Solartopia Green Power & Wellness Hour

LABOR RISING, VA UNDER FIRE, WHILE NUKES BANKRUPT GEORGIA

 

Our GREEP zoom #156 opens with the magnificent ANDREA MILLER of the Center for Common Ground tells us about the critical election in Virginia, showing us the astounding flood of money into these key races.  It’s an amazing show of the power of corrupt funding in what’s left of our democracy.

 

From the labor movement we then hear PATRICK CROWLEY, AARON WAZLAVEK and JAY PONTI fill us in powerful developments in the green economy as strikes proliferate throughout the nation.  The recent rise of organized labor is one of the great unexpected successes of the new century.

 

MYLA RESON and TATANKA BRICCA give us critical perspectives on all this.

 

Then WENDI LEDERMAN relates tells the horrifying on-going details of the Cop City assault on Atlanta, protestors and the actual law with a wave of brutal, illegal repression.

 

GEORGIA Public Service Commission candidate PATTY DURAND then explains in terrifying detail the horror show surrounding elections for the body that will decide who gets stuck with the $40 billion price tag for the insane Vogtle Nukes #3 & $4.  Patty has fought for years to make clear how incredibly corrupt the building of these two worthless, hugely expensive and utterly senseless atomic reactors.

 

The great DAVE KRAFT from Chicago then fills us in on the horrific nuclear politics of the Windy City and the attempt there to prevent new Small Modular Nuclear Reactors from plaguing the region.

 

DOROTHY REIK, LYNN FEINERMAN, RON LEONARD AND STEVEN SONDHEIM wrap us up with their usual brilliance as the horse race between Solartopia and Armageddon continues to enthrall us all.  NoNukes!!

ALL MOST NOW FOCUS ON THE DIABLO / NUKE CRISIS We focus in the GREEP Zoom #155 on the in-your-face crisis at California’s Diablo Canyon nuke reactors. While the 39-year-old Unit One is shut for refueling, a growing public movement demands the obvious—test this crumbling old nuke for embrittlement and much more BEFORE it’s allowed to re-open. After four decades of blasting heat, pressure and radiation, Diablo’s Reactor Pressure Vessels are fried to the point of shattering like glass should they be flooded with coolant water in an emergency. In other words….if the “brakes” are applied at uninsured Diablo during a major accident, the whole place will blow up. Steam, Hydrogen and fission explosions will blast apocalyptic radioactive cloud into the steady breezing blowing south to Los Angeles. Then it’ll go west into the Central Valley, then north to the Bay Area….and all across the continental United States. LINDA SEELEY of the Mothers for Peace explains how her long-lived, incredibly persistent group is fighting to keep Diablo shut in the court system, regulatory agency and Public Utilities Commission. As we learn from ROBERT FREEHLING and RON LEONARD among others, renewable energy has long since filled any possible supply gaps caused by Diablo’s closure. The billions in hand-outs being offered PG&E to stay open dwarf any help being given wind, solar, efficiency, etc which have already far outstripped nuclear power in price. Indeed, the nature of the grid now DEMANDS that base-load nuke supplies give way to flexible, cheaper, cleaner, safer and more reliable renewables. At the core of the issue, we seek the Plan B that will shut these nukes forever….in the midst of rumors Gov. Newsom may be “reconsidering” his insane decision to keep Diablo running.

Transcript

JULIAN ASSANGE / DIABLO CANYON / GREEN AMENDMENTS / ISRAEL - PALESTINE PASSIONOur Grassroots Emergency Election Protection Zoom #154 opens with a timely, critical report on Julian Assange from VINNIE DESTEFANO in Los Angeles.We then join LINDA SEELEY from the Diablo Canyon Mothers for Peace on the status of the critical fight to keep that insane nuke shut.CATHY WOLF updates us from Portland on the Pine Tree Alliance campaign to take over the electric utilities in Maine.MAYA VON ROSSUM fills us in further with the power of her GREEN AMENDMENTS in states where environmental protection has been taken to another level.In the second hour we plunge into the Israel-Palestine horror show with a series of heartfelt, highly intelligent, carefully limited three-minute statements.This powerful, uniquely civil section includes deeply moving statements from nearly 20 people, including DAVID SALTMAN, LISSA MATROSS, VINNIE DESTEFANO, DOROTHY REIK, DENNIS BERNSTEIN, WENDI LEDERMAN, MIKE HERSH, LYNN FEINERMAN, JUSTIN LEBLANC, MYLA RESON, STEPHEN FRASER, DR. RUTH STRAUSS and many more.In a society tearing itself apart over the deep, passionate, extremely inflamed differences raging around this insane war, we prove that it’s possible to have a civil, productive, interesting and important session on a conflict that could easily devolve into the end of human life as we know it.We hope this session will become a small but significant step in the opposite direction. SHALOM / SALAAM….

