Sunday, March 28, 2010

World Bank Loan will Fund More Coal Pollution and Greenhouse Gas

Listen to "World Bank Loan will Fund More Coal Pollution and Greenhouse Gas"

On April 8 the World Bank will vote on loaning South African energy parastatal Eskom $3.75 billion to build what will be the fourth largest coal burning power plant in the world. This 4,800 MW Medupi power plant will add an estimated 25 million metric tons of CO2 emissions per year to Eskom’s 40 percent share of South Africa’s overall total greenhouse gas emissions.
We talk to environmental activist Sunita Dubey about this loan and the growing world-wide opposition to it. And we hear what Eskom and bank officials are not saying: that there is no such thing as clean coal. If fact, from China to South Africa – where coal seams continue to burn in the ground long after mines have shut down – to India, where a major coal company will present investors an IPO later this year, coal mining and burning devastates land, communities, and people the world over.

For more information or to get involved, go to:
Bank center information
Friends of the Earth
Sierra Club
groundWork
Watch Sara Belcher's video report, UnderMined

NOTE: You have a choice of high bandwidth audio in stereo and mono, and low bandwidth in mono. Low bandwidth downloads faster if you just want to listen. Use high bandwidth for broadcast quality to re-air.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Daniel Ellsberg on Labor and War and Two Women in War Zones

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Daniel Ellsberg speaks at Plumbers Hall in San Francisco on March 20 about the connections between war and labor at the invitation of the San Francisco Labor Council and U.S. Labor against the War.
Kerry Philp and Adrienne Amudsen travel to Afghanistan and return to report on what they found there.

Thanks also to Joe Woodard Multimedia and San Francisco Labor Council and U.S. Labor against the War.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

A Tribute to Activist Women: Fatima Meer, Dudu Khumalo, and Annie Leonard

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A tribute to South Africa's Fatima Meer, one of the world's real heroines. It was said of her as she received her honorary degree from the University of Natal in 1998 that she “was among the first South Africans to have ever existed, a dutiful citizen before citizenship was enfranchised for her”.

We hear from Dudu Khumalo a water and rural lands activist in townships in and around Durban, South Africa. Dudu Khumalo is affiliated with the Center for Civic Society at the University of Kwa Zulu Natal and talks about the struggle she wages to create simple, healthy, and dignified communities in post apartheid SA.

And Annie Leonard talks with Steven Colbert about her work and new book The Story of Stuff.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Xenophobia: the fire next time

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The month of May will be the second anniversary of the xenophobic attacks that occurred around South Africa in 2008. There is a growing consensus that xenophobic attacks may be repeated if there is no concerted effort by civil society and government to address the underlying and systemic factors the give rise to xenophobia.

The Center for Civil Society at the University of KwaZulu Natal in Durban is in the forefront of this effort. Professor Patrick Bond presents an overview of underlying factors that contribute to acts of xenophobia. Trevor Ngwane presents his research from the Bottlebrush community. Nobi Dube shares findings from her work in Ramaphosa settlement near Johannesburg and Baruti Amisi discusses xenophobia from the point of view of an immigrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

South Africa's Molefi Ndlovu of Durban Sings and Orlean Naidoo of Chatsworth flat dwellers community

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We hear from South Africa community activist and media specialist Molefi Ndlovu on the Durban Sings project. And from community organizer and flat dwellers' activist Orlean Naidoo on residents' responses to electricity and water cut-offs and rising tariffs.
Both Molefi Ndlovu and Orlean Naidoo are also community researchers at the Center for Civil Society at University of KwaZula Natal, Durban.

World Bank Loan to Fund Coal-Fired Power Plant Builds

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We look at the impact on carbon emissions, climate change, and our human environment if and when the World Bank makes a US $3.75 billion loan to South Africa's electricity supply commission to build new coal fired power stations. David Hallowes, Desmond D'Sa, Trevor Ngwane, and Prof. Patrick Bond discuss the impact on carbon emissions, climate change, and our human environment. This show was recorded at the Center for Civil Society based at the University of KwaZula Natal, Durban and moderated by center director Prof. Patrick Bond.

Read the article: The Seamy Side of Coal-Fired Power

20th Anniversary of Nelson Mandela's Release. What's Going on in South Africa?

Listen to "20th Anniversary of Nelson Mandela's Release. What's Going on in South Africa?"

Twenty year after then South African president F. W. de Klerk announced that Nelson Mandela and all political prisoners would be unconditionally released we hear several different perspectives. On the February 2 anniversary of the announcement many freedom fighters feel they have been betrayed by the current leadership after lifetimes dedicated to fighting for democracy in South Africa. Plus, the South African media reports on the the people and the latest scandal rocking Jacob Zuma's presidency and the African National Congress, the party Nelson Mandela spent his life developing and supporting.

Waste Pickers Unite for the Environment

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Bobby Peek, director of the environmental justice NGO groundWork, shares the origin of this organization among residents turned activists in South Durban, South Africa and his soon-to-be realized vision for a school for training environmental justice activists.
We also talk with Musa Chamane who is engaged in creating networks of a new community of workers called waste pickers who recycle in South Africa's waste dumps and the challenges and successes of his work as Waste Campaign Manager.

Read the article: Wasting good waste