8 O'Clock Buzz

Policymakers have tossed around the idea of taxing the carbon you burn for decades now.  The Citizens’ Climate Lobby has had enough, and wants to make carbon pricing real.  Climate lobbyist — and erstwhile WORT news host — Kermit Hovey joins us with more.

Ever since the specter of human-made greenhouse gases warming the planet first arose, policy makers and economists from all sides of the political spectrum have argued that the most efficient way to get people to stop putting carbon in the atmosphere is to tax it.  Despite the multilateral support for a carbon tax among academia and policy wonks, the idea has gone exactly nowhere in the U.S. political sphere.  Intense lobbying by the powerful oil and energy sector has, so far, stymied any serious U.S. attempts at taxing carbon fuels.  Now, though, with the planet noticeably heating up, and the global climate turning more and more deadly, the Citizen’s Climate Lobby is making a new push for a federal carbon tax.  Joining us now with more is Citizen Climate Lobbyist — and former WORT Evening News Host — Kermit Hovey.

 

Photo of Exxon oil refinery in Baton Rouge, LA

by WClarke, CC BY-SA 4.0  via Wikimedia Commons

Madison’s Raemsich Farm Development moves ahead to city council, but many still worry about the noise from those incoming F-35 fighter jets. We’ll talk with neighborhood organizer Michelle Ellinger Linley.

Back in May, the Monday 8 O’Clock Buzz talked with Michelle Ellinger-Linley about Rifkin Group efforts to develop 65 acres of farmland near Packers Avenue in Madison into a subdivision plat with 124 market-rate homes.  Michelle was, and is the chair of the Raemisch Farm Workgroup, a neighborhood coalition that had been working diligently with Rifken for over a year.  On July 26, the Madison Planning Commission recommended approval of the development — even though concerns about noise impacts from the arrival of F-35 fighter jets remained unresolved.  Joining us once again with an update is Michelle Ellinger-Linley.

 

WORT 89.9FM Madison · Uncertainty For The Reindahl Park Homeless Encampment

An encampment in Reindahl Park, who’s unhoused people have been living in tents for some time, is left with uncertainty as the city and advocates struggle to find both and equitable and a safe solution for the group.

Brenda Konkel, executive director of MACH(Madison Area Care for the Homeless) OneHealth in Madison. The group’s mission is to bridge gaps in the local healthcare system for people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity.

Brenda and Jessie Brown, a street medic at the encampment, who’s responsibilities include: checking on people’s health, providing transportation to the emergency room, organizing meals, and responding to any needs residents may have while being a 24 hour crisis responder join Friday Buzz host, Holly Marley-Henschen, to talk more about the subject.

 

 

(Image courtesy of Jon Tyson on Unsplash)

WORT 89.9FM Madison · Dina Nina Martinez Talks Lady Laughs Comedy

Local comedian and actor, Dina Nina Martinez, is the founder of Lady Laughs Comedy, been seen and heard on PBS and NBC, called one of the “58 trans women actors you should know and also love” by Autostraddle,” and one of the hosts for WORT’s own Queery. Dina Friday Buzz host, Holly Marley-Henschen, to talk about a Lady Laughs Comedy event.

 

 

(Image courtesy of Dina Nina Martinez)

On this month’s 8 O’Clock Buzz — EXPO hour, Jerome Dillard talks with Ron Schroeder, Peggy West-Schroeder, and Ramiah Whiteside about their personal experiences with extended supervision (a.k.a. “parole”), the cycle of parole revocation and return to jail for the smallest rule infractions, the power of the parole officer over decisions to send parolees back to prison, the lack of mental health, housing, and addiction support for those under community supervision.

They also discussed several upcoming initiatives to work on “Locked Up on the Outside” — prisons without walls.

Join me as I interview Emily Gonzales in California, Andre Wright in Iowa, and Nada Elmikashfi in Wisconsin–all BIPOC folks working to keep critical race theory in schools and public institutions. According to Education Week, 26 states have already introduced bills or taken steps to restrict teaching, “critical race theory” or limit how teachers and public employees can talk about racism and sexism. (NPR) This move is an unprecedented step back for the US civil rights movement and is seen by many as a rise in white supremacy. I’ll be speaking with three organizers who are making powerful moves to combat this racist turn in their own ways.

