RadioActive 9/10/09

Producers/Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco & Amy Browne

Segment 1: We hear of internationally known speakers and performers coming to Maine next week: Marcela Olivera, a Bolivian water rights activist, and the acclaimed duo “Climbing PoeTree” with their performance “Hurricane Season”, as we talk with organizer Emily Posner. (FMI: defendingwaterinmaine.org , www.climbingpoetree.com)

Segment 2: We look at TABOR II, a so-called taxpayer’s bill of rights that will be on the ballot this November. We’ll speak with Republican County Commissioner Steve Johnson of Colorado about the dire reasons that state repealed a TABOR initiative, and with Rep. Jim Martin, District 18 (Bangor, Veazie, Orono) about the potential impact here.

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RadioActive 8/27/09

Producers/Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco and Amy Browne
“Harmful if swallowed, absorbed through the skin, or inhaled. Avoid contact with skin, eyes or clothing”….”When handling this product, use chemically resistant gloves”…”Remove contaminated clothing. Rinse skin immediately with plenty of water, for 15 to 20 minutes” and “Call a poison control center or doctor for treatment advise”. “Do not use in or near a greenhouse”. “This product is toxic to fish”. Sounds like something you want to run out and dump in a lake, right? That’s just part of the warning label for a herbicide that Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) plans to dump into Salmon Lake, which flows into Hatchery Brook in North Belgrade, in order to kill Eurasian Milfoil. Today we’re talk with John McPhedran, Invasive Programs Manager at DEP and with Hillary Lister, a Maine IndyMedia reporter who has been working on this issue— she’ll also update us on legislation that would give renewable energy credits to companies burning biomass.

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RadioActive 8/20/09

Producers/Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco and Amy Browne
Topics: Mainers working on healthcare reform and efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan.
Segment 1: “Maine Change that Works” Healthcare Reform Tour;
Guest: Greg Howard, Maine Change that Works Campaign, a project of SEIU (Service Employees Internation Union). FMI: [email protected];
Segment 2: “Rethink Afghanistan” film and discussion with an Afghanistan war veteran, sponsored by CODEPINK Maine and others, and other local efforts to stop the war. Guest: Lisa Savage, CODEPINK Maine, The film will be shown at the Colonial Theater in Belfast, 7p.m. on Thursday, August 27th, as well as other locations around the state. FMI: www.codepink4peace.org or 207-643-2356.

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RadioActive 8/13/09

Producers/Hosts: Amy Browne and Meredith DeFrancesco

In recent days the activist community in this part of Maine has been abuzz with reports that a federal grand jury has been convened in Bangor, and may be investigating local activists. We have been able to confirm the existence of a grand jury, and some information that indicates that it may be focusing on at least one person who has ties to the activist community. So far the parties involved have not come forward publicly. James McCarthy, the U.S. Assistant Attorney who issued the subpoena, has refused to answer our questions.
The Federal Grand Jury process has been used extensively in other parts of the US— most notably as part of the “Green Scare” witch hunt against environmental activists in the western states. Whether local activists are being targeted or not, attorneys who have dealt with this issue say it’s important to know your rights should someone knock on YOUR door with a subpoena. This week we’ll be focusing on that issue on RadioActive and Weekend Voices. Saturday at 10 on Weekend Voices, local attorneys Phil Worden and Lynne Williams will weigh in the issue, but we start today with some background on how Federal Grand Juries were used to target community activists in the west, with our guest Lauren Regan, ED, Attorney at Law, Executive Director of The Civil Liberties Defense Center, based in Eugene, Oregon.

FMI: www.cldc.org

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RadioActive 7/10/09

Producers/Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco and Amy Browne

Topic: The urgent impacts climate change will continue to have on food security through out the world. The G8 Summit in Italy this week has said they will examine these issues. Whether any plan will emerge remains to be seen. The leaders of the so-called Group of 8 or G8 countries are meeting in Italy this week in an annual summit to discuss global issues…

Guest: Gawain Kripke, Oxfam America’s policy director
To view report “Suffering the Science: Climate Change , People and Poverty” -www.Oxfam America.org. FMI www.350.org

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RadioActive 6/25/09

Producers/Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco and Amy Browne

Today we look at a stand Maine health care providers are taking against climate change, we hear about shifting policy on the application of industrial pesticides in the state and we look at Congressman Michaud’s TRADE Act which would reorganize US trade priorities.

1.On Monday, Governor Baldacci signed a bill which will create a statewide registry for notification of agricultural pesticide application by aerial spray or air carrier application equipment.
Guest: executive director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) Russel Libby discusses what the legislation does and where it has fallen short on the protection of people and organic crops from pesticide drift. FMI www.mofga.org

2.On Tuesday, 100 healthcare professionals from across the state sent Maine’s Congressional delegation a letter urging them to take decisive action to address climate change specifically the United States production of green house gases. The focus of the letter was the public health implications of climate change. We speak with Dr Lani Grahm, the co-president of the Maine Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility. Her organization ,as well as the Maine Medical Association have stressed their deep concern on the issue. FMI www.psr.org/chapters/maine www.cleanandhealthyme.org

3. A bill which would establish stringent standards for future free trade agreements, and the review and potential renegotiation of current free trade agreements, was introduced yesterday in Congress.
HR 3012, the “Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment” or “TRADE” Act was introduced, with 106 co-sponsors, by Maine Congressman Mike Michaud, the Chairman of the House Trade Working Group.
The TRADE Act would require adherence by country signatories to labor, environmental and human rights standards, as well as addressing the privatization of public services, intellectual property rights and procurement policies.
Even more significantly, the Act would require a review, and potential renegotiation, of a number of current trade agreements, including NAFTA, CAFTA and the World Trade Organization’s Uruguay Round agreements, based on the Act’s new trade standards.

Guest: Sarah Bigney, Maine Fair Trade Campaign www.mainefairtrade.org

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