Letter: International Women's Day

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To the Editor:

This letter was ignored by the Berkshire Eagle

Friday, March 8, was International Women's Day. Here in the Berkshires, it was celebrated by the Zonta club, an International Women's Leadership organization, by honoring six dynamic women from our community at a special dinner that attracted over 200 attendees.

This diverse group of women has made monumental contributions from coaching young professionals to build careers here to providing over two million diapers to those in need. These women aren't CEOs of big corporations and they didn't develop the latest app. They excelled by giving their time, skills and in most cases their own money for the benefit and betterment of the Berkshires. Their stories are inspirational, serving as powerful testaments of selfless service to guide young girls and women.

On Saturday morning, I sat down with my digital copy of the Berkshire Eagle–our Hometown Newspaper– expecting to read about this event and the special women leaders who are uplifting our community but there was no story or photo. Making headlines was the lead story with photos about “Drag Time Story Hour for our Children.”


I seriously question the Eagle's editorial decision and judgment. How do you ignore this opportunity to illustrate International Women's Day through local coverage of Zonta's six remarkable honorees, from diverse backgrounds and roles, who are leading the Berkshires to build a more equitable, desirable and respectful place to live?

I've met the editor and publisher of the Eagle. He's a smart guy. This wasn't a mistake. I believe this was an intentional effort by our hometown newspaper to advance a political agenda while ignoring real community heroes. Eagle editors have demonstrated irresponsible behavior and a lack of leadership and judgment by propagating a targeted narrative.

Get the focus where it belongs.

Respectfully,

Roger Gibboni
Lanesborough, Mass. 

 

 

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Healey Administration Visits Pittsfield to Talk Green Energy Siting

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Massachusetts energy officials visited Pittsfield to talk about clean energy infrastructure siting as the state works to cut greenhouse gas emissions. 

On Wednesday, Sept. 30, the Healey-Driscoll Administration hosted a listening session at the Berkshire Innovation Center.  Representatives from Berkshire communities and organizations heard about solar arrays, battery storage, and more.  

The 2024 clean energy bill aims for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.  As part of it, municipalities must begin accepting single consolidated local permit applications for small clean energy projects this month. 

"We have new regulations coming into place, and just want to make sure we are hearing from people because we know it's not always easy. We have a lot of commitments on clean energy and climate that are really important, and they help us on our energy affordability, but we know there's also often tension with our land preservation values," Deputy Climate Chief Aladdine Joroff said. 

"We want to preserve rural character. We have to protect critical forests and ecosystems for habitat and water supply. We're thinking about how we balance those different goals." 

She explained that large clean energy systems, in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, have public health benefits and are more affordable. 

Since 2008, more than 200,000 solar arrays have been installed statewide, surpassing a 4,500 megawatt milestone.  Roughly 98 percent of those installations are residential scale, sized between five and ten kilowatts, and solar is the second largest source of generation capacity in the state, as well as in New England. 

Undersecretary of Energy Michael Judge explained that solar has shifted peaks into the evening by reducing demand in the middle of the day, largely contributing to the retirement of some fossil fuel generation facilities and lowering wholesale energy prices.

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