Ecotopia

Date: 29 November 2011

This Week: Our topic  is “Military Ecology.”  In the first part of the program, we’ll talk with Retired Air Force Colonel Richard Klass, who has been following the funding of the military. We’ll ask him about the implications of the recent Super Committee failure to reach consensus on budget reductions, and what that does and does not mean about altering military spending by a country that already spends ten times more on the military than any other nation on the planet.

Then we will talk with Rick Arndt of the U.S. Chemical Materials Agency. This agency is responsible for getting rid of nerve and mustard gas left over from World War II and reducing the U.S. stockpile of poison weapons of mass destruction. We’ll ask a recent story that the Umatilla army base in Oregon has completed destruction of huge quantities of gas.

Listen to the Program

Our Conversation with Colonel Richard [Dick] Klass

As most listeners know, the Congressional Supercommittee charged with coming up with $1.2 trillion dollars of budget cuts has failed and dissolved. Some automatic cuts–called “sequestration”–now kick in, including some $500 billion in cuts to the Pentagon over the next decade. On the phone with us to talk about defense spending is Colonel Richard Klass, who is retired from the Air Force and Vice-President of the Veteran’s Alliance for Security and Democracy Political Action Committee. Colonel Klass is also a member of the Board of the Council for a Livable world. He has a blog on Huffington Post that comments on a wide range of social, political, and military issues.

1. Please tell us about the organizations for which you work:
–What is the Veteran’s Alliance for Security?
–What is the Council for a Livable World?
How do those fit together in your personal activism?

2A. With the Super Committee having failed, some automatic defense spending cuts kick in. What do you see as the short- and long-range effects of these cuts? Is our security in danger? Or, as some activists have argued, are such cuts long overdue?

2B. What kinds of programs and projects will be cut? Are there programs that you see as wasteful or inefficient or unneeded? If you were wielding the budget axe, where would you swing?

2C. If military spending is drastically cut, will there be fallout for the economy, including government contractors? Will people be put out of work in, say, the aerospace industry? Can alternative jobs in green industries replace lost employment for military hardware?

3. For some of us, the failure of the Super Committee seems–at first glance–like a positive step, since it cuts military without attacking Medicare and Social Security benefits. Are we falsely optimistic here? Do you have thoughts on the Bush Tax cuts for the wealthy that are at the core of the Super Committee failure? [Are those cuts really automatic? Some have argued that they are merely a paper sword and that the next Congress will repeal them.]

4. What’s your prediction about next steps, both for Congress and the Pentagon? Will there be attempts to restore the budget cuts? What’s your best case scenario of what might happen next, both within the military and within a livable world?

5. How can interested listeners participate in the process most successfully? Are there groups other than Vet Pac and Livable World that you can recommend? Please tell us where people can find your blog.

Thank you Colonel Richard Klass for being with us tonight.  Here are the websites:

Veteran’s Alliance for Security www/vetpac/org

Council for a Livable World http://livableworld.org/

Huffington Post Blog  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-klass

Read more about the Congressional SuperCommittee Below

Our Conversation with Richard [Rick] Arndt

Rick Arndt is  Public Affairs Specialist with the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency. We recently received a press release from him telling about the destruction of World War II chemical weapons being stored in Umatilla, Oregon.  The full press release is included below.

1. Please tell us about the U.S. Chemical Materials Agency and its broad responsibilities.

2. CMA recently released a press release concerning disposal of a chemical weapons stockpile at the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility. Please tell us what happened.

3. How much material was destroyed? What kinds of chemical weapons were at Umatilla? ["The original inventory of chemical weapons stored at UMCD included 220,604 nerve agent and mustard agent munitions and containers holding 3,717 tons of chemical agent."]

4. How do you safely dispose of this stuff? How is it destroyed? ["using incineration technology while ensuring maximum protection of the installation and community population."] Since incineration is involved, how do you know what is and is not being put into the atmosphere? What residual, if any, exists and what happens to it?

