Report by Judith Black, Photos by Jerry Halberstadt
[Judith Black hosted the gathering, supported by 350 Mass members including Steve Andrada, Jim Mulloy, and Ellen Leaman]
On April 11, 2024, at a meeting organized by members of the 350 Mass-North Shore Node, advocates for climate and justice launched the Northeast of Boston Climate Roundtable at the Torigian Senior Center in Peabody.
We have a pollution problem affecting the health of every person in our North Shore communities. Pollution affects health today, making children ill and damaging their lungs and minds, thus impacting their future. It makes elderly people ill and can kill them. Finally, by amplifying global warming, pollution increases future threats to health. Community organization effort focused on health education is a springboard for action.
Healthy Air for All is a voluntary community organization effort focused on health education and mitigation of harm from pollution and a springboard for advocacy and remedial action.
Everyone wants their family to enjoy good health. We all want to breathe healthy air, avoid illness, and live a long, joyful life.
But pollution poisons our air, makes us sick, and kills us.
That pollution is caused by burning coal, oil, and gas in our homes, factories, and cars.
Janet Hartke Bowser
President
Board of Directors
I write to support H3150/S2117 “An Act advancing clean energy, equity, and innovation within municipal utilities.” This bill is supported by 30 climate organizations in the Commonwealth.
Photo: Mother and child. Bonnie Bain and Peyton Massie look into their future during their participation in a demonstration against the Peabody peaker plant.
We burn fossil fuels—coal, oil, gas, wood, diesel, gasoline—for the energy we use in all our activities. These fires create pollution that harms our health and endangers our climate. Come with me and survey some of the sources of pollution in our city, Peabody, Massachusetts. Then we can begin to discuss how we can work together to change things and reduce pollution.
Remarks prepared for the Peabody meeting of the ISO New England Community Liaison Group on June 8, 2023.
I’m Jerry Halberstadt, a founding member of Breathe Clean North Shore and Coordinator of the Clean Power Coalition and of Healthy Air Peabody.
Prepared for presentation at Brooksby Village on March 6, 2023
[Steve Andrada presented his film, "Stop the Peabody Peaker Plant," to an enthusiastic audience of over 100 at the Torigian Senior Center on February 16, 2023. The film documents the 2-year long efforts of residents of Peabody and beyond to stop the construction of an old technology facility that would create additional pollution. Here is Steve's introduction.]
Guest article by Win Flint
We all want to see the truly enormous changes required of our nation and world to mitigate and slow climate change. Only government has the power to mandate and implement the needed systemic changes. Getting government to change requires legislation and for that to happen, politicians need to change. They only do this after extreme pressure from voters.
So British Petroleum (BP) and the fossil energy empires are doing everything they can to prevent people from uniting for change. Hence the “carbon footprint”.