Credit: Petr Kosina / CIMMYT

Journalist Christian Parenti speaks about his new book, Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence. He connects the effects of climate change to the increasing number of civil wars, ethnic violence, criminality and failed states between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Parenti argues that in the U.S., factions on the right are using climate change as an excuse to push for increased border control and harsh anti-immigrant policies.

Featuring:

Christian Parenti, contributing editor at The Nation, a Puffin Foundation writing fellow at The Nation Institute, and a visiting scholar at the City University of New York. He is the author of Tropic of Chaos, Lockdown America, The Soft Cage, and The Freedom.

AUDIO/Video EXTRAS:

Christian Parenti’s full length talk with questions and answers:

For more information:

Christian Parenti
The International Programme on the State of the Ocean
The Nature Conservancy
Climate Reality
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Pew Center on Global Climate Change
Conservation International
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies
Crossing Zero: The AfPak War at the Turning Point of American Empire
Invisible History

Articles/Videos

Tribes in Kenya Wage Water War
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Afghanistan Opium Survey 2011
Despair takes toll on Indian farmers
Race, Migration and the Environment: The Anti-immigrant Movement’s Greening of Hate

Music:

Michael Franti – Hey World (Don’t Give Up)
The Coup – The Stand

Oakland, CA Scraper krew, image courtesy of flickr user vkdir.

Communities across the country have embraced locally-grown food, fuel-efficient cars and other forms of environmentalism. While African-Americans haven’t been on widely credited, they are amongst the vanguard creating positive change. On this edition, we take you to a resettlement community in North Carolina, sustainable farms in Wisconsin and on a bike ride in California, where local black communities are making long-term impacts on the environment.

Special thanks to producers Zoe Sullivan and Alton Byrd.

Featuring:

Robert Pierce, marketing manager of South Madison Farmer’s Market, Madison coordinator for Growing Power; Shelley Pierce, staff member of Growing Power; Javier Vasquez, intern at Growing Power-Madison; Paris Mogo, agriculture extension officer in Nairobi, Kenya; Gary R. Grant, executive director of Concerned Citizens of Tillery, and other Tillery residents; Jenna Burton and Nick James, founders of Red, Bike and Green.

Audio Extras

Wisconsin farmers
In largely rural Wisconsin, the state’s Department of Agriculture says there are only 63 farms owned by African Americans, out of more than 73,000 in operation today.  But a few of those remaining black farmers are trying reconnect the black community with their not-so-distant past, and help improve their community’s health in the process.  From Madison, Zoe Sullivan has the story.

For More Information: 

South Madison Farmer’s Market Madison, WI
The Afri-Can FoodBasket North York, On Canada
Concerned Citizens of Tillery Tillery, NC
Red, Bike and Green Oakland, CA
Growing Power
Outdoor Afro
Life Is Living
Rooted in Community
The Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association
People of Kolor Everyday Ridin’
Critical Mass

Articles/Videos, etc.:

Pigford v. Glickman
Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University’s exhibit: “Remembering Tillery: Our Community, Our Own Land”

Music:

“Tibetan Serenity” by Travis Bigg
“I Shall Not Be Moved” by Joyful Sound Gospel
“Soul Pride” by James Brown

Photo by Irene Florez

Women are gaining influence as leaders throughout the world, fighting for peace, justice, the environment, and civil society. On this program we profile a dynamic partnership between the Women’s Earth Alliance and the Global Women’s Water Initiative: working on women’s rights to water, land, farming and basic human dignity.

This is a special collaboration with Lynn Feinerman and Crown Sephira Productions.

Featuring:

Rucha Chitnis, director, Women’s Earth Alliance India; Maame Yelbert-Obeng, Women’s Earth Alliance Africa; Gemma Bulos, director, Global Women’s Water Initiative; Sandra Hay, CEO and filmmaker, Unseen Pictures; Mama Catherine, activist in Cameroon.
Note: Vandana Shiva is an international advisor for Women’s Earth Alliance. She is not on the board, as stated on the program.  We apologize for the error.

For More Information:

Women’s Earth Alliance
Global Women’s Water Initiative

Women Rising
WEA-Voices of Hope film
A Single Drop for Safe Water
Evan Fraser

Articles, Videos, etc
‘We Rise’ Million Voice Choir
Tribal Women’s Struggle for Water in India
2010 West African Women & Water Training Program

MUSIC:
‘We Rise’ by Gemma Bulos
‘Solar Rising’ by Evan Fraser
‘Mother Mbira’ by Evan Fraser
‘Zawo’ by Evan Fraser

La Via Campesina's caravan holds a candle ceremony just outside of Chichenitze to celebrate arrival at the 2010 climate conference. Photo by Allan Lissner.