5. Your press release notes that “90 percent of the Nation’s chemical weapons stockpile” has been or will be destroyed. What happens to the other 10%?

6. Does the destruction of these materials put an end to an era of chemical weapons of mass destruction? ["The United States established the Chemical Demilitarization Program in 1986 to remove the threat posed by continued storage of outdated chemical weapons and inspire a worldwide commitment to the elimination of an entire class of weapons of mass destruction. In April 1997 the United States came under the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention, thereby requiring the safe destruction of 100 percent of the nation's chemical weapons by April 2007. The United States petitioned to have the original deadline extended to April 2012 (an extension allowed by the convention) and was granted this five-year extension."]

7. Are there other things you’d like our audience to know about the destruction of chemical weapons generally or the Umatilla project in particular?  Here are some links supplied by Rick Arndt:

Links:
CMA website homepage
http://www.cma.army.mil/

UMCD/UMCDF website homepage
http://www.cma.army.mil/umatilla.aspx

UMCD/UMCDF Weekly Update
http://www.cma.army.mil/fndocumentviewer.aspx?DocID=003683849

Background on the Super Committee from Wikipedia

The Budget Control Act of 2011 (Pub.L. 112-25, S. 365, 125 Stat. 239, enacted August 2, 2011) was passed by the 112th United States Congress signed into law by President Barack Obama. It brought conclusion to the 2011 United States debt ceiling crisis, which had threatened to lead the United States into sovereign default on or about August 3, 2011.

The law involves the introduction of several complex mechanisms, such as creation of the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (sometimes called the “super committee”)[1] and options for a Balanced Budget Amendment.

Debt limit:

The debt limit was increased by $400 billion immediately.[2]

The President may request a further increase of $500 billion, which is subject to a congressional motion of disapproval which the President may veto, in which case a two-thirds majority in Congress would be needed to override the veto.[3] This has been called the ‘McConnell mechanism’ after the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who first suggested it as part of another scheme.[4]

The President may request a final increase of $1.2–1.5 trillion, subject to the same disapproval procedure. The exact amount depends on the amount of cuts in the “super committee” plan if it passes Congress, and whether a Balanced Budget Amendment has been passed.[3]

Deficit reduction:

Spending is reduced more than the increase in the debt limit. No tax increases or other forms of increases in revenue above current law are included in the bill.[5]

The bill directly specifies $917 billion of cuts over 10 years in exchange the initial debt limit increase of $900 billion.[5] This is the first installment (“tranche”) of cuts. $21 billion of this will be applied in the FY2012 budget.[4]

Additionally, the agreement establishes the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, sometimes called the “super committee”,[1] that would produce debt reduction legislation by November 23, 2011, that would be immune from amendments or filibuster (similar to the Base Realignment and Closure).[4][6] The goal of the legislation is to cut at least $1.5 trillion over the coming 10 years and be passed by December 23, 2011.[6] Projected revenue from the committee’s legislation must not exceed the revenue budgeting baseline produced by current law. (Current law has the Bush tax cuts expiring at the end of 2012.) The committee would have 12 members, 6 from each party.[5]

Triggers:

The agreement specifies an incentive for Congress to act. If Congress fails to produce a deficit reduction bill with at least $1.2 trillion in cuts, then Congress can grant a $1.2 trillion increase in the debt ceiling but this would trigger across-the-board cuts (“sequestration”) of spending equally split between security and non-security programs.[4][3] The across-the-board cuts would apply to mandatory and discretionary spending in the years 2013 to 2021 and be in an amount equal to the difference between $1.2 trillion and the amount of deficit reduction enacted from the joint committee. The sequestration mechanism is the same as the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. There are exemptions—across the board cuts would apply to Medicare providers, but not to Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare beneficiaries, civil and military employee pay, or veterans.[4][5] Security programs include the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Nuclear Security Administration, some management functions of the intelligence community, and international affairs from the U.S. State Department.[7]

Balanced Budget Amendment:

Congress must vote on a Balanced Budget Amendment between October 1, 2011, and the end of 2011,[3] but is not required to pass it and send it to the states in order for the debt limit increases to occur (as was the case in the previous Cut, Cap and Balance Act, which was not enacted).[4]

Background on Umatilla Chemical Destruction Project

Army Completes Chemical Stockpile Destruction at Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility

Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. (Oct. 25, 2011) – The Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (UMCDF), located at Umatilla Chemical Depot (UMCD), Oregon, today completed the disposal of the chemical weapons stockpile stored at UMCD.

