Pollution Solutions
Pollution Solutions Megafarms and oil & gas producers in California’s Central Valley are some of the worst polluters of local air, soil, and water. We’ll hear how Central Valley residents are pushing back. Later, author Naomi Klein talks about her book, On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal. But first, we go to Pine Ridge, South Dakota, where we learn how six Native American tribes are harnessing wind power to...
The World’s Largest Methanol Refinery (and the fight to stop it)
Photo by Rick Rappaport The Fight to Stop the World’s Largest Methanol Refinery Special for Climate Week: Barbara Bernstein’s story of several communities in the Pacific Northwest of the United States who are fighting mammoth fracked gas projects that would turn this green region into a fracked-gas export hub. For years, Bernstein has reported for Making Contact on David versus Goliath battles...
In the Shadow of the Volcano: Guatemala’s Unequal Disaster
Fuego Volcano-Guatemala The Central American region and especially, the country of Guatemala, is vulnerable to numerous natural disasters – earthquakes, hurricanes, landslides, droughts and … volcanoes. Thousands of Guatemalans are still recovering from the effects of the eruption of a volcano called Fuego – Spanish for “fire” – which took place in the summer of 2018. In this report, Maria Martin,...
The Response: Uneven Burns
Undocumented Amidst Fire Disasters On this episode, we look at the 2017 Tubbs Fire in California, and how it impacted the undocumented community. In the face of ICE raids, labor violations, a housing crisis, and wildfires, the broader community is standing in solidarity with those who are forced into the shadows. California’s drought has led to an unprecedented number of wildfires that burn hotter, faster, and ever more acreage....
Climate Uprising: Indigenous Women at the Global Climate Action Summit
Indigenous Women Speak Their Truth On The Climate Crisis The climate emergency on Earth has become critical. So when California Governor Jerry Brown called for a Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, Sept, 12-14 2018, people took to the streets to let the governor and attendees at the summit know they don’t want inadequate or false climate solutions, including cap and trade. Women, including frontline and Indigenous women...
Fossil Refusal: Local Models Not Global Markets
Despite the difficult picture painted by the news, there is hope for our planet. On this episode of Making Contact, we look at the ways people have already been organizing and what sort of new energy solutions exist for the future. We hear about two grassroots fights against the fossil fuel industry – one in Tacoma, Washington, where residents are fighting a natural gas facility called LNG, the other in Rodeo, California where...
