In Holyoke, activists are fighting construction of a proposed fracked gas pipeline. “It would go six miles from Agawam to Holyoke,” Jacqueline Velez told the Valley Post in a telephone interview on September 13. She lives in Holyoke. “It would cost $24 million to build. Holyoke is the second worst city in the nation for people with asthma. This would make it worse. We closed the Mount Tom coal plant so we can stop this.”

On September 8 in Brattleboro, more than 200 people marched and rode bicycles in a group to demand politicians deal with climate change. One of the groups that organized the event has a web site at www.350.org. The march photo is by Kim Timlege. The photos of people riding bikes are by Eesha Williams. To enlarge a photo, click on it, then scroll down and click "see full size image."

On September 5 at 4 p.m. in Springfield there will be a rally to protest the high on-the-job death rate for construction workers. The rally will be outside 122 Chestnut Street. Better enforcement of workplace safety laws could save the lives of some of the 5,000 or so people who die on the job annually in the USA. For example, workers are generally required to wear a safety harness when they are on a roof. For every worker who dies on the job, many more are seriously injured. One of the groups that's organizing the event has a web site at www.jwj.org.

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In three towns that border Amherst, 2,000 or so acres of forestland is close to being permanently protected from development. The land is in the Massachusetts towns of Leverett, Pelham, and Shutesbury. The deal should be done within six months. Kestrel Land Trust is involved in the deal. Land trusts get much of their money from the government. The government invests a tiny amount of money in land protection compared to its investments in war, prison for non-violent people, and tax cuts for billionaires.