Tag: Climate Change

Special: Camden Conference 3/3/14

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Presentation entitled “Overheated: The Human Cost of Climate Change” from the 2014 Camden Conference, Andrew Guzman, Professor of Law, Berkeley Law School

1. What is the current effect on access to fresh water of melting glaciers around the world?
2. How many people are dependent on water originating in glaciers?
3. What will the effect be on those people as the climate warms?

WERU News Report 2/26/14

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Today on the News Report we’ll be talking with 3 of the organizers of an upcoming, that will focus on what individual Mainers, organizations, and business owners are already doing—and what else can be done – to address climate change.
The Climate Solutions Summit and Expo will be held in Augusta on March 12th. Karen Marysdaughter, a 350 Maine member and Co-Coordinator of Climate Solutions, Laurie Osher, PhD, President of Maine Interfaith Power & Light, and Fred Horch , another co-coordinator of the event, are with us today to talk about the details.

RadioActive 11/21/13

Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco

Issue: Environmental and Social Justice

Program Topic: The 19th Conference of Parties(COP) to the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change conclusion and analysis

Key Discussion Points:

a) The UN climate talks in Warsaw were meant to build towards a goal of a binding agreement in 2015, but even this modest directive has disintegrated. Today, established environmental groups and other social movement representatives walked out of the COP 19, saying they felt not enough was being done. They say they will focus on building a movement to pressure on governments for the next conference.
b) Main areas to be addressed at the climate talks are the mitigation of climate change, adaption to the increasing extreme weather effects and funding for countries who are the hardest hit, the least able to afford it, and have had the least contribution to carbon dioxide levels. On Wednesday, members of the G77 and China temporarily walked out negotiations on “loss and damages”, responding to the lack of engagement by developed countries, who want to put off the issue until 2015.
c) With all the current carbon dioxide emissions reduction goals submitted by party countries, there is still a projected mitigation gap of 8-13 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide. To hold the planet to 2 degree Celsius, CO 2 emissions can’t exceed 44 gigatonnes by 2020. With the current party goals, the planet will be at 52-58 gigatonnes at 2020.

Guest:
A) Janet Redman, the Institute for Policy Studies, director of the Climate Policy Program.

http://www.ips-dc.org/
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/21/mass-walk-out-un-climate-talks-warsaw
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/nov/20/climate-talks-walk-out-compensation-un-warsaw
http://climate-connections.org/
http://allafrica.com/stories/201311210409.html
http://allafrica.com/stories/201311210463.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/20/climate-change-fight

Common Health 11/20/13

Host: Jim Fisher
Engineer: Amy Browne

Program Topic: Mining and Public Health

Key Discussion Points
a) What kinds of mines do we have in Maine?
b) What is Maine’s history with metal / sulfate mining?
d) What are some of the environmental and health risks of metal mining?
c) Where are we headed in Maine?

Guests:
Rep. Ralph Chapman
Maine State Legislator, HD 37 and Environmental Scientist
chapmanhd37@gmail.com
www.ralphchapman.org
Lindsay Newland Bowker CPCU, ARM, Environmental Risk Manager
Bowker Associates, Science & Research In the Public Interest, Stonington Maine
lindsaynewlandbowker@gmail.com
Lindsay Newland Bowker, Environmental Risk Manager, Mineral Mining Blog

RadioActive 11/14/13

Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco

Issue: Environmental and Social Justice

Program Topic: Climate Change and Increasing Storm Intensity

Key Discussion Points:
a) As the 19th round of UN climate talks open in Poland and the Philippines reels from Typhoon Haiyan, climate scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Kevin Trenberth, talks about how global climate change effects the intensity of extreme weather, like typhoons.
b) Trenberth discusses the science behind how rising temperatures and rising sea levels effects the severity of storms, how carbon outputs effect ocean acidification,
c)and some of the recommendations for mitigation outlined in a recent report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Guest:
Kevin Trenberth, climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

WERU News Report 10/30/13

Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Audio recorded by John Greenman

We’ve reported extensively on the re-write of Maine’s mining laws that is presently underway, and also on the situation in El Salvador, where those who resist mining have been threatened, jailed and even killed. Here in Maine, one of the giant Canadian Irving Corporation’s spin off companies and their lawyers, authored the new mining legislation- that was originally introduced in 2012—consisting of their wish list of changes to Maine’s mining laws. The company wants new regulations that would allow metallic mineral mining on Bald Mountain in Aroostook County, and elsewhere. They have the support of the LePage administration.
Stefano Tijerina is a Professor of History and Economics at UMaine and Husson University, and has worked in banking in the past. He has researched mining and free trade agreements in the US, Canada and Latin America. In a recent talk at the university, he focused on Canada’s role, and how it impacts us here in Maine:

(Professor Stefano Tijerina, with a segment of his presentation last week at UMaine, titled “Canada’s ‘Goodwill’ Revised—Mining, Capitalism, and Imperialism”. The talk was sponsored by the university’s Marxist and Socialist Studies lecture series, and was recorded by WERU’s John Greenman.)

WERU News Report 10/29/13

Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Audio recorded by John Greenman

Efforts are underway at the University of Maine, to become the 3rd Maine college–following Unity College and College of the Atlantic–in divesting from the fossil fuel industry. Churches, universities, cities and organizations around the world are taking part in the quickly expanding fossil fuel divestment movement. Here in Maine, in addition to Unity College and COA, the First Unitarian Church of Pittsfield, is also taking part.
The Fossil Free Campaign was started by 350.org. According to their website, “200 publicly-traded companies hold the vast majority of the world’s proven coal, oil and gas reserves.” And their demands are that those companies: stop exploring for new hydrocarbons, stop lobbying for “special breaks”, and pledge to keep 80% of their current reserves underground forever.

Speakers include: UMaine alum Karen Marysdaughter, she’s with 350.org’s Maine chapter, and is working with students at the university; students Samantha Perez, President of the UMaine Green Team; Audrey Maddocks and Jonathan McCullem; and Misa Saros, former Campus Sustainability Coordinator at UMaine.

Related links:
FB: http://www.facebook.com/divest.umaine
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/29/fossil-fuels-divestment-campaign-gather-momentum
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/27/fossil-fuel-divestment-campaign-uk
http://www.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/research/stranded-assets/SAP-divestment-report-final.pdf
http://gofossilfree.org/commitments/

Investors challenge fossil fuel companies


https://www.ceres.org/files/car-mats/car-release/carbon-asset-risk-initiative-investor-signatories-as-of-october-2013/at_download/file
http://www.ceres.org/press/press-clips/wall-street-demands-answers-from-fossil-fuel-producers-on-unburnable-carbon

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303902404579151580498275194
http://environment.yale.edu/climate-communication/projects/research/climate-change-in-the-american-mind