Senator Markey Speaking at BCC's 59th Commencement

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey will be the keynote speaker at Berkshire Community College's 59th commencement exercises to be held May 31 at Tanglewood in Lenox.

Markey, the state's junior senator, is a consumer champion and national leader on energy, environmental protection and telecommunications policy.

"On behalf of the students, faculty, staff and board of trustees at Berkshire Community College, we are so thrilled to have Senator Ed Markey as our 2019 commencement speaker," said Ellen Kennedy, president of BCC. "Markey visited our newly reimagined campus in the fall last year and got to tour the new buildings and classrooms and the Gene Dellea turf field with our student ambassadors, some of whom he will get to see again as they walk across the stage this year at commencement."

Markey's record of energy and environmental legislative efforts include:

• Principal House author of the 2007 fuel economy law, which will increase fuel economy standards to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, the first increase in a generation;
• Author of the appliance efficiency act of 1987, which stopped the construction of hundreds of coal-fired plants;
• Author of the law that established the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, ensuring that New England families aren't be left out in the cold when oil prices spike;
• Author of the law that requires electricity regulators to open up the wholesale electric power market for the first time;
• Co-author in 2009 of the landmark Waxman-Markey bill, the only comprehensive climate legislation ever to pass a chamber of Congress, and;
• Current co-author with U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York of the Green New Deal resolution, a 10-year mobilization plan with the purpose of creating millions of jobs, providing prosperity and economic security for Americans, and counteracting systemic injustices while addressing the existential challenge of climate change.

As a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Markey is a national leader on telecommunications policy, technology and privacy. While in the House, he served for 20 years as chair or ranking member of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.

He is the House author of the 1992 Cable Act, which increased choices for millions of consumers and enabled satellite-delivered programming to be more widely offered. He also authored the law in 1993 that moved over 200 MHz of spectrum from government to commercial use, creating the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth wireless phone companies. Markey authored the landmark Telecommunications Act of 1996, ushering competition into the telecommunications marketplace and unleashing private sector investment.

Pittsfield Celebrates Robert 'Bob' Presutti on Arbor Day

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:33PM / Friday, April 26, 2024

Bob Presutti, right, is presented the Hebert Award in 2017 for his volunteer efforts at Springside Park. He died in 2023 at age 88.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A tree has been planted next to the Berkshire Athenaeum in honor of local "giant" Robert Presutti.

Officials celebrated Arbor Day on Friday by installing a commemorative plaque next to the American elm sapling. This is a tree that James McGrath, the city's park program manager, said Presutti would have been particularly proud of.

"Today is a day where we yes, celebrate trees, but today is also a day where here in the city we intentionally try to acknowledge the good work of folks in our community who spend their time and their efforts and their talents to make Pittsfield a more beautiful place," he said to a crowd of about 20 people.

"Today we are honoring a longtime community volunteer named Bob Presutti. I'm sure a lot of you here know Bob and know his contributions to the city, not only when it comes to trees and parks but also to the Retired Senior Volunteer Program."

The longtime volunteer passed away last year at the age of 88. He contributed more than 10,600 hours to RSVP and had great impacts on the Parks Department over the years from sharing his knowledge and talents to ensuring that workers were safe when working on trees.

"This morning I went through my emails to see how many emails Bob Presutti sent me since the year 2001 when I started with the city. Bob Presutti sent me 14,000 emails and nearly every single one of those was about trees," McGrath said, prompting laughter and smiles from attendees.

One thread struck him as particularly important because it showed Presutti's empathy when it comes to the safety of city workers while caring for trees.

"There were multiple emails from Bob about the need to get the Parks Department maintenance guys into a program learning about chainsaw safety and learning about ladder safety. He was really into making certain that our city workers were well cared for and had all of the instruction that they needed and in fact, he even offered his own time and services after he became certified to teach our city workers," McGrath said.