IN THE STREETS FOR DEMOCRACY  IN FLORIDA, OHIO & AT THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS/POWER PLANTS

 

GREE-GREE # 153 begins with the great WENDI LEDERMAN’s harrowing accounts of gathering signatures for Florida’s pro-choice referendum.  

 

You can’t hear these stories without worrying for the lives of those pounding the pavement for what’s left of our democracy.

 

RUTH STRAUSS and JUSTIN LEBLANC join in the dialog on this incredibly important life/death isue.

 

Ohio’s RACHEL COYLE explains the astounding “you can’t make this stuff up” madness that’s overtaken the Buckeye State on the issues of abortion, pot, democracy and more.

 

At a key moment she connects with the great RAY MCCLENDON, hopefully leading to more grassroots democracy in the swing state heartland.

 

STEVE CARUSO and SANDY BOLZENIUS also report in from Columbus with the latest mich-a-gass.

 

Wendi then reports again, this time about the hideous Cop City project in Atlanta with a terrible fascistic crack-down on the basic rights of pro-democracy protestors.

 

 

In our second hour we leap into the nuclear power issue and the desperate need to shut the Diablo Canyon reactors and all others throughout the world.

 

The great KEVIN KAMPS of Beyond Nuclear joins LINDA SEELEY of the San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace (www.mothersforpeace.org) to discuss the strategies of fighting sick atomic reactors in Michigan and California.

 

We also hear from DONNA GILMORE, TORGEN JOHNSON, TATANKA BRICCA,  JENNIFER TANNER, ROBERT FREEHLING, KARL GROSSMAN, PAT MARIDA , MYLA RESON and more help us navigate the absolutely essential path to making our state and world post-nuclear.

We also hear from DONNA GILMORE, TORGEN JOHNSON, TATANKA BRICCA,  JIM HEDDLE, MARY BETH BRANGAN, JENNIFER TANNER, ROBERT FREEHLING, KARL GROSSMAN, PAT MARIDA , MYLA RESON and more help us navigate the absolutely essential path to making our state and world post-nuclear.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S DAY, OHIO URANIUM & RISING LABOR POWERWe begin GREEP #152 with the great LIBBE HALEVY, creator of the Nuclear Hotseat, who tells us about the triumphant debut of the award-winning documentary SAN ONOFRE SYNDROME. This SOS masterpiece by MARY BETH BRANGAN & JIM HEDDLE of the Ecological Options Network join us later in the call to explain the great grassroots victory in shutting the two San Onofre reactors….followed by the horrific struggle to deal with their atomic waste.In honor of Indigenous People’s Day, ANDREA MILLER shares some her amazing native brilliance rooted in her Cherokee background.Introduced by MYLA RESON, we hear from ANNA RONDON of the southwestern tribes who are fighting to protect our Earth from the horrors of uranium mining.TATANKA BRICCA reminds us of our Star Origins as well as our Indigenous roots amidst the struggle to call in powers of the Four Directions, and in hopes of freedom for the wrongly imprisoned LEONARD PELTIER..From PAT MARIDA in central & southern Ohio we hear a brilliant dissection of the catastrophic Portsmouth/Piketon uranium enrichment/Bomb-making disaster in Shawnee/Miami land.Legendary KPFA Flashpoints host DENNIS BERNSTEIN brings us the news from Alcatraz, and mourns the horrifying slaughter now proceeding in the Middle East.From DAMACIO LOPEZ we hear about the 2024 Uranium Film Festival, which will criss-cross the nation with its powerful message aimed at free our Earth from the nuclear curse.AARON WAZLAVEK of the United Auto Workers rejoins us to describe the fantastic rise of the labor movement throughout the nation.And the great STEVE DANZIGER comes again to tell us again of the horrors rained down on the Amazon regions of Ecuador, along with his own struggles to regain his law license and win justice for both his Indigenous clients and his own family.Steve shows us IN THE COURTS OF THE CONQUERER by Walter R. EcoHawk, which he terms the most important law book he ever read.DOROTHY REIK, LYNN FEINERMAN, JUSTIN LEBLANC, BRIAN STEINBERG and WENDI LEDERMAN add in their always-valued perspectives to a truly memorable IPD gathering.

