Environment
Environment

Is Water Not a Human Right?
The right says let the market be in charge. Privatizing and commodifying our essential human needs is OK with them. Should we just accept the normalization of hundreds of millions of plastic bottles, for corproate controlled water that is no

More Democracy Can Prevent Climate Collapse of Civilization
Phoenix may not last another 25 years. Whole countries will collapse. The issue is elite control, and that was why earlier civilizations: Chaco canyon, the Mayan culture, and Viking Greenland collapsed; average people had no say. On this show Professor

A Revolution in Public Power
It took a lot of persistent steady heavy lifting but New York State now has a new democratically run power authority. Instead of the traditional for-profit monopolies, the public good will determine a greener, less expensive supply of electricity.

It’s Costing Taxpayers Billions. “Prespond” To Effects of Climate Change.
Our infrastructure is overloaded. It already can’t handle extreme weather and climate change is making it more frequent. We can’t keep sweeping it under the rug. On this show Steve Ellis, president of the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense,

Seriously Radical Action To Defend the Earth
It’s a tale of fiction but in his new book Altar to an Erupting Sun well known activist and author Chuck Collins tells the story of the main character Rae Kelliher who, facing her own death, makes a bold, shocking,

The Earth for Humanity: A How-To
The 19th and 20th century systems of control of the earth have failed; there’s a connection between famines and empire. Especially in the face of climate change, we have a lot to learn from indigenous and peasant systems; the idea

Sea Change: As Islands Sink, Will Communities Rise?
The thousands of islands in the global south have been treated as toys by the western “civilizers.” Though they are responsible for less than 1% of greenhouse gas emissions, today their voices are not part of the conversation on dealing

I Want a Better Catastrophe!
We finally get that can’t have infinite growth on our finite planet. The dominant western approach of treating the earth as our playground isn’t working anymore. It’s late but there are still real opportunities for a partnership between humans and

You’ll Never Guess Which Country is Leading the Green Wave
From a vaunted Latin American “pink wave,” Colombia’s new president Gustavo Petro and vice president Francia Marquez realized that even with socialised profits, more extraction does not equal more wealth. In fact as the Insitute for Policy Studies’ John Feffer

How Does an Economic System So Hostile to Life Endure for Centuries?
We may accept today’s economic system as just part of the natural order; but in truth capitalism started with overt violence. Centuries later it has morphed into what our guest calls Mute Compulsion. And now here we are, faced with

Comedy To Fight Climate Change?
Fun attracts people but let’s face it: environmentalists tend to be a dour bunch. Saving the planet is after all serious stuff. Average working people can get turned off. But what about dark comedy? We’ve seen where it works. On

Lula: New Hope for a Habitable Earth?
From mere crisis to real emergency, one big political change in Brazil offers realistic hope for saving the planet. No exaggeration. On this show global south veteran journalist James North explains that implementation of new priorities, with a new president

Nationalize Railroads While There are Still Assets
A crippling rail strike seems to have been averted. Barely. You and I may think of the railroads as ways to move freight, but as our guest today observes: “The railroad companies have been Wall Street’s plaything throughout their half-century

The High Price of American Exceptionalism on the Earth
Politicians of both parties buy into American Exceptionalism. But what does it mean to the planet? On this show professor Aviva Chomsky sheds light on the aspects of exceptionalism we don’t want to see. Instead of a good life just

Nuclear Power is Racist, Sexist, and Ageist: You Gotta Listen
The comfort of colonial powers relied on them not seeing the damage to exploited nations. So it is with mining and milling the uranium for nuclear power. Victims then as now are people without power, indigenous populations which are health

Capitalism: Powerful Environmental Ally?
Saving the planet is not just for hippies anymore. It’s good to remember that when the business community came out against the war in Vietnam, that was the tipping point. In his new book Climatenomics, Washington, Wall Street, and the

The Worldwide Effects of the Ukraine War
There are concentric circles: innermost being the destruction of Ukraine. But the increased insecurity of so many essential factors as a result of the war is starting to disrupt and bring increased misery to the poor of the world. On

The High Price of American Exceptionalism on the Earth
Do you buy into American Exceptionalism? Politicians of both parties do. But what does it mean to the planet? On this show professor Aviva Chomsky sheds light on the aspects of exceptionalism we don’t want to see. Technical tweaks alone

Courageous Movement for Change That Works
Breaking the mold of powerlessness happens, in the US Senate and in our neighborhoods. On the first segment Political Science professor and author Ron Feinman points to six little known US Senators who courageously stood up against war and injustice.

There Is Enough to Go Around. But Not the Way We’ve Been Doing It
The earth itself is today paying the price for the 20th century fossil fuel bonanza. Now instead of continuing to have all humanity in service to that powerful sector, it’s time to pay the climate and colonization debt. When George

David Beats Goliath: Water Over Gold
The most dangerous thing to be in Central America is a water defender. The transnational mining interests frighten regional governments with massive lawsuits if they don’t get their way. And they have killed. But as the new book The Water

After 50 years, A Tipping Point for the Defeat of Fossil Fuels?
What we’ve been saying all the years has come true. The easy oil days are over. Banks are always leery of making bad investments, and heavy footprint fossil fuel interests also frighten the insurance industry. Oil is just not profitable

4 Day Work Week: Beneficial Effect of Covid?
With the pandemic throwing everything up in the air, there are new opportunities for us to shape the way it all lands. Going back to the old “normal” is not the only option. On this show Joe Ryle a leader

Anti-Racist Feminism Key To Covid, Environmental Solutions
How did we get in this mess in the first place? Will little tweaks allow America to effectively address climate change, racism, and the deadly pandemic? Author Northeastern University professor Jennie C. Stephens argues that there is a “polluter elite”

A New CCC to Save the Planet?
FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps achieved remarkable success in so many areas: Creating meaningful work for young men in a time of mass unemployment, planting forests, conserving our natural resources. It ended with the start of World War II. Perhaps now

I) May Day 71 II) Silver Lining of Pandemic
On part one, Ron Jacobs and MayDay veteran Burt Cohen discuss the virtually unknown MayDay 1971 protest in DC when 13,000 people were arrested. And on part two, five college world security professor Michael Klare examines the significant silver lining

Australia’s Fires: Both Victim and Perpetrator
Putting out wildfires is one thing but how about paying attention to the causes? Our guest today is Daniel Judt who wrote a cover story for The Nation: “Australia’s Devastating Wildfires Were Not Inevitable.” Australia is among the highest emitters

A New Deal That’s Also Green
The New Deal aspect of the Green New Deal often gets forgotten. The goal now as in the 1930s is to make the state the instrument of the popular will. Democratizing the economy, making it work for the common good,

Climate Change Serves Oil and the Pentagon
Melting polar ice caps is great for the rapacious oil and gas industry. Trump denying climate change and wanting to buy Greenland is actually part of the logic of what drives our military policy. Our guest on this show journalist

Liberal Justin Trudeau: In the Pocket of Big Oil?
How many of us have looked longingly at our neighbor to the north with it’s sane liberal government? Justin Trudeau promised a fresh approach to politics based on openness, decency, and liberalism. Now corruption scandals swirl about him and his