Podcast appearances and mentions of roger vize

Monday 22nd October 2018“Thinking Big” takes us to the Pilbara where CWP is planning to export gigawatts of wind and solar energy by undersea cable to Jakarta. Vivien Langford talks toAndrew Dickson Andrew Dickson about getting the social licence for this break through project to export renewable energy to Asia. What is the environmental impact and who will underwrite the finances for such a mega project?  Giles ParkinsonWe talk to Giles Parkinson editor of REneweconomy who has been following this project, with enthusiasm.  He also outlines how pumped hydro energy storage can solve the headaches of “FIRMING”.  As some leaders create anxiety around the transition from coal and gas,  listeners do not panic when the sun doesn’t shine etc, there are many minds converging round these problems and we want to keep you up to date.How could Tasmania become the Battery of the Nation?At the AFR Energy summit Vivien heard a lot about gas as the way to achieve firming intermittent wind and solar power. But it is still a fossil fuel.Steve DaveyBenjamin WhiteThen she met Steve Davey from TasHydro and Ben White (Head of stakeholder relations,  Community,  Environment and Planning for The Marinus Project at TasNetworks) from the Marinus Project. They are thinking big.  They tell us all about how as Victoria’s coal fired power retires gracefully, the energy stored by pumped hydro in Tasmania can be brought by the undersea Marinus cable to the eastern states.Is this project in competition with Snowy 2.0 or do we need both sources to firm up the energy supply?  Is pumped hydro better than gas for firming?Producer :Kurt Johnson,  Podcasts:  Roger Vize and Interviews:  Vivien Langford

Podcast: Play in new window | Download () | EmbedSubscribe: Android | Email | RSS | MoreAs large parts of Australia are in drought and some farmers are having to shoot their livestock for lack of feed,  how can regenerative agriculture help farms become more resilient?As there is a growing demand for meat and dairy products for export to Asia,  will we resist the land clearing and overstocking to protect the global climate?The BZE land use discussion paper found that great emissions reductions could be achieved if we partly reduced the national herd and the land that is constantly cleared for grazing.  This show looks at family farms in eastern Australia and the million hectare agribusinesses in the north.  What progress are we making? Charles MasseyCHARLES MASSEYCharles Massey’s book “Call of the reed warbler” reports on this century’s pioneers of regenerative farming. He describes the disasters that have jolted some farners out of industrialised agriculture into practices more in line with their love of nature and long term values. As Vandana Shiva said  “Monoculture farming creates monocultures of the mind”  Charles brings us stories of innovation and diversity.  He talks about soil carbon sponges rehydrating the land,  how the current drought is affecting his place in the Monaro High Plains and how glyphosate is affecting our gut health.  Climate change is only one of the earth systems that has been pushed past the limit,but the thinking emerging from the farmers he meets could pull us back from the brink. Richard EckardPROFESSOR RICHARD ECKARDHe is the director of the Primary Industries Climate Challenges Centre at Melbourne University.  Vivien  asks whether drought assistance should be tied to new  methods of farm management and whether mixed farming systems are more resilient to climate shocks.  Richard describes the NT and Qld pastoral leases which cover millions of hectares and how they can survive drought.Will climate rusk averse overseas shareholders pressure the companies that run these massive ranches to reduce emissions?  Can we reduce the sheer number of livestock on the land when it is so lucrative exporting into the high end market?If the National Energy Guarantee is weak on  emissions reductions will farmers do the heavy lifting?  The NFF says they have already taken significant steps to reduce their carbon footprint,what more can be expected ?MICHAEL TAYLORHe represents the sixth generation farming The Hill in New England.  His parents are famous for their innovations in agroforestry.  They had to be creative as the Great New England Eucalyptus Dieback in the 60’s denuded their place and many others. Vivien  talks to Michael about how younger farmers are building up more resilience and productivity while still remaining profitable.To give you a taste of “The Call of the Reed Warbler” here is a description of the Taylor’s property by Charles Massey sitting on a hill.” Below me I could barely see open paddocks.  The lazy S of contour winding tree breaks composed of mixed species seemed to merge into a forest.  Mist rose off the rehydrated lower country but most impressive was a cacophony of birdsong.  Flycatchers,fantails,honey eaters, wood swallows and whistlers.  Truly here was a whole squadron of unpaid pest controlling, pollinating and fertilising helpers willlingly on the job.”