GND Media

 You would be very hard pressed to say 2023 was not an awful year for natural disasters and climate related tragedy. Wildfires in Canada and the US, extreme flooding in Bulgaria and Bangladesh, and record breaking heatwaves in Northern Africa and the Mediterranean. When the science is pointing in this direction, of destruction and chaos and those in power aren't listening, what do you do?

This week we are joined by Peter Kalmus, Climate scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California*. Peter is also a member of Science Rebellion and co-founder of Undeniable Network.  We discuss how NASA plays it part in monitoring the changes in the earths climate, how he speaks to his family about climate change,  what is the science behind reversing climate change and what political action needs to take place to do that. Then we discuss the importance of the next US election, and how it affects the global effort get off fossil fuels.




*Peter Kalmus speaks on behalf of himself and not NASA.


Links
undeniable network

Check out Peter's book "Live Well and Spark the Climate Revolution"
https://peterkalmus.net/books/

Shout Out
Peter's brothers and sisters in Scientist Rebellion

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To say the modern world is dependent on materials we dig out of the ground is an understatement. From the lithium in your phone battery to the cup you're drinking your tea in, mining and mineral extraction play a vital part of how survive on earth.

With the race to get off fossil fuels, and electrify our entire transport network kicking off, dependency on rare earth minerals like lithium  is going to increase, and the conditions of the people mining it brought ever to our attention.

This week on the show Lucy and Andrew are  joined by  Thea Riofrancos, Professor at Providence College in the US and the author of "Resource Radicals" and "A Planet to Win".  They discuss how Lithium is a key resource when it comes to the transition away from fossil fuels, how mineral exploitation in South America has shaped the politics of the region and how Unions are now driving the just transition in the Americas.    

Links
Check out Thea's website here
https://www.theariofrancos.com/

The Lithium Problem (interview by Alyssa Battistoni). Dissent, 2023.
https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/the-lithium-problem

Electric vehicles alone won’t take us to a decarbonized future. The Hill, 2023
https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/3861795-electric-vehicles-alone-wont-take-us-to-a-decarbonized-future/

Chile: White Gold Rush. Chatham House’s The World Today, 2022 
https://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/the-world-today/2022-06/chile-white-gold-rush

Shifting Mining from the Global South Misses the Point of Climate Justice. Foreign Policy, 2022 
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/07/renewable-energy-transition-critical-minerals-mining-onshoring-lithium-evs-climate-justice/?tpcc=recirc_latest062921

Shoutout
Friend of the show Asad Rahman of War on Want, for his stirring speech at COP 28 on Palestine. 

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2023 is over and the battle for 2024 is about to begin. 

It's the end of the year so gather round the wireless to hear Ads, Alex, Lucy and Andrew discuss where we are at a end of 2023 and guess which of us had some very strong one nation Tory opinions as a child.

Have a fantastic Christmas and see you in 2024. 

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The worlds biggest climate negotiations are happening as you read this, in Dubai at COP28. The President of COP has just said "There is no scientific basis for climate change"

...... I think its time to take a breather, go outside and hangout with nature, and think a little locally.

This week Ad's is joined by Paul Handrick aka "The Bee Guy". Paul runs the worlds first native wild  Bee sanctuary, based in the republic of Ireland.  They discuss how Paul transitioned from gigging musician to  running the only organic vegan farm in Ireland,   the problem with the profit motive, frustrations working with the environment movement and how everyone can support Bees, Insects and other wildlife in their own gardens. 

Links
Follow the link below for more info on the Bee sanctuary.
https://savingbees.ie/

Shout out

CEO responsible futures Sam Cande

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The world’s attention right now is focused on the desperate situation in Gaza. This human catastrophe has major ramifications for the wider Arab region encompassing North Africa and the Gulf States, an area that is also at the heart of fossil capitalism and thus an important region when it comes to turning the planet away from hydrocarbons and climate catastrophe.  While being the generator of 35% of the all the hydrocarbons in the world, it is also the site of potentially immense green energy.  So how might a just transition take place here? And how do the political and environmental conditions of the region shape this transition?

