Archives for BPA

RadioActive 6/21/12

Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco
Issue: Environmental and Social Justice
Program Topic: Citizen Initiative for Regulatory Action on BPA in Food Packaging Intended for Babies and Toddlers and a Report from the Demonstrations at the Rio 20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development

Key Discussion Points (list at least 3):
a) Maine citizens delivered a petition to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection that legally requires the state to consider a rule to ban the use of Bisphonel-A in the containers of food and beverages marketed to babies and small children. Maine law recently went into effect that bans BPA in reusable plastic containers, such as baby bottles and “sippy “cups.
b) Indigenous communities and environmental and social justice organizations at the Rio 20 UN Conference on Sustainable have been amplifying their resistance to destructive projects promoted as part of the so called “green economy”, stressing the negative impacts of commodifying the natural world.
c) One example is the REDD Initiative (“Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation”). Indigenous communities say, now that their forest lands are considered monetarily lucrative as carbon off sets, their often politically marginalized communities are vulnerable to land grabs.
Guests by name and affiliation:
A) Mike Belliveau, executive director, Environmental Health Strategy Center www.preventharm.org
B) Anne Petermann, executive director, Global Justice Ecology Project climate-connections.org/
C) Margaret Prescott, producer of “Sojourner Truth”, KPFK FM
D)Jeff Conant, Global Justice Ecology Project reporting
E) Alberto Saldamdo, Indigenous Environmental Network www.ienearth.org/

climate-connections.org/2012/06/22/indigenous-deliver-kari-oca-ii-declaration-to-rio20-as-military-halts-hundreds/

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RadioActive 3/31/11

Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco

Segment 1: We talk with labor historian Charles Scontras, in the wake of the labor history mural removal from the Me. Dept of Labor, on Caesar Chavez Day.

In Maine, Governor Paul LePage’s active purging of labor history observations from the Maine Dept of labor building, includes not only taking down the mural depicting scenes from Maine’s labor history, but also orders the renaming of the rooms of the rooms in the Department of labor, one of which is named after Caesar Chavez. Another is named after Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve in a US Cabinet post and the longest serving of any member. Among the many scenes of labor history depicted on the mural painted by the artist Judy Taylor is a panel of Frances Perkins.

Dr. Charles Scontras, the labor historian that worked with Judy Taylor on what history to represent in the mural. Scontras is a retired professor from the University of Maine at Orono’s department of political science, history and modern society. He now works as a historical and research associate with the Bureau of Labor Education. Maine is currently embroiled in another such “right to work” effort, which would undermine the capacity of unions.

For more information on the Bureau of Labor education’s publications, you can go to their website dll.umaine.edu/ble or call 581-4123.

A rally and press conference to demand the return of the Maine labor history mural to the Maine Dept of Labor has been rescheduled due to expected weather. It will take place Monday, April 4th at the hall of Flags at the Augusta State House at noon.

Segment 2: We spoke earlier with Mike Belliveau, the executive director of the statewide public health organization, the Environmental Health Strategy Center.

He spoke with us about the recent unanimous vote by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee to support a ban on Bisphenol-A in products used by children in Maine, LD 412. he also discusses a proposed bill, whose intention is to essentially gut the Kids Safe Products Act.

For more information:
The Environmental and Health Strategy Center : www.preventharm.org
Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine : www.cleanandhealthyme.org.

You can listen to testimony by Rep. Jim Hamper, in support of his bill to weaken the Kids Safe Products Act, LD 1129 , in WERU’s archives from the Tuesday, March 29th WERU News Report. In his testimony he admits industry wrote his bill.

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