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Some news headlines, talk of the climate bill passing the house in DC, and green options for our July 4th Independence Day. Additionally we check in with our political correspondent Kerry Duggan of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, with our chemical correspondent Aviva Glazer on a Toxic Tangent, and with out Food Correspondent Rachel Chadderdon. As well as a surprise special guest from Brazil.
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SNRE’s own recently minted M.S. and MBA Devon Treece schools us on the history and future of carbon trading.
From factories in the Rust Belt to forests in the Amazon, from acid rain to potential global gain we learn how we got where are and contemplate where we need to be.
Music = a Caribbean twist on American soul.
As always, with exxxtra special guests (so special, we’re not even sure they can make it)!
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Exxxtra special Earth Week Edition: It’s Hot in Here.
This week we get real drrrty with “clean coal.” From the scene (i.e., mostly the bar) of last week’s Proposed Bay City Coal Plant hearing, we take you on a carbon filled journey through time and space. Interviews recorded from the hearing as well as live interviews with some State of Michigan Sierra Club folks, and an activist from coal extraction state West Virginia.
Joining us in the studio again is class act[ivist] Andrew Munn.
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Appropriate Technology Collaborative (ATC) joins us in the studio… More specifically, we are joined by John Barrie (the Executive Director), Ben Connor Barrie (Special Projects Manager aka “Special Ops”), and Jeff Tenza (volunteer engineer). ATC is a non-profit organization based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan whose purpose is “To design, develop, demonstrate and distribute appropriate technological solutions for meeting the basic human needs of low income people in the developing world.” We hear about their operations, their recent trip to Guatemala, and some of their exciting design ideas.
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Today we take a journey through the Caribbean as we discuss how the region is responding to both long-term and immediate climatic hazards.
Joining us in the studio is Dr. Emma Tompkins, University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment. She is a prolific author and much research that looks at current societal responses to natural disasters in order to anticipate climate change adaptation. Some of her other interests include: sustainable adaptation to climate change; climate change decision making; scales of governance in enabling and constraining climate change responses; identifying the psychological, social and cultural and economic limits to adaptation.
Algae sucks. Trophic cascade due to human overfishing and climate pressures has led to the collapse of our pristine Caribbean reefs. First the sea urchins reigned, but even they couldn’t compete with the tenacious resiliency of brown algae. See more detail from the Resilience Alliance.
Fish
Don’t eat grouper. Ever.
Musical Stuff
A digital tour through the bins of long forgotten Caribbean grooves, including Mighty Sparrow, the Professionals, Grupo Ikare…
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Join us as Gina G, Shannon B and OR Johns heat things up with two exxxtra special guests.
Lisa Anne Richey Associate Professor of Development Studies in the Department of Society and Globalisation (yes, that’s Globalization with an S) at Roskilde University in Denmark and author of Population Politics and Development: From the Policies to the Clinicsschools us on the politics of our “population problem.”
John Perkins, NY Times bestselling author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Manand the Secret History of the American Empire heat up the WCBN studios. Gina “J.J” Gettup, Shannon and yours truly will interview the former eminent economic hitman, John Perkins. Get prepared for some incendiary vitriol and lime juice to the eye action.
Butt first…
The weekly standards: News roundup, “Thresholds: The Curse of Akkad,” and “Fish Ain’t Bitin’?” (try a delicious Striped Mullet (not just for NASCAR fans anymore)).
Mentioned early on in the show WashtenawLocalFood.net is your portal on the interwebs for getting to know the Ann Arbor area local food community better: includes a calendar that reveals such special events as an Open Space Technology event “Everyone Has To Eat” this Tuesday (6:30pm 1024 Dana Bldg. Central Campus) and “Localizing Agriculture: How Will We Eat on 80% Less Energy” lecture by Dr. Tom Princen on Wednesday (5:30pm 1024 Dana Bldg. Central Campus).
SO! Lock and load. Pull the trigger. Bite the bullet. And pour some sugar on me.
