Earthbeat Radio

In the face of the worst economic disaster in American history since the Great Depression — both Barack Obama and John McCain cite their energy policies in their solutions for solving the crisis. Host Mike Tidwell dives into the deep waters of clean energy with two climate activists who don’t see eye to eye on energy policy — Ted Glick, the national coordinator of the US Climate Emergency Council and Joe Romm, a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress.

Climate change is creating what’s called global weirding — these odd fluctuations in temperatures and rainfall are making it harder and harder to pinpoint the ‘leaf peak’ in fall foliage. It’s also putting the billion-dollar ‘leaf peeping’ tourism industry in New England at risk. Jake Weltzin is the executive director of the USA National Phenology Network in Tucson, Arizona. Project Budburst is the tracking network that’s using photos from backyard gardeners.

Getting an urgent climate message out to everyone is the goal of the podcast World on Fire. Producer Jay Tomlinson discusses his tricks of the trade in creating a ‘Reader’s Digest’ of climate news.

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Image used courtesy of Andybvrs via Flickr.

How Washington’s bailout of Wall Street helps – and hurts – the fight against climate change. President Bush wants more than $700 (B) billion dollars to shore up the nation’s financial giants, but what if that money went toward environmental justice – or green jobs – or both? Then we line up the connections between John McCain’s campaign, Swift Boats, and nuclear power.

Joining host Daphne Wysham in our Washington, DC studios is economist Jim Barrett of Redefining Progress. On the telephone from his Massachusetts office is Chuck Collins, a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and the director of IPS’s Program on Inequality and the Common Good. Also on the phone, this time from Columbus, Ohio is Harvey Wasserman, the author of Solartopia.

A new green economy won’t just fight global warming — it’ll be a rising tide that lifts all boats. That’s according to the new report, A Climate of Change. We speak to its author, Nia Robinson, the director of the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative.

Then, the connections between Republican Presidential candidate John McCain, the Swift Boat campaign of 2002, and nuclear power. We speak to Diane D’Arrigo of the Nuclear Information Research Service and Cyrus Reed of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club in Texas.

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Image courtesy of Frank Norquay via Flickr, all rights reserved.

Music in this edition of Earthbeat include ‘Shameless’ by Ani DiFranco.

Our theme music is Baladi by Tony Anka, Bellydance Superstars vol. 2.

Arctic ice is hitting its second lowest level in the last 100 years. The lead scientist for the National Snow and Ice Data Center – Ted Scambos – discusses how and why the North Pole is melting away. Joining the conversation to discuss the politics in Washington and how it can, or can’t, protect the arctic is Brian Moore of the Audubon Society.

The National Day of Green Jobs seeks to bring the new clean energy economy to everyone. Liz Butler is the field and outreach coordinator for 1Sky – a collaborative organization focusing on climate, and one of the organizers of the September 27th event. You can find out more, and an event near you, at Green Jobs Now.

Creating belly laughs out of devastating climate news could be a real challenge, but it seems to come easily to Chris Karwowski. He’s the producer of The Onion Radio News, the radio off-shoot of the satirical fictional newspaper – The Onion.

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Alaska Governor Sarah Palin seemed a surprise choice for Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain — but it turns out she may be a triple boon to his ticket: packing oil money, support from the religious right, and anti-environmental postures into one telegenic package. Earthbeat host Daphne Wysham takes a look at Palin’s surprising anti-environmental record with Greenpeace USA’s Glenn Hurowitz. To view Governor Palin’s appearance before the Wasilla Assembly of God, go here.

Tracking the oil, coal, and nuclear power money pouring into both McCain and Barack Obama’s Presidential campaigns is Massie Ritsch, the communications director for The Center for Responsive Politics, and Cathy Duvall, the political director for the Sierra Club.

To view Obama and McCain’s campaign contributions, check out Open Secrets, a website operated by The Center for Responsive Politics. The Sierra Club operates a comprehensive website on the coal industry, including the hilarious video Liquid Coal.

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Photo courtesy of B Mully via Flickr.

Today on Earthbeat we’ll investigate the links between climate change, offshore oil drilling — and hurricanes in the Gulf Coast. Joining host Mike Tidwell in our studios is Joe Romm from the Center for American Progress and Greg Jenkins, the head of Howard University’s Department of Physics & Astronomy.

On the telephone from Jackson, Louisiana – 30 miles north of Baton Rouge is Mark Davis, the director of the Tulane University Institute on water resources law and policy. Davis has evacuated, with his family, to Jackson from New Orleans.

Speaking about the excellent success of the Xcel power company in Colorado is Keith Hay of Environment Colorado.

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Image used courtesy of GCaustin via Flickr.

