OSWEGO, NEW YORK
APRIL 24, 2024
Three guys walk into a bar and come up with an idea to help counter the effects of climate change.
It might sound like a joke, but that’s exactly how George Broadwell, Gary Revel and Richard Faith came up with the idea for Mother Nature Festival Live Inc.
“I told Richard and George about the project to stop global warming and to help Mother Nature,” Revel said Monday via a Zoom call. “That’s where Mother Nature Festival Live Inc. got its start.”
Close to four years ago, Revel was performing at GS Steamers Bar & Grill, located inside the Broadwell-owned Clarion Hotel and Suites Riverfront on East First Street in Oswego. Revel has long been focused on environmental issues, writing and recording the song “Mother Nature” in the 1970s.
The group held a benefit concert at Curtis Manor in Oswego in April 2022. The concert featured performances from local favorites Frostbit Blue among others.
The Mother Nature Festival Live Inc. held a press conference on Monday to coincide with Earth Day at the Clarion Hotel to discuss the rising cost of fertilizer and how the group could reduce the effects of climate change.
Joining in the room with Faith were Lee Newman, associate professor and chair of chemistry at SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) in Syracuse, and Phil MacArthur of the Tree Stewards program in Oswego. Revel and other board members joined the press conference via Zoom.
“This innovative project, developed in collaboration with Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) posts, American Legion posts and VA hospitals, represents a significant step toward revitalizing domestic fertilizer production while creating employment opportunities in rural communities,” said Faith, executive director for the group, in his speech opening the press conference. “By harnessing the expertise and resources of our veterans, we aim to enhance soil health, promote carbon sequestration and foster sustainable agricultural practices.”
Faith said one of the issues confronting farmers is arid soil, and they’re getting limited returns from federal subsidies.
“Farmers are reporting they are harvesting the bumper crop instead of leaving them in the field to provide nutrients,” said Faith, “as they are uncertain if the soil will sustain another crop due to extremely dry conditions.”
Another aim of the group is to get homeless veterans involved in improving the environment.
“We will enlist homeless veterans to participate in the restoration and maintenance of American forests,” Faith said, “in alignment with the president’s executive order F, in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to improve forest health.”
The group is promoting a national biofertilizer program to harness material waste to create nutrient rich compost consisting of living organisms. Faith said the United States has relied on foreign contributions to get much of its fertilizer.
“America used to get 40% of its fertilizer from Ukraine,” Faith said. “Since the war, that has stopped. The government has put $500 million in grants for innovative programs saying, ‘how can we create fertilizer?’ This program will create millions and millions of gallons of bio-fertilizer, and we can save that money.”
The Mother Nature group wants to get college-age students involved because climate change will affect them more than older Americans. To that end, the group has had discussions with several colleges and universities to create an entry-level class called “saving the planet.”
“This will be a national appeal,” Faith said. “We’re all of the same mind. We really need to act., because we’re really on the precipice and I’m not kidding. This 101 course will be an accredited course.”
The group is putting together a community engagement committee to plan events to help spread awareness of global warming.
Faith has also written a children’s book called “Bee Scared,” a book about disappearing bee colonies. The book has been translated into French and Swahili, and a Spanish version is on the way, Faith said.
From Oswego County News Now, Paladium Times & Valley News
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Gary Revel 