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We are joined in the studio by two staffers from the City of Ann Arbor’s Natural Area Preservation (NAP) unit: the Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator, Jason Frenzel-Wright, and City Ornithologist, Deaver Armstrong respectively.
JasonDeaver
Back talking with our guests we discuss the details of the Natural Area Preservation unit which is a nationally unique city program that employs folks like ornithologists while reaching out to the community to volunteer to help inventory and maintain the ecology of the city’s natural areas. Lean much more and get involved here:
And since we are discussing Green Drinks, check out the Green Drinks mixer this Wednesday at ABC at 7pm and other local food events listed at the Washtenaw Local Food Portal calendar.
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We’re joined this week (about 4 minutes in) by soon-to-be Cosmology doctorate Brian Nord who helps us explore the universe.
Then intermixed with our discussions of Space and Cosmology:
The tragedy of our orbital commons: This week’s Thresholds examines all that junk up there in Earth’s orbit.
a Sustainable Fish of the Week…Tilapia (AGAIN!)
a check in with our Washington correspondent Kerry Duggan at the League of Conservation Voters…
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This week Gina Gettum, Shannon Brines and chemical correspondent Aviva Glaser discuss: environmental news headlines relevant to Michigan and the Great Lakes, lots about coal, a few toxic tangents and more! Un-censored!
You can read more about the Great Lakes round-up of news bits here
Sarah Cwiek (a.k.a. Gwen Hetfield) joined us as a Motown correspondent from the studios of WDET FM in Detroit and brought us greatly up to date on proposed coal plants in Michigan among other things.
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This week Gina Gettum and guest cohost Aviva Glaser [Hot in Here's own Chemical Correspondent!] pepper news you can use, oscar reviews and stone cold grooves with helpful hints to reduce our own greenhouse gas emissions!
Breaking news from our IHIH Style and Celebrity Correspondent Brian Lipinski – the Oscars de-greened themselves , BYO[tote]Bag is the new Vuitton and DeCarprio’s fixin’ to run an ecoresort island in Belize.
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We also had Greg Vendena from the Clean Energy Coalition based in Ypsi join us briefly on the phone (so a trifecta of energy experts as it were).
But First….
The News…
Climate change will cause key fish species to move towards the poles in search of their formerly cold water climes, bad for commercial fisheries, but great for reuniting lost fishy family members.
Birds are feeling the heat as well. A study by the Audubon Society has demonstrated that half of N. American bird species have been spending their winter vacations on average 35 miles further North than 40 years ago. At least they can fly.
Thought we had to put on serious airs to show our sexual fitness? Check out these birds.
New studies point out some vicious climatic feedbacks as sub-Arctic tundra begins to thaw, potentially releasing billions of tons of greenhouse gases.
Try out one of Lake Michigan’s own delicious lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis).
Check out Great Lakes Whitefish, for more info and recipes so you can fully enjoy this “Best Choice/Good Alternative” great fish.
Eat me!
Thresholds:
This week we look at the 1973 Oil Embargo and its effects on the global economy. The response was dramatic around the world, as our oil junkie veins had a serious bout of petrol withdrawal (c’mon man, front me just one barrel!). Naturally, we draw parallels with the modern day: dwindling supplies and an Obamian (Obaman?) “planet in peril.” Yet to keep it optimistic a discussion of creative destruction.
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From the shores of Easter Island to the ovaries of a spawning carp it’s real Hot in Here. Join us this week for news and global grooves. In-studio guest Aviva Glaser delivers a hot dose of chemical knowledge, OJ debuts his new segment “Thresholds” and our Washington Correspondent Kerry Duggan gives it to us straight on where we find our green economy in the stimulus package:
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Join us this week for the news (including rethinking carnivorousness), an update from our always fabulous Washington Correspondent Kerry Duggan, and a journey through the nerdery of social-ecological systems theory to the dusty steps of Mongolia, the squishy shores of Lake Victoria and the Great Lakes of Michigan:
With three different names for winter disasters [Xar, Tsagaan and Tumur Dzud] and temperatures rising at twice the global average, Mongolian herders and their herds are suffering. Big time. In the winters of 2000 and 2001 alone Mongolia lost more than one third of the nation’s livestock. Summary of a Science article.