The UMCDF is a subordinate element of the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency (CMA). Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, CMA has the mission to provide safe, secure storage of the Nation’s chemical weapons and to safely destroy 90 percent of the Nation’s chemical weapons stockpile.

“This is a great day for the U.S. Army, the people of Oregon and our Nation,” said CMA Director Conrad Whyne. “Thanks to the steadfast dedication of the Umatilla team — the United States Army, its civilian workers and contractors — the Umatilla community, the state of Oregon, and our Nation are all safer today. I could not be more proud of our workforce.”

The UMCDF had the mission to provide safe and environmentally compliant chemical agent destruction operations using incineration technology while ensuring maximum protection of the installation and community population. Umatilla Chemical Depot, also a subordinate element of CMA, had the mission to provide the safe and secure maintenance, storage and transport of 12 percent of the original U.S. stockpile of chemical munitions and containers. The original inventory of chemical weapons stored at UMCD included 220,604 nerve agent and mustard agent munitions and containers holding 3,717 tons of chemical agent. Destruction operations began Sept. 8, 2004.

“The vast experience of CMA employees and contractors — both at the site and at headquarters — was used to build, operate, and oversee the work to safely accomplish today’s destruction milestone. This same cooperation has been demonstrated for the successful operation of CMA storage and disposal facilities across the Nation,” said Col. John Lemondes, CMA Project Manager for Chemical Stockpile Elimination.

The UMCD and UMCDF will now begin closure operations, which will continue for up to 48 months. Closure operations will be conducted in accordance with facility and storage area end-states as agreed upon with all appropriate stakeholders.

The United States established the Chemical Demilitarization Program in 1986 to remove the threat posed by continued storage of outdated chemical weapons and inspire a worldwide commitment to the elimination of an entire class of weapons of mass destruction. In April 1997 the United States came under the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention, thereby requiring the safe destruction of 100 percent of the nation’s chemical weapons by April 2007. The United States petitioned to have the original deadline extended to April 2012 (an extension allowed by the convention) and was granted this five-year extension.

The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency has safely completed disposal operations and closed facilities in Edgewood, Md.; Newport, Ind.; and Johnston Atoll, located 800 miles southwest of Hawaii. The Agency has also completed disposal operations in Anniston, Ala. and Pine Bluff, Ark. and is in the process of closing those chemical agent disposal facilities. CMA continues to safely store and destroy the chemical weapons stockpile in Tooele, Utah. CMA also safely stores the chemical weapons stockpiles in Richmond, Ky. and Pueblo, Colo. The disposal of these munitions falls under the purview of the Program Manager for Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives, a separate Department of Defense program.

Playlist:

1. Money Money  2:20    Horace Andy     Wicked Dem A Burn       Reggae
2. Money Honey  3:36    Delbert McClinton       Room To Breathe Blues
3. Slower Than Guns (LP Version)        3:50    Iron Butterfly  Metamorphosis   Rock
4. Weave Me the Sunshine        4:28    Peter, Paul And Mary    The Very Best of Peter, Paul and Mary   Folk
5. It’s Money That I Love       3:43    Randy Newman    It’s Lonely At The Top  Blues
6. Poison Trees 4:00    The Devil Makes Three   Do Wrong Right  Alternative & Punk

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November 15, 2011
Guest Host: Bill Frisch

Thanks to Bill, who did an “EcoLit” program for us meshing words and music. Bill focuses on Walden Pond and what is becoming of it in our time, with readings and music from a wide range of celebrity/social commentators.

