Deep Dialogues

Dr. Ousmane Pame, founder: REDES Ecovillages (Senegal, West Africa) shared his personal stories and observations about its global and regional contexts as well as how its grassroots, community-based approach makes a difference on the ground.  REDES Ecovillages’ projects address both ecological and socio-economic root issues of the global climate crisis.  Dr. Pame gave compelling examples of such projects, including (1) pushing back the encroaching desert by developing a food forest and promoting regenerative agriculture; and (2) digging wells and channels to bring water to rural villages, thereby freeing women and girls for education and income generation.

Donations to REDES Ecovillages may be made here.

The video for this Deep Dialogue is here.

We were excited to welcome Senator Mike Barrett, Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, & Energy and lead author of the state’s landmark climate “roadmap” law and the recently passed climate legislation, An Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind.  He provided his viewpoint of the new climate bill and the road ahead as well as answering our questions.  Senator Barrett provides a highly informed and straight forward perspective to the challenges we face and urged as all to remain engaged in the fight against climate change.

The video for this Deep Dialogue is here.

He came at us and probably comes at everyone with a mile-a-second intelligence and insight on all things climate. He’s got so much knowledge on so many topics, you have to be willing to press pause while watching the video to think over what he just said. You may not agree with everything, but the purpose of our Deep Dialogues is to engage on these key topics.  The video of this presentation and discussion is here.

This Deep Dialogue was held in honor of Larry Rosenberg, who was a founding member of the Massachusetts chapter of ECA, and served on both the leadership and research teams.  Larry died of cancer on May 2, 2022, the day after he finished editing his paper on climate change: “The Climate Crisis: Impending Catastrophe and Possible Responses”.  After working much of his life on a number of different causes, Larry recognized climate change as the greatest threat to humanity and the world. To honor Larry and his work and to inspire and rededicate us to the fight against climate change, this Deep Dialogue focusses on the presentation of Larry’s paper and what we can all do to continue his work. The meeting begins with remembrances of Larry from five people who knew him well and were inspired by his activism.  Another group of ECA members share presenting Larrys’ paper, which can be seen as a slide show as they speak. The paper is an overview of the current state of the climate crisis, the  expected consequences of it, and the many ways we can address it.  The paper covers both accepted and controversial means of fighting climate change, and urges us to keep all options open, as our time for reducing catastrophic harm has grown so short. Larry’s paper is here and the video is here.

Our April Deep Dialogue featured a presentation and Q&A with guest speaker Dr. Stephen Young, professor of remote sensing and environmental sustainability at Salem State University. Dr Young focused on his recent publication “Overall warming with reduced seasonality: temperature change in New England, USA, 1900 – 2020”, and discussed the current and impending effects of continued warming in New England. His presentation included photographs of climate change impacts on the North Shore. 

If you missed this informative Deep Dialogue, or want to watch the video again, the recording is here. The slides from the presentation are here.

Climate change is often seen as a challenge that can be met by technological solutions like renewable energy. While these are necessary parts of the solution, they may not be sufficient, especially in a world where more and more people seek to consume more materials and energy. Yet changes in lifestyles to reduce our carbon footprints is a difficult topic for policy makers and activists.

At our March Deep Dialogue, we heard about the challenge of changing lifestyles from Newton climate activist and scientist, Philip J. Vergragt PhD, who has spent years researching “sustainable consumption” and “sustainable lifestyles.” His presentation explored if and how our wellbeing can be maintained – and improved – while reducing our “consumption carbon footprint.” Watch the presentation video, with the Q&A and informative discussion here, and access the presentation slides here. You can also reach Philip directly. His email is pvergragt@outlook.com.

Did you know that only 2.5% of water on Earth is fresh water? And only a small portion of that fresh water is available, at the surface in lakes and rivers, and in groundwater, to sustain human, plant and animal life. Floods, drought and extreme weather are much in the news, as climate change exacerbates our water problems.  

At our January conversation series, Betty Krikorian of the ECA Mass Research Team took us on a deep dive into Fresh Water and Climate Change, with a fascinating presentation that helped us understand the increasing threats to our precious fresh water resources. She explored water management and its potential for climate change mitigation, highlighting the water challenges in three very different geographical regions of the United States. Watch the presentation video, with the Q&A and lively discussion here, and access the presentation slides here.

Massachusetts has 1 million acres of public forests, which play a critical role in removing and storing carbon, and helping to achieve the net-zero climate goals of the Massachusetts Next Generation Roadmap Law. So why does the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) persist in commercial logging of our public forests, destroying thousands of acres and intentionally targeting the largest mature trees, while violating numerous laws and regulations? How would pending forest legislation (H.912 and H. 1002) change outdated laws and make DCR accountable to the public, protect our trees and wildlife, and address the climate crisis? What can you do to support passage of these important bills?

ECA Mass Legislative Team member and Forest Bill Manager, Glen Ayers, answered these questions and much more, analyzing the past 10 years of DCR logging in state parks and forests, and the changes we need to meet our climate goals. His eye-opening presentation is essential viewing for everyone who cares about forests and climate.

You can watch a video of Glen’s presentation, with all the Q&A and discussion, here. Glen’s presentation slides, with dozens of useful links to legislation and regulations, scientific research, and many other resources, are available here.