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Human and environmental justice activist Zo Randriamaro heats up the WCBN Studios with her wisdom, passion and careful thoughts.
If you are short on time, skip the news recap and head right to Zo at minute 16. You you’ll be happy you did.
Zo tells us that average temperatures in Madagascar have risen over 1.5 degrees C in the past 50 years. Deadly cyclones, like this one last week, have increased in number. Addressing climate change should be President Obama’s number one priority. Zo makes a plea that addressing poverty and economic development must go hand in hand with environmental conservation.
Zo tells it like it is on the role of international financial institutions, the recent land deal in Madagascar leasing 50% of the islands arable land to the South Korean company Deawoo and the current state, and the importance of giving voice to those unable to speak for themselves.
In four short days President Obama vowed to close Gitmo, follow the Geneva Convention and freeze the salaries of his top officials. Check out his weekly address here.
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A special Martin Luther King day and pre-inauguration show… We started live with both our It’s Hot In Here co-host Gina Gettum as well as our Washington correspondent Kerry Duggan on the line from Washington DC. They joined us from a League of Conservation Voters sponsored National Day of Service event at John Phillips Sousa junior high school in DC where solar photovoltaics were being installed on the roof among other things. Future Energy Secretary Steven Chu was even onsite and our intrepid remote reporters were going to try and talk with him offline and report back on future shows. Gina and Kerry told us additionally of the pre-inaugural festivities they’ve already attended on Sunday as well as all the energy surrounding the main event tomorrow where apparently over 4 million people are expected to flood into DC.
Our other remote correspondent Hugh was going to provide a perspective from Canada regarding the US changing of the guard, but was unable to join us, so we’ll check in with him at a future date.
We talked next with Lara Peterson who normally hails from inside the beltway where she serves as the Coordinator for the Russia, Europe and Near Asia Program within the International Programs of the United States Forest Service. She gave us some perspective from inside a federal agency during a transition from one administration to another, and told us all about the USFS International Programs.
Finally, switching gears, we spent the last 15 minutes talking trash with Tiffany Threadgould from Brooklyn, New York. Tiffany told us all about the history and motivation behind her business RePlayGround: “where discarded materials take on new life!” With way more energy than your average person would have discussing garbage, Tiffany told us all about her mission to re-brand garbage, giving examples of her products and designs – including a refocus room divider that she described made out of 1000 used film canisters. Her website RePlayGround.com also details various do-it-yourself (DIY) projects and how RePlayGround likes to support other organizations that share similar beliefs. You can get a sense of those core values by reading the RePlayGround Blog and the FAQ page… who doesn’t love FAQs… my favorite part from the FAQ page:
Q: What will you do when there’s no more waste in the world? Like when we reduce our waste to 0%?
A: We’ll be very happy people when that happens. Perhaps we’ll catch up on movies on a low-energy flat screen LCD. Or we’ll ride our bikes more. Cook more with locally raised food. Drink more organic wine. In the meantime, there’s a lot of scrap out there for us to tackle.
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In 1984, a UM SPH student just happened to discover abnormal concentrations of a known carcinogen, 1,4-Dioxane, in the Third Sister Lake in UM’s Saginaw Forest (just west of Ann Arbor). This prompted subsequent discovery of dioxane in the area’s groundwater at various levels from the surface all the way down to bedrock, some places more than 200 feet deep.
1,4-Dioxane is an industrial solvent and stabilizer that is fully miscible in water. It doesn’t adhere to soils like many other industrial pollutants, but goes whereever water goes.
For 20 years, from 1966 to 1986, Gelman, Sciences Inc (now Pall Life Sciences) used a reported 800,000 pound of dioxane manufacturing high tech filters and allowed an unknown amount of the toxic substance to get into groundwater surrounding their property on Wagner Road.
Multiple lawsuits, cleanup efforts and backroom deals later, several plumes of the stuff still continue to exist, with the major ones moving at about one foot per day through Ann Arbor towards the Huron River and maybe even Barton Pond (where Ann Arbor gets 80% of its water for 150,000 people in the area.).
