[Atmob-club] [Atmob-announce] Light Pollution Bill

Sat Jun 7 19:55:32 EDT 2008

Thanks Virginia, let us see what we can come up with, then we can
strategize.
Mario

On Sat, Jun 7, 2008 at 12:29 PM, Virginia Renehan <vrenehan at gis.net> wrote:

>  Mario et. al,
>
> Mario, congratulations on your AMA nominations, that's terrific and well
> deserved.  And thank you on behalf of the club and all students of
> astronomy, for your efforts to preserve our night sky.   Of course you can
> have time at the monthly meeting to discuss LP bill issues.  Yes, very sad
> situation with Marzilli - hopefully he will get the help he clearly needs.
>
> Unfortunately, I don't know of anyone in the legislature to spearhead the
> LP bill, but I would be willing to draft a boiler plate letter for those in
> the club willing to contact their local reps.  We all need to chip in.
> Also, if you think it would help,  I could contact the other amateur
> astronomy clubs in MA and urge their participation.
>
> Let do it!
> ~V
> P.S.  thanks for the kind words. much appreciated.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Mario Motta <mmotta at massmed.org>
> *To:* atmob-announce at atmob.org
> *Cc:* dgreen at cfa.harvard.edu
> *Sent:* Saturday, June 07, 2008 10:19 AM
> *Subject:* [Atmob-announce] Light Pollution Bill
>
> Hello all,
>
>     For those that have been following the news, I am sure you are as
> shocked and saddened as much as I am with Sen Jim Marzilli's recent
> exploits. In the past when we have met, he always seemed like a very
> responsible and great guy to know.  This puts our light pollution bill in
> some jeprody, as Mraxilli is the sponsor of the bill. I , as well as Dan
> Green and Kelly Beatty, have been frustrated for some time now with Jim, as
> he has been absolutely non responsive to our calls and e-mails. In my
> current position as president-elect of the Mass Medical Society, I now have
> very good access to the State House politico's, and have been in Speaker
> DiMasi's office just a few weeks ago, Rep Robert DeLeo (chair ways and
> Means) office last month, and Rep Brian Dempsey (chair joint comm on energy)
> few months ago and inaddition to discussing health care issues, bring up the
> light pollution bill. In each case, they all state: sounds like a great
> idea.. no one has spoken to them about it yet.. will discuss with sponsor
> and discuss further.
>
>    Well,   now that Jim Marzilli has dropped out of the re-election race,
> and is in a Psych hospital, it appears they will never hear from him at all.
> Every 2 years, 7,000 bills get filled, only about 200 actually pass. If a
> sponsor is not actively pushing a bill, it has essentially little chance of
> passing, I think we are dead this year as a result. This is very
> frustrating, as I have made quite an effort to meet with the house and
> senate leaders and and felt I greased the wheels for the bill to pass. The
> one person who I have NOT met with this past year was Marzilli himself. I
> have even stopped by his state house office twice, and he "could not meet".
> He has not responded to phone calls, or e-mails as he had promptly in the
> past, frustrating myself as well as Kelly. I think something medically is
> wrong with him to have such a dramatic turn around in behavior, and to go
> around accosting women in public places.
>
>      So, that leaves us with a problem, where do we go from here. For those
> that do not know, I am currently president-elect of the Mass Medical
> Society, and next May will be President. This gives me great access to
> politicians both at our state house, and nationally. In two weeks, I will be
> at the AMA meeting in Chicago, and I have been nominated to be on the AMA
> Science and Public health Council. That would allow me to have a voice on
> national scientific issues that affect public health. (Light pollution just
> might creep into the discussion if I have my way).  Not certain at all of
> course, have to be elected, but my main opponent is a psychiatrist from
> Illinois... you would think a cardiologist with a large telescope should be
> able to beat out a Psychiatrist, but... will let you know. The point is, I
> think I have a golden opportunity to use the power of my office to push the
> light pollution bill. When I show up representing the medical society they
> actually listen to me.. (I am shocked actually). In addition, the MMS has 2
> part time lobbyists who I have already instructed to track the bill and push
> whenever appropriate.
>
>     The main issue is now with Marzilli's public fall from grace, we need a
> new sponsor if we are to get a light pollution bill. Jim is essentially a
> non person now at the State House, and too late for anything to do about it.
> I will continue to push the bill, but I have my doubts this year.
> I think I now know enough about how to get a bill passed, but will need
> ATMOB help. If you guys want this, we all need to work for it.
>
> 1. We need a new sponsor. I am sure I could get Sen Tarr from Gloucester to
> sponsor, as I have already spoken to him, and he supports, but.. he is a
> Republican in a democratic state, and may not be best move. I will however
> ask him to be a co-sponsor, thus making it "bi-partisan" legislation, always
> a smart move.
> I will sit down with the MMS people and decide which legislators have real
> power to get this through, then will propose those names to ATMOB. We then
> need members in those districts to meet with that legislator and ask they
> sponsor for next cycle. This I can not do alone, need a local constituent to
> be there as an ask. I want to find some one who will be committed and will
> actually work for the bill.
>
> 2. I want all ATMOB to make sure they meet with or send notes to ask that
> we have plenty of co-sponsors. Bills with many co-sponsors always have a
> boost.
>
> 3.Bills get filled in December for the next legislative cycle. Miss that,
> and you are swimming upstream. So.. will get all this arranged this summer,
> and pushed in the fall. Be ready for the filling in early December.
>
> 4. Make an effort to get to state House during committee meetings.
>
> 5. We have a ready built argument that many towns and cities have already
> passed their own light pollution law. This has been a very powerful argument
> when I have discussed at the State House. Need a full list in NELPAG, so we
> can sway the legislators, so... need this soon. Can everyone check their
> local town, and at the next meeting give me a list of all towns that have
> passed a form of light pollution control? Pass notes to me with your name
> and your towns status. If you know the town bill statute number all the
> better. I will pass this into NELPAG and build our database and our argument
> for state passage becomes very strong.
>
> To Virginia, If we could have a few moments at our June meeting to start
> this discussion? Maybe after the club elections.
> And by the way, let me be the first to thank you for a great 2 years as
> president, you have worked tirelessly on our behalf, and I think have been
> one of the best presidents we have ever had, great job. Steve Beckwith will
> have large shoes to fill.
>
> To all, I think I have an opportunity to get this passed, but... not worth
> the effort unless we do the above and everyone helps. Are you all on board??
>
> Mario Motta
>
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