Cambridge Mother Out Front Melissa Ludtke writes in her Letter to the Editor:

"In a few weeks, the TUE [Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy] committee will decide if legislators will get to vote on a 3 percent annual increase in our state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard. Passage of this bill will increase the amount of clean renewable energy in our electrical grid, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and help ensure a more liveable climate for our children. Since 2002, our state’s RPS has been a cost-effective strategy for developing renewable markets and increasing demand for renewable energy sources, including solar, wind, landfill gas and biomass."

It's time to #ListenToOurMothers. Read more here:

[embedlycard url="http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20180124/letter-climate-change-demands-voices-be-heard-at-state-house"]

Mothers Out Front, Tompkins County Community Team #InTheNews. Ithaca Times article on the biggest stories of 2017.

Section: Borger Compressor Expansion Under Scrutiny

“Mothers Out Front – which has an active branch locally – began to question the project, lobbying the company to make upgrades to the proposed design in order to reduce the presence of toxins in its emissions. The group also went to work on a public information campaign around the project, holding numerous community meetings with neighbors and appealing to the County Health Department to assist the group in a study of the health impacts of the station as it comes online.”

MA - Work on the ground continues after the vote to switch to 100% renewable for municipal buildings in Amherst.

Andra Rose notes: "This article includes a celebratory photo of us thanking Town Meeting members after our 100% Renewable Energy and Zero Energy articles won. See the super mom cape?"

"…Those in the construction field who signed onto a letter of support for the bylaw argue that zero energy is becoming much easier and doable, and that the worries don’t match reality. Bruce Coldham, a retired Amherst architect, said skeptics have been challenging him since he built his first zero energy project 15 years ago.

'It’s a wonderful opportunity to turn wishful thinking into real achievement,' Coldham said. 'This is a watershed moment.'”

[embedlycard url="http://www.gazettenet.com/Zero-energy-poses-challenges-opportunities-for-Amherst-14299367?utm_source=second-street&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily+Hampshire+Gazette+Headline+Alerts+12%2f7%2f17"]

Mothers Out Front from Concord (Carolyn Wilkins) and Acton (Judith Aronstein) are #inthenews reporting a gas leak at Walden Pond, thought to contribute to the death of a 100+-year-old tree, which was removed.

“It’s a clear and overpowering gas leak,” Carolyn Wilkins of the Concord chapter of Mothers Out Front said minutes before a huge crane removed the tree in pieces.

Mothers Out Front is an environmental activism organization seeking to have gas leaks plugged. It cites scientific studies showing methane gas is harmful to the environment.

National Grid has said there are 126 natural gas leaks in Concord. All but three, including the leak near the white pine at Walden Pond, are classified as Grade 3, which pose the least risk of combustion."

[embedlycard url="http://concord.wickedlocal.com/news/20171207/reasons-debated-why-tree-removed-near-walden-pond-in-concord"]

"People from throughout the Hudson Valley and across New York are voicing their opposition to a 1,100-megawatt gas-fired power plant, the Cricket Valley Energy Center (CVE), currently under construction in Dover....Residents, elected officials, students, scientists and grassroots groups—including Mothers Out Front, Dutchess County Progressive Action Alliance (DCPAA) and New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG)—are calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to halt construction and revisit the state’s decision to approve the project in 2012."

[embedlycard url="http://www.wakeupnaturally.com/Westchester-Putnam-NY/December-2017/Growing-Opposition-to-Planned-Gas-Fired-Power-Plant-in-Dover/"]

With gratitude to our friend and ally, Audrey Schulman of HEET and the Barr Foundation for this outstanding blog post about our collective efforts in Massachusetts to #FixBigGasleaks.

[embedlycard url="https://www.barrfoundation.org/blog/because-we-all-love-our-children"]

Families and allies in New York are calling on Governor Cuomo to #WalkHisTalk and build a renewable energy future!

"With the impending closure of Indian Point, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has an opportunity to choose the energy future that will create thousands of jobs, ensure public health and foster a cleaner environment. New, polluting power plants Cricket Valley Energy in Dutchess County and the Competitive Power Ventures in Orange County are costly and unnecessary projects."

[embedlycard url="http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/opinion/letters/2017/12/04/cricket-valley-energy-costly-and-unnecessary-project-letter/910861001/"]

Wendy Low (Rochester COT), Susan Campbell (Lakeshore Mothers and Others Out Front), and Heather Dulisse (Irondequoit Community team) were interviewed on the Still I Rise Radio show, on December 2, 2017, with Neely Kelley, Mothers Out Front NY Organizer.

Harvey Campbell (Susan Campbell's husband) looks on as Heather, Wendy and Susan figure out what main points they want to convey during the Still I Rise radio show, Saturday, December 2, 2017. Thank you so much for your support Harvey!!

Find out what unlikely partners with common goals have accomplished in MA in this WGBH News coverage!

"For years, Shulman’s organization and another environmental advocacy group called Mothers Out Front have been trying to get the gas companies to do something about the leaks. Initially, getting the utility’s cooperation was a challenge..."

[embedlycard url="https://news.wgbh.org/2017/11/29/local-news/unlikely-partnership-local-environmentalists-and-utilities-work-together"]

Here's one mother's view of our use of "natural" gas:

[embedlycard url="http://www.providencejournal.com/opinion/20171129/letter-paola-massoli-no-need-for-pipelines-or-natural-gas-plants"]