Global warming is no longer a fear for the future, it’s threatening human civilization now. But a good portion of humanity doesn’t seem that concerned. On this edition, part 2 of a special 2 part series, Brian Edwards-Tiekert takes us through the climate change that is happening, the political response that isn’t, and the people trying to break the gridlock.

This series was made possible by a grant from The Lia Fund, with additional support from The Cultural Conservancy.

Featuring:

Joe Romm, climateprogress.org editor; Anthony Leiserowitz, Yale University school of forestry and environmental studies climate change communication program director; Rob Willer , University of California at Berkeley Sociologist; Barack Obama, President of the United States; Florencio Quintero, Guayabal, Panama community leader; Christina Bonita, Ruben Mirana; Guayabal residents; Henry Derwent, International Emissions Trading Association CEO; David Hawkins Natural Resources Defense Council director of climate programs; Oswaldo Jordan Alliance for Conservation and Development Director; Pedro Albrego, Ngobe Center for Development and Technical Assistance worker; Michael Dorsey. Dartmouth College Climate Justice Research project director; Evo Morales, President of Bolivia; Angelica Navarro, lead Bolivian climate negotiator

For more information:

Alliance for Conservation and Development

Center for Civil Society, University of Kwazulu-Natal

Climate Connections

Climate Justice Research Project at Dartmouth College

Climate Progress

Climate Signals – An Inventory of Climate Change Impact Reports

COP 17 in Durban, South Africa

Global Justice Ecology Project

Indigenous Environmental Network

Institute for Policy Studies–Energy and Economy

International Emissions Trading Association

Movement Generation

Mobilization for Climate Justice

Natural Resources Defense Council

Friends of the Earth International

Greenpeace International

Senator James Inhofe

Skeptical Science

The South Centre

Tuvalu and Global Warming

World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth

Yale Project on Climate Change Communication

Articles, Videos, etc.
Maldives Seeks to Buy a New Homeland

Music:

Ninna Nanna by Volfoniq
Do What You Can by Lee Rosevere
Wavy Glass by Podington Bear
May-December by Mos Def

Bolivia's UN ambassador, Pablo Solon speaks to a crowd about the need for real climate change solutions. Photo: Langelle/GJEP-GFC.

Global warming is no longer a fear for the future, it’s threatening human civilization now. But a good portion of humanity doesn’t seem that concerned. On this edition, part 1 of a special 2 part series, Brian Edwards-Tiekert takes us through the climate change that is happening, the political response that isn’t, and the people trying to break the gridlock.

This series was made possible by a grant from The Lia Fund, with additional support from The Cultural Conservancy.

Featuring:

Tim Flannery, author of “The Weathermakers”; Professor Joseph Alcamo, United Nations Environment Program chief scientist; James Inhofe, US Senator from Oklahoma; Bernaditas Muller, South Centre climate change special advisor; Patrick Bond, Center for Civil Society director at the University of Kwazulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa; Enele Soapala, Tuvalu minister for foreign affairs, environment, and labor; Barack Obama, President of the United States; Stanislaus Lumumba Di-Aping, South Sudanese diplomat; Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International executive director; Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives; Terisa Turner, University of Guelph economist, Nnimo Bassey, Friends of the Earth International chair

For more information:

Climate Signals – An Inventory of Climate Change Impact Reports
Skeptical Science
Climate Progress
Mobilization for Climate Justice
Center for Civil Society, University of Kwazulu-Natal
Indigenous Environmental Network
Senator James Inhofe
The South Centre
Tuvalu and Global Warming
Greenpeace International
Friends of the Earth International
COP 17 in Durban, South Africa

Articles, Videos, etc
Maldives Seeks to Buy a New Homeland

Music:

Ninna Nanna by Volfoniq
Do What You Can by Lee Rosevere
Wavy Glass by Podington Bear
May-December by Mos Def

Credit: CHRIS WILKINS/AFP/Getty Images, Rita Daniels

The earthquake in Haiti.  The BP oil spill.  A crumbling US economy and educational system.  And domestic workers in New York receive a historic bill of rights.  We look back at some stories we brought you in 2010, and look ahead to 2011.

Featuring:

Pierre Labossierre, Haiti Action Committee; Ansel Herz, independent journalist living in Haiti; Albert Naquin, Isle de Jean Charles Band of Biloxi-Chitimachas Tribal Chief; Aaron Viles, Gulf Restoration Network Campaign Director; Robert Gorman, Catholic Charities Houma-Thibodaux Executive Director; R.J. Molinair & Clairece Fralou, Gulf Coast residents; Marguerite Higa, parent, organizer of Save Our Schools Hawaii; Ai-Jen Poo, National Domestic Workers Alliance Director; Pat Francois, Domestic Workers United member.

