The biggest environmental problem in Cambridge, MA, is all those supposedly protective organizations with connections to the Cambridge City Manager or Cambridge City Councilors which tend to achieve exactly the opposite of their supposed goals.
In my opinion, the most important factor in the imminent / ongoing destruction of the irreplaceable Alewife reservation is such an organization.
Alewife is very close to the Northern terminus of the Red Line subway.
It is essentially a virgin wilderness with massive excellent native trees and all sorts of excellent animals. My biggest problem in trying to defend this area has been a supposedly protective organization which has been telling people to look at everything else.
When push came to shove, after 15 years of pious proclamations of love for Alewife, the leader of the supposed protective organization, Ellen Mass, went public with support for the destruction of the core Alewife reservation.
In the November 10, 2011, issue of the Cambridge Chronicle and on line, she once again proclaims her love for Alewife in a very long letter.
One big trouble with her latest letter is that she is following my letter in the November 3, 2011, Cambridge Chronicle which is posted at: http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/response-to-former-cambridge-human.html. And she looks like she is responding to it.
I have just offered the following response to her response:
********
Editor
Cambridge Chronicle
I want to thank Ellen Mass for responding to that part of my letter in the November 3, 2011, Cambridge Chronicle which was directed straight at her. The trouble with her very long response is that nowhere in the response do I see any meaningful response to the issues I raised.
I was addressing the mentality shown in the Cambridge City Solicitor as quoted by former members of the Human Rights Commission. The points directly aimed at Ms. Mass read:
***********
This mentality shows how a group supposedly defending Alewife spent 15 years maneuvering people away from the totally avoidable public destruction of the animals and trees in the irreplaceable core Alewife reservation.
This mentality shows how the Alewife “protectors” “cannot understand” that the destruction of the core reservation cannot possibly protect North Cambridge from flooding. They are protecting against the worst possible rainstorm in any two year period. They need protection against the two fifty year floods which have hit the area in the last twenty years. There is a big difference.
This mentality shows how the Alewife “defenders” cannot look at the other side of Cambridge Park Drive from the Alewife reservation. It shows why they cannot see that massive parking lot which could protect against 50 year floods if it were used instead of the core Alewife reservation.
***********
My explanation read: “This mentality shows that all that REALLY counts to the Cambridge Machine is being part of Team Healy.”
Could Ms. Mass, with her 15 years of supposed defense of Alewife, please explain these blind spots? She very clearly supports destruction of the core Alewife Reservation.
Thank you.
