Green Time TV, Oct 2015: Overcoming Environmental Obstacles
by Don Fitz
Many environmental problems seem impossible to cope with. October Green Time episodes explore how real efforts are being made to overcome them.
During the first October Green Time episode, Sierra Club members Laura Neuman-Howe and Jeff Howe discuss energy efficiency upgrades in their home with host John Hickey. They explain the energy efficiency changes they have made and how it has impacted their energy use. They look at its effects on utility bills and rebates and assistance that are available to home owners. In particular, what can the audience learn about making homes more efficient?
The second October Green Time features Rev. Rodrick Burton, of The New Northside Baptist Church, and Romona Williams, of Metro St. Louis Coalition for Inclusion & Equity (M-SLICE) discussing climate change and environmental justice with host John Hickey. They cover the Berean District Climate Change Initiative and work of M-SLICE. This includes the way congregations can fight climate change and the importance of these efforts to the African American community. Why is the higher rate of asthma in the black community an environmental justice issue?
Have you ever heard of a “tank farm?” During the third October Green Time, Tom Kruzen, of Ozark Riverkeepers, and host Don Fitz discuss how the chemicals stored in tank farms can threaten aquatic and land animals as well as human health. They look at a particular tank farm in Missouri’s Ozarks and how sinkholes and losing streams associated with karst topography create unique dangers.
The fourth October Green Time asks: What would happen if there was a “perfect storm” which combined the dangers of highly toxic chemicals, extremely thick fluids, storage close to railroad tracks, misplaced electrical transformers and inadequately prepared first responders who did not have necessary equipment? Tom Kruzen and Don Fitz discuss this potential scenario with the tank farm operated by Coastal Energy Corp. in Missouri’s Ozarks.
Lead poisoning damages the kidneys and central nervous, cardiovascular and reproductive systems. It lowers children’s scores on math and verbal skills and increases levels of violence. The final October Green Time includes host Don Fitz, Jed Hawkes Koball, of Presbyterian Church (USA), and Bob Criss, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, discussing problem that would remain even if the best legislation were passed. Trade agreements, such as the Trans Pacific Partnership, greatly weaken countries’ right to protect themselves.
October shows include the movies “Coal Plants for 5th Graders (and Some Congress Members),” “Get Outside with Sierra Club Outings,” “Ian Somerhalder: Let’s Move Beyond Coal,” “Cost of Coal: Siobhan Washington,” “Karst in the Ozarks,” “Lead Added to Gasoline,” “Tetraethyl Lead 1950s,” and “Gasoline For Everybody.”
Green Time appears at noon on Saturdays in St. Louis on Channel 24-1 and at 8 pm on Mondays in St. Louis on Channel 24-2, Springfield on Channel 39, Joplin on Channel 36 and Marshfield on Channel 17. Green Time programs air on these dates:
·October 3 & 5: “Residential Energy Efficiency and Our Homes,”
·October 10 & 12: “Climate Change & Black Communities,”
·October 17 & 19: “Threat to the Eleven Point River,”
·October 24 & 26: “Pollution in Missouri's Karst Land,”
·October 31 & Nov 2: “Lead: The Unseen Burden.”
“Like” Gateway Greens on Facebook and click “Get notifications.” Also see Green Time on greentime.tv. To help produce Green Time TV call 314-727-8554 or email don@greentime.tv
