Solartopia Green Power & Wellness Hour

SHUTTING THE DIABLO CANYON NUKE is essential to the survival of human beings in North America.  We discuss developments at this twin reactor complex sitting on a dozen earthquakes faults with key experts in the fight.

JIM HEDDLE and MARY BETH BRANGAN of the ENVIRONMENTAL OPTIONS NETWORK of northern California are joined by DONNA GILMORE of SAN ONOFRE SAFETY and CYNTHIA PAPERMASTER OF CODE PINK.

We discuss the criminal negligence by Pacific Gas & Electric that blew up 50 houses in the town of San Bruno and killed 8 people.  Such irresponsible safety abuse is everywhere evident at Diablo Canyon, where radioactive fuel canisters are leaking, critical security features can’t be inspected and major operating components have been installed upside-down.

Thankfully, the BERKELEY CITY COUNCIL has joined the movement for sanity by passing a resolution to shut Diablo Canyon as soon as possible.

This deep exploration with four great activists will tell you much you need to know to push ahead for the shut-down of these truly horrifying nukes.

THE WAR AGAINST SOLAR POWER comes to Solartopia today with three great expert/activists.

Pulitzer-nominee JACQUES LESLIE opens with his powerful NYTimes article on Nevada’s attempt to crush the massive, successful spread of rooftop panels.  Jacques’ unique, distinguished journalistic career has spanned the field from Vietnam to a marquee book on big dams and much more.

Long-time nuclear opponent JUDY TREICHEL reports to us from Nevada on the Public Utilities Commission decision to assault homeowners like herself who have installed highly productive solar panels.  The corrupt state government is now waging war to protect the fossil/nuke investments of the Koch Brothers against the clean, cheap, job-producing power of the sun.

By contrast, activist PAUL KANGAS joins us to talk about the California Public Utilities Commission decision to guarantee a 15 cent/kilowatt-hour payment to homeowners pumping juice into the grid from their own solar panels.  The city of Berkeley has now resolved to shut the Diablo Canyon nuke, upping the ante on the race between renewables and the likelihood of a catastrophic explosion at the state’s last reactors.  

All-in-all, this is a program sure to make the sun shine in your heart…and on your roof.

HOW DO WE PREVENT ANOTHER STRIP & FLIP ELECTION THEFT IN 2016?

We are joined by MIMI KENNEDY, BOB FITRAKIS & ANGELA WATTERS to seek out ways to stop the White House and the rest of our government from again being stolen yet again by election fraud.

The need to verify your own voter registration, to safeguard exit polling, to monitor electronic vote counts and much more are what we discuss here.  Mimi from Progressive Democrats of America, Bob from www.freepress.org and Angels from Reader Support News fill a completely packed hour on this critical topic.

We cannot afford the thefts of governorships in Wisconsin and Alabama to keep happening, or the thefts of the White House as in 2000 and 2004, and much more to continue to happen.

Get to the core of it in this hour with these great experts.  We will continue to work on it as we fight our way to a truly democratic Solartopia the only way we can….with legitimate, reliable democratic elections…..

ELECTION THEFT IN IOWA, NEW HAMPSHIRE AND BEYOND?  

We are concerned about the reported outcome of the Iowa caucuses and what that might mean for the general election.  With the great GREG PALAST and BOB FITRAKIS, and with READER SUPPORTED NEWS reporter SCOTT GALINDEZ we explore what really happened with the vote count there.

We also ask the $64 trillion question:  CAN BERNIE WIN IN A “STRIP & FLIP” ELECTRONIC SELECTION?  

We look the impact of stripping the voter rolls and flipping the vote count from the 2000 and 2004 presidential thefts for George W. Bush, and see what the implications might be for 2016.  It’s not a pretty picture. 

NUKE WASTE IN WISCONSIN vs. SOLAR POWER IN CALIFORNIA:  

We begin in Wisconsin with KEVIN KAMPS of BEYOND NUCLEAR who tells us that the absurdly corrupt legislature in Wisconsin is trying to repeal a 33-year ban on atomic reactor construction.  Of course, Wisconsin’s Kewaunee reactor just shut for economic reasons, and there’s zero chance new reactors will be built there without 100% taxpayer subsidies.  But Kevin’s excellent article on this is at https://ecowatch.com/2016/01/28/great-lakes-nuclear-waste-dump/3/ and he tells us why stacking more nuke waste along the Great Lakes is patently insane.

We then hear breaking news from PAUL KANGAS and the CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION which has just approved a 15 cent fixed rate for homeowners to collect on electricity pumped into the grid from the solar panels on their rooftops.  With thousands of Californians sending green power into the system we may soon see DIABLO CANYON and other nukes following Kewaunee into the nuke dump pile.  Paul explains how California now joins Maine in paying a firm, fixed rate for decentralized renewable production and paving the way to SOLARTOPIA!!!