—

Making Contact’s Pauline Bartolone speaks with Pierre Labossierre of the Haiti Action Committee:

—

Economic Need Keeps Gulf Coast Residents Supporting Big Oil

With their land, traditions, and livelihood all thrown into chaos, and their future in doubt, you might think that the people of Southern Louisiana would be calling for major changes to the way the oil companies do business, or leading the charge for an overall ban on underwater drilling.  But as correspondent Julia Botero reports, the economic realities are much more complicated, and many of those most closely affected by the devastation of the gulf spill, are in fact, not calling for any change at all.

—

Hawaii Parents and Students ‘Sit-In’ Against School Furloughs

In Hawaii this past year, the school year was the shortest in the nation because of furloughs every Friday. But in early April 2010, a group of parents called ‘Save Our Schools’ decided they couldn’t stand idly by … literally. They staged a sit in at Governor Linda Lingle’s office, demanding that she take stronger action to end the off days. Listen to their story among this mix of stories about how teachers, students and parents dealt with the crisis in K-12 education.

—WEB EXCLUSIVES—

Extended interview with Ai-Jen Poo

Full-length interview with Ai-Jen Poo, Director of the National Domestic Workers
Alliance, about the successful campaign for a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in New
York State.

Extended interview with Ansel Herz

Full-length interview with Ansel Herz, independent journalist in Haiti, about post-earthquake recovery, foreign aid and debt relief, the UN, and elections in Haiti.

—

For More Information:

Act Against Oil-Abolish Offshore Drilling
http://www.actagainstoil.com/

Ansel Herz
www.mediahacker.org

Antonia Juhasz
http://www.tyrannyofoil.org/

Biloxi-Chitimacha Confederation of Muskogees
http://www.biloxi-chitimacha.com/

Catholic Charities Houma-Thibodaux

Houma, LA

Democracy Now’s coverage of earthquake in Haiti
http://www.democracynow.org/tags/haiti_earthquake

Domestic Workers United
http://www.domesticworkersunited.org/
New York, New York

Gulf Restoration Network

New Orleans, LA

Global Exchange Chevron Program

San Francisco, CA

Haiti Action Committee

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti

http://www.ijdh.org/

Louisiana Bucket Brigade

New Orleans, LA

Louisiana Environmental Action Network

Baton Rouge, LA

Mobilization for Climate Justice

National Domestic Workers Alliance

New York, New York

Rethinking Schools

United States Social Forum

Articles, Blogs, Films, Reports, Other:

“The Fight to Save Public Education”
by Shamus Cooke

Gulf Residents Scared Oil Industry Will Leave: Will We Ever Break Our Abusive Relationship With Oil?

Sierra Club Oil Spill Map

“School Reform We Can’t Believe In”

by Stan Karp, Rethinking Schools

Music:

J-Dilla by Always Find a Way

Zero 7 by Warm Sound

Bounce by Dopestar

The perils of oil drilling may have hit the headlines when BP’s rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.  But the environmental impacts of the exploration, extraction and trade of petroleum have long disrupted everyday life in both the global south and industrialized nations.

In recent years, communities worldwide have protested the presence of big oil. One of the longest-running and bloody oil conflicts in the world is in the niger delta, where companies such as shell and chevron have worked closely with the Nigerian government to exploit the oil resources there. Freelance Producer Lynn Feinerman has more about the oil business in Nigeria, and about citizen efforts to hold companies accountable in the courtroom.

Source: www.saturdaymarket.com

It’s a historical quirk that the middle of a desert–California’s central valley–has been made into an artificial agricultural oasis. Farmers in the Central Valley are getting a sneak preview of what much of the country, and the world, can expect to see in the next few decades–increasing water scarcity. So how to handle a dry outlook ahead? To look into one idea, Making Contact correspondent Joaquin Palomino visited the nearby Central Coast growing region. The availability of water is a growing issue there, too. And a handful of farmers are finding new ways to make every last drop count.

Workers release carbon-dioxide vapor after 'fracking' a natural-gas well in eastern New Mexico. Source: arch1design

While the BP oil spill has increased calls to use natural gas as a so-called ‘clean energy’ alternative, activists are sounding the alarm bell about this controversial gas drilling technique – hydraulic fracturing.

This week, we’ll hear excerpts from the movie “Gasland.” We’ll also hear from people from Pennsylvania to the mountains of Colorado who are trying to prevent the toxic fallout from ‘fracking’ before it starts.

