by Zachary Kontra. Five months ago, I put my name forward to become a town meeting member representing my precinct in Holbrook, Massachusetts. I had no experience with local town meetings before, and I was excited at the prospect of serving my community and making the world a better place in some small way. I was delighted to get acquainted with several other local environmental activists, who were also serving as town meeting members themselves, and learned about the uphill battle they were fighting to protect our beloved Town Forest from planned destruction from developers who had the blessing of town officials.   Continue reading

by John Blumenstiel. Today we explore: ”Grassroots Democracy” (decisions made as close as possible by those most affected)  Many recall a game played as children called “paper, rock, scissors”. In it we would count, “One, two, three, shoot” and then throw out one hand in the shape of a rock ( closed fist), paper (open hand), or scissors (index and middle finger).  The rules were simple.  Paper-covered rock and won. Scissors cut paper and won. Rock broke scissors and won.-- Little did we expect our adult lives to be controlled by a similar, though far more consequential effort called “land, labor, capital”, otherwise,  the organization of our economic world that determines winners and losers. Land, labor, and capital are the essential components of economic systems. How they are managed, which is prioritized, and how the parts are regulated have a great deal to do with today’s winners and losers. Continue reading

We are used to doing Green Party things on the state level and sometimes on the national level. But, there is an international group of Greens called the Global Greens! Founded in 2001, they have been presenting the "COP27 Webinar Series: Loss and Damage" in advance of this year’s COP27 (Conference of the Parties #27) documenting the fact that those people in the world who have contributed the least to the problem, are experiencing it the most, and the hardest. Continue reading

Jill Stein and Gloria Caballero Roca were headliners at a rally in front of Beacon Hill on September 25, 2022.  Jill, for her part, had joined the week-long series of sit-ins, marches, and protests which raised the alarm: No Fossil Fuels!  Their remarks can be found here: Jill, Gloria             .

-by Frank Jeffers- Carbon dioxide induces global warming and threatens life on our planet.  The 'Keeling Curve' is the gold standard CO2 measurement, obtained from the air on a high mountain in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, isolated from contaminating influences. CO2 has been tracked there for 70 years and an inexorable rise has been recorded until it is now over 400 ppm on that mountain, nearly 50% higher than 70 years ago. (It might be 2000 parts per million in a movie theater or a classroom, with toxic effects.) Increased CO2 and warmth have had a destabilizing effect on forest growth and mortality.  Since the Industrial Revolution, the United States has been the major contributor to CO2 pollution. Continue reading