Guest Bios

Emily Gonzales serves as Executive Director of the Swell Collective, a BIPOC-led organization whose mission is to inspire, equip and amplify change agents representing marginalized communities. She is a master trainer and facilitator of radical collaboration and dialogue with an approach that centers equity and wellness. Swell Collective is convening communities of care and learning to support educators and students while the legal and political battles play out in necessary response to the extreme right’s latest assault on our collective liberation via their attack of Critical Race Theory.

Andre Wright is a fashion activist using clothing as a vehicle for change. Andre is the co-founder of Humanize My Hoodie and has dedicated his life art and fashion to standing up for Black and Indigenous people. His work recently includes collaborations with Great Plains Action Society with The Truth Will Not Be Whitewashed t-shirt and educational programming that teaches our children how to think critically about race and oppression.

Nada Elmikashfi is Chief of Staff for Wisconsin State Representative Francesca Hong and a former candidate for the Wisconsin Senate. She works at the forefront of Wisconsin’s legislative agenda to promote working-class policy and re-establish Madison’s proud progressive tradition.

Republican states are passing bans on teaching critical race theory.  Will those bans past constitutional muster?  That depends on who’s bringing the suit.  We’ll talk with journalism professor Frank LoMonte.

In 2021, the states of Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Iowa, New Hampshire and Arizona have passed legislation banning public schools from teaching concepts of institutional racism — commonly called “critical race theory” — in the classroom.  State and local school boards in Florida, Georgia, Utah, North Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia have adopted similar bans.  The bans are likely to be challenged in court — possibly on constitutional grounds.  But what protections does the constitution or other statutes offer?  Frank LoMonte, Professor of Journalism at the University of Florida and the executive producer of “Why Don’t We Know?” podcast joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on July 26, 2021.

 

The United States is still in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic, but for now — only among the unvaccinated.  Laboratory clinical scientist Rodney E. Rohde and immunologist Ryan McNamara bring us the story.

On January 8, 2021, new cases of COVID-19 in the United States peaked at over 300,000 in a single day.  As vaccines began to roll out, that number plummeted over the next few months to around 8,000 new cases a day in June of this year.  Since then, infection rates have risen again to over 60,000 cases a day as of July 23.  Over ninety five percent of those recent cases have occurred among the population that remains unvaccinated.  Vaccination rates have also tumbled, and communities that were once scrambling to find doses to meet demand, now find themselves sitting on a stockpile of vaccines that may soon expire.  With still more than half the U.S. population unvaccinated and new virus variants emerging, what risks are we facing in the ongoing pandemic.  Joining the Monday Buzz is Rodney E. Rohde, Professor of Clinical Laboratory Science at Texas State University.   Also joining us is Ryan McNamara, Research Associate of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Natural landscapes in Wisconsin could, with help, suck up and sequester carbon from the atmosphere.  The Monday Buzz’s Brian Standing talks with John Greenler and Jessica James from the Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts and Letters.

Last spring, the Wisconsin Academy of Letters Arts and Sciences published a report titled “Carbon Storage in Wisconsin’s Critical Landscapes” which focuses on high-quality land-carbon sinks specifically for the Wisconsin geography.  Synthesizing a collective effort of Wisconsin naturalists, natives, and indigenous perspectives, the report aims to educate the broader public about what these landscapes are, how they benefit us our lives through carbon storage, and what we can do to preserve these naturally-occurring landscapes.

WORT 89.9FM Madison · New Pop-Up Bike Clinic, Curbside Bicycles, Is Gaining Traction

As with many of us last year, Ian Oestreich found himself with more free time than he knew what to do with. In that free time he saw an opportunity and founded a neighborhood pop-up clinic all over Dane County, Curbside Bicycles, to help bikers on the go with bike repairs. Ian joins Friday Buzz host, Ankur Malhotra, to talk about Curbside Bicycles.

 

 

(Image courtesy of Gints Gailis on Unsplash)