Newsletters
July 2010 = Casinos, Wind Power
WELCOME TO GREEN FUTURES !
JULY, 2010
“Don't wanna be an American idiot.
One nation controlled by the media.
Information nation of hysteria.
It's going out to idiot America.”
-Green Day
“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”
-Thomas Jefferson
THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE DONATED –
"We are certainly not holding our forests in custody for those who have destroyed their own forests and now try to claim ours as part of the heritage of mankind."
- Ting Wen Lian, Malaysia's ambassador to the U. N. Conference on Environment and Development
Remember this from last month? ACTION ALERT - SEND LAWYERS, GUNS AND MONEY
The City of Fall River and Mashpees are attempting a casino land-grab. Four hundred or more additional acres, of your land and ours, could be lost.
As if that isn’t bad enough, chipmunk and weasel hater John Hasenjaeger and the Aquinnah are still actively pursuing their ill-conceived development schemes. Finally, the Fall River Office of Economic Development (FROED ...pronounced - FRAUD), a private organization, wants to fragment the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve forest in order to conduct a study to see if there is enough wind for a series of gigantic wind turbines. Incredibly the state and some environmental organizations, espousing wind power at any environmental cost, may be helping them destroy the last unfragmented forest in Bristol County.
This scurrilous lot …*”these temple destroyers, devotees of raging commercialism" …as John Muir would say ...refuse to acknowledge the values contained within the Bioreserve.
As we've been saying since its creation, the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve protects and preserves the last large area of unfragmented coastal forest in Bristol County containing multiple eco-systems of statewide importance. As suburban sprawl and continued growth accelerates in the cities and towns of the south coast, the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve will be the last refuge for thousands of species of plants and animals that call this southeastern corner of Massachusetts home. Fragmentation of natural communities, destruction of habitats, and loss of species are happening right now throughout Massachusetts. Management goals focus on maintaining, enhancing, and restoring the Bioreserve's biological diversity and ensuring its ecological integrity.
Contributions to Green Futures are fully tax deductible. Please be as generous as possible. Any sum, large or small, is greatly appreciated. If you can’t afford a donation at this time, please don’t underestimate your ability to help in other ways. We always will need you to respond to our email “Action Alerts”.
Donations may be sent to –
Green Futures
Legal Fund
P. O. Box 144
Fall River, MA. 02724-0144
or go to gf.gareworks.com and click on "Get Involved”.
Once again, a really huge THANK YOU to all who have donated!
*“These temple destroyers, devotees of raging commercialism, seem to have a perfect contempt for Nature, and instead of lifting their eyes to the God of the mountains, lift them to the almighty dollar.” – John Muir
MASHPEES SCALP FALL RIVER –
The bumpkins comprising the Fall River Redevelopment Authority (RDA) voted 3 to 2 to sell the last large parcel of industrial/commercially zoned land …where UMASS was slated to build their Biotech. Center …to the Mashpees for their Indian casino and waterpark.
Whoopee!! While the kids are sliding down the waterslide, mom and dad can be “investing” their kids’ future college tuition savings into the Mashpee’s slot machines. Maybe the mortgage payments too?
Ah! …The wonder of it all!
The Mashpees make out wicked good against the Fall River bumpkins. The bumpkins not only lose their scalps, they allow the Mashpees to walk away from the deal if the legislature doesn’t legalize gambling; if the parcel’s “no gambling” restriction is not repealed; if the city does not receive state license approval; if city residents vote down the casino in a referendum; etc.
The bumpkins also caved on having the Mashpees give up their quest for sovereign immunity/sovereign nation status and they may opt out of complying with environmental regulations.
What does Fall River get out of this deal? Uh? …A sovereign nation within its borders? A bunch of minimum wage jobs?
Looks like the Mashpee’s have a winning hand. Wanna bet?
The local newsmedia have been less than objective on this gambling/casino issue. We suppose they see an uptick in advertising revenue should gambling come to town.
Here’s some interesting background stuff you might want to check out.
Video of the pathetic, orchestrated RDA meeting - http://vimeo.com/13593987
Satire - http://chowmeinsammich.blogspot.com/2010/07/more-donkey-chronicles-im-your-puppet.html
Indians- http://reelwamps.blogspot.com/2010/07/getting-nervous-are-they.html
DANGEROUSLY FOOLISH GOV. CREATES OMNIPOTENT “ENERGY FACILITIES SITING BOARD”
Remember FERC? Eight years…and counting …fighting the ill-conceived Hess LNG facility in our urban neighborhood and a federal agency too? Senators and Congressmen can’t stop it because FERC is all-powerfull? Well, get ready for Deval’s all-powerful wind energy siting board.
The following is from GOALS’ The Outdoor Message:
For two days, July 13 and 14, the Massachusetts House of Representatives debated the Wind Energy Citing bill. Sadly on the second day the industry won and the environment and the citizens of the Commonwealth lost. In a vote of 101 to 52 the House sent a slightly different version back to the Senate. I cannot accurately tell our members what changes took place since no one in the House could explain the amended bill in any detail as it was being voted on.
Sportsmen/women and the smaller environmental organizations can hold their heads high for a battle well fought. We all worked together to make sure the work of the past century to protect wildlife habitat was not lost. Unfortunately, the bill to allow the state to force wind energy siting on local communities was a top priority of the Governor and his Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs. This is the price we have paid for the Governor merging the interests of the energy industry with the State’s environmental agency.
Sadder still is that the so-called statewide environmental groups eagerly lobbied in favor of the bill. This gave the proponents for industry all the political cover they needed to trample on our rights and our natural heritage. It still never ceases to amaze me what our government is willing to destroy in the name of so-called global warming.
The bill will now go back to the Senate for a final vote, then, if passed to the governor where it will be signed and become law.
This bill represents an enormous change in conservation and environmental permitting policy in Massachusetts for a narrowly defined politically favored industry. These newly proposed changes pose a very real threat to conservation lands and open space all across the commonwealth. The very same open space lands that sportsmen and women have worked decades to protect.
The senate version of the bill, S.2260 “An Act Relative to Comprehensive Siting Reform for Land Based Wind Projects” was passed in early February. The senate actually passed the bill on a “voice” vote rather than a roll call. This was done so that no senator could be held responsible for supporting the legislation.
Now the House is scheduled to take it up this week. For over a year now, GOAL and other organizations have been asking very pertinent questions that have never been answered:
Why does this particular industry need a fast track permitting system?
If Massachusetts provides a means for this particular industry to bypass the normal environmental permitting system, will this lead to legal and legislative challenges from other industries demanding the same ability?
If so-called “green energy” can’t pass the muster of the current environmental laws, then how can it be called environmentally friendly?
Should not the challenge for “green” industry be that it should be able to set an example for all other industries by easily passing any environmental challenge set before it?
The language in this proposed bill so strongly puts the authority to override environmental law and local control it actually states “…no state agency shall impose or enforce any law, ordinance, by-law, rule or regulation nor take any action nor fail to take any action which would delay or prevent the construction, operation or maintenance of such facility.” Notice that it states “any” law, not just environmental permitting laws! That word alone shows how much power the state wants to site these facilities.
We encountered this cottontail rabbit on one of our recent walks in the Bioreserve. We were quite surprised to see that it was praying.
We don’t understand rabbitese, but think it was thanking the Creator for the beauty surrounding it …and we joined the rabbit in appreciation and thanksgiving for the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve and all its biodiversity.
Hopefully our prayers …along with those of the rabbit …will be answered and the Bioreserve will survive current and future scurrilous attacks.
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Enjoy the season! Check out our Calendar of things to do.
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