Tag: Climate Change

WERU News Report 11/14/12

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

The Maine Center for Public Interesting Reporting released a report today on their investigation of where things stand in the state of Maine in terms of preparing for the consequences of climate change. We talk with Kate McCormick, author of the report. (www.pinetreewatchdog.org)

Update: The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting last week reported that the state Department of Environmental Protection had removed a climate change report from its web site in December, 2011. A DEP spokesman said this week that the report was restored in April, 2012, at the request of a citizen. The Center interviewed DEP Commissioner Patricia Aho about the report’s status in June, 2012, at which time she did not say it had been restored to the web site.

RadioActive 11/1/12

Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco

Program Topic: Climate change’s connection to Hurricane Sandy, and a local Maine initiative working to create community level momentum to combat carbon emissions

Key Discussion Points:
a) We look at the connections between the destructiveness of Hurricane Sandy and climate change.
Sea levels from Boston to Norfolk, VA are rising four times faster then global averages. Levels in New York are 1 foot higher then 100 years ago. Increased water vapor from warming sea temperatures increases rainfall and flooding, and is connected to the intensification of storms. According the the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), this September had the second highest temperature on record; sea surface temperatures off the Northeast, US, are about 5 degrees above average.
b) Is Hurricane Sandy a watershed moment for public, governmental and media attention to climate change?
c)We also look at the local initiative Maine Partners for Cool Communities to reduce carbon pollution through residential, grassroots efforts.
Guests:
Joseph Romm, Center for American Progress, writes Climate Progress blog at www.thinkprogress.org
Nancy Glassman, Maine Partners for Cool Communities, mid-coast coordinator for Green Sneakers
greensneakersmc@gmail.com, www.coolmaine.org, www.efficiencymaine.com

WERU News Report 8/22/12

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Topics: Locals Commission LPG Risk Assessment; Part 2 of Bill McKibben’s speech in Bar Harbor on 8/19/12

*Local groups Islesboro Islands Trust and Thanks But No Tank (TBNT) have commissioned Good Harbor Consulting, headed by Richard Clarke, counter-terrorism expert and advisor to three U.S. Presidents, to do an independent risk assessment of the massive LPG tank facility DCP Midstream wants to build in Searsport, but the Searsport Planning Board refuses to have the results of the assessment put on the agenda for their November meeting. We talk with Steve Hinchman, attorney for Islesboro Islands Trust and Thanks But No Tank

*Bill McKibben’s talk wraps up with ideas about taking action. (Audio recorded by Matt Murphy at College of the Atlantic, 8/19/12, 15th anniversary event for Sustainable Harvest International. Part 1 aired 8/21/12)

WERU Community SoapBox 5/8/12

Host: Amy Browne
Engineer: Joel Mann
Issue: Open-mic style call-in show
Key Discussion Points: LPG tank, Searsport, Emergency Management Meeting, Climate Change, E-W Highway, E-W Corridor, Fukushima Reactor 4, Obama, Romney, 3rd party candidates, Citizens United, Move to Amend, Thanks But No Tank
Guests by name and affiliation: n/a
Call In Program: yes

WERU Community SoapBox 5/1/12

Host: Amy Browne
Engineer: Matt Murphy
Issue: Open-mic call in show

Program Topic: various

Key Discussion Points:
May Day, climate change skepticism, climate change, solutions for a healthier planet, Fukushima Reactor 4

Guests by name and affiliation: n/a

Call In Program: yes

WERU Community SoapBox 4/3/12

Issue: Open Mic Style Call-in Show

Host: Amy Browne
Studio Engineer: Joel Mann

Key Discussion Points:
SoapBox & public affairs call-in shows schedule, healthcare reform, pros and cons of western medicine, iatrogenics, energy independence, climate change, upcoming events, Obamacare

Call In Program: Yes

RadioActive 6/9/11

Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco

Today we look at Maine’s high ozone alert with a DEP meteorologist and talk with a member of the Union for Concerned Scientists on the connection to climate change.
Then we speak with a member of the Laborers union about and upcoming “Maine Worker’s Forum on Jobs”, featuring a presentation of the Living Labor Mural.
Guests:
-Maine DEP meteorologist Martha Webster.www.mainedep.com (click “Maine Air Quality Forecasts”) or toll free hotline (800) 223-1196
– Union of Concerned public health expert and co author of report “ Climate Change and Your Health : Rising Temperatures, Worsening Ozone Pollution”
Report at: www.ucsusa.org/climateandozonepollution
-Chris Tucker (Laborers 327) and Eastern Maine Labor Council
For registration and information on the “Maine Worker’s Forum on Jobs” : www.foodandmedicine.org