THE NIGHTMARE OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE has come home to roost at the SAN ONOFRE nuke reactors south of Los Angeles.  The tremendous grassroots victory of the No Nukes movement in shutting this horrible plant is now followed by the harsh realities of dealing with the immense quantities of lethal radioactive fuel rods and other ridiculous residue sitting by the ocean.

So we hear from DONNA GILMORE and ACE HOFFMAN on the technical, economic and political realities of managing this material.  We hear, as expected, about how Southern California Edison is doing all it can to cheap out on dealing with this stuff and what it might take to get it managed properly.  See Sanonofresafety.org.  

We are then joined by MARC ASH of READER SUPPORTED NEWS for our first conversation about progressive websites on the internet.  Coming out of the Al Gore campaign in 2000, Marc helped pioneer the world of disseminating important news and information.  He warns, among other things, that net neutrality is not a done deal and is now under fire in federal court in Washington DC.  See Harvey’s latest RSN piece at:  http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/34737-focus-why-we-must-now-adopt-the-qohio-planq-to-prevent-the-qstrip-a-flipq-of-american-elections

Stay tuned for future shows on both these incredibly important topics.   

NUKE DINOSAURS & SOLAR OUTRAGE arrive in Solartopia with astonishing implications.

At Ohio's crumbling Davis-Besse nuke, KEVIN KAMPS tells us how this dying, decrepit reactor is demanding huge bail-outs from ratepayers and taxpayers because it cannot compete.  But now DAVE KRAFT reports that competing utility giants Exelon and Dynegy have filed claims saying they can provide power to Ohio far cheaper, leaving DB hopefully twisting in the wind.  

Meanwhile, JUDY TREICHEL and STEVE FRISHMAN report from Nevada that the corrupt Public Utilities Commission has rolled back long-standing agreements and is conspiring to prevent homeowners from installing solar panels on their rooftops.  Public outrage is enormous, with thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investments being wasted on behalf on obsolete investments in King Cong (Coal, Oil, Nukes and Gas).  

Similar push-back in Wisconsin is being perpetrated by the planet-killing fossil-nuke pushers who threaten us all.  

ED ASNER & MAGGIE GRANT ON “THE INSTIGATOR"

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS is our focus with the great ED ASNER and MAGGIE GRANT, co-conspirators on the upcoming feature film THE INSTIGATOR, the first of a trilogy of feature films on the fight for freedom in early America, leading up to the Revolution.  

As television's former LOU GRANT, who inspired so many of us to become journalists, Ed has been active for decades as one of America’s leading advocates for peace, social justice and freedom of speech.  So his powerful role in The Instigator, about the legendary 1734-1735 trial of JOHN PETER ZENGER brings with it huge moral and theatrical clout.

Co-Writer/Director/Producer Maggie Grant has conjured a brilliant script about the trial and the key role played by the ultimate “Philadelphia Lawyer” ANDREW HAMILTON, who also served as the attorney (and close friend) of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

In this fleeting hour we talk about the upcoming fall release of this feature film, and the other award-winning productions coming from this great partnership.   Next in line will be films about the BOSTON TEA PARTY, the AMERICAN REVOLUTION and the writing of the Constitution and BILL OF RIGHTS.  

see these links:  

https://twitter.com/1TheInstigator  

https://www.facebook.com/The-Instigator-789830531123555/?fref=ts

With his unshaken convictions and good and great humor, it’s always a special honor to speak with Ed Asner and his excellent collaborator, Maggie Grant.  So don’t miss this show.

WHAT HAPPENED IN PARIS?  The new climate accord is being widely hailed as an historic turning point.  Energy expert PAUL GIPE tells us why he thinks Paris will make a huge difference in RENEWABLE ENERGY and the transition to a green-powered Earth.

Paul currently works in Bakersfield, California, and describes a major victory just won in defeating a big carbon burner there.  We also track the history of Denmark's world-changing decision to go with wind power instead of nuclear, confirming the impact that Solartopian activism can have on our future.

Most of all, Paul describes the latest spectacular advances in wind and solar technologies, and how they can and will be owned by the communities that use them.

Paul's new WIND POWER FOR THE REST OF US will be published in 2016.  You can reach him at www.wind-works.org.  And if you want the real story on the future of green power, don't miss this show!

PLANNED PARENTHOOD UNDER ATTACK!!!!   We hear all about it from KATHY KNEER, head of California’s powerful Planned Parenthood organization, which runs more than 100 women’s health clinics throughout the nation’s largest state.  

Kathy dissects for us the vicious attack being waged on womens’ medical services by right-wing fanatics.  With control of both houses of Congress, the Republicans have finally passed anti-female legislation that goes far beyond abortion, denying women access to contraception and basic health care.

Kathy also tells us about the vile, cynical use of crudely distorted videos that undercut Planned Parenthood’s sterling reputation with the goal of ending this long-standing organization’s ability to provide basic services to women.  

SHEILA PARKS also joins us for a discussion of the impact of electronically stolen elections on the future of women’s health care.

If you are at all concerned about health services for our nation’s females, do not miss this show.