Solartopia Green Power & Wellness Hour

Solartopia Green Power and Wellness Hour – 10.22.15

NUKE POWER IN NEW YORK hopefully on its way out….

We talk about making New York state NUKEFREE with the great ARNIE GUNDERSEN, one of the world’s top technical experts on atomic reactors; JESSICA AZULAY of the movement to shut down the FITZPATRICK and GINNA reactors in upstate NY; GARY SHAW at INDIAN POINT; and TIM JUDSON of the NUCLEAR INFORMATION & RESOURCE SERVICE.

On the brink of an expected announcement from ENTERGY on Fitzpatrick, we run the gamut of insanity at these atomic disasters in progress, including the two far upstate at NINE MILE POINT, Unit One being one the the 3 oldest in the world.

At Indian Point2 the license is expired, as it’s about to at Unit3.  Ginna and Fitzpatrick are losing money.  Nine Mile Point is crumbling.  The state government is working for shutdown.

Tune in to find out how we can finally get over the line and make these  New York nightmares go cold.  

Solartopia Green Power and Wellness Hour – 10.15.15

SHUTTING THE PILGRIM NUKE is our primary focus of our roundtable talk with four tremendous activists.  Pilgrim’s owner, ENTERGY, has announced it will close the ancient nuke by June 1, 2019.  But the reactor is out of compliance on a large number of safety and engineering issues and will put the region at risk if it goes forward.  
SHEILA PARKS, Boston-area founder of On Behalf of Planet Earth; ARLENE WILLIAMS of Cape Downwinder; TIM JUDSON of the Nuclear Information & Resource Service and PAUL GUNTER of Beyond Nuclear join us to cover the issue.

Among other concerns are violations of fire safety requirement now nearly a quarter-century out of compliance; spent fuel overflowing the site’s ability to handle it; a dertioriating work force and much more.

The latest shut-down announcement would take the US reactor fleet to 98, the lowest total in many years.  But can we survive Pilgrim & its ancient siblings operating even another fuel cycle?

Stay tuned….

Solartopia Green Power and Wellness Hour – 10.08.15

We visit DYING NUKES THAT TERRIFY US ALL with MICHAEL KEEGAN of Don’t Waste Michigan and PAUL GUNTER and KEVIN KAMPS of Beyond Nuclear.

The debate over atomic energy is over.  FUKUSHIMA has shown the world that nuke reactors will explode and destroy whole sections of a country while contaminating oceans.  Germany’s ENERGIEWIND is showing that the transition to 100% renewables can be done quickly, cleanly and profitably.

But we’re left in the US with 99 dying nukes that truly terrify us all.  Starting in Michigan, at Monroe, we deal with Fermi Unit I, which nearly exploded in 1966;  Fermi 2 which is now falling apart; and Fermi 3, which Detroit Edison wants to build at massive ratepayer expense.  

We then shift to the truly horrifying Davis-Besse reactor near Toledo, which operated for years with a massive hole in its head, and which has a shield building that’s literally crumbling.  It’s owner wants a $3 billion public bailout to keep endangering all of the Great Lakes region.    

We also visit Pilgrim near Boston, which is officially in violation of both NRC production standards and NRC safety standards.  Paul tells that October 10 we will hear a major announcement from Energy, which owns this dying nuke.  

Over the coming weeks we will “tour” the national fleet of reactors that need to shut ASAP.  Let’s hope Pilgrim will now lead the way to the end of this insane industry!!!

Solartopia Green Power and Wellness Hour – 10.01.15

ALTERNET political editor STEVEN ROSENFELD joins us again in Solartopia to talk about ELECTRONIC ELECTION THEFT and the 2016 election….plus a lot more.

Steve’s major feature on the BRENNAN CENTER report dissecting our crumbling computer-based voting system introduced many Americans to the reality that our network of casting and counting votes is simply not reliable.

Steve also talks to us about the 2016 horse race and conversations that might have occurred between BILL CLINTON and DONALD TRUMP before Trump decided to run.

He analyzes why SCOTT WALKERS’ candidacy collapsed.

And we look into an important new book on the culture of slavery and why its poisonous effects continue to permeate our culture.  

If you’re at all interested in American politics, don’t miss this show...

Solartopia Green Power and Wellness Hour – 09.24.15

IS DISNEY BANNING AMERICAN WORKERS?  

Attorney JAMES OTTO talks about his California lawsuit against the Disney giant for dumping its American workers and forcing them to train their own“cheaper” replacements being brought in from India.  According to Otto, this global scam involves the loss of millions of American jobs including nearly a thousand at Disney.  It’s a fascinating portrait of yet another corporate assault on the American workforce, this time at the iconic place where “dreams come true.”

ARE AMERICA’S ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES OBSOLETE?        

