Critical Mass bicycle rides started in 1992 in California and have since spread around the world. Hundreds of people ride together in a group on roads, forcing cars to go at bicycle speed. They often chant, “Critical Mass, don't use gas!”

There will be a Critical Mass ride in Brattleboro. It starts December 21 at the town common at 5:45 p.m.

The goal is to get politicians to deal with climate change, which the world's leading scientists say is a major threat to earth's ability to support human life.

This photo of Red Breasted Mergansers was taken in Turners Falls, Massachusetts. Turners Falls is near Greenfield. To enlarge the photo, click on it, then scroll down and click "see full size image."

photo by Joe Oliverio

A local woman was among a group of 51 people arrested in Washington, DC for non-violent civil disobedience. "Our demands to Nancy Pelosi were sign on to the Green New Deal and sign a 'no fossil fuel money' pledge," Keene resident Katie Carbonara told the Valley Post in a phone interview. "It went really well."

Pelosi is the Democrats' top leader in Congress. The Green New Deal says:

(1) 100% of national power generation from renewable sources;

(2) Building a national, energy-efficient, “smart” grid;

In June, more frequent passenger train service is scheduled to start between Greenfield and Springfield with stops in Northampton and Holyoke. It will connect with trains to New York City. “I'm cautiously optimistic that it will start in June,” Tim Brennan told the Valley Post on November 5. He runs the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, a government agency with 47 employees.