Listen to the Program

Bill’s Program Notes:

Readings:

from Heaven Is Under Our Feet: A Book for Walden Woods.  Hardcover: 292 pages.  Publisher: Longmeadow Pr; 1st edition (October 1991)  ISBN-10: 068141129

Essays:

“Out Of Rot, All Good Things Cometh” by Bette Midler (about  composting)

“Progress, The G.N.P. And The Naming Of Things,” by Sting (about integrating native forest people into modern society)

Editorial Reviews:

From Publishers Weekly:

Some 40% of the land surrounding Walden Pond in Concord, Mass., is in private hands and open to development. Recently, the Brister’s Hill area has been threatened by an office building and Bear Garden Hill by condominiums. The Walden Woods Project, sparked by rock star Henley and fueled by rock journalist Marsh and other celebrities–entertainers, writers, political leaders and environmental activists–is making a determined effort to acquire these properties. The 67 essays offered here are contributions to the project; some refer specifically to Walden, others are on general environmental matters. Styles range from the elegant to the vernacular. This is a literary equivalent of the big benefit concert: we hear from Jesse Jackson, Garry Trudeau, Whoopi Goldberg, Louise Erdrich, Massachusetts senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, Meryl Streep, E. L. Doctorow and others. Thoreau would approve. First serial to Rolling Stone.  Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

The literary equivalent of a benefit concert, this collection comprises more than 65 essays by name entertainers, authors, politicians, and environmental activists. Edited by singer/songwriter Henley and rock writer/civil rights’ activist Marsh, it celebrates the dual themes of its literary/spiritual progenitor, Henry David Thoreau: respect for the earth and the pursuit of a moral center. It is also a fundraiser for the Walden Woods Project, a national nonprofit effort to acquire and preserve threatened portions of the 2,880-acre woods in which Thoreau did some of his most enduring communing. Despite the quality of many of the entries, their brevity and extreme variety limits the book’s appeal to the informed environmentalist. On the other hand, the same variety, plus the celebrity and/or accomplishment of the contributors, could give it great appeal as an introductory text.

- Linn Prentis, Milford, Pa.  Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Playlist:

“Mother Nature’s Son,” Sheryl Crow
“The Last Resort,” Eagles
“In the Beginning,” Mike Oldfield
“Only Time Will Tell,” Mike Oldfield
“I’d Love to Change the World,” Ten Years After
“Fragile,” Sting
“Take It Back,” Pink Floyd

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Date: 22 November 2011

This week we will be talking about technological solutions to environmental and social issues–whether or not technology and innovation can repair damage to environment and improve social structures on the planet. Our guest will be Michael Huesemann, coauthor of a book titled Techno-Fix: Why Technology Won’t Save Us or the Environment. We’ll ask Michael to explain and support this dramatic assertion. If technology can’t repair the planet, what, if anything, can?

Listen to the Program

Our Discussion with Michael Huesemann

Listeners to this program know well that we live in an age of high technology and that our technology has its costs, most obviously to the environment, less obviously, perhaps, to quality of life all over the globe. But we are also regularly told that technological innovation and efficiency can remedy these problems: more miles per gallon, sequester the C0₂, genetically create better food for the hungry. But our guest tonight sharply disagrees. Michael Huesemann has done a great deal of research on engineering, biotechnology, the environment, and public policy. He and Joyce Huesemann have published a book with New Society with a crisp and forthright title: Techno-Fix: Why Technology Won’t Save Us or the Environment.

Part I: What is techno-fix.

1. First please tell us about your title. What is “Techno-Fix,” and why won’t it save us?

2. You and Joyce Huesemann write at length about the world’s current, almost religious faith in technology and its origins. Where did that faith come from? (You write of Bacon, Descartes, and the Enlightenment; the industrial revolution and domination over nature; “modern” economy, media and advertising.)

