Tag: BPA

WERU News Report 7/31/13

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Segment 1: A coalition of environmental, health and civic groups called the Alliance for a Clean & Healthy Maine, are calling on Governor LePage to ask 10 major food manufacturers to disclose which of their products contain the toxic chemical bisphenol-A (also known as BPA). At a press conference in Bangor this morning, they expressed disappointment with the governor’s veto of legislation regulating the chemical. Governor LePage has dismissed the dangers of BPA, with his infamous statement about it only maybe causing women to grow “little beards”, but scientists & researchers that study the issue, confirm the concerns expressed at this morning’s rally. We spoke with some of them in 2010, when they were in Maine giving expert testimony at a public hearing on BPA. Today we take you to the rally in Bangor, and listen to what the scientists we interviewed in 2010 had to say.

Segment 2: Peacetime, produced in cooperation with the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine. This week we speak with Doug Allen, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maine, and Education Coordinator at the Peace and Justice Center, about their upcoming annual commemoration of the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

WERU News Report 4/10/13

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

In Augusta today, the Environment and Natural Resources Committee held public hearings this afternoon on 3 separate bills designed to increase regulatation of the chemical Bisphenol A, also known as BPA. BPA is a chemical that is used in plastic toys and in food packaging, including can linings. It has been linked with a wide range of health problems in children and adults. As we went to air this afternoon, the committee was discussing LD 844 : a Resolve, To Require a Study of the Availability of Food Packaging without Bisphenol A, introduced by Rep. Sara Gideon of Freeport

RadioActive 6/21/12

Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco
Issue: Environmental and Social Justice
Program Topic: Citizen Initiative for Regulatory Action on BPA in Food Packaging Intended for Babies and Toddlers and a Report from the Demonstrations at the Rio 20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development

Key Discussion Points (list at least 3):
a) Maine citizens delivered a petition to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection that legally requires the state to consider a rule to ban the use of Bisphonel-A in the containers of food and beverages marketed to babies and small children. Maine law recently went into effect that bans BPA in reusable plastic containers, such as baby bottles and “sippy “cups.
b) Indigenous communities and environmental and social justice organizations at the Rio 20 UN Conference on Sustainable have been amplifying their resistance to destructive projects promoted as part of the so called “green economy”, stressing the negative impacts of commodifying the natural world.
c) One example is the REDD Initiative (“Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation”). Indigenous communities say, now that their forest lands are considered monetarily lucrative as carbon off sets, their often politically marginalized communities are vulnerable to land grabs.
Guests by name and affiliation:
A) Mike Belliveau, executive director, Environmental Health Strategy Center www.preventharm.org
B) Anne Petermann, executive director, Global Justice Ecology Project http://climate-connections.org/
C) Margaret Prescott, producer of “Sojourner Truth”, KPFK FM
D)Jeff Conant, Global Justice Ecology Project reporting
E) Alberto Saldamdo, Indigenous Environmental Network www.ienearth.org/

http://climate-connections.org/2012/06/22/indigenous-deliver-kari-oca-ii-declaration-to-rio20-as-military-halts-hundreds/

Call In Program: no

WERU News Report 12/13/11

Broadcast Time:4pm

Program Topic: Maine Group Issues New Report on Toxic Chemicals in Toys and Paint

Key Discussion Points:

The Environmental Health Strategy Center issued a report today, warning shoppers that “Hormone-Havoc Chemicals Lurk in Products” such as toys and paint.
The classes of chemicals are BPAs and NPEs
The list of products was compiled as companies self-reported under Maine’s “Child Safe Products” law

Guests by name and affiliation:
Steve Taylor, Program Director for The Environmental Health Strategy Center, and co-author of the report

Call In Program: No

Host: Amy Browne
Engineer: Amy Browne

RadioActive 3/31/11

Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco

Segment 1: We talk with labor historian Charles Scontras, in the wake of the labor history mural removal from the Me. Dept of Labor, on Caesar Chavez Day.

In Maine, Governor Paul LePage’s active purging of labor history observations from the Maine Dept of labor building, includes not only taking down the mural depicting scenes from Maine’s labor history, but also orders the renaming of the rooms of the rooms in the Department of labor, one of which is named after Caesar Chavez. Another is named after Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve in a US Cabinet post and the longest serving of any member. Among the many scenes of labor history depicted on the mural painted by the artist Judy Taylor is a panel of Frances Perkins.

Dr. Charles Scontras, the labor historian that worked with Judy Taylor on what history to represent in the mural. Scontras is a retired professor from the University of Maine at Orono’s department of political science, history and modern society. He now works as a historical and research associate with the Bureau of Labor Education. Maine is currently embroiled in another such “right to work” effort, which would undermine the capacity of unions.

For more information on the Bureau of Labor education’s publications, you can go to their website dll.umaine.edu/ble or call 581-4123.

A rally and press conference to demand the return of the Maine labor history mural to the Maine Dept of Labor has been rescheduled due to expected weather. It will take place Monday, April 4th at the hall of Flags at the Augusta State House at noon.

Segment 2: We spoke earlier with Mike Belliveau, the executive director of the statewide public health organization, the Environmental Health Strategy Center.

He spoke with us about the recent unanimous vote by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee to support a ban on Bisphenol-A in products used by children in Maine, LD 412. he also discusses a proposed bill, whose intention is to essentially gut the Kids Safe Products Act.

For more information:
The Environmental and Health Strategy Center : www.preventharm.org
Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine : www.cleanandhealthyme.org.

You can listen to testimony by Rep. Jim Hamper, in support of his bill to weaken the Kids Safe Products Act, LD 1129 , in WERU’s archives from the Tuesday, March 29th WERU News Report. In his testimony he admits industry wrote his bill.