 | Photo Credit: Merrily Cassidy/Cape Cod Times File
An energy void left by the closure of Massachusetts’ only nuclear power plant has been filled largely by natural gas – a reality hugely counteractive to much of New England’s ambitious climate goals to slash emissions and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
Data from the Environmental Protection Agency shows emissions from New England’s power plants have altogether increased since the Pilgrim Nuclear Station in Plymouth closed in 2019 due to financial and safety reasons. Power plants that burn fossil fuels – like natural gas, oil and coal – yield greenhouse gases, the dominant cause of global warming. Read more.
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Conservation, Oceans, Land Use (AKA Nature-Based Solutions] |
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Every Town Should Seek 'Green' Designation
By Judith Holt, The Sandwich Enterprise
It baffles me that every town on Cape Cod and the islands has not adopted the Green Communities Designation program. It saves taxpayer dollars, and it saves homeowners money. Over 80 percent of towns in Massachusetts have adopted it. What are we waiting for?
This program offers grants to towns to make their town buildings energy efficient. Mashpee has received over $800,000 in grant money to use on their municipal buildings—making them more efficient and saving tax dollars. What are we waiting for? Read More
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The unexpected underwater plant fighting climate change
By Carlos M. Duarte, TED Talk, March 6, 2022
Once considered the ugly duckling of environmental conservation, seagrass is emerging as a powerful tool for climate action. From drawing down carbon to filtering plastic pollution, marine scientist Carlos M. Duarte details the incredible things this oceanic hero does for our planet -- and shows ingenious ways he and his team are protecting and rebuilding marine life. Watch here.
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Meet Peat: The Unsung Hero of Carbon Capture
By Sabrina Imbler, The New York Times, Illustrations by Eden Weingart
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UU Falmouth’s 2022 Tree Planting Program:
“Be the Hope: Planting 1000 Native Trees for
Eco-Justice on Cape Cod”
UU Falmouth is planting 1000 native White Oak saplings across the Cape. You can donate $20 to get five saplings to plant yourself or we will plant those trees in memory or honor of special people in your life at local sites where the trees will do well and are needed. Or plant or have more trees planted ($30 for ten, $50 for twenty-five, or $195.50 for one-hundred trees.) The two-year-old, 18-24” saplings are expected to grow to about twenty feet tall within eight years and up to one hundred feet in about twenty years. Each mature White Oak supports over 500 wildlife species, supports the aquifer, provides oxygen for two people, and absorbs massive amounts of CO2. All donations for the tree planting go to social and environmental non-profits and college scholarships for new arborists from Cape Cod. Contact Lew Stern (capecodecojustice@gmail.com) for information.
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What is i-Tree?
i-Tree is a state-of-the-art, peer-reviewed software suite from the USDA Forest Service that provides urban and rural forestry analysis and benefits assessment tools. The i-Tree tools can help strengthen forest management and advocacy efforts by quantifying forest structure and the environmental benefits that trees provide.
Since the initial release of the i-Tree Tools in August 2006, thousands of communities, non-profit organizations, consultants, volunteers and students around the world have used i-Tree to report on individual trees, parcels, neighborhoods, cities, and even entire states. By understanding the local ecosystem services that trees provide, i-Tree users can link forest management activities with environmental quality and community livability. Whether your interest is a single tree or an entire forest, i-Tree provides data that you can use to demonstrate value and set priorities for more effective decision-making. We invite you to explore this site to learn more about how i-Tree can make a difference in your community or forest. Read more here and get started at the Tools page for a full listing of analysis tools and utility programs.
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Events, Webinars & Trainings |
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April 2022 EarthTech Q&A:
The Electric Vehicle Experience
Friday, April 22 | 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Join the Cape Cod Technology for its weekly Friday conversation during Earth Tech Month! During last year’s EarthTech Month, Liz Argo gave us a primer on electric vehicles. Terry Gallagher was so inspired he purchased a VW ID4 that weekend. One year later, he shares his experience of EV ownership.if you are in the market for a new car, you should strongly consider going electric. Help save the planet, and save money to boot! Both the cars and the charging network have come a long way in recent years, and are now fully ready for the mainstream. The U.S. has ambitious goals for electric vehicles, and practically all major manufacturers – and several interesting newcomers – have introduced new models. Variety and availability will certainly increase over the next several years. Read more.
