This week:

• Simon Watson interviews Michael Reynolds, a biotect who for 35 years has researched and developed self-sufficient housing made from recycled materials like pop cans and tires. His concepts of community living are both Earth friendly and people friendly, requiring little to no mortgage payment and no utility bills.
• Danny Leskiw speaks with Dr. Alex Bucknea, a nuclear physicist and consultant to the government on waste disposal, about how nuclear waste processing works.

The headlines in brief:

• Canada’s federal environment commissioner Ron Thompson released a highly critical review of government policies that gave the government a grade of unsatisfactory in nine of 14 areas;
• Alcoa Incorporated has agreed to invest $1.2 billion dollars to upgrade its 50-year old smelter in Baie-Comeau;
• Another CN Rail freight train derailment took place in Burlington, Ontario;
• A federal appeals court has rejected the exemptions that President Bush awarded to the Navy for sonar tests that might harm whales;
• On Wednesday, President Bush addressed an energy conference hosted by the US government, asserting that his country is in the lead when it comes to climate change;
• A report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says that the world must respond to climate change and other environmental challenges now while the cost is relatively low;
• South Korea and parts of Japan and Taiwan have experienced the first major storm of the annual “yellow dust” spring storm season, closing schools and prompting people to wear surgical masks.
  

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