September 2009

Monthly Archive

TGM #156: State of Cycling 2009 (September 25, 2009)

Posted by Arleigh. Leave a comment 

You can download the episode here or listen in the embedded player.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

    TGM presents its 2009 State of Cycling Broadcast. Photo by Bernat Casero.

    TGM presents its 2009 State of Cycling Broadcast. Photo by Bernat Casero.

    State of Cycling 2009

  • For all the talk about cyclists in the media, it’s not clear how cycling advocates are actually doing. Is progress being made in efforts to improve city cycling infrastructure, making it faster, safer and more convenient for cyclists in Canada? We dedicate the program to a roundtable on the State Of Cycling. News Correspondent Tyler Irving moderates a discussion with three people who ought to know about cycling: University of British Columbia Professor Kay Teschke, Director of the “Cycling in Cities” research program; Daniel Egan, Manager, Cycling Infrastructure and Programs at the City of Toronto; and Yvonne Bambrick, Head of the Toronto Cyclists Union. In two segments, Tyler and guests discuss cycling progress, strategy and more.

Headlines:

 

TGM #155: Bailey’s Local Foods (September 18, 2009)

Posted by Arleigh. Leave a comment 

You can download the episode here or listen in the embedded player.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

    Bailey’s Local Foods

  • Bailey's Local Foods

    Bailey's Local Foods

    Nina Bailey Dick knows farming and how difficult a life it is. She grew up on a traditional farm and after hight school studied organic farming. She felt though that while there were plenty of farmers in her Kitchener Waterloo area, what was missing was a way to get their produce directly to consumers. Not every farmer can man a stall at a farmers market, and consumers she felt should not have to drive all over the countryside just to buy local.

    And so, she set up Bailey’s Local Foods, basically a local food buying club, from her home to help bridge the void. And, she was then promptly shut down by local authorities as she had run afoul of the Kitchner Waterloo zoning rules.

    Nina Bailey-Dick spoke to Green Life reporter Peter Stock and explained what happened and why she feels zoning rules need to be changed.

    • Masdar City

  • Masdar City

    Masdar City

    Jennifer Taylor has just completed her Masters in Environmental Studies at York University. Her focus there has been renewable energy, which is how Masdar City came onto her radar screen.

    This 24 Billion dollar planned community is touted as being the world’s most sustainble – car free, carbon neutral, waste free….

    It has also snatched the headquarters for IRENA – the International Renewable Energy Agency – from under the noses of better known renewable leaders like German, Norway and Denmark.

    But might there something hypocritical about an island of leading edge sustainability in the middle of a major petroleum producing country, which also has one of the world’s biggest carbon footprints, next door to a Formula One race track?

    Jennifer Taylor wondered the same thing and wrote about Masdar City for the “Your Town: Sustainable by Design” issue of Alternatives Journal.

Headlines:

 

TGM #154: Coastal ecosystem collapse? (September 11, 2009)

Posted by Arleigh. Leave a comment 

You can download the episode here or listen in the embedded player.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

    B.C. grizzly bear numbers appear to be plummeting as a result of a crash in the B.C. wild salmon population. Photo by S. Yume.

    B.C. grizzly bear numbers appear to be plummeting as a result of a crash in the B.C. wild salmon population. Photo by S. Yume.

    Coastal ecosystem collapse?

  • Ian McAllister, Conservation Director of the British Columbia wildlife group Pacific Wild, speaks with Jordan Poppenk about the collapse of wild salmon, a cornerstone species in the coastal B.C. ecosystem. While initial media reports focused on a tremendous loss of sockeye salmon in the Fraser river, McAllister describes a broader collapse involving several varieties of wild salmon across most of B.C.’s coastline. McAllister links the salmon crash to an apparent collapse of B.C’s grizzly bear population, as well as possible declines in other species that depend on salmon.

    • The Bridge at the Edge of the World

  • Joanna Dafoe speaks with environmental lawyer, Dean, and distinguished American environmentalist James Gustave Speth about his book, Bridge at the Edge of the World. Originally aired March 13, 2009.

Headlines:

 

TGM #153: Beyond Food Versus Fuel (September 4, 2009)

Posted by Arleigh. 1 Comment 

You can download the episode here or listen in the embedded player.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

    Algae, a potential biofuel. Photo by Lee Nachtigal.

    Algae, a potential biofuel. Photo by Lee Nachtigal.

    Beyond Food Versus Fuel

  • In a two-part interview, Peter Stock speaks with Susan Holtz, energy policy analyst and Alternatives Journal editorial board member, about the complicated biofuels debate. Holtz explains why, when it comes to biofuels policy, Food versus Fuel is not as important a question as everyone seems to think. She also explains why we need a balance of biofuel solutions, even if ethanol is relatively inefficient. She wraps up by explaining why policy analysts, the people who seem to have all the answers, are not frustrated when politicians often ignore them.

Headlines: