RADIO FOR TROUBLED TIMES

A new survey by worldpublicopinion.org shows that the majority of people in the world think oil is running out. They want their governments to find new energy supplies. Americans agree we have passed Peak Oil - but they are the only public to feel their government is operating on the wrong assumptions.

One big bad assumption: biofuels are the way to energy independence. We investigate news reports from all over the world, connecting biofuels to the new world food crisis. Even U.S. sources say the Bush biofuel plan is a disaster. And it just makes global warming worse!

Breaking climate news: the Jetstream moving toward the poles, CO2 is way up, and methane escaping. For the past 10 years, methane, one of the worst greenhouse gases (25 times stronger than CO2) has been relatively stable, for reasons we don't understand. But this year it's gone way up. Scientists suspect industrialization in Asia, and melting of the Arctic permafrost, may be the major causes. Bad, bad news.

I spend some time trying to cope with just one week's worth of new developments - in science, and in the real world.

In just one example, did you know the U.S. Air Force is proposing a massive program to combat climate change? Lots of news.

From the UK: we interview off-grid living expert Nick Rosen. Whole groups of people are voluntarily unplugging from the matrix: off electricity, making their own. Nick has published a book on surviving off-grid. We discuss the various reasons why people leave, and the scene in the UK. Can you live if the power goes out? For a month?

American housing crisis, storms, or fire: living in your car. Investigation into the new phenomenon of the "mobile homeless" or "half-homeless" growing in America. Uncounted in official statistics.

Includes clips from a video feature by Californiaconnected.org on how Santa Barbara is allowing people living in cars to park in empty lots overnight - legally. We also hear from the comedian of the homeless Darrell Bedford. Some of Katrina victims are still living in their cars. But a surprising amount of car and van people actually work. A new study shows that this is the first year that a person working minimum wage cannot afford a one bedroom apartment anywhere in the country.

Uncle Al gives solid tips for living in a car - in case it happens to you. Impossible? What if your job disappears, or a relationship ends suddenly? Terrorist attack? Fire in your home, or the whole region? Hurricanes? (all hotels will be full). Maybe it's worthwhile knowing what it really takes to survive in a car.

Plus Medea Benjamin on Code Pink anti-war. This is a sample from an excellent series of activist radio interviews done by Sue Supriano. Check out her site at suesupriano.com for lots of free downloads. The radio show is called "Steppin' Out of Babylon."

Code Pink, founded by women mad about the wars, and wasted military spending, has become one of the largest international war movements. These ladies want the U.S. to close the 800 military bases, in over 100 countries. They want that money spent on restoring crumbling schools - and hey, maybe even a working health care system, like every other developed country in the world!

Just Google "Code Pink" and you'll find outfits all over the U.S. - and in many countries like Italy and the Philippines, where local people want the U.S. to pack up and go home. Medea says when she travels, people all over the world ask her: how can America borrow money to fight these useless wars, and yet they can't provide for their own citizens. Think New Orleans for example, or the need for alternative energy. Nope - billions, even trillions, for the war machine.

The Radio Ecoshock Show 080502 1 hour CD Quality 56 MB or LoFi 14 MB

Production Notes: Songs: "Here at the End of the World" by David Rovics and new hit "Sea Lion Woman" by Canadian star Feist. Rovics song for more time for announcements, if you must. No copyright on these programs. OK for non-profit use.

Alex Smith
host
Radio Ecoshock