3. You write of the “unintended consequences” of technology. Please give us one or several examples, e.g, automobiles, industrial ag. You also say that negative unintended consequences are inevitable. Aren’t technologists smart enough to be able to anticipate these and remediate them?

4. The book is also deeply concerned about social consequences of technology and technofixes. You say that technology is essentially about power, subjugation, and exploitation of others. Please explain. You also argue that some techno-fixes are actually social “fixes” that fail. Please give us an example or two, e.g., medical technology, the green revolution, war.

5. We noticed that in your book you and Joyce frequently use first person plural pronouns–”we” “our”–to describe the world’s faith in technology. [" . . . unless we confront the root causes of our complex technological and social problems, we will, like drug addicts, apply one techno-fix after another . . . ] Who exactly is this “we”? all humans? some? the powerful? the poor? To what extent are “we” all complicit in this situation? Are some of us more complicit than others? Am I complicit when I start my car or turn on my i-phone?

Part II: A New Paradigm

6. You call for a change in worldview from individualism to interconnectedness. Please explain that and how it might change people’s use of technology and resources. How might it change our treatment of our fellow human beings?

7. You devote several chapters to dispelling the myth that science and technology are, themselves, neutral, value free. Please explain that myth and why we need to shift away from it.

8.  Could a different view of science and technology maybe save us and the planet after all? Can you give us an example of “critical science”?

9. You have some very strict requirements for what you call “design criteria for socially appropriate technologies.” [truly sustainable energy, sustainable materials use, zero waste] Is meeting these remotely possible? Can you give us an example or two of current models that are promising?

10. At the end of the book, you have discussion questions “for further thought,” and your website offers materials for use by educators. What role do you see education playing in a changed worldview? Are there education programs you particularly respect?

[FYI: We've been members of an educational group called Science, Technology, Society (STS)that tries to infuse science/technology/social ethics into school English, social studies, and science classes. The teachers involved have done some pretty cool stuff encouraging kids to think about unanticipated consequences of technology.]

11. On this program, we regularly ask guests, “How can this kind of change happen?” Will it take government intervention and regulation? fiscal or other incentives? the enlightened self interest of captialism? individual people doing the right thing? panic when the end is near? What’s your degree of optimisim that the changes you describe can and will take place on a scale that matters?

12. Finally, how can listeners become involved at local, regional, or global levels? You have a website http://www.technofix.org.   The book is Techno-Fix (co-authored with Joyce Huesemann) and it’s published by New Society (a publisher that has a great list of ecotopian books).

Playlist

1. Technology 4:03 Chorus – Silly Classical Songs & Disney Characters Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Children’s Music
2. Life Uncommon 4:57 Jewel Spirit Rock
3. Inspector Gadget (Theme) – Original 1:25 Cathodic Orchestra Cathodic Orchestra Selected Hits Vol. 2
4. Knight Rider 2:38 Various Artists 100 Greatest TV
5. The Road to Utopia 4:54 Utopia Adventures In Utopia Rock
6. The James Bond Theme – The Ventures 3:51 The Ventures The James Bond Theme – Triple Feature!
7. Love Is the Answer 4:18 Utopia Oops! Wrong Planet Rock

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Date: 8 November 2011

Tonight we’re learning about and celebrating California native plants. Our guest is Germain Boivin, founder and owner of Floral Native Nursery, which has 150- species of California natives.  We’ll also be sharing some poetry about the beauties of California native plants.

Listen to the Program

California Plant Poetry

Honeysuckle Hunting

It could be anywhere.
We stand stock still and sniff
the green breathing of daisy, vine and leaf.

Ears pricked and noses high,
we listen for the drowsy hum
of yellow golden honey.

There, on the fence!
We’ll steal it from the bees,
pluck a tiny trumpet blossom,

pinch the end with finger and thumb,
like biting the vanilla-dripping tip
of an ice cream cone.

Slowly, slowly, draw it out–
pull the stamen through, tongue poised
to catch one crystal drop of sweetness.

