Letter: Accessing Benefits From Recent Climate Legislation

To the Editor:

The Berkshire chapter of Citizens' Climate Lobby and its partners are hosting a free public forum on the evening of Monday, April 3, that will highlight recently passed climate legislation and the opportunities available to local governments and their constituents.

The Berkshire chapter of Citizens' Climate Lobby and its partners are hosting a free public forum on the evening of Monday, April 3, 2023, at the Berkshire Innovation Center, at 45 Woodlawn Ave. in Pittsfield. The event is open to the community, and the reception with appetizers will begin at 5:30 p.m., and panelists will begin at 6:15 p.m.

The panelists are Massachusetts state Sen. Paul Mark, former Undersecretary of Energy and Climate Solutions Judy Chang, Executive Director of Green Energy Consumers Alliance Larry Chretien, and Congressman Richard Neal with a brief message.

The forum, sponsored by The Berkshire Eagle, Berkshire Innovation Center, Ener-g-Save, and Citizen's Climate Lobby, will highlight recently passed climate legislation and the opportunities available to local governments and their constituents. The panelists will explain the benefits of these new laws including job creation, access to immediate rebates, generous tax credits, and more, and will appeal to businesses and individuals alike. The event will be live-streamed on Pittsfield Community Television. Moderated questions from the audience will be posed to the panel.

"I am excited to join local leaders, community members, and climate activists to discuss state and federal legislation recently signed into law and how these new policies can benefit us in the Berkshires," declared Senator Paul Mark. "Climate change is one of the most important issues we face as a state and as a nation and how we respond to this challenge and work to proactively mitigate the negative consequences is going to impact all of us in a tangible way for years to come."

Uli Nagel of Lee, liaison to Congressman Richard Neal's office, shared her concern, "Lack of snow cover in the winter is hurting our local ski resorts, and the drought-like conditions in the summer are difficult for local farmers. Events like these help educate our community; these new laws can help to slow that trend."

Christine Kelly
Sheffield, Mass. 

Breathe Easy Berkshires Examines Impact of Butternut Fire

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:26AM / Monday, January 27, 2025

Breathe Easy Berkshires leads group discussions last week to catalog the effects of the fire on the region through personal experiences.

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Environmentalists last week opened the floor for reflections on the Butternut Fire, highlighting its air quality effects in Pittsfield.

Breathe Easy Berkshires, a project of the Berkshire Environmental Action Team, invited attendees to share what they smelled, saw, heard, touched, tasted, and thought during the wildfire that tore through over 1,600 acres in Great Barrington in late November.

At the BEAT headquarters, project managers Andrew Ferrara and Drake Reed led group discussions with people from all over Berkshire County. Air-quality monitors in Pittsfield showed a spike during the fire's worst day, reaching an unhealthy level.

"I smelled it in my back yard when I went out of my house with my dog. I smelled it first and then I saw a haze, and then I kind of walked in a circle when I couldn't see a source of the haze," said Pittsfield resident Elliott Hunnewell.

"It was all around me and I was listening very carefully for sirens and I couldn't hear anything but birds."

Some Greenagers employees who work close to the fires said the air felt heavy and required a KN95 mask. Project supervisor Rosemary Wessel observed a lack of personal safety information from authorities, such as a masking advisory for particulate matter.

"Everyone thought was in their area," she said. "So it was one of those things where even though it was far away, it smelled like it was right in your neighborhood."

The Breath Easy project measures air quality in Pittsfield's environmental justice communities, Morningside and West Side neighborhoods, and studies the potential health effects of air pollution. It mostly focuses on sources such as power plants and traffic emissions but the Butternut Fire provided an opportunity to study how extreme weather events impact air quality.