January Node Meeting

The next 350Mass Berkshires Monthly Node meeting is on Wednesday, January 18 at 6pm (5:30 for potluck snacks) at the UU Church at 175 Wendell Avenue in Pittsfield. At the meeting, we will begin to form 2017 node committees and campaign teams and hear an update from Jane Winn (BEAT) on the CT Expansion Pipeline in Sandisfield, including next steps and action opportunities. 

Every month our meetings offer an opportunity for Berkshire residents to get involved with the growing climate change movement. We hope you all will come to meeting with your ideas for what we can do together!

You can say you're attending and invite your friends on Facebook here»

Williams Sustainable Investing Symposium 1/18-19

Spurred by the threat of global climate change, stakeholders in institutions, universities, corporations, and prominent families across the globe are hungry for a coherent framework for aligning their investment mandates with their mission and core values, for pursuing profit with purpose. Many investors are proactively seeking out opportunities that help to promote renewable energy, minimize carbon output, foster healthy climate practices, and support sustainable agriculture. Yet current debates around value-aligned investing are hamstrung by inadequate knowledge about financial markets and outdated assumptions about “concessionary” investments.

The Confronting Climate Change Initiative at Williams College aims to address this problem through an educational symposium on sustainable investing. Our purpose is to bring leaders in the field together with students, faculty, and administrators to learn about emerging best practices in responsible capital deployment and the issues faced by investors who have a duty to deploy capital responsibly without compromising market rate returns. In a series of interactive discussions spread across two days, experts and practitioners from a range of disciplines will offer their perspectives on trends and opportunities in sustainable investing and will share successes and highlight emerging opportunities in green finance.

Events are being organized by a group of faculty, students and alumni led by Don Carlson ’83, adjunct faculty in Environmental Studies, and T. L. Guest ’17, student co-chair of the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility.

Interested parties should contact:
Don Carlson
don.carlson@me.com
917 576-2726
or
TL Guest ‘17
tcg1@williams.edu
646 691-1970

Mass Power Forward Lobby Day

With climate deniers running the show in Washington, DC, we NEED Massachusetts to step up and lead. From 10 am–2:30 pm, Wed. Jan. 25, members of 350 Mass will join the Mass Power Forward coalition for a lobby day at the MA State House! We'll meet with our state representatives and senators and push for at least 50% clean power by 2040, expanded investments in solar (especially community and low-income solar), and further action on gas leaks. We'll also call on our legislators to say no once and for all to new pipelines. Join us! Register with this Google form and we'll help you arrange meetings with your rep or senator.

News About the Connecticut Expansion Pipeline Fight

There is a lot happening with the Connecticut Expansion pipeline. On January 10th our lawyers attended the hearing in Boston for our Oral Arguments in the federal court. It seems like Tennessee’s argument is that the 401 Water Quality Permit had to be final within one year of it being applied for. We think that is crazy because some appeals take over a year. So the MA Department of Environmental Protection (MA DEP) issued the permit within a year, but then we appealed so the final permit has not been issued. Tennessee argues that because of the timeline the 401 is waived.

The MA DEP feels strongly that the process is going the way it is supposed to. MA DEP did issue within the timeline and the appeal does not count in that timeline. That appeal is going to be heardJanuary 18th at MA DEP in Springfield.

Another big issue on the CT Expansion – the state Attorney General’s office and the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) made an agreement with Tennessee for compensation for the taking of the easement through Otis State Forest. We feel strongly that this agreement is a sellout. The state would receive $640,000 to buy “equivalent” land. Tennessee will also have to pay for remediation they would be required to do anyway – BEAT does not consider this “compensation”. Also, and most horribly, the state is waiving their DCR Construction Permit! One less permit that Tennessee has to deal with.

There will be a hearing in Berkshire Superior Court on February 6th at 2 pm. We will hold a rally in downtown Pittsfield around Park Square on the sidewalks starting at 1 pm, then we want to fill the courthouse for the hearing. For the rally, we would like lots of signs (but not on sticks). For the courthouse – no signs (not even t-shirts or such). Please let Jane Winn know if you plan to come to the courthouse – we want to have close to 80 people to fill the room.

»Read more!

Thousands March for 4 Freedoms in Pittsfield

Nearly 2,000 Berkshire County residents braved freezing temperatures Saturday to march against bigotry and rally around President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1941 call to ensure “four freedoms:” Freedom from fear; freedom from want; freedom of speech; and freedom of religion.

The event, presented by the newly formed nonpartisan 4 Freedoms Coalition, brought people from across the Berkshires and Western Massachusetts together in downtown Pittsfield as part of an effort to build community connections and to speak out against hateful rhetoric and incidents of discrimination.

Taking veiled jabs at President-elect Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., told rallygoers to reaffirm their commitment to Roosevelt’s four freedoms.

»Read more!

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Threatens Sacred Native American Sites

A letter from a Narragansett Indian Tribal official to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) accuses FERC of understating the “likely” destruction of “ancient ceremonial stone landscape features” along the path of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company’s proposed new storage loop through Otis State Forest.

In his Jan. 3, 2017, letter, Doug Harris, the Narragansett Tribal Nation’s deputy tribal historic preservation officer and preservationist for ceremonial landscapes, said FERC’s Dec. 29, 2016, letter to Reid Nelson, director at ACHP, which was copied to preservationists from seven different tribes, “mildly portrays the dire” consequences of “bulldozing” sacred features on the company’s newly acquired easement there.

That sacred Native American sites are along the proposed path is just the latest controversy over the pipeline, which is to run through land granted to Tennessee Gas in court despite it being purchased by the state, and put into high conservation status protected by Article 97 of the state constitution. Tennessee Gas is still tied up in court with environmental groups over potential harm to water and animal habitats; the company reneged on a deal to give the town of Sandisfield $1 million for wear and tear to its roads and reimburse legal fees, and there was more outrage at recent news that the state is to receive $640,000 for what is considered untouchable land with old trees and more in related compensation that adds up to $1.2 million.

»Read more!

Electric Vehicle Bill Passes

Just hours before the start of the 2017-18 session, we closed out the 2015-16 session with a major accomplishment.  At 11:32 pm on Tuesday, the legislature passed the Act to Promote Zero-Emission Vehicle Adoption.  This bill creates a legal framework for the promotion of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in Massachusetts.  It will guarantee consumers fair access to charging stations, ensure the interoperability of EV charging billing systems, authorize municipalities to designate EV-only parking spaces, and encourage construction of EV-ready buildings.  Combined with state and federal rebate programs, the bill will help make EVs an affordable and convenient choice for Massachusetts residents.

»Read more!

Launching Our Campaigns

There will be a training for ALL members of 350 Mass on Saturday, January 28 from 10 am to 4 pm in Boston - this is specifically designed to give new and existing members the tools, info and skills they need to dive into working on the campaigns. RSVP here»

Statewide Legislative Team 

• Will work on all of our legislative priorities - carbon pricing, gas leaks, no pipeline tax, solar, RPS 

• All interested in statewide legislative team should fill out this form 

• Webinar with basic info about our policy priorities (open to all interested) on Mon, Jan 23, 7 pm (Andy will circulate log-in info to everyone who signed up for SLT)

• Lobby day with Mass Power Forward on Weds, Jan 25, 10 am to 3 pm - RSVP here 

The Road to 100% Team

• Will work on pushing for clean energy at the local level 

• All interested should check out this checklist (for assessing your town's current progress) and these suggested policy options  to implement in your town