With the price of oil continuing to hover around $100 dollars a barrel — the world’s thirst for oil is driving exploration into sources that previously were too dirty, too difficult, or too expensive — A perfect example of this are the Canadian tar sands.

‘Tar sands’ are a mixture of bitumen, sand and clay. Bitumen is a very heavy crude oil that does not flow on its own, and must be mined on the surface. Our desire for oil is pushing Canada to dig up acres of tar sands and use immense amounts of energy to distill out the oil.

Speaking about how tar sand exploration is destroying the Athabasca region and leading to increased global warming is Dave Martin, a Tar Sands campaigner for Greenpeace Canada. Clayton Thomas Mueller, organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network, speaks about the people affected by the massive tar pit. Ian Urquhart, Professor of Political Science at the University of Alberta is researching the sticky local, national, and international politics surrounding the Athabascan tar sands.

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Photo of the Athabasca tar sands courtesy of katakanadian via Flickr.

Music in this edition of Earthbeat includes “Santos” and “Tall Grass” by the jam band Tar Beach.

China’s economy is booming and so are its carbon dioxide emissions. The Chinese government decreed factories shutter their doors and forced more than a million drivers off the road — all in an attempt to temporarily clean the air in Beijing for the Olympics.

Host Mike Tidwell asks if a similar policy could help green the entire country – Could China go green by decree? Claudette Juska of Greenpeace USA and Janet Larsen of Earth Policy discuss China’s policies. Jos Olivier, the senior scientist for the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency discusses his recent research in measuring China’s smog and CO2 emissions.

Finally we discuss environmental activism in China with Jamie Henn and Phil Aroneanu – coordinators of 350.org, an international grassroots climate campaign that’s united by a common call to action to set 350 as the safe upper limit of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere. View 350.org’s recent video of climate activism in China.

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Image used courtesy of rytc via Flickr.

A funny — and historically accurate — history of all our stuff. We’ll speak to Annie Leonard, the woman behind the short film The Story of Stuff. We’ll hear from Economic Hit Man John Perkins about how he undermined the financial systems of developing countries on behalf of the US Government. Then we’ll get a grip on this world gone mad with Frances Moore Lappe, the author of ‘Diet for a Small Planet.’ She discusses her latest work, Getting a Grip.

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Music used in this edition of Earthbeat is ‘Dollars and Cents’ by Radiohead.

Our theme music is Baladi by Tony Anka, Bellydance Superstars vol. 2.

Heat waves, droughts, hurricanes – on this encore edition of Earthbeat we connect climate change to the extreme weather events occurring world-wide.

Host Mike Tidwell speaks about our bizarre weather with The Weather Channel’s only climatologist Dr. Heidi Cullen.

Adventure travel outfitter Ted Young, along with his wife Barbara, take trekkers into in the wilds of Northern Minnesota. With over 30 years in the business, this owner-operator of Boundary Country Trekking says the ice is breaking earlier and earlier each year — and a recent drought has devastated the border lake areas.

Joining Young is Cornell plant ecologist David Wolfe. Wolfe works with the New York Botanical Garden and farmers to develop a plan of attack for dealing with extreme weather, rising tides, and an onslaught of warm-weather pests.

Finally, Tidwell discusses what climate activists should, and maybe shouldn’t do in talking about wild weather with Grist reporter David Roberts.

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Photo used courtesy of Australia’s Dick Witt.

Today on Earthbeat – host Mike Tidwell talks about the Good, the Bad and the Ugly in Offshore Energy.

The Bush Administration lifted the more than 20-year ban on drilling for oil off America’s coasts — and the Democrats responded with a plan to drill on already open lands.

We’ll hear from the President of the Congressional House class of 2006 – Congressman Paul Hodes of New Hampshire speaks about why even the Democrats are pushing more drilling for oil. Joining the conversation is Joe Romm, the author of Hell and High Water and a senior fellow at the nonpartisan, nonprofit group the Center for American Progress. Athan Manual, the director of Public Lands Protection for the Sierra Club, joins the conversation from Capitol Hill.

What about the OTHER offshore energy source – wind? Jim Lanard is the head of strategic planning at BluewaterWind. His company just received the very first agreement to provide offshore wind power to an American utility company. Joining the discussion with a view from Capitol Hill is Christine Real de Azua, the spokeswoman for the American Wind Energy Association.

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Music for this edition of Earthbeat are two songs by Congressman Paul Hodes’ other endeavor, the singing group Peggo and Paul. ‘Acres of Clams’ is from their album Patchwork Quilt and ‘This Little Light of Mine’ is from Stand Up! Speak Out!

Our theme music is Baladi by Tony Anka, Bellydance Superstars vol. 2.

Photo by Matthew Potochick courtesy of Flickr, all rights reserved.