A bell ringing victorious year for Global Warming Solutions

2022 was a busy year for Global Warming Solutions!

We sounded the alarm bell on climate change, literally. On the eleventh of each month in Harvard Square, we rang the First Parish Church Cambridge bell for 11 minutes, signifying that we are truly in the 11th hour in the battle against climate change.

The Massachusetts Clean Energy bill (H.3288/S.2136) became law. The act will make us transition to 100% energy for electricity by 2035 and 100% clean energy for the building and transportation sectors by 2045.

We pushed for increased production of clean energy, not only to help the climate but also to stop funding dictators like Putin. This year, we saw tremendous victories in clean energy production, the largest being the passage of the most significant investment in clean energy in the history of the United States through the Inflation Reduction Act.

We pressured Massachusetts lawmakers to declare April 24th right whale day. We delivered over 500 signatures and public comments to the state capitol.

We urged for the protection of many critically endangered species. We made our voices heard, from manatees, Northern long-eared bats, grey wolves, and pollinators to North Atlantic right whales, koalas, sea turtles, harlequin butterflies, and on to forests, both young and old-growth forests. Thousands of supporters signed petitions urging lawmakers to protect precious inhabitants of priceless ecosystems.

We issued our Natural Lawn Care for Healthy Soils Challenge and educated folks to increase carbon drawdown and storage with more water retained for drier times when caring for their yards. Families pledged not to spread fertilizer on established lawns or water lawns. (111 species of bees in Springfield, MA, prefer lawns not watered, not fertilized, and no chemicals.) During the summer, we tabled in fourteen municipalities, distributed 1,000 stickers, and were featured on WCVB Channel 5 newsmagazine Chronicle.

We helped to send three out of four climate champions back to the Senate.

The work is only just beginning, and I have high hopes for our climate work with more global warming solutions in the new year.

We could not have done any of this without the generous grassroots support of people like you. Thank you, and have a very happy new year.

Rob