*correction: the activist’ name is Jamie McGonagill and she is the Media and Messaging director of XR Boston
Melting ice caps, dying polar bears, natural disasters. These are all the effects of climate change. But how is Massachusetts dealing with it?
The 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act set the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by the year 2050. However, in 2024, we are nowhere near our climate goal.
For more information, we talked to Jaime who is the social media director for Extinction rebellion Boston, an organization that uses non violent civil disobedience to push a climate friendly agenda.
Her organization is not happy at all with how Massachusetts is handling the climate crisis. To protest, they’ve played basketball in the halls of the MA State House and even organized some of the controversial roadblocks. Their list of demands for Massachusetts can be found on their website. One of them is to stop the expansion of the private airfield in Hanscom
A report by The Institute for Policy Studies studied flights in and out of the Hanscom airfield over a period of 18 months and found that the private jets used during that time accounted for an estimated 106,676 tons of carbon emissions
Even more so, 41% of the flight departures during that time were less than one hour in duration—the least efficient flights as most fuel is burned at take off. And to make it even worse, private jets are a tax write off in Massachusetts. Capecod airfield and logan are also getting expansions.
Another example of Massachusetts building infrastructure that will expand our emissions is a compressor station just finished construction in Weymouth. The way a compressor station works is that when gas travels long distances, it naturally slows down. So a compressor station is built to “compress” the gas, which boosts pressure in the pipeline and helps move it long distances. The pipeline is part of a larger gas pipeline called the Atlanta Bridge Project which is designed to make it easier for fracked natural gas from western Pennsylvania to get to northern New England. And yes, fracked natural gas contributes to climate change as it releases methane, a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere.
And even more so, it hurts the community the station is built near. A report by the Greater Boston Physicians for social responsibility said that the compressor station is “likely to worsen the health and safety of the Weymouth community”. 17 The community in Weymouth is already, by the Massachusetts definition, an environmental justice community, so the compressor puts an already at-risk community at even more risk. Enbridge, the company who built the compressor station, is responsible for the biggest oil spill in US history– 1 million gallons in Kalamazoo. And because Weymouth is such a densely populated area, the station poses a greater risk that a catastrophic accident could have even graver consequences. The station was built without a public vote and limited public input.
Massachusetts may not be the biggest criminals when it comes to climate change but we are definitely complicit in the process, though we try and act above everybody else. I encourage everybody to get informed about what is going on in their local communities and get involved. You can definitely make a difference locally!
The fossil fuel industry is killing you
And other reasons you should care about climate change
By Alex Place
Why care? How pollution affects us?
Some people say “climate change isn’t real, the planet has always gone through changes.” And those would be the dumbass pawns living in an oil and gas industry matrix. The oil and gas industry (Shell, Chevron, BP, Exxon Mobil) makes up the most powerful and corrupt industry in the history of the world and will stop at nothing to bleed us dry.
Think cigarette companies→ but on steroids.
Remember them saying smoking was “good for your health!?!”
To put it simply, fossil fuels (oil and gas) produce greenhouse gases—aka, the gases that trap heat in our atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are 35% higher today than at any other point in the past MILLION years- yes, that including ice ages—you know, MASS extinction time periods.
Okay, so now that that’s explained… what does that mean? Well, for one—burning fossil fuels for energy is directly linked to human health. So even if we don’t care about other species going extinct (20% of species facing extinction by 2100)3 —we should care about ourselves!
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Why do poor communities have lower birth rates, higher asthma and cancer rates than rich ones?
The current way we dispose of waste and generate energy kills poor people in this country. A recent Human Rights Watch piece reveals an area in Louisiana had birth rates 3 times lower than national average and the highest pollution-related cancer in the country (this area is known as Cancer Alley).2 Is this a surprise? This 85 mile stretch is where power plants and other huge polluters are located in Louisiana. “The majority of plants are concentrated in the fifth district, a district that is 80 percent Black.” 6
One of the most horrific things I have heard in my life was a father speaking in Boston about how his son could barely live due to the gas industry polluting his water in Pennsylvania. The son couldn’t control when he went to the bathroom and had severe skin issues. The father couldn’t even find out what chemicals were killing his son- because the company claimed it was “proprietary information.” This is where much of Massachusetts’ energy comes from—fracked gas in Pennsylvania. Do we want the energy we consume to be killing people?
