Earthbeat Radio

The sweet smell of success on coal-fired power. Joining host Daphne Wysham on this ‘best of 2010′ program is Bruce Nilles, the director of the Sierra Club’s national coal campaign, joins us to discuss how nearly all of the 150 planned coal-fired power plants have been stopped nationwide.

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. Discussing this tactic 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.

Then, how the US Government tested nuclear weapons on the people living in the Marshall Islands. Bob Alvarez, a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies, testified recently before Congress on how the government is now considering cutting off support for the roughly 62,000 affected islanders.

Music for this edition of Earthbeat includes “Coal Miners Daughter’ by Loretta Lynn and “Somebody’s Watching Me” by Rockwell. Our theme music is Baladi by Tony Anka, Bellydance Superstars vol. 2.

Image by Russ Walker via Flickr used through Creative Commons license.

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Soil carbon and genetically modified crops are now the latest hot commodity in carbon markets. Joining us from the the United Nations climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, is Deepak Rughani of Biofuel Watch. He’ll explain how this is driving up the price of land globally, with severe consequences for the poorest.

Then we hear from Joe Romm of the website Climate Progress who gives us his assessment of the state of play on Capitol Hill, where climate denialists will duke it out with regulators from the Environmental Protection Agency.

And we hear from Greenpeace senior researcher Charlie Cray and intelligence expert and investigative reporter Jim Bamford on a lawsuit filed by Greenpeace against public relations firms and former employees of the National Security Agency who engaged in corporate espionage on Greenpeace and other groups. More information on the lawsuit can be found at Spygate.org.

Music for this edition of Earthbeat includes “Willow Tree” by G Love and the Special Sauce and ‘Every Breath You Take’ by The Police. Our theme music is Baladi by Tony Anka, Bellydance Superstars vol. 2.

Image by TyMotion via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.

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Documents have come to light that show that Canadian diplomats have been working in DC to try to kill or limit laws that enact clean fuels standards that would restrict the sale of oil from dirty Canadian tar sands flowing into the US. The diplomats quietly asked companies like Exxon Mobil and BP to help them crush clean energy reforms. Joining us in our Washington, DC studios is Danielle Droitsch, the US Policy Director for the environmental think-tank Pembina who discusses the disturbing attempts by these diplomats to “debunk” the toxic effects of tar sands exploration on First Nations peoples.

And, in what’s been called a major breakthrough – over 400 companies around the world have agreed to start using climate-friendly refrigeration techniques. Amy Larkin, Greenpeace’s Solutions Director, helped to put together the agreement that will cut the amount of climate-killing HFCs released into our atmosphere.

Then we hear from representatives who joined nearly 200 nations gathered in Cancun, Mexico this week for the next round of United Nations-sponsored climate negotiations. Joining host Daphne Wysham from the meeting are Ann Peterman, the executive director of the Global Justice Ecology Project to discuss the UN plans for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) and its effects on indigenous peoples. Janet Redman of the Institute for Policy Studies and Kristen Hite, an attorney for the Climate Change Program at the Center for International Environmental Law also join us to discuss climate finance and REDD.

A recent lawsuit filed on behalf of Ecuador essentially sues the oil company BP on behalf of Mother Nature for the disaster that occurred this summer along America’s Gulf Coast. Nnimmo Bassey of the Friends of the Earth International joins us from Cancun to discuss the meeting the intent of the lawsuit.

Image by Oxfam, used under a Creative Commons license via Flickr.

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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

If you’d like to hear this edition of Earthbeat – please send us an e-mail