Activists in Northampton are working to make passenger train service between Greenfield, Northampton, Holyoke, Springfield, Boston, and New York City faster, more frequent, and cheaper. Ben Heckscher is a spokesperson for the group Trains In The Valley. On October 25, he told the Valley Post, people should tell their “elected officials that you want more frequent passenger rail service north of Springfield, and fares that are comparable to the fares offered on the Hartford Line for travel south of Springfield.”

Eliminating most of the stops in Connecticut would make the trip from the Valley to New York City faster.

Meanwhile in California, 1,000 or so workers are laying out tracks for the nation's first bullet train. It will go between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Experts say it will eliminate 62,000 plane flights every year. Trains are better for the environment than cars and planes.

***********

At least six people from the Pioneer Valley, and at least one from Brattleboro, were among 655 people arrested for non-violent civil disobedience outside the White House between October 11 and October 15. The protests were to call on Biden to do more about climate change. Brattleboro resident Jane Diefenbach was arrested. In a voice phone interview on October 23, she told the Valley Post, “We need Biden to declare a climate emergency. The Washington Post says climate change is the biggest threat to public health.”

Diefenbach asked the Valley Post to include a link to https://BeyondExtremeEnergy.org