Earthbeat Radio

NASA scientist James Hansen speaks about his arrest at the White House during a protest against mountaintop removal coal mining. Hansen was one of over 100 activists arrested during the non-violent civil disobedience event – Appalachia Rising. Joining the conversation is demonstration organizer, Maria Gunnoe, of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and a native of Boone County, West Virginia.

Hansen put forward an idea of Equal Protection of the Laws at the Appalachia Rising event. The Million Letter March mentioned by James Hansen is the ‘write’ way to stop climate change.

Record breaking amounts of money is pouring into the midterm elections – tracking the contributions from the oil and gas is Dave Levinthal, the editor of the blog Open Secrets and the spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics.

An innovative program in New England is keeping small, family fishing companies afloat in the face of big corporate interests. Niaz Dorry, the director of the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance joins us to discuss the rise of ‘factory fishing’ and how her organization is fighting back.

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Even as the Federal Justice Department says the FBI was wrong to investigate on environmental activists – states are hiring private companies to do the spying for them.

Joining host Daphne Wysham is Mike German, a former FBI agent and now a policy counsel with the ACLU. Giving us a Pennsylvania perspective is Donald Gilliland, a reporter for Pennsylvania’s state capitol newspaper – the Harrisburg Patriot News, and Gene Stilp, a Pennsylvania activist and the creator of the “Pink Pig,” a massive 25-foot inflatable pig used in protests.

Japan threatens to use the World Trade Organization to stop governments from ‘buying local’ when it comes to green energy. Stuart Trew of the Council of Canadians discusses how the WTO threat could stop Ontario’s landmark feed-in tariff system in its tracks; and Arne Jungjohann of the Heinrich Boell Foundation speaks about how feed-in tariffs have brought jobs and dollars to Germany.

The conservative Canadian government is taking a page from ye ole Bush Administration – and demands climate scientists have their work reviewed by politicians. Rick Piltz, the director of Climate Science Watch discusses the issues – and tells us about how USA agencies drag their feet on President Obama’s call for protections for American scientists.

Music on this edition of Earthbeat is “Somebody’s Watching Me” by Rockwell and Nine Inch Nails’ “The Hand That Feeds.” Our theme music is Baladi by Tony Anka, Bellydance Superstars vol. 2

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Organized and well-funded groups are undermining climate news and science everywhere from Tea Parties to websites. Joining host Daphne Wysham to discuss the so-called Digg Patriots who go about the Internet ‘hiding’ climate science from the rest of us is Jared Keller, the social media editor for The Atlantic.com. And discussing the millions of dollars that the Koch Brothers spend on right-wing causes is Joe Smyth of Greenpeace. You can track the oil money influence on your local politician at the website – Dirty Energy Money.

Then, how anti-immigration groups are ‘painting themselves green’ by framing border concerns as an environmental issue. Rebecca Poswolsky discusses their efforts; she’s a field organizer for the Center for a New Community and discusses their expose The Green War on Immigrants. Joining us to discuss how the media portrays Hispanics in America is Raul Tovares, a Professor of Communications at Trinity University.

The fight against frankenfish goes to the FDA. The federal government is about to decide on whether or not they’ll approve a new, genetically-altered salmon for human consumption. Startlingly, the FDA doesn’t plan to classify these fish as a food, but instead, as a drug. Eric Hoffman of the Friends of the Earth discusses the human health implications of this decision. Mike Hudson, the president of the Small Boat Commercial Salmon Fishermen’s Association and the founder of Salmon Aid, discusses the potentially devastating effects of these altered states of salmon on wild salmon populations.

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The Feds set up a $20 (B) billion dollar trust with BP to clean up the massive oil disaster the Gulf. Tyson Slocum of Public Citizen and Kate Sheppard of Mother Jones Magazine join host Daphne Wysham to discuss the fund, and its limitations.

Infants are born ‘pre-loaded’ with over 300 chemicals in their blood, that’s according to a new study by the Environmental Working Group. EWG senior researcher Jane Houlihan discusses toxic chemicals like BPA and tells us how to protect ourselves and our children.

Then, The Bag Monster attacks our studios. Andy Keller, aka The Bag Monster, comes into our studios to discuss the thousands of plastic shopping bags that pollute waterways and greenspaces. Joining the Bag Monster to discuss plastic bag pollution – and the failure of a ban on plastic bags in the California state legislature is Bryan Early of Californians Against Waste.


Image : The Bag Monster invades St. Louis, copyright Andy Keller

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