FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Leslie Lowe
thy42(AT)comcast.net
978-443-5138
Sudbury, MA
March 16, 2017

Local Greening: Use Your Municipal Rights

Residents of every town have well established rights to create local climate justice

• How much power do we have in our town halls to make change?
• How “green” is our town?
• What steps can we take to make it greener?
• How do we prioritize those steps?

The answers to these questions and more at 350 MA MetroWest Node’s “Go Local Greening Night”, April 6th, 7 to 9 pm, Peace Lutheran Church, 107 Concord Road (route 126), Wayland. Light refreshments available.

Terra Friedrichs, former Selectman from Acton, will present what she’s learned about “home rule state”municipal rights and how townspeople use them to stop new pipelines, control unnecessary/destructive construction, limiting/banning the use of plastics, herbicides and even pesticides.

David Ward, a sustainability engineer will discuss how towns can become greener. He’ll present the 350MA-MetroWest Node’s Handy Municipal Assessment Tool that you can use as a survey to see if your town is meeting appropriate green metrics toward a greener and socially just future.

Help each other assess all towns in our region. We’ll break up into groups of people in nearby towns and do a preliminary assessment of our towns, make plans to work with town officials to complete the survey, and urge them to go further.Over time, you can track your town then see how it compares to other towns.

Our Metrowest node public meetings usually happen the first Thursday of the month with locations changing to accommodate learners, supporters, and activists around the region. All are encouraged to sit in on the subgroup meetings for the local initiatives as well as the informal planning group that meets at different times.

For more information about climate change and the metrowest node:
metrowest(AT)350MA.org
https://www.facebook.com/350MAMetrowestNode

We will be rallying to close Guantanamo on Saturday, April 8 from 1 to 2 at Park Street Station on the Boston Common.

Forty one prisoners are left at Guantanamo, including 5 who have been cleared for release.

Trump has been talking about adding more prisoners. This is the opposite of what needs to happen.

Join us to raise the call to get rid of this center of indefinite detention and torture which is a stain on our reputation.

This demo is organized by the Committee for Peace and Human Rights and the Center for International Labor Defense.

For more info, contact Susan McLucas, (617) 776-6524, SusanBMcL(AT)gmail.com.

Ellen Brown, founder of the Public Banking Institute and author of The Public Banking Solution and Web of Debt, will be speaking here in Boston on Friday, March 31, at Encuentro 5, 9 Hamilton Place.

Doors open at 5:30 and the talk begins at 5:45. The talk is free and everyone is welcome. Come hear about the advantages of public banking, from the Bank of North Dakota here in the US, to public banks around the world. Ellen will discuss how the privatized creation of money draws us into an endless cycle of debt, and how public banking offers not only a more sustainable foundation for “common wealth,” but could also address issues with infrastructure and protect us against the next recession.

There will be plenty of opportunities for questions, and to learn more about legislation for a public infrastructure bank here in Massachusetts.

For more information, email bclancy122(AT)earthlink.net or call 978-760-4123.

Encuentro 5 is not wheelchair accessible. Hamilton Place is off Tremont Street, close to Park Street Station on the Red and Green lines.

The Massachusetts Legislature has thousands of bills to consider. Yet, most bills never even have a committee vote, never mind get to a floor vote. The power of the leadership of the legislature is extreme and it isn’t democratic. The legislature doesn’t work the way you were taught in your high school civics textbooks.

This Friday, March 24, Alex Marthews, National Director of Restore the 4th, will talk about how the Massachusetts legislature really works and how we can hack it to get our bills further.

It will be from 3-5pm at Encuentro 5, 9A Hamilton Place, Boston. Encuentro 5 is within easy walking distance of the Park St. MBTA stop. Hope you can make it.

Sponsored by the Massachusetts Pirate Party (masspirates.org). Many thanks to Encuentro 5 (www.encuentro5.org) for hosting it.

Please ASK STATE LEGISLATORS to CO-SPONSOR and support HD2350 to reduce Out-Of-State money in our elections!

HD 2350: An Act limiting campaign contributions from outside the Commonwealth, sponsored by Representative Mike Connolly, has been released from House Counsel. It deals with limiting contributions from non-residents of MA on State, County and Municipal elections, along with ballot initiatives.

Please write/share with your friends!

Find Legislators contact info here:
https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator

Letters sent to the House Clerk by March 27th, requesting to be included as a petitioner, will be filed with the original legislation.