EcoRadio

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  • Local Food

    The topic of local food has always been close to the heart of the Generator. As the introductory song says, "It’s about the plants you grow; the energy you use. It’s about the things you give and take … from the world around you … it’s about turning ideas into action."

    When we first brought out the film "Power of Community," co-host Wadzy reminisced about his time in Cuba with Roberto Perez. Now Roberto is in Australia talking about the role that permaculture, organic food and urban agriculture plays in the city of Havana.

    Three guests on Bay FM all discussed the role of distance and food on air.

    Hear Kali Wendorf on Nyck Jeanes show talking about the role of corporations.

    Hear Ken McLeod on The Generator talking about the resilience of societies

    Hear Jane Thompson on The Generator talk about local food

    Hear Jane and Ken discuss the ethics of food.

     

     

  • International protest against old growth logging launched

    A group called the Rainforest Portal has called for international protest against the Forest Stewardship Council, a group which promotes the sustainable logging of old growth forests. The Forest Stewardship Council certifies timber taken from old growth forests in a careful manner as being ‘carbon positive’. A number of global organisations, including the World Bank, promote the certification and encourage developing countries to implement the practice. Rainforest Portal has tagged the group as ‘forest liars’ and is encouraging supporters to lobby government to ban the practice and discredit the certification.

    Background story

  • Sulfur gases call fish and trigger cloud formation

    A sulfurous gas emitted by marine algal blooms has been found to attract fish, and form clouds. The gas is formed when microscopic plankton feed on the algae, or when the algae becomes so dense it forms a bloom. Fish are attracted to the smell because they feed on the plankton. The gas also causes clouds to form, casting shadows and slowing down the growth of the algae. The scientist who discovered the effect, Jennifer deBose, was studying its role in influencing the weather, and was surprised by its role in signalling to fish. She released the gas from large bottles in the open sea and attracted large numbers of fish very quickly. ‘The fish are using scent to "listen" to the interaction between plant plankton and their predators’, DeBose said.

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  • Arctic fires will add to climate chaos

    A study published in late February has revealed that Arctic forests burned frequently in the last period of global warming, further increasing the load of carbon dioxide in the air and adding to the warming. The computer models used to predict the impact of climate chaos have not taken Arctic forest fires into account because they have been unknown in human history. With the Arctic ice-sheet melting faster than predicted by any of the models, it appears likely that the effect will be seen within decades.

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  • Costa calls to exempt coal from emission scheme

    NSW treasurer Michael Costa has called for Kevin Rudd to exempt coal-fired power generators from a national emission control scheme. The coal-fired generation of electricity in New South Wales produces 58 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, accounting for more than a third of the state’s total greenhouse gas emissions. The cost of offsetting that much carbon dioxide is in the billions of dollars. Costa has claimed that adding those costs to the price of electricity will cripple the state’s economy. Greens MP John Kaye, said that the proposal is simply to prop up the sale of the coal generating plants to balance the state budget.

  • Murray-Darling allocations will be made the Wong way

    The Minister for Climate Change, Penny Wong has handed the allocation of water rights back to the state governments. Water ministers from state and federal governments met recently to review the Murray Darling management scheme set up in the dying days of the Howard government. State governments want the right to manage the amount of water allocated to them under the scheme as they see fit. Victoria, for example, will pipe irrigation water across the state to the goldfields towns of Ballarat and Bendigo. Irrigation systems will be lined to reduce leakage and make up for the water supplied to those towns.

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