Listen for an in-depth discussion of past and future of the clean water struggle and remediation efforts with Roger Rayle, Co-Chair of Scio Residents for Safe Water. Roger has dedicated 15 years of his life to addressing this problem, making AMAZING maps of the plumes, and protecting our water!
Check out their Google Group for more detailed maps and info.
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Please share your eco-resolutions below in the comments! AND if you have a name for a person who eats meat once a week, post that too!
In the audio above which starts a couple minutes in we had the news, food news, and eco-resolutions for the new year discussions including 10 easy ways to go green in the kitchen and some suggestions from callers and over the interwebs.
COAL is NEVER CLEAN: Sign Here to tell your Congressfolk to ban new coal plants and to invest in genuinely, CLEAN, RENEWABLE energy technology.
NYTimes article discussing some of the drawbacks of renewables in the winter, like the likely rare possibility of killer ice falling from wind turbines… “those icicles have been known to kill people!” a la The Christmas Story. Personally, DJ Local will be happy to sweep off his Solar PV panels in the winter.
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We had our usual news roundup… but we had a not so usual special guest in the studio with us the whole time: Homeless Dave. Dave shared with us: the premise for his blog Teeter Talk (voted best local blog 3 years in a row by readers of the Current), what’s up with his nickname, his bicycle delivery and hauling business, and his pedal-powered clothes washing/wringing, among other things!!! You may know Homeless Dave under his shall we say pen name Dave Askins… you can see some of his local reporting, photography, and illustrations at a new local news source called The Ann Arbor Chronicle which he helped his wife Mary Morgan start recently.
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We were a little late getting started, so about 7 minutes into this podcast… We had a lengthy news roundup of lots of news bits and pieces. Included is some discussion of the current EPA and forthcoming EPA, Climate Change talks in the EU, and a brief chat with Greg Vendena over at the Clean Energy Coalition based in Ypsi.
We bid Hugh a fond farewell as an in-studio CoHost but he promises to join us as a remote correspondent… from wherever that may be.
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We had our general news roundup plus special guest Molly Notarianni with us in the studio. Molly is the manager of the Ann Arbor Farmers Market and spoke of the environmental benefits of shopping locally at a farmers market among other things.
Shannon Brines, aka Brines.net, aka Brines Farm, aka Dj Local joined the show for his first stint as full Senior CoHost in charge of Environmental Talk Radio and Farming. Always smooth, never gritty.
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This week two exxxtra special guests steam up the WCBN studios and serve up expert advice and commentary on the way forward (with a side of delicious grooves).
UM’s own Andrew J. Hoffman, Holcim Professor of Sustainable Enterprise and Associate Director of the Erb Institute for Global Sustinable Enterprise, lends his wisdom on the possibilities unfurling at the confluence of humans our economies and our environments.
and…
Kerry Duggan, IHIH’s own Washington Correspondant/Campaigns Project Manager @ the League of Conservation Voters, fills us in on what we planet lovers want (and need) from President Elect Obama and turns us on to the 2008 Environmental Facebook.
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This week, Sean Ledwin of the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment joined us to share insights about shrimps, shrimping, and the ups and downs of environmental certification programs.
Remember, get your greens locally, and triumph in the face of diversity.
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Listen in this week for exxxtra special guest Dan Fahey from UC Berkeley, expert on resources and conflict in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Future Dr. Fahey schools us on why our cellphones and i(solationist)pods are fueling violence in the ‘Democratic’ Republic of the Congo. Also, a new ‘Eco-Warrior’ segment and more from Vijay Vaitheeswaran of the Economist on carbon offsets.
Dry Cleaning: It blows, and may result in: depression of the central nervous system; damage to the liver and kidneys; impaired memory; confusion; dizziness; headache; drowsiness; and eye, nose, and throat irritation. Repeated dermal exposure may result in dermatitis. No joke.here’s why.
