July 2009
Monthly Archive
Posted by Jordan Poppenk.
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Hydroelectric dam. Image by 814 carthage.-
Jennifer Taylor, a student of Environmental Studies at York University, realized that she didn’t just want to oppose things she thought were ‘bad’, like the tar sands and deforestation; she wanted to do something positive, and she found her calling in renewable energy. When Peter Stock sat down to interview Jennifer, she explained what Germany is doing right in replacing centralized power generation with small scale wind, solar and biomass generation, why Canada’s renewable energy program has hit a roadblock, and why a renewable energy system would have prevented the 2003 NorthEast Blackout
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Andrew Radzik, spokesperson for the B.C. Wilderness Committee, speaks with Jordan Poppenk about a dramatic rejection of B.C.’s province’s energy plan by the province’s Utilities Commission. The province had submitted a bid to expand the province’s hydro electricity in an enormous – and controversial – run-of-river hydro project, which would have added private dams to a great number of the province’s watersheds. The quasi-judicial B.C. Utilities Commission rejected that bid, claiming there was no need for new generation capacity, and ruled that the province had not made adequate plans for conserving power.
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- Christianne Wilhelmson, spokesperson for B.C.’s Georgia Strait Alliance, speaks with Jordan Poppenk about her group’s campaign to install complete sewage treatment facilities in Victoria. Working under the mantra, “the solution to pollution is dilution”, the city has long sent raw sewage directly into the Pacific ocean. Christiana discusses the arguments for treating city sewage as well as the challenges to be overcome in combating outfall pollution.
- In the wake of an editorial in the international science journal Nature describing current Canadian federal policy as “war on science”, Dr. Andrew Weaver, speaks with host Jordan Poppenk about how the fight for message has damaged the field of environmental science – and indeed science more generally – culminating in the muzzling of scientists at Canada’s foremost environmental agency, Environment Canada, the disbanding of Canada’s science advisor to the Prime Minister and termination of climate research funding. Originally aired October 10, 2009.
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- First-time TGM correspondent LeeAnne MacGregor speaks with Laura Reinsborough, about urban agriculture, food security, and her new project, Not Far From the Tree. Her group aims to minimize the local fruit that goes to waste every year because the owners simply lack the time, ability, or know-how to harvest their trees. The volunteer organization brings together fruit tree owners, fruit enthusiasts, and neighbourhood community organizations with the object of sharing Toronto’s wealth of fruit. In demonstrating how to take advantage of urban agriculture, Reinsborough’s program engages city-dwellers in imagining the possibilities for a sustainable food future.
- Donna Dilman, spokesperson for The Canadian Coalition Against Mining Uranium, speaks with host Jordan Poppenk to take a look at one of nuclear’s best-kept secrets: the impact of processing nuclear fuel. Donna also gives an update on developments in the uranium mining industry following the conclusion her 68-day hunger strike in 2007.
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Tokamak confinement system to be used in the new ITER reactor- Dr. Rob Goldston, former director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, speaks with Science reporter Dylan Jervis speaks about fusion energy and the new International Thermonuclear Energy Reactor (ITER) project that has recently received funding. Though fusion power has not yet been demonstrated on an industrial scale, some believe it may ultimately produce clean energy without the environmental and security concerns that plague nuclear fission.
- Social Justice correspondent Joanna Dafoe speaks with Bill McKibben, an influential American writer on global warming, alternative energy, and the risks associated with genetic engineering. In 2006, McKibben led a walk across Vermont to demand action on global warming; in 2007, he founded Step It Up to mobilize a day of action with global warming demonstrations across the United States. McKibben co-founded and directs the international climate organization 350.org and published The End of Nature in 1989, regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change. He is a frequent contributor to major newspapers and magazines.
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Arpad Pusztai
- We break from our usual format to feature a lecture by Arpad Pusztai, the Hungarian-born scientist at the heart of a collision between environmental science and powerful political forces. Eleven years ago, Pusztai published scientific results showing that genetically modified potato causes harm to rats, stirring up a firestorm that ultimately led to the disbandment of his research team and his dismissal from the institute. Perhaps the threatening part of Pusztai’s publication was that it was based on good science, with five out of six peer reviewers giving the publication a thumbs up and subsequent studies finding similar results. In this University of Toronto lecture, Dr. Pusztai details the groundbreaking science that won him the Whistleblower prize from several prominent scientific and legal organizations in 2005. In the second half of the lecture, he moves onto broader issues of private influence on science that bear an uncanny resemblance to today’s lingering political battles over global warming.
