Monday, March 18, 2024

Climate Change

Climate Change Connections: Valentine for Mother Earth

“There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature – the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter.” —Rachel Carson It all started with my sandbox, my irrepressible love...

Climate Change Connections: Trees

“Keep close to nature’s heart.” —John Muir As a young lad, John Muir was in a welding accident, and lost his eyesight. As he lay in his bed resting for weeks on end, which was...

Climate Change Connections: Taking action

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.” —Chinese proverb Listening to all that is out there in the news and in everyday conversations, the amount of...

Climate Change Connections: Blessings in a storm

All around us is news about climate change, and as it pounds away at us, it can get very disheartening and frightening — a giant comes to slay us. Fear does keep the species...

Climate Change Connections: Thinking outside the box

The concept of rewilding is a broad subject, certainly thinking out of the box, and can take on many forms. To better understand and visualize this concept, I sought out a pair of Islanders...

Climate Change Connections: It takes the Vineyard

In the last column, young people were interviewed. In this column, people from the older generation are asked the same questions. This is so we can substantiate once again that it will take all...

Climate Change Connections: Teach your children well

It is ironic that the very words “climate change” are using two different meanings of the word “change.” The first is present, the other is future. The present is well-established and foreboding; the other...

Climate Change Connections: The past is the prologue

We are an Island that threatened to secede from Massachusetts over reduced representation in the legislature. We even created our own flag! It is clear that we are a feisty lot. The beauty of...

Climate Change Connections: All hands on deck

When my friend Liz Durkee and I first met, it was pure curiosity that drew us to each other. Who is this woman who knows so much about climate change? I wondered. I want...

West Tisbury looks toward renewable future

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The West Tisbury energy committee introduced three main strategies toward attaining the town’s goal of being powered by 100 percent renewable energy by 2040 — support West Tisbury’s transition toward having all electric vehicles and...

Climate Solutions: Moving toward a circular economy — a regenerative approach

Linear vs. Circular — What does it Mean? We have designed a linear, extractive economy: we take resources, make them into products, use them, and discard them. The focus is not on making things durable,...

Climate Solutions: Regenerating soil — a key strategy

A Climate Solutions series would be remiss not talking about the importance of soil: its role as a carbon sink, and how caring for it helps both the planet and our species. Food, agriculture,...

Three towns to vote on climate action article

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Voters in Edgartown, Chilmark, and Tisbury will be asked to adopt the 100 Percent Renewable Martha's Vineyard warrant at upcoming town meetings, an article that supports the Island's goal of becoming powered by 100...

Climate Solutions: Plastics and recycling — we can do better!

We are drowning in plastics, and the oil industry is doing its best to keep it that way. Plastics, which are made from oil, support production even when the demand for heating oil is...

VTA unveils solar canopies

  Updated May 17 The Vineyard Transportation Authority held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for a series of solar canopies it erected at its facility at the Airport Business Park.  The event was also a celebration of the...

Exploring the Vineyard’s future

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In mid-April, Island Innovation hosted the first Island Finance Forum, a virtual event where members of island communities across the world could exchange solutions for sustainable economic recovery in the post-pandemic world. The event...

Climate Solutions: Food waste

Food waste is 8 percent of greenhouse gas emissions … more than the carbon footprint of the airline industry. According to Project Drawdown, one-third of the food produced in farms and factories never makes it...

Going out on a limb

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Martha’s Vineyard Airport is distributing 2,500 tree seedlings to Island schools, to be given out to children. According to airport director Geoff Freeman, the airport is working on a number of green initiatives, and the...

Lone star ticks emerge early this year

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With the unexpectedly premature arrival of lone star ticks on Martha’s Vineyard, boards of health are considering what the future of mitigation and prevention of vector-borne illnesses might look like. Richard Johnson, Island entomologist and...

Deadwood sparks concern over forest fires

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Dukes County commissioners are concerned about drier weather and large amounts of deadwood increasing the potential for forest fires on Martha’s Vineyard.  For the past several years, dry plant detritus has been identified as a...