The second half-hour of our show is with STEVE ROSENFELD of AlterNet.  His powerful new piece covers a major report from the prestigious BRENNAN CENTER of New York University, one of America’s leading authorities on our voting process.  Steve’s piece underscores the finding that the voting apparatus about to be used to decide who will be our next president is obsolete, falling apart and very easily hackable.  Brennan stops well short of issuing a meaningful warning about how the election could be stolen.

But we do not.  Steve is a strong source of expertise on this most important issue for American democracy, and we only begin to scratch the surface.  

Solartopia Green Power and Wellness Hour – 09.17.15

Award-winning columnist ROBERT KOEHLER talks with us about refugees and compassion as the “Squirming Buddha” seeks a balance among difficult choices.

Bob’s always-cogent columns speak to us of the dilemma of NOT being a refugee and of facing the reality of how one would act as an individual in the face of the need for sharing and personal cost.

He tells a simple story of finding money on the street and then NOT giving it to a panhandler in need.  Of housing a political refugee for five years and living through the day-to-day difficulties of doing a good deed.

We start with a talk about the REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE and the astonishing spectacle of 11 (ELEVEN!) candidates strewn across a stage in the Ronald Reagan library, yelling about legal pot and wars unfought.  An event to shake the very roots of Solartopia.

Solartopia Green Power and Wellness Hour – 09.10.15

The great KARL GROSSMAN tells us about the DANGERS OF ATOMIC RADIATION and the grassroots victory that kept Long Island’s SHOREHAM NUKE from operating.  

Karl is a Professor of Journalism, award-winning TV host and author of numerous books and articles that circulate throughout the internet at nukefree.org, counterpunch.org, commondreams.org, Huffington Post and numerous others.

 His most recent article, linked at www.nukefree.org, warns that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission may be about to loosen radiation standards and allow the public to be exposed to dangerous doses that could kill untold numbers of innocent people.  He warns that this is exactly what’s happening at Fukushima, and that a global effort is desperately needed to shut all atomic reactors worldwide.  

Karl played a major role in the successful grassroots struggle that shut the massive $7 billion Shoreham atomic reactor along with others at the Brookhaven Laboratories and elsewhere, rendering Long Island nuclear-free.  This can be done on a global scale, he says, especially now that Solartopian technologies are leaving atomic energy in the nuclear dust.

Karl is a powerful, articulate speaker with 45 years of experience on this issue.  Don’t miss this interview!

Solartopia Green Power and Wellness Hour – 09.03.15

PETER MATHEWS graces Solartopia with his DOLLAR DEMOCRACY.  Prof. Mathews lays out the exciting realities of the Bernie Sanders campaign and the desperate need for the American public to get money out of our politics.

Peter has known the late great Paul Wellstone, whose pioneer campaign for the US Senate in Minnesota brought a corporate-free reality into our mainstream.  Sen. Sanders is now doing the same thing, Prof. Mathews beautifully illustrates the reality of how this can happen.

Peter also explains for us the need for corporations to be banned from shoving GMO crops down our throats,  from maintaining a thousand military bases around the world, from gouging students for high-interest loans and much much more.

Don’t miss this hard core exploration of the desperate need for getting free of the money power from one of America’s great experts….

Solartopia Green Power and Wellness Hour – 08.25.15

Commission of Washington, DC, has rejected Exelon’s $6.4 billion attempt to take over the 2 million-person territory now served by Pepco.

As explained by TIM JUDSON of the Nuclear Information & Resource Service (based in DC), and by DAVE KRAFT of the Nuclear Energy Information Service (based in Chicago), the rejection represents a huge step forward for a Solartopian economy.

Exelon owns some two dozen US reactors, about half the nation’s fleet.  Its plan was to capture Pepco’s market for nuke power.  Instead, Pepco may now push ahead with its own renewable and efficiency programs.

Tim also explains for us the campaign to shut the Ginna reactor in upstate New York, while Tim lays out the huge battle in Illinois that could soon result in five more shut-downs there.

Overall, this gratifying hour of Solartopian expertise importantly confirms the ever-more powerful movement away from lethal atomic power and toward the green-based economy we need to survive.  

Solartopia Green Power and Wellness Hour – 08.18.15

We discuss NUKES ON THE ROAD TO SHUTDOWN with the great KEVIN KAMPS.  

As the atomic industry slumps to total market failure decrepit nukes like Ohio’s DAVIS-BESSE and California’s DIABLO CANYON slide toward complete collapse.

With his unique comprehension of the industry’s complex realities, Kevin walks us through the on-going downfalls in Illinois, Ohio and New York, along with the technical collapse of reactors like Indian Point, Pilgrim and Diablo Canyon.

In particular, these reactors are in violation of water quality laws on both the state and federal level and should have shut many moons ago.

DONNA GILMORE then fills us in on the battles over decommissioning California’s SAN ONOFRE .  In particular, the fight over substandard dry casks for storing high level fuel rods has moved center stage as ratepayers are socked with hundreds of millions on costs that Southern California Edison does not want to cover.  Donna’s assessment of this epic confrontation has especially serious implication for the future of us all.