Tag: Climate Change

Weekend Voices 5/22/10

Executive Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Contributor: Meredith DeFrancesco

On Tuesday, the Lamoine Conservation Commission, the Bar Harbor Conservation Commission, the Union River Watershed Coalition, and Food & Water Watch, sponsored a showing of the documentary film “Tapped” and a panel discussion on bottled water and its impacts.   Today we bring you excerpts from the panel discussion and question and answer session.  The panelists are Rep. Jim Schatz of Blue Hill; Emily Posner, Coordinator for Defending Water for Life in Maine; Daphne Loring, Coordinator at the Maine Fair Trade Campaign;  and Willem Brutsaert, an Environmental Engineer Professor at the University of Maine, and expert in groundwater and surface water hydrology.

(Recorded by Meredith DeFrancesco;  Edited by Amy Browne)

RadioActive 5/6/10

Producers/Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco & Amy Browne

Contributing Producer: Meaghan LaSalla

Today we hear an interview on  the World People’s Conference on Climate Change in Bolivia with Janet Redman of the International Policy Institute, a report from Meaghan LaSalla on the May 1st immigrant rights march in Portland, and comments from Passamaquoddy tribal member Madonna Soctomah on a recent decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to terminate Quoddy Bay LNG’s lease, after the tribe had rejected the project, and members of the tribe were suing the BIA for lack of oversight. some websites:climate conference—pwccc.wordpress.com

Talk of the Towns 2/12/10

Producer/Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension

Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Topic: Reflections After Copenhagen: Next Steps for Climate Negotiations

Guests:
Attendees at Climate Summit from College of the Atlantic:
Doreen Stabinski, Faculty member Global Environmental Politics
Lindsay Britton
Matt Maiorana
Noah Hodgetts

Weekend Voices 1/2/10

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Audio recorded by John Greenman and edited by Amy Browne

University of Maine Professor Michael Howard (Dept. of Philosophy), speaking in November 2009, on the topic of climate change and social justice, as part of the University’s Marxist and Socialist Studies Lecture Series.

RadioActive 12/31/09

Producers/Hosts: Amy Browne & Meredith DeFrancesco

Segment 1: Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of WERU’s “World Ocean Radio”,  reports back from the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen.  FMI: www.thew2o.net

Segment 2: Over the holidays , two more anti-mining activists were murdered in the Cabanas region in El Salvador. Area residents allege the Canadian gold mining company, Pacific Rim, is connected to incidents of violence and threats against activists who oppose mining in the community. Because of widespread opposition, El Salvador has passed a moratorium against mining. In response, Pacific Rim is suing the Salvadoran government under the Central American Free trade Agreement, through it’s Nevada subsidiary.

William Castillo,  the Center for Research on Investment and Trade(CEICOM) and the National Coalition Against Mining.
Tom Shrake, President and CEO, Pacific Rim Mining Corporation (written statement)

Over the holidays , two more anti-mining activists were murdered in the Cabanas region in El Salvador. Area residents allege the Canadian gold mining company, Pacific Rim, is connected to incidents of violence and threats against activists who oppose mining in the community. Because of widespread opposition, El Salvador has passed a moratorium against mining. In response, Pacific Rim is suing the Salvadoran government under the Central American Free trade Agreement, through it’s Nevada subsidiary.   William Castillo,  the Center for Research on Investment and Trade(CEICOM) and the National Coalition Against Mining.Tom Shrake, President and CEO, Pacific Rim Mining Corporation (written statement)

RadioActive 7/10/09

Producers/Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco and Amy Browne

Topic: The urgent impacts climate change will continue to have on food security through out the world. The G8 Summit in Italy this week has said they will examine these issues. Whether any plan will emerge remains to be seen. The leaders of the so-called Group of 8 or G8 countries are meeting in Italy this week in an annual summit to discuss global issues…

Guest: Gawain Kripke, Oxfam America’s policy director
To view report “Suffering the Science: Climate Change , People and Poverty” -www.Oxfam America.org. FMI www.350.org

RadioActive 6/25/09

Producers/Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco and Amy Browne

Today we look at a stand Maine health care providers are taking against climate change, we hear about shifting policy on the application of industrial pesticides in the state and we look at Congressman Michaud’s TRADE Act which would reorganize US trade priorities.

1.On Monday, Governor Baldacci signed a bill which will create a statewide registry for notification of agricultural pesticide application by aerial spray or air carrier application equipment.
Guest: executive director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) Russel Libby discusses what the legislation does and where it has fallen short on the protection of people and organic crops from pesticide drift. FMI www.mofga.org

2.On Tuesday, 100 healthcare professionals from across the state sent Maine’s Congressional delegation a letter urging them to take decisive action to address climate change specifically the United States production of green house gases. The focus of the letter was the public health implications of climate change. We speak with Dr Lani Grahm, the co-president of the Maine Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility. Her organization ,as well as the Maine Medical Association have stressed their deep concern on the issue. FMI www.psr.org/chapters/maine www.cleanandhealthyme.org

3. A bill which would establish stringent standards for future free trade agreements, and the review and potential renegotiation of current free trade agreements, was introduced yesterday in Congress.
HR 3012, the “Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment” or “TRADE” Act was introduced, with 106 co-sponsors, by Maine Congressman Mike Michaud, the Chairman of the House Trade Working Group.
The TRADE Act would require adherence by country signatories to labor, environmental and human rights standards, as well as addressing the privatization of public services, intellectual property rights and procurement policies.
Even more significantly, the Act would require a review, and potential renegotiation, of a number of current trade agreements, including NAFTA, CAFTA and the World Trade Organization’s Uruguay Round agreements, based on the Act’s new trade standards.

Guest: Sarah Bigney, Maine Fair Trade Campaign www.mainefairtrade.org

Talk of the Towns 5/08/09

Producer/Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension

Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Topic: Maine’s Climate Future—what are the implications?

Guests: George Jacobson, School of Biology and Ecology & Climate Change Institute, University of Maine; Paul Anderson, University of Maine Sea Grant; Ivan Fernandez, Plant, Soil & Environmental Sciences, and Climate Change Institute, University of Maine; David Littell, Commissioner, Maine Department of Environmental Protection

What led to this report and what was different in the process of pulling it together? How is the report organized? What does the record of Maine’s past and present climate tell us about the future? What does the report find for freshwater ecosystems, forests, biodiversity and indigenous peoples of Maine? Maine is a heavily forested state, influencing both our economy and where people live and recreate… what are some of the implications of people making a living from and enjoying Maine’s woodlands? what are some of the implications of Maine’s climate future for people living and making a living on the coast? What led Governor to request this report? How would you characterize its contribution to our response, as a State, to the issues? How are the executive and legislative branches of Maine government responding… what are the highlights? What should citizens and stakeholders be watching for?

FMI: http://www.climatechange.umaine.edu/mainesclimatefuture/index.htm