Green Time TV, Oct 2016: Looking Forward
by Don Fitz
Did you ever ask what a positive future for all of us might include? October Green Time episodes look forward to when MLK Blvd is fixed up as nice as the Delmar Loop, when solar panels can be a key part of efficient home energy use, when people who need marijuana for medical problems are free to use it, and when health care is based on human need rather than the profits of insurance companies.
Have you gone down Martin Luther King Blvd in St. Louis recently? The mission and vision of Beloved Streets of America (BSA) is to bring MLK streets across the US up to standards that would be fitting for the man whom they honor. In the first October Green Time, host Don Fitz and guests Melvin White (BSA President), Andre Blunt (BSA Vice-President) and Robert A. Powell (BSA Board Member) discuss how the BSA vision started and how it has received support. They explore what the mission is nationally and the capital campaign it is launching.
Did you ever ask if decriminalizating marijuana for medical use results in more use by teenagers? Or if marijuana is a “bridge drug” leading users to take more dangerous drugs? Research gives an answer of “no” to both questions. During the second October Green Time, host Don Fitz and guests Dan Viets (Attorney and Missouri NORML Coordinator) and Sheila Dundon (Registered Nurse and Cancer Survivor) ask why states that have legalized marijuana for medical use have less worker absenteeism, less prescription drug use and less opioid overdoses. They discuss patients who have clear medical needs for marijuana but are treated like criminals.
Residential energy efficiency can play a key role in reducing demand for electricity. In the third OctoberGreen Time, host John Hickey discusses energy efficiency measures people can choose for their homes with Jim Jordan of the Maplewood Sustainability Commission and Stephen Mahfood of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment. They look at how energy efficiency can affect utility bills and rebates being offered. They cover solar panels, water heaters and the easiest energy efficiency measures for homeowners to install.
How does it affect health care workers to have seriously ill patients talk about whether their families would have less financial distress if they died? Why does health care cost so much more in the US than in other industrialized countries? During the final two October Green Time shows, host Don Fitz and guests Mimi Signor of Missourians for Single Payer and Dr. Pamella Gronemeyer, a physician and small business owner, allocation of health care resources according to people's insurance status. Americans who want health insurance are often unable to get it, or else they can have it and lose it. Should Americans make health care a civil right, as other nations have done?
October shows include the movies The MLK Legacy Walk, A NORML Life, Fix It, Make Your Voice Heard in This Election, and Get Outside with Sierra Club Outings.
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 1 & 3: “The National MLK Streets Initiative,”
October 8 & 10: “Looking at Medical Marijuana,”
October 15 & 17: “A Local Look at Energy Efficiency,” and
October 22 & 24: “Broken System: Effects on Health Care Workers,”
October 29 & 31: “Broken Health Care: Patients and Families.”
“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
