climate action alerts
A regional resource for Cape & Islands climate activists
September 3, 2020
Climate Collaborative Opposes Most Significant Assault on Cape Cod's Forested Land that Almost No One is Talking About
170+ acres of protected forest above the Upper Cape Water Supply to be clear-cut...for a gun range?

Did you know that a multi-purpose machine gun range (MPMG) is proposed to be located at Camp Edwards on Joint Base Cape Cod (JBCC) on The Upper Cape Water Supply, to which the JBCC's own website refers as the "largest piece of protected, undeveloped land on Cape Cod?"

The project calls for 199 acres of land disturbance including the clear-cutting of 170+ acres of forested land to accommodate the gun range, "surface danger zones" where fired projectiles would land, and ancillary site elements such as roadways.

In a public comment letter to the project proponent, the Climate Collaborate has registered its unalloyed opposition to the project and the Environmental Assessment's (EA) premature and unsubstantiated findings of "No Adverse Environmental Impacts." While countless environmental issues and impacts were inadequately treated in the project's EA, the Climate Collaborative's position statement, aligned with its mission, focuses primarily on the inadequacies of the EA's treatment of climate change impacts, stating:

"....the Environmental Assessment and resulting Finding of No Significant Impact are fatally deficient. The proposed MPMG project will have significant climate change impacts, which while ignored in the (reports), must be identified, quantified and thoroughly analyzed with input from the affected public as required by the National Environmental Act (NEPA). Specifically, the EA: (1) fails to account for or quantify the obvious and foreseeable impacts stemming from the loss of carbon sequestration capacity in clear-cut forest areas; (2) lacks a cumulative impacts analysis; (3) avoids the robust alternatives analysis and mitigation assessment that would be required under an EIS; and (4) fails to involve the affected public in the process, ignoring the past environmental history of pollution at Camp Edwards where remediation is still ongoing."

Read more here for the Climate Collaborative's full comment letter and then, write your own! There's no time to waste.

Act Now
  • Write to Keith Driscoll at: Keith.J.Driscoll.nfg@mail.mil to register your opposition to this massive deforestation proposal by Monday, September 7.
House & Senate Committees are Working Together To Finalize Climate Bills
And there's plenty we can do to keep the pressure on

Currently a 6-member conference committee is working to reconcile the differences between the Senate (S.2500) and House (H.4933) climate bills. They will produce a final version of the bill that needs to pass through both chambers again and then be signed by Governor Baker.

Mass Power Forward, our state's progressive coalition of 200 climate organizations, has written a letter to the committee supporting priority issues and concrete amendments, including:
  • Enacting Environmental Justice
  • Accelerating the Roadmap Timeline
  • Increasing Renewable Electricity Generation

MPF is seeking organizations wishing to partner with it on this letter. (See below.)

Our continued calls, texts, and letters to legislators are essential to (1) ensuring passage of a climate bill (rather than having it die in committee) and (2) advocating for key amendments that will strengthen the bill so that it moves us towards Net Zero, 100% renewable energy AND encompasses benefits for Enviromental Justice communities.

Act Now

Sources: Climate XChange, Sierra Club Massachusetts Chapter
Cape Cod Commission Seeks Stakeholders to Contribute to Climate Action Plan
Stakeholders and organizations sought for collaborative climate change mitigation effort

Continuing its efforts to address regional climate change impacts, the Cape Cod Commission is seeking stakeholders to participate in a region-wide effort to identify strategies and contribute to the Cape Cod Climate Action Plan. 

Participating organizations are being sought to assist in the process by hosting facilitated focus groups, assisting with survey outreach, and providing expertise and perspective. 

Where Cape Cod faces unique challenges and existential threats due to its geography and geology, historic connection to the sea, and vulnerability of residential, commercial and infrastructure facility siting, the task at hand requires coordinated action and broad community efforts. For more information on the stakeholder process, call for participating organizations, and other efforts to mitigate regional climate change impacts, click here.

Act Now
  • If you are a stakeholder who'd like to submit a stakeholder interest form, click here.
  • If you represent an organization and would like to submit a letter of interest, click here.
"Shave the Peak" and Earn Incentives
Cape Light Compact offers an array of incentives and savings that help you and the environment 

Homeowners and renters can signifcantly improve energy efficiency in their homes while reducing strain on the grid, lowering peak demand emissions and minimizing ratepayer infrastructure costs.

The Cape Light Compact’s new ConnectedSolutions WiFi thermostat program--or demand response (“DR”) program--aims to reduce air conditioning load during a few peak days of the year instead of building more infrastructure.

Earn up to $45 in incentives by allowing CLC to adjust your enrolled WiFi thermostat’s setpoint up to 15 times per summer on the days when the grid is strained the most. Don’t have a WiFi thermostat but are interested in installing one? The Compact offers a $100 rebate on eligible WiFi thermostats. See below for details!
 
Act Now
 

DYK? The US has the technology to decarbonize by 2035 and create 25 million jobs. And here’s a plan to do it. 
DYK? The Cape Cod Commission has updated the Climate Change Action Timeline - a compilation of organizations, reports, and events that have helped advance an understanding of climate change and actions to mitigate and adapt to its impacts--to document local and regional efforts. Check out the timeline here.
The Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative is 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.
The Climate Action Alerts newsletter is designed and produced by Fran Schofield and reported by Susan Starkey. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Please share this action alert with your friends and
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CAPE COD CLIMATE CHANGE COLLABORATIVE