Mothers Out Front in Massachusetts held a rally with allies on July 31st to make sure that National Grid understood we wanted them to keep their promise to fix the gas leaks. We're grateful to the Boston Globe and the community for listening!

Mothers Out Front Concord takes it to the source! Congratulations to the team on being #inthenews and changing the conversation! Thank you to Concord Wicked Local for covering this issue.

“We’re here to hold them accountable, make them comply with the regulations and to keep their promises to measure and fix these gas leaks,” Davis said. “The reason we’re so fired up about this is because they’re over 16,000 gas leaks in the state of Massachusetts. And the methane that leaks out is 10 percent of our emissions in the state. It’s the same amount of emissions that all the business and stores in the whole state (discharge). It’s a huge greenhouse gas emitter.”

Read all about it!

[embedlycard url="https://concord.wickedlocal.com/news/20190730/concord-mothers-to-ngrid-fix-these-gas-leaks"]

California mothers are alarmed by an ongoing, uncontained oil spill in Kern County and are dismayed at the lack of independent oversight of California’s powerful oil and gas industry, as this powerful article quoting Linda conveys.

“We have lost all faith in the ability of DOGGR to do its job of protecting Californians, and we call on the Governor to completely reform this corporate-captured agency,” said Linda Hutchins-Knowles, California Senior Organizer for Mothers Out Front. “Regulators should not be allowed to own stock in the very industry they’re supposed to regulate. As California faces serious water scarcity, we need increased protections for our aquifers, not weakened rules.”

Along with over 500 public-interest groups in Last Chance Alliance, mothers and others call on Governor Newsom to protect California’s communities and climate by agreeing to:

STOP new oil & gas permits,

DROP existing production in a just and managed transition, and

ROLL out science-based 2500’ buffer zones between drilling zones and sensitive sites like homes and schools. 

Will you amplify our call? Sign our petition to Gov. Newsom to STOP, DROP & ROLL for public health and climate safety. Let’s demand real climate leadership! Thank you! 

Mothers Out Front Pioneer Valley speaking out for 100% by 2035!

The event featured speakers representing Holyoke, Amherst and Northampton, Environment Massachusetts, and the climate activism groups Mothers Out Front and Climate Action Now.

The 100 Percent Renewable Energy Act, H.2836 in the House and S.1958 in the Senate, was touted at the event. The legislation would transition Massachusetts to 100 percent renewable electricity by 2035 and phase out fossil fuels for heating and transportation by 2045. So far 113 legislators have endorsed the legislation, according to Environment Massachusetts, including state Rep. Mindy Domb, D-Amherst, and state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton.

Read the story here: 

[embedlycard url="https://www.gazettenet.com/Amherst-hosts-event-touting-area-climate-initiatives-27177357"]

Mothers Out Front Somerville is taking on National Grid, together with other teams throughout Massachusetts, to #FixBigGasLeaks!

“I’ve been in the same house for the last nine years and, like every other resident in East Somerville, I’m in National Grid territory,” she said. “I’ve known for years about gas leaks in the area — it’s been an ongoing problem for 20 years — but I started getting involved in Mothers Out Front in Somerville because I knew they were raising awareness about leaks as a safety threat and an environmental threat.”

- Mother Out Front Paola Massoli

Read the whole story here:

[embedlycard url="https://somerville.wickedlocal.com/news/20190724/somerville-mothers-demand-national-grid-fix-gas-leaks"]

The McNulty Foundation Announces Four New Laureates for 2019

JULY 16, 2019

Mother Out Front Susan Lees #InTheNews and demanding that Governor Baker stand by our communities and our families rather than fossil fuel interests.

“Permitting this dangerous and toxic facility next to neighborhoods where residents raise families, send their children to school, and build communities is deeply negligent,” said Susan Lees of Mothers Out Front, an environmental activist group. “Governor Baker must show that he has the backbone to stand up to large energy corporations and intervene in this broken permitting process.”

#NoWeymouthCompressorStation

Read more here: 

[embedlycard url="https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/07/12/state-approves-air-quality-permit-for-weymouth-compressor-station/A3b8AABDOCUEjg5bUNHA4M/story.html?fbclid=IwAR1JZ_tRDltNQnkhmI-rZuqNXDN3PDBgrqy2hs7xhUgELeOuXm0I0VGyw4U"]

Lisa Marshall isn’t your typical activist. For one thing, she’s not into crowds. “I don’t really like rallies,” Marshall, a mom of three from upstate New York, said. “They’re a little stressful — not my favorite thing.”

Marshall, who has two degrees in earth science, remembers being concerned about fossil fuels when New York activists began to push Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) to ban fracking in the early 2010s. But she didn’t know the best way to become involved. “At that time, one of the main strategies, which was very effective in New York, was to just show up wherever [Cuomo] was and make sure he had no peace from the activist community until he banned fracking,” she said. “It just was very overwhelming.”

Then, at one of her first organizing events for the activist group Mothers Out Front, Marshall realized that organizing wasn’t just about making noise.

[embedlycard url="https://thinkprogress.org/in-upstate-new-york-fossil-fuels-will-turn-into-solar-and-data-7a2983e3a469/"]

MA - WORCESTER! We want to send a huge shoutout to Mothers Out Front Worcester for their incredible progress on gas leaks this month, including TV press coverage (below), interviewing Gaylen Moore and Patricia Kirkpatrick. The team has been working to get gas leaks fixed at elementary schools and to highlight the health risks of gas, particularly for children. Worcester has one of the highest rates of asthma in the nation.

With gratitude and congratulations to the team!

THANK YOU to WBUR for this incredible resource on the Weymouth Compressor Station story. In their words, "whether you've been reading about the issue for years and have questions, or are hearing about the project for the first time, here's what you need to know." We agree.

Click the link for the whole story:

[embedlycard url="https://www.wbur.org/earthwhile/2019/06/19/proposed-weymouth-gas-compressor-explained"]