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The Big Thaw. Ed Struzik

This week:

• TGM goes North – way North – for a check-up on the state of Canada’s Arctic. Ed Struzik, author of The Big Thaw: Travels in a Melting North and Science Journalist with The Edmonton Journal, gives his account of no less than 11 epic Arctic journeys.
• Dr. Peter Kershaw, Arctic researcher at the University of Edmonton speaks about his research on the store of frozen greenhouse gasses hidden beneath the Northern frozen soils.

The headlines:

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Nova Scotia Coat of Arms. Canadian Heritage

This week:

• National news correspondents Chris Berube and Daryn Caister join host Jordan Poppenk to evaluate the Progressive Conservative, Liberal, NDP and Green provincial party environment platforms in the Nova Scotia provincial election.
• Green Life correspondent Peter Stock presents a special feature on lawn care and explores several new departures from the 1950’s-era green oasis (originally aired June 27, 2008).

The headlines:

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Chronometrical Landscapes. Frances Patella

This week:

• Frances Patella and Michael Brown, artists featured at the CONTACT photography festival, speak with host Jordan Poppenk about their work. Frances describes her mixed media series, Chronometrical landscapes, which explores the use of fire in controlled burns; Michael describes his exhibit, Crossing Toronto by Canoe, in which he discovers constructed distinctions between urban and natural spaces that impact their use and perception.
• Lynn Harrison, an environmentally-minded Toronto musician and longtime contributor to the Take 5 morning show, shares recent compilations from her album Simplicity and discusses her musical philosophy (originally aired August 22, 2008).
• National news correspondents Chris Berube and Daryn Caister join Jordan in discussion about the BC Liberal election win, its immediate impact on environmental policy and what the provincial Liberal party has promised for the coming term.

The headlines:

Piecing together public policy. Image: RobW

This week:

• Marc Chalifoux, Executive Director of the Dominion Institute, speaks about his group’s innovative approach to climate change policy with our new correspondent, Dylan Jervis. Chalifoux describes how, using an online wiki powered by The Dominion Institute and The Globe and Mail, web users can contribute to policy notes on climate change and send the briefings to elected officials.
• Green Life reporter Peter Stock speaks with Laurie Guevara Stone of Solar Energy International about her Alternatives Journal article, Viva La Revolución Energética, focusing on sustainable energy in Cuba. According the World Wildlife Fund’s 2006 Living Planet report, Cuba was the only country achieving scores on infant mortality, literacy, education spending and life expectancy as high as those in Canada and the US without a correspondingly large eco-footprint.

The headlines in brief:

• The BC election, in which a provincial carbon tax and water issues have been central, takes place on Tuesday.
• The EU has banned all Canadian seal products, including oil, meat and pelts.  Canadian parliament responded by proposing that seal skin be added to Canadian Olympic uniforms.
• A new study shows that the “green-washing” of consumer products in on the rise in Canada.
• The first built-in chargers for electric cars downtown condo buildings was announced in Vancouver this week.
• The U.N. hopes to entirely eliminate the use of DDT by 2020, while still controlling the spread of malaria.
• Australia has set back its carbon-emissions trading scheme by one year.
• The U.N. has identified abandoned fishing nets to be a growing threat to marine wildlife.

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This week:

• As the BC 2009 provincial elections draw near, our panel of experts reviews the major green issues shaping the campaign and contemplates the fate of the province’s much maligned carbon tax. The panel features national news experts Chris Berube and Daryn Caister, green pundit Kevin Farmer and host Jordan Poppenk.
• Gwen Barlee, Policy Director of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, speaks with Jordan about Run-of-River Hydro, a massive hydroelectric power development project and the largest power privatization plan in the province’s history.

The headlines in brief:

• A major Ecojustice court victor will end the mining industry’s exemption from divulging pollution information;
• An independent reviewer has declared the BC carbon tax policy as the most effective climate change mitigation policy in Canada;
• The Green party of Saskatchewan has chosen a new leader, 27 year old Larissa Shasko.
• The federal government spent more than $15.7 million in the last five years on bottled water;
• The federal government has been accused of withholding evidence that may impact charges against members of a controversial environmental group;
• Six in 10 U.S residents live in areas with dangerous levels of air pollution;
• A new report indicates that if the world’s depleted fishing stocks are to recover, a third of the world’s oceans must be completely closed to fishing.

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-Image depicts proposed BC hydroelectric dam sites as red dots. Image credit: IPP Watch-