~Heidi Mordhorst
from Squeeze: Poems from a Juicy Universe, 2005

Western Redbud

spring unleashed, it blooms
pink kisses flirt with the sun
Kool-Aid explosion

— Susan Taylor Brown
From her website http://susanwrites.livejournal.com/224471.html

California’s Cup Of Gold

The golden poppy is God’s gold,
The gold that lifts, nor weighs us down,
The gold that knows no miser’s hold
The gold that banks not in the town,
But singing, laughing, freely spills
Its hoard far up the happy hills;
Far up, far down, at every turn,–
What beggar has not gold to burn!
Joaquin Miller

http://www.solopublications.com/jurn6101.htm#Cup%20of%20Gold

In this poem, the mountain mahogany  is used as a chisel stick and the occasion for metaphors about the past—the notches and the smoothness describing a history.

The Tally Stick

Here from the start, from our first of days, look:
I have carved our lives in secret on this stick
of mountain mahogany the length of your arms
outstretched, the wood clear red, so hard and rare.
It is time to touch and handle what we know we share.

Near the butt, this intricate notch where the grains
converge and join: it is our wedding.
I can read it through with a thumb and tell you now
who danced, who made up the songs, who meant us joy.
These little arrowheads along the grain,
they are the births of our children. See,
they make a kind of design with these heavy crosses,
the deaths of our parents, the loss of friends.

Over it all as it goes, of course, I
have chiseled Events, History–random
hashmarks cut against the swirling grain.
See, here is the Year the World Went Wrong,
we thought, and here the days the Great Men fell.
The lengthening runes of our lives run through it all.
See, our tally stick is whittled nearly end to end;
delicate as scrimshaw, it would not bear you up.
Regrets have polished it, hand over hand.
Yet let us take it up, and as our fingers
like children leading on a trail cry back
our unforgotten wonders, sign after sign,
we will talk softly as of ordinary matters,
and in one anotherís blameless eyes go blind.

Found on J J’s blog

http://rustybear.blogspot.com/2006/04/favorite-poem-tally-stick.html

The final poem we’ll share with you has elements of a creation myth. Here we see how  the ponderosa comes to dominate the sky.
Tale of the Mighty Ponderosa and the Sky

Once, the mighty ponderosa
Scratched the underbelly
Of the piercing blue sky.
Letting it know
That its reign over
The mountain top world
Was over.
But the sky
Had the clouds
And clouds
had Thor
hiding in its midst
It sent a jolt
Of electric light
Upon its crown and
the once green tree
turned a shade of black.
Bruised and bare,
So the sky saw,
believed the ponderosa
learned its lesson well
And held back its fickle
Temper.
But the ponderosa,
that mighty tree,
stayed its ground
on top of that mountain.
Until the sky realized
that nothing will move it
and it was here to stay.
So the sky never bothered
when the mighty ponderosa
recovered and when
it grew green again.
It scratched its underbelly
but the piercing blue sky
Saw its futility and
Let it grow
and grow
until it became
the true king of its
Mountain top realm.

Online at Hellum.com

http://www.helium.com/items/1606200-ponderosa-pine

Our Discussion with Germain Boivan

Germain Boivin founded the FLORAL NATIVE NURSERY in 1998. In his years in California, he has learned about and experimented with California native plants and plant breeding.

1. How did you become interested in California native plants?

2. How do you know what’s a native plant and what’s been introduced to the region?

3. What sorts of native plants are there in California?

4. How do you go about propagating native plants? What has been your process of developing for market 150 California natives?

5. What is the value of using California native plants in gardening and landscaping?

6. What are some of the most popular plants that grow in our region?

7. Are there micro climates or micro environments in our region? Are there some plants that grow better in the valley and some in the foothills?

8. I learned from your website that you also provide native plants for habitat restoration. That must involve a lot of plants that can become relatively self-sufficient pretty fast. Can you tell us about the process of habitat restoration? What sorts of plants are particularly useful for restoration?

