2 oil spills in the news this morning, one in Minnesota and the other in Arkansas and neither being reported very well by main stream media.

Image: THV11 news

The oil spill in Mayflower, Arkansas is an Exxon/Mobil pipeline that ruptured Friday afternoon spilling thousands of gallons of crude oil and causing over 40 homes to be evacuated.  Check out this local news where the evacuating families are saying the “smell is unbelievable” and the local TV gives a great look into peoples’ lives being interrupted by big oil.

AND, in Parkers Prairie, Minnesota a train derailment has resulted in between 20,000 to 30,000 gallons of tar sands oil leaking from a couple of tankers.  The train went into “emergency braking“??  Doesn’t this make you wonder what passes thru our neighborhoods now in those big tankers, both train and truck?

Image: kentucky.com, AP

This is an amazing photo circulating Twitter this morning:

14 Canadian Pacific railroad cars carrying crude oil derailed and some ruptured early Wed. near Parkers Prairie MN, Image: Twitter P.P. Independent

Sometimes I wonder if what we do matters.  I’ve heard it said that if it wasn’t for the work we’ve done on Keystone XL that it would already be completed… who knows?  Now this piece from Yes Magazine about a gas industry report that calls the Anti-Fracking Movement a “Highly Effective Campaign”.

Gas Industry Report Calls Anti-Fracking Movement a “Highly Effective Campaign”

Opponents of hydraulic fracturing rally in New York City.

So, the next time the winds in your sails need a boast, remember this report and know… we’re “mad as hell”

One of the benefits of living in the Pioneer Valley is the amazing number of people committed to working to make our lives better, correcting things we see as problems and generally, just really nice people.  One of those folks is Daria Fisk and she has a radio show on WMCB out of Greenfield.

Daria describes her show as one about, “getting to know each other—everyday people, neighbors, and friends sharing insights, perspectives, and experiences.”  She wants to be, “talking about what matters to each of us and all of us; personal and collective histories, pressing issues, and abiding passions.”

Today, March 18th, from 3-4pm on Various Voices, 107.9 lpfm & www.wmcb.net, “we’ll talk with Becky George of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce about the upcoming Creative Economy Summit, 3/22-24 in Turners Falls & then w. Greening Greenfield’s Susan Worgaftik  about the 4/6 public forum at GCC to consider how to Create a Sustainable Future for Greenfield by 2050. “

 It would be great if you could tune in.

If you don’t know about the organization Greening Greenfield, it is worth a listen.  I attended their monthly meeting for the first time this month and they are a great group of people doing wonderful things and being very, very effective.  Check ’em out at  http://greeninggreenfield.org/

We’re 1 Signature AWAY!

This might be the most important weekend for the future EVER! Up to 1,000 activists from the Valley are heading to Washington D.C. this Sunday to participate in the Forward On Climate Rally to send the message to Obama and John Kerry that we don’t want these climate destroying tar sands, that they should reject the toxic Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and consider their legacies… because we are.

Michael T. Klare, author of “The Race For What’s Left: The Global Scramble for the World’s Last Resources”, explains in “The Strategic Importance of Keystone XL” how if President Obama shoots down the Keystone XL pipeline, it might be GAME OVER for the tar-sands industry. It’s time to turn up the heat on this do nothing government!  Act Up!! Head to DC this weekend and do your part.

Join Us In DC, Feb 17th!  For information on buses, public transportation, carpooling, housing, etc:  http://www.climatewma.org/

Bill McKibben

HUGO CHAVEZ TOLD ME HE WON’T SELL OIL TO THE KOCHS

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/koch-brothers-hugo-chavez-and-the-xl-pipeline

50 > 50 x 50

Why 50 Over 50 x 50?
We call this effort 50 over 50 x 50 because we believe that we boomers and others over 50 years old have the means and the responsibility to get organized and that a few dozen of us in each of the 50 states (50×50) can tip public opinion in favor of action if we are prepared to speak out, risk arrest and occasionally spend some time in jail.

http://fiftyoverfifty.org/

Directly seeing the impact on the health of their neighbors, National Nurses United have joined with others opposing the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Thank you nurses!

http://www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/entry/nurses-oppose-keystone-xl-pipeline-cite-adverse-effects-of-increased-air-po/

Nurses Oppose Keystone XL Pipeline, Cite Adverse Effects of Increased Air Pollution, Climate Change