This week Alex is joined by Hamza Hamouchene ( @BenToumert) and Katie Sandwell ( 

@KatieSandwell) the editors of a new collection of essays called "Dismantling Green Colonialism, Energy and Climate Justice in the Arab Region"

Hamza and Katie both work for the Transitional Institute, an international research and advocacy institute committed to building a just, democratic and sustainable planet.

They discuss with Alex how Fossil Capitalism is already scooping up land for renewables and carbon offsets in the Arab region, how the World Bank and the IMF along with local elites push the Arab region toward extractive industries instead of focusing on climate adaption. How Green Colonialism has developed in the region and what a Just Transition would look like, that does not put North Africa at the service of Europe.



Links
Pick up a copy of Hamza and Katie's book from Pluto Press Here
https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745349213/dismantling-green-colonialism/#:~:text='A%20brave%20and%20timely%20book

Shout outs
Palestinians in Gaza and the Diaspora
Social justice and environmental justice activist in Arab region.

Mohad Gasmi: currently in prison in Algeria for criticizing the current government. You can learn more about what has happened to Mohad Here
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/human-rights-defender-sentenced-3-years-prison

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For the final episode of this season of Working Class Voices,  it's time to end with some real inspiration. 

Ad's sits down with Alice Hu (@tweetsbyANH) of New York Communities for Change (@nychange), a working class community action group. Alice explain's how they organised across the issues of immigration, housing and good jobs to be more effect climate activists, How hurricane Sandy's effects on New York City spurned on climate action, and how to run a successful, diverse working class protest.

 

Links
New York Communities for Change.
https://www.nycommunities.org/

Here's Ad's article from the start of the series. 
https://www.gndmedia.co.uk/articles/happy-flowers-dont-win

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We're on the home stretch of season two of working class voices. This week Ad's is joined by Duncan Exley . Duncan's work helps bring class diversity to institutions and support working class campaigners. They discuss the difference between working class and middle class campaigning, How one posh friend can change your life,  the power of pride and humiliation and how we should be campaigning around a Just Transition. 


Links
Resolution Foundation

Duncan's book
The End of Aspiration : social mobility and our children's fading prospects.
https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/the-end-of-aspiration

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We all know that the Green New Deal is bold and ambitious in its vision, providing the solutions to the climate crisis that go hand in hand with solutions for social justice – a prosperous future where everyone can thrive.

Tune into this recording of our Lucy speaking at a panel event, hosted by Green New Deal Groupon 26 October, exploring further how a Green New Deal gives us reason to hope not only for the climate emergency, but also economic, social and racial justice.

Featuring Caroline Lucas, Ellen Fearon of GND Rising and Tyronne Scott of War on Want. 

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This week's episode is  about action, community and not waiting for the council to come and sort it for you and how even those with the least can be leaders in the fight against climate breakdown. 

Ads is joined by Terry McTernan, Secretary of the Darkwood Crew in Ferguslie Park , Scotland.  Ferguslie Park has consistently been at the bottom of Scottish league tables for economic development and poverty, with decades of Holyrood led initiatives to try and change that and with little luck. Terry and his community decided it was their turn, for the working class to decide how to change their part of the world for the better.

Ads and Terry discuss how the Darkwood Crew knits community support and climate action together, how years of top down approaches from government haven't helped Ferguslie Park,  the practical work of running successful community groups and how Ferguislie Park Community Council was formed.



Links
Ferguslie Community Council Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/fergusliecommunitycouncil
Darkwood Crew- Ferguslie community environment group. 
https://darkwoodcrew.co.uk/

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This week on Working Class Voices Ads' is joined by writer and activist Keir Milburn. Keir is the author of “Generation Left” and is a co-host of ACFM on Novara Media. Keir is also a founding member of the think tank Abundance.

They discuss how the definition of who is working class affects organising strategies, are the working class more resilient to police oppression and brutality and has this had an affect on groups like XR? Keir discusses the Spy Cops scandal, Why the working class has to build its own institutions to save the just transition from venture capital, the cycles of social movements and what the left needs to do when Starmer takes power.


Links

ACFM- Keir's podcast with Nadia Idle and  Jeremy Gilbert
https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/acfm/

Red Plenty Games
https://redplentygames.com/

Abundance
https://www.in-abundance.org/

Under cover policing inquiry (Spy Cops inquiry )
https://www.ucpi.org.uk/

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