9. When is the best time to start a native plant garden? What kinds of conditions do native plants need?

10. We were interested that some of the plants you propagate are labeled as having medicinal uses by Native Americans. That must be interesting research. How did you learn about native medicinal uses?

11. I know you also provide resources for people who want to learn more about California natives as they are developing ideas for their gardens. Can you tell us about some of those resources?

12. How can people contact you?

Announcements

If you have an announcement of an event you would like us to include on Ecotopia, please contact us at ecotopiakzfr@gmail.com

Also, we’re always interested in learning more about what you’d like to hear on Ecotopiia. If you have ideas for shows of local, regional, national or international import, please contact us at ectopiakzfr@gmail.com. We’re also interested in feedback on shows we’ve done.

You can also contact us through our Facebook page. Just go to Ecotopia KZFR 90.1. You can become our friend and you can post on our wall.

We’d like to thank our good friend Sue Hilderbrand for sitting in for us last Tuesday on Ecotopia.

We’ll be away again next week, and Bill Fritsch will be here on Ecotopia. Please join him.

Playlist for Ecotopia #163

• Back To The Garden    4:03    Jason Webley    Against The Night
• Pagan Poetry    5:40    Björk    Livebox Sampler
• Royal Garden Blues    1:54    Don Byron    Bug Music
• Golden Poppy    3:09    The Mother Hips    Do It On The Strings: Acoustic Live in California November 2010
• Red Bud    7:32    MaMuse    Strange And Wonderful
• Garden Song    5:34    MaMuse    All The Way

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October 18, 2001

Tonight’s Program

It is a special pleasure for us to be on the phone with Mary Lou  Sharon, who was a classmate of Steve’s at Naugatuck High School in Connecticut.  They recently met up at a high school reunion,  and we heard Mary Lou’s amazing story of activism in essentially shutting down a toxic dump in our home town.

Listen to the Program

Our Questions for Mary Lou Sharon

By way of background, when Mary Lou and Steve were kids in the 1950s, Naugatuck, Connecticut, was an industrial center, producing sneakers, synthetic rubber, agricultural chemicals, and brass products.  The Naugatuck River held no life and changed color with industrial discharges, and the town often smelled of diverse chemicals that went up the stacks.  Most of that industry is now gone, but the effects remain, and that’s where Mary Lou Sharon came in.

Your story begins in the 1960s, when you noticed trucks headed up the road near your house carrying waste to the Hunter’s Mountain landfill.

•What was in those trucks?
•Why were you concerned?
•You formed a citizen’s action group.  Who was in it and what did you try to accomplish?
•In 1983 Hunter’s Mountain–renamed Laurel Park Landfill–was declared a Superfund Site.  Didn’t that take care of your concerns?
•In the course of your activism, you were threatened and vilified.  Why were some elements of the town opposed to your work?
•Despite the contamination, developers still wanted to build a number of homes up on Hunter’s Mountain.  Please tell us the story of that fight.
•In April 2011, you were declared Honorary Mayor of Naugatuck as part of Earth Day.  What did you do during your brief time in office?
•What advice do you have for other activists who are fighting difficult battles trying to preserve the environment and our health?

Thank you, Mary Lou Kosko Sharon, for being with us tonight and telling us this inspiring story.  Our home town is a much better place to live, thanks to you, and we’ll look forward to seeing you down the road at Naugatuck High School reunions.  Listeners, if you would like to learn more about this story, here are some links:

NY Times: “Action on Dioxin”  http://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/14/nyregion/the-region-action-on-dioxin-in-connecticut.html

NY Times:  “Two-Year Battle Won at Dioxin Site”  http://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/15/nyregion/two-year-battle-won-at-dioxin-site.html

Naugatuck Patch: “Mary Lou Sharon: Naugatuck’s Earth Day Mayor for the Day”  http://naugatuck.patch.com/articles/mary-lou-sharon-naugatucks-earth-day-mayor-for-the-day

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