https://grassrootsep.org

https://grassrootsep.org>> GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING AT ITS BEST>> We begin with ANDREA MILLER and RAY MCCLENDON, two of our greatest grassroots leaders, introduce their overview for how to organize on the ground with GOTV and democracy center strategies.> As godparents of the Georgia Way/Miracle, they are at the core of the work we do in preserving democracy in this country.>> With JOHN STEINER and CAMILLA REES and ROBERT DESMARAIS (from New Orleans) joining in, our co-producer STEVE CARUSO gives us a first-hand report from Ohio on fascist attacks you could not make up.>> TATANKA BRICCA and JOEL SEGAL jump in with their unique long-term political wisdom.>> We are the introduced by MIKE HERSH to the great Maryland State Senator JEFF WALDSTREICHER, with whom we begin a long excursion into the realities of what it will take to save this nation.>> With Senator Waldstreicher we are joined by LINDA SEELEY of the San Luis Obispo MOTHERS FOR PEACE, who is fighting desperately to keep the Diablo Canyon nukes from destroying our Earth.>> And by ROBERT FREEHLING, whose brilliant economic analysis brightly illustrates the path toward Solartopia being blazed by the renewables revolution.>> With further input from RON LEONARD, CONNIE KLINE, JUSTIN LE BLANC, WENDI LEDERMAN and others, this becomes a massive 2+ hour excursion into the brilliant realities of a winnable grassroots solartopia future.>> Don’t miss it.

SHUTTING THE DIABLO NUKES:  A PDA SPECIAL BROADCASTOn Sunday, September 24, the Progressive Democrats of America presented a special one-hour Town Meeting that featured LINDA SEELEY, of the San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace, and Harvey Wasserman, host of PRN.live’s GREEN POWER & WELLNESS SHOW.The discussion focussed on the Mothers’ new federal lawsuit against allowing Diablo Unit One to refuel before being thoroughly inspected for embrittlement and other internal defects.The suit became necessary when California Governor Gavin Newsom betrayed his previous agreement to a broad-based agreement meant to shut the two Diablo reactors by 2025.Pacifica Gas & Electric has been convicted of more than 90 felony manslaughter charges and has zero capability of taking responsibility for a major nuclear catastrophe.The need to protect our nation by shutting these two obsolete nukes has never been more desperate.  Tune in to hear why.  No Nukes!!!

GREEP #150:  NUCLEAR POWER & PACIFICA RADIOOur Green Grassroots Emergency Election Protection show begins with a deep dive into the curse of atomic power that continues to plague our planet and species.We start with MARY BETH BRANGAN and JIM HEDDLE of the Environmental Options Network, who tell us about their spectacular new documentary “The San Onofre Syndrome,” due to be released in Los Angeles on Sunday, October 8, with virtual availability on October 15.The film documents the magnificent citizens movement that against all odds shut units 2 & 3 at San Onofre, only to see the company and the regulators leave multiple tons of radioactive waste lying on the beach, within mere yards of the high tide line.LINDA SEELEY of the San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace lays out the hard realities of fighting to shut the two reactors at Diablo Canyon, where a refueling outage will allow major testing to take place….if the regulators are forced to do so.During this shut-down the safe energy movement will demand testing for embrittlement, pipe cracking, seismic stability, evacuation planning and other safety factors before the plant can re-open.This huge confrontation will define the future of energy in California.  The reactors are surrounded by 13 earthquake faults and are operated by Pacific Gas & Electric, a criminal operation defined by more than 80 federal manslaughter convictions.California has more than enough renewable energy to power the state cheaply, cleanly and safely, and has no need whatsoever for this insanely dangerous power source.Likewise Michigan’s Palisades, where the great KEVIN KAMPS tells us how this dangerous, decrepit atomic jalopy has been shut….and is now insanely being given hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to reopen.TATANKA BRICCA asks about strategic planning to mount civil disobedience resistance to these nuclear nightmares.ROBIN HARPER, MYLA RESON and MIMI SPREADBURY chime in with critical California perspectives.LIBBE HALEVY, author of YES I GLOW IN THE DARK, an up-close-and-personal account of the nightmare at Three Mile Island, connects us with her excellent NUCLEAR HOTSEAT podcast.We are then honored with the presence of the great JAN GOODMAN, cofounder of the New Day Pacifica organization aimed at saving the treasured network.MIKE HERSH, MYLA RESON, DAVID SALTMAN and others dig into the utter madhouse of the Pacifica nightmare. Saltman asks the all-important question:  “Where’s the dead camel buried?”WENDI LEDERMAN, STEVE KAISER and LYNN FEINERMAN wrap these two amazing discussions, which we will resume in two weeks, after the Jewish New Year.No Nukes!  Save Pacifica!!

OHIO/WISCONSIN MADNESS MEETS THE RABBI, THE UNIONIST, THE PINE TREE ALLIANCE, THE CONSTITUTION & THE KIDS

 

 

 

Our GREE-GREE #149 starts by commemorating the dual 9/11 catastrophes of 2001’s exploding World Trade Centers and the 1973 CIA murder of Salvador Allende, the duly elected Socialist leader of Chile.  [Robert Reich’s superb piece on this horrible coup is not to be missed].  The combination of these two world-changing crimes marks us with a dual tragedy we still struggle to overcome.