Special thanks to Josh Fox, the producer of ‘Gasland,’ and to Alton Byrd and Rachel Zurer for helping to produce this show.

Featuring:

Walter Hang, Toxics Targeting President; Josh Fox, ‘Gasland’ movie producer; Weston Wilson, EPA employee not speaking on behalf of the EPA; Oil and gas industry executives; Pat Farnelli, Norma Fiorintino, Ron & Jean Carter, Dimock, PA residents; Dr. Theo Colborn, Endocrine Disruption Exchange President; Paul Light, Grand Valley Citizen’s Alliance President; Rachel Waldholz, High Country News Correspondent; Maurice Hinchey, New York State Representative, 22nd District; Wes Gillingham, Catskill Mountainkeeper Program Director.

—

In Absence of Federal Regulation, Locals Challenge ‘Fracking’

When hydraulic fracturing makes it to HBO primetime, it’s pretty fair to say there’s buzz. But while viewers got the chance to kick back and relax to Josh Fox’s “Gasland” last June, political leaders and ordinary citizens across the country have been working hard to prevent the film’s grim scenarios from spreading. They’re having some success, partly because of increased publicity for the dangers of fracking. In March, the Environmental Protection Agency agreed to reassess the impact of hydraulic fracking on drinking water. Their study should be complete by 2012.  Rachel Zurer has more on citizen initiatives to stop the negative impacts of hydraulic fractures — ideally, before they even start.

—

For more information:

Gasland: the Movie

Toxics Targeting

Catskill Mountainkeeper

Battlement Concerned Citizens:
A Committee of Grand Valley Citizens Alliance

Debunking Gasland

Videos, Blogs, Articles, Links:

Agit-Prop video: Stand Up NY!

Report: Marcellus reserves worth $2 trillion

Colorado launches one of the nation’s first health assessments of gas-drilling impacts

Exposing the Natural Gas Industry’s Attempt to Silence Its Critics–Alternet

EPA frac study: What the beginning may say about the end

Follow the FRAC Act

ProPublica’s extensive coverage of fracking issues:
www.propublica.org/special/hydraulic-fracturing
www.propublica.org/feature/a-reporters-journey-through-the-gas-fields

Untested Waters: The Rise of Hydraulic Fracturing in Oil and Gas Production and the Need to Revisit Regulation by Hannah Wiseman, Fordham Environmental Law review

Scoping Materials for Initial Design of EPA Hydraulic Fracturing Research Study

EPA takes new look at gas drilling, water issues

Video clip of lighting Divide Creek on fire

Rachel Waldholz talks with High Country News editors about Battlement Mesa and fracking

Fracking protest in Albany, NY

‘To Drill or Not to Drill natural Gas Rush Forces Farmers to Choose between Income and Land’–Alternet

Video on Sublette County, Michigan hydrofracking

Kill the Drill: A Call for a Statewide Ban on Gas Fracking in NY

Safe Water Movement to Ban Toxic Gas Drilling in NY

Frac Attack: The Movie

2009 Report by New York City Borough President Scott M. Stringer on hydrofracking

Congress Considers Fracking Regulation Amid Hodgepodge of State Drilling Rules

Weekly Mulch: As risks for oil and gas grow, USSF offers change
Posted Jun 25, 2010 by Sarah Laskow

Anti-coup protest in Honduras. Photo from TML Daily.

For decades, critics have accused the United States of viewing Latin America solely as a project for economic expansion and exploitation. Even liberals see the global south as an object of unilateral help or charity. But social change activists say the tables have turned.

On this edition, we’ll hear from experts who insist the U.S. has a lot to learn from social movements in Latin America — especially in times of crisis.

Featuring:

Marina Sitrin, author and attorney; Ben Dangl, Burlington College in Vermont professor; Mario Murillo, author & Hofstra University professor; Oscar Estrada, Honduran filmmaker & 2010 NarcoNews School of Authentic Journalism participant.

Special thanks to Between the Lines at WPKN Radio in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

For more information:

Between the Lines
A weekly radio news magazine show

Latin America Solidarity Coalition

Latin America Solidarity Network

Left Forum 2010
New York, NY

NarcoNews

Articles, Blogs, Films, Reports, Other:

South of the Border
A new movie by Oliver Stone exploring social movements in Latin America

‘Horizontalidad: Where Everyone Leads’
An article by Marina Sitrin, Yes! Magazine, 2007

‘Horizontalism: Voices of Popular Power in Argentina’
A book edited by Marina Sitrin

‘The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia’
A book by Benjamin Dangl

Upside Down World
A blog covering activism and politics in Latin America

Venezuela Analysis
A blog providing in-depth analysis about developments in Venezuela

Music:

The Platform