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We’re not saying there wasn’t any environmental news to report this week, we’re just saying we had too many smart people to talk to to get around to it. Specifically:
Joseph Romm, author of many books on climate change and other topics of energy and the environment, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and former Assistant Secretary for Energy. He maintains an excellent blog on energy issues at climateprogress.org. Go there now, you can read and listen at the same time.We asked Joe what exactly offsets, cap and trade, and renewable energy credits are, what they do and what they don’t do. His message: don’t count on ‘em.
Howard French, professor of journalism at Columbia, former senior writer for the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune. Howard is author of A Continent for the Taking: the Tragedy and Hope of Africa, and was in town last week to give a talk in the Africa Workshop series. We talked with him about the implications, social and environmental, of the expansion of Chinese industry in Africa.
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This week:
Co-host Gina Gettum made a progress report from Uganda. She told us about the illegality of the only fish which can be eaten, and what it’s like to have dinner in a revolving restaurant with arms dealers while missing your own interview on national TV.
We spoke with Gary Peters, congressional candidate for Michigan, who is campaigning with our Washington Correspondent Kerry Duggan of the League of Conservation Voters. Gary is on the last day of the campaign trail, and he easily convinced us to endorse him in the 9th District (for the third time over).
Actual photograph of Kerry and Gary calling in from the campaign trail.
Howard French, former senior writer for the New York Times and author of A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa, suffered a major spatiotemporal-decorrelation event, and we didn’t get him into the studio in time for the show. But we were able to sit down with him later in the day and that interview will be featured on a future episode.
Next week: Gina makes her triumphant return from Uganda, and we talk with Joseph Romm, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and editor for ClimateProgress.org.
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(Apologies for the ragged start, we had a theme-music failure and had to jump into the gap.)
This week we talked about Detroit. It wasn’t nearly enough time, but we began to ask the question: what does environmentalism look like in the big and weird city? Thanks to Michelle Martinez from The Greening of Detroit and the Sierra Club, and Kerry Duggan of the League of Conservation Voters, active Detroitist, and Domiana Carter and the crew at Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice. Thanks also to the School of Public Health for helping organize our Toxic Tour field trip.
With music selections by Rob Linn of WCBN’s From Belle Isle to 8 Mile. Just a few of his cuts, listen to his show Tuesdays at 12 for a whole world of Detroit music:
(Co-host Gina Gettum is away in Belgium and Uganda this week, fighting to bring more fish stocks up to Sustainable Fish of the Week levels, but we’re hoping to check in with her via telephone next week.)
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Listen in for our first ever Get Your Health on edition of IHIH. Rachel Chadderdon, Market Master of the Ypsilanti Farmer’s Market joins us in the WCBN studios for some majorly uplifting updates on her (and other’s) impressive efforts to de-desertify the food desert of Washtenaw County.
This just in: Florida AND California are saving money and saving the planet by going green!
Which is freakin’ brilliant, given that the autumn temps in the Arctic Region, according to NOAA, are the second highest on record! It is Hot in Here!
The Union of Concerned Scientists has released their annual Federal Agency Report Card. Rock on NASA and the Nuc Reg Commission for your B’s. Shame on you EPA, NOAA, BLM and the Consumer Product Safety Commission for your D’s! No dessert for you!
Next week: Check out the new sustainable sushi guide, but for now know that U.S. Farmed Abalone (awabi), North American Albacore Tuna (shiro maguro) and Farmed Artctic Char (iwana) are excellent choices. STAY AWAY from Bluefin Tuna (toro), Monkfish (ankoh), Red Snapper (tai) and Freshwater Eel (unagi).
LVC Releases the 2008 Scorecard! Check out your local reps!! Vote Green!
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While Ann Arbor enjoys near-record highs, and the good folks of Saskatchewan soldier on through heavy snowstorms, what better time to tune in to environmental radio?
Another strong focus on economic issues this week. Who knew the environment and the economy were linked?
Sustainable Fish of the Week:the Atlantic Herring(although we’re currently dubious about the Marine Stewardship Council, so careful with that website.)
This week’s playlist:
Next week: A Toxic Tour of Detroit City. Stayed tuned to your environment.
podcast
Butt first…
Deaver