 

With the great NORM STOCKWELL of progressive.org

The Progressive — A voice for peace, social justice, and the common good

Championing grassroots progressive politics, civil liberties, human rights, economic justice, a healthy environment, and a reinvigorated democracy.

progressive.org

we go down the rabbit hole of the Wisconsin GOP’s latest assault on the state supreme court.  Long-time Wisconsin pol CHUCK CHVALA deepens our understanding of this insane situation, while STEVE CARUSO fills us in on the parallel madness in Ohio.

 

Legendary radio talk host DENNIS BERNSTEIN of KPFA’s Flashpoints Show adds his usual brilliance to the electoral mix.

 

Then LUCY HOCHSCHARTNER of Maine’s Pine Tree Alliance explains that state’s grassroots Montana movement to take over its two much-hated private utilities and create the nation’s first totally statewide public owned electric company.

 

RAY MCCLENDON of Georgia chimes in with his powerful perspective on grassroots organizing.  

 

MYLA RESON and LYNN FEINERMAN add their support to the idea of post-nuclear public power.

 

AARON “GOOD TROUBLE” WAZLAVEK of the Teamsters gives us a much-needed view from organized labor at a time of great push and progress.

 

At the top of the hour we’re honored by the legendary RABBI ART WASKOW, the incredibly articulate spiritual Godfather to a generation of religion-based activists fighting for peace, social justice and environmental survival.  

 

Solar pioneer RON LEONARD contributes his own deep insider understanding of the Solartopian transition we so desperately need to survive.

 

JUSTIN LEBLANC and JOHN STEINER contribute to the electric atmosphere.  So does the great author/attorney MAYA VAN ROSSUM, with her riveting account of the recent landmark victory by young climate activists in Montana aimed at saving the Earth.

 

TATANKA BRICCA, WENDI LEDERMAN and others flow into a truly warm, embracing and enlightening dialog that stretches well into a third hour.

 

Don’t miss this wonderful, uplifting, fun and lovingly comfortable landmark conversation.

A MONUMENTAL ORGANIZING MOMENT….& VICTORY IN ECUADOR

 

 

This breakthrough two-hour networking session joins RAY MCCLENDON and ANDREA MILLER of the “Georgia Miracle” with RACHEL COYLE and COURTNEY FLYNN of swing state Ohio, where a major grassroots victory has been won protecting the referendum process.

 

Ray tells us he has now helped form a new multi-state organization to help spread the grassroots tactics and strategies that famously turned two US Senate seats from Georgia into a reshaped majority in the nation’s upper house.

 

Andrea explains some of the key organizing principles that have made her work at the Center for Common Ground so critically important to protecting democracy throughout our nation.  

 

Rachel then explains how the grassroots forces in the Buckeye State beat back a GOP attempt to destroy the referendum process.

 

She’s joined by Courtney Flynn from the Ohio Voter Rights Coalition, which helped turn this seemingly un-winnable fight into a landmark victory for democracy.

 

Joining these great multi-state organizers will hopefully help yield a transcendent campaign operation that will spread from the Ohio/Georgia axis throughout the US in the coming years, especially in the lead-up to 2024.

 

Joining the dialog is VINNIE DESTEFANO of the Julian Assange campaign who is full of brilliant campaign tactics—banner drops and more—usable by grassroots groups throughout the world.

 

JOHN STEINER and WENDI LEDERMAN add to the critical dialog.

 

ERIC LAZARUS joins the great RUSSELL GREENE to fill us in on the major march coming up at the United Nations on September 17.  Russell continues to break barriers with his signature brilliance and perseverance.

 

FOREST BEAUDOIN-FREED and MARK HARRISON contribute to the dialog.

 

MYLA RESON warns that despite his progressive reputation, US Senator SHELDON WHITEHOUSE has been a dangerous advocate of atomic power.

 

For our second hour, we’re joined by Teamster organizer AARON WAZLAVEK who celebrates his union’s hard-won wins and promises to join us again.

 

In our second hour, the great STEVE DONZIGER tells us of the monumental victory of the Ecuadorian people, who’ve become the first national population to vote a ban on oil drilling.  

 

Steve has become a major figure in the progressive movement as a result of Chevon’s attacks against him, and will be feted at a fundraising event in Topanga Canyon, California, headlined by JANE FONDA, JODIE EVANS and others.

 

Steve’s fundraiser host, DOROTHY REIK, fills us in on the big mistake the oil industry has made in taking away attorney Donziger’s law license.  What a travesty!!! 

 

JUSTIN LEBLANC, TATANKA BRICCA, MIMI SPREADBURY, JEFFREY BARKDULL and MARY STONEWALL-DOUGLAS expand the dialog.

 

The great CAMILLA REES punctuates the drama with critical references to the fight to shut the Diablo Canyon nukes.

 

Thank you all for joining us in this monumental dialog.  No Nukes!  And we wish the people of Ecuador success in protecting the beloved Amazon.