In Greenfield on July 31 about 50 people attended a rally to protest cutting down forests in Massachusetts to put up solar panels. The panels can go on roofs of big box stores, warehouses, and other buildings, and on top of parking lots. To see a big photo of seven acres of solar panels over a parking lot in Amherst, click on the small photo of "Lot 44" at:

www.umass.edu/dcm/campus-solar

The Greenfield rally organizers said, “To date, the state has lost 4,000 acres to large ground-mounted solar, much of it pristine forest.”

They have a web site at https://savethepinebarrens.org.

Members of the group Sunrise Amherst were at the rally. They have a web page at:

www.facebook.com/AmherstSunriseMovement

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On July 31 in Orange, Massachusetts, near Greenfield, about 40 people attended a Black Lives Matter rally. State legislator Susannah Whipps told the Valley Post she was at the rally.

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In Northampton on July 30, dozens of people attended a climate rally. One of the groups that endorsed the rally is the local chapter of a group that has a web site at www.SunriseMovement.org.

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With 4 percent of the world's population, the USA spends as much money on war as the rest of the world combined. This year the USA will spend $1.7 trillion on war. That's 48 percent of the federal budget, meaning about half your income taxes go to war. This data is from:

www.warresisters.org/sites/default/files/fy2022pie_chart-low_res.pdf

On August 7, there will be a peace rally in Keene at 11 a.m. at Central Square. For more information, contact Chris Hansen at 603-835-6190.