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A 3D Virtual Tour of the SouthCoast, MA Project – Bringing Clean Energy from Offshore to Onshore
Wednesday, May 4 | 6:30 - 7:30 PM
Mayflower Wind, the developer of an offshore wind project located in deep waters far off the coast of Massachusetts, will host a free virtual open house on Wednesday, May 4, 6:30 – 7:30 PM to provide information about its SouthCoast Project. The open house will feature a three-dimensional tour of the project from the offshore wind energy lease area located in federal waters extending through an intermediate crossing underneath Portsmouth, RI to an onshore grid connection at Brayton Point in Somerset, MA. Read more.
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A Brutalist Connecticut office building sat empty for years. Now it’s a net-zero energy hotel.
Hotel Marcel, which opens this spring, will generate 100 percent of its own electricity.
By Kristi Palma, Boston.com, March 8, 2022
A Brutalist Connecticut office building that sat empty for years will reopen this spring as the nation’s first net-zero hotel.
The 165-room Hotel Marcel, part of the Tapestry Collection by Hilton, was built in 1970 by Bauhaus designer and architect Marcel Breuer, (after whom the hotel is named). The structure was formerly the Pirelli Tire Building and, before that, the headquarters of the Armstrong Rubber Company. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Hotel Marcel is the country’s first net-zero energy hotel and Passive House certified hotel, an all-electric hotel generating 100 percent of its own electricity and energy for heat and hot water with a rooftop solar array and solar parking canopies, according to a press release. Read more.
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Reality Check: More EVs Can Mean Fewer Emissions
By Laurie Stone, RMI, March 7, 2022
If this past Super Bowl was any indication, the time is now for electric vehicles. The growth of EVs has been phenomenal over the past few years, with just over 2 million EVs on US roads by mid-2021. Yet we need to put about 70 million EVs on the road (as well as decrease the number of vehicle miles traveled) by the end of this decade if the United States is to reach its climate goals.
The Myth
Some people believe that charging all of those electric vehicles would put a huge strain on our electric grid and actually increase carbon emissions.
The batteries for those EVs need to be charged somehow, and, these people argue, if the grid still has electricity from fossil fuels on it, that growth in EVs will create more pollution. The truth is quite the opposite. Read more.
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When Electric Cars Rule the Road, They’ll Need Spots to Power Up
A wireless infrastructure company is betting it can figure out how to locate and install charging stations for a growing wave of new vehicles.
By Jamie Lincoln Kitman, The New York Times, March 3, 2022
Photo Credit: Jarod Lew for The New York Times
“The sexy stuff is the vehicles themselves. Obviously.”
So says Mark LaNeve, a longtime auto executive who, after a brief retirement, threw his lot in with Charge Enterprises. With the trickle of electric vehicles hitting American roads poised to become a steadier flow this year, his company is betting on the business that will help charge those vehicles. It is offering a nationwide soup-to-nuts service that provides siting, planning, permitting and construction of E.V. charging stations...
“And there’s a lot of excitement around the new Hummer, Mustang Mach-E, Ford Lightning, the Silverado and Rivians. People are starting to pay attention to the chargers, too. But no one pays any attention to this: You’ve got to install this stuff. You’ve got to engineer it, and we think it’s a huge business if done right and done at scale.” Read more.
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Solid waste studies show a need to increase recycling and reuse in the region
Cape Cod Commission, February 22, 2022
Removing waste from your household is far more complex than simply taking it to the transfer station or having it trucked away by a private hauler. Ensuring that waste is handled correctly is critical to protecting the region's air, soil, and drinking water supplies.
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We are an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to reach carbon neutrality — or net zero — on Cape Cod and the Islands of Massachusetts by enhancing communication, collaboration, and activism among organizations, programs, and individuals committed to mitigating the climate crisis. We depend upon the generosity of our stakeholders to conduct our work. All donations are tax deductible as allowed by law
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