Earthbeat Radio

The April 5th, 2000 Massey Energy coal mine explosion in Upper Big Branch, West Virginia, was the deadliest mining disaster in 40 years. Whistleblower Jack Spadaro speaks out against Massey Energy and US government officials who fired him for criticizing Massey’s failure to implement safeguards that could have prevented the discharge of toxic coal slurry–a spill at least 25 times larger than the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Spadero alleges that the same man who pushed him out under formerPresident George W. Bush in 2000 for investigating Massey wrongdoing is now playing a key role in the investigation of the Massey coal mine explosion in 2010.

Then, joining us after a recent trip to the Gulf of Mexico is David Helvarg, the author of ” Saved By the Sea: A Love Story with Fish” and founder and president of the marine conservation group Blue Frontier. Helvarg speaks about the effects of the BP oil spill on aquatic life and a promising stewardship initiative implemented by the Obama Administration to protect the oceans, coastlines, and Great Lakes.

Rob Hopkins, the co-founder of Transition Towns in the UK, speaks to host Daphne Wysham on the opportunities of peak oil. Transition Town Totnes (TTT), the original Transition Town, has served as a model for the 321 Transition Towns worldwide striving to sustain themselves in a world beyond oil.

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