Clean energy is called clean energy for not just an environmental reason, but also for human health. “Dirty energy kills people” (which I wrote on my sign for a march on Washington) and those people are often poor and of color.
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Money, Subsidies, Political Influence
We give our taxpayer money to these companies killing us. The fossil fuel industry received 7 Trillion dollars in subsidies in 2022, not including land rights ALL over the globe.7 This is why the fossil fuel industry spends over $150 million each year on political campaigns in the USA.1
Interesting how the Republicans are always against “socialism” (government support) when it’s for affordable housing or healthcare, but are fine with giving handouts to the richest, most-corrupt companies in the history of the world. Noted that most Democrats don’t fight against this either—unless part of the squad or endorsed under Bernie Sanders’ organization “Our Revolution.” *This is why it’s important to ask if your representatives accept fossil fuel contributions, or are aligned with a Super Pac controlled by them.
(I will include a picture of Representatives who accept fossil fuel contributions)
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Do we love the polar bears and other species?
Or not? It’s a simple question and it relates to so many other species that are on the brink of extinction. Over the last 40 years, annual Arctic sea ice measurements show ice shrinking by 12.6 percent each decade, a pace of decline that’s unmatched by any point in at least the last 1,500 years. The polar bear is is just one example of habitat loss due to global warming– which is affecting 1000s of species.
As humans, do we feel superior to all natural life? Or do we respect the fact that we are just one part in a global ecosystem?
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Natural Disasters– NOW not so natural, and affecting Billions
When it gets too hot water bubbles, boils, and vanishes to vapor. As the surface of the sea increases in temperature, much more water is evaporating leading to more water in the air– more rain and stronger winds due to increased temperatures as well. That’s what we are seeing with global warming–increased natural disasters. “Researchers suggest that the most damaging U.S. hurricanes are three times more frequent than 100 years ago, and that the proportion of major hurricanes (Category 3 or above) in the Atlantic Ocean has doubled since 1980.” 4
These natural disasters have life altering consequences for an ever susceptible global population. “In June 2022, the number of displaced people worldwide reached an all-time high at over 100 million. Although they are temporary, weather-related disasters are increasingly becoming a major cause of displacements globally; according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), they have caused approximately 21 million displacements annually since 2008]. The number of weather-related disasters almost tripled in the past 40 years, with their frequency and intensity exacerbated by climate change.” 5
The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) predicts 1.2 Billion could be climate refugees by 2050s.8
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Massachusetts Is Behind on Their Climate Goals
Governor Healey has “climate change as our BIGGEST challenge” on her website– yet when activists confronted her at a Martha’s Vinyard fundraiser this summer – one of her big funders told the young activists that he “didn’t care if they died.”13 Video here! 14. These are people telling the Governor to OWN her words and take serious action on climate changes.
Let’s get back to the topic at hand. Oil and gas have powered much innovation and progress, but there’s a direct human cost and increasingly obvious cost to the natural environment.
We know that chemical exposure is the leading cause of cancer.
We know that oil and gas kill people and the environment.
When will our politicians take bold action??
So that’s the issue– now how can YOU get involved
and help change the tide of history.
Action Steps?
- Call your legislator save their numbers in your phone) and tell them that climate change is a top issue for you and you want to see them support aggressive climate change action– which means meeting our state’s emission goals. *When one person calls about an issue– politicians see that call as representing 500 people in their district– YOU are a one person army!!
- Extinction Rebellion (XR) Boston is an organization that uses public disobedience and shock tactics to get the attention of those in charge to do more about climate change. exposing political leaders for not fulfilling their commitments to lowering emissions. Foe example, they wrote “stop passing the gas” on their butts and were escorted out of the statehouse.
(insert picture here)
Did you know Massachusetts has commitment to lower emissions by by 50% by 2030? We are nowhere near this target. XR Boston has organized massive civil disobedience with 100s being arrested while asking politicians to simply do what they are supposed to. 11
- Know local organizations and support them. ACE (Roxbury)– promotes environmental justice initiatives. Go on a “toxic tour” to see how marginalized communities suffer from pollution. Progressive MASS does questionaires on candidates that hold them accountable. 10
