Events

Our vigils continue every Wednesday at noon
Note location: Berkeley and Columbus

The City of Boston has allowed National Grid to begin construction of its Back Bay Billionaires’ Pipeline, ignoring the usual winter moratorium on construction, ignoring the unanimous City Council resolution that no decision be made without a robust public conversation, and in spite of the fact that the Attorney General has recommended that the DPU reject the sweetheart financing arrangement. We will bear witness and make known our opposition to this terrible project that will poison our city and our planet. Fracked gas is not a “bridge” fuel. We call on our Mayor and elected officials to initiate a moratorium on all fossil-fuel expansion. Join us for our standouts. Bring signs; make your voice heard.

The JP Forum, in conjunction with sponsors including BCEC, presents Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and the Rev. Mariama White-Hammond to discuss the challenges of working for a just transition that includes how we build an equitable economy that lifts people out of poverty and also lives within the ecological boundaries of the earth.

The ecological and economic justice challenges of our time require all of us to work for an equitable, healthy, and livable planet for all. Responding to our environmental crisis must be done in a way that bridges Boston’s racial divide. A just and sustainable transition must follow the leadership of women of color who have helped move forward many critical issues in our current political environment. Women of color leading the way!

Event sponsors: 350Mass, 350Mass Boston, Boston Clean Energy Coalition, Boston Extinction Rebellion, Boston Food Forest, BostonCAN, Clean Water Action, Climate Disobedience Center, Corporate Accountability, Elders Climate Action, Elders Climate Action Massachusetts, Environmental League, Fore River Residents Against the Compressor Station, Friends of Jamaica Pond, Olmsted 2022, ART INstitute, Mass Care, Mass Power Forward, Mothers Out Front Brookline, Mothers Out Front JP, Mothers Out Front Mass, Our Climate, Resist the Pipeline, Social Justice Action Committee of the First Church, Toxics Action Center

The report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), compiled by hundreds of scientists from around the world, warns that the disasters caused by climate change are no longer remote or hypothetical. The main finding of the IPCC report is the need for urgency. How do we respond to a crisis larger than any we as a species have ever faced? We will hear from a panel of scientists and activists who has been involved with the climate issue and how to address it. This critical discussion will leave ample time for questions of the speakers from our audience.

Main speaker: Nathan Phillips, BU Professor of Earth and Environment

The evening is hosted by the Jamaica Plain Forum and co-sponsored by the Boston Clean Energy Coalition and 350 Mass. Free and open to all.

City Council to Examine Gas Pipeline Safety in Boston. Councilors O’Malley, Pressley, and Flynn have called for a gas safety hearing. The Council will examine the safety of the gas infrastructure in Boston, the prevention of potentially dangerous gas leaks, and education and preparedness for emergency response. The hearing on October 30 at 11 am is open to the public, and public testimony of two minutes or less is welcome following the expert and City panels.

Boston Civic Media envisions the future of collaboration around climate change in Boston at this event. Leaders of three BCEC member organizations will be participating in the “Lightning Talks,” as will Councilor Matt O’Malley, the City Council’s chair of the Committee on the Environment and Sustainability. The program also includes lunch, workshops, and a keynote address. For full details go to BostonClimateChangeShowcase.splashthat.com.

Co-hosted by numerous Boston environmental groups, including BCEC, this rally will call on Mayor Walsh and all the mayors gathered from around the country for the US Mayors Conference to stop talking and start acting. The mayors will be in Boston to discuss the future of cities and the well-being of people living in them; last year, these same mayors passed a resolution supporting a just transition to 100% renewable energy for their communities by 2035. Join the rally Friday morning, June 8, to call on Mayor Walsh and all US mayors to turn their climate promises into climate action. For more details go to the Facebook “Walk the Talk on Climate” event page or the Eventbrite page.

Please attend this Council hearing on Community Choice Energy (CCE) to remind the administration that Boston residents want this program implemented now. The Department of the Environment has announced it will not proceed with implementing CCE. Instead, they are folding it into the Carbon Free Boston program, which won’t finish its planning report until October 2018, a full year after the City Council unanimously passed the authorization for CCE. CCE has been proven to be the single most effective way for municipalities to aggregate their electricity buying to stabilize rates and increase access to renewable energy for residents of all incomes. Boston can’t wait; it is time for Boston residents the have the same benefits as all the other towns in Massachusetts that already have CCE: competitive rates, protection from the winter price spikes we are subject to, and affordable clean energy for all. Group members of BCEC have been very active in the effort to bring CCE to Boston, and we hope many BCEC members will come to the hearing and demand that the Department of the Environment do its job, now. Plan to give public testimony if you can; speak up. The City Council needs our support to get this done.

Join this event hosting community leaders from the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania, at the other end of the fracked-gas pipelines that connect to Massachusetts. Families, landowners, and whole communities there have been deeply impacted by the intensive development of fracking wells and facilities, and their struggle connects directly with our use of fossil fuels in the Northeast. Pennsylvania activists who will share their powerful stories include Lois Bjornson, Craig Leland Stevens, Brian Latkanich, and Jane Worthington.

The event location is wheelchair accessible, free, and open to the public.

Event co-sponsors: Clean Water Action, Mothers Out Front, Mass Power Forward, Resist the Pipeline, Boston Clean Energy Coalition, Jamaica Plain Forum

Rally sponsored by
Stop Back Bay Pipeline
Resist the West Roxbury Pipeline

Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir will help us communicate to National Grid, Mayor Marty Walsh, and other elected officials why business as usual/expanding fracked gas infrastructure is NOT the way we need to go. We want to accelerate the transition to a clean, green, renewable energy system. We want to construct 21st century buildings that meet passive house/state-of-the-art standards. We need to build a more equitable society, not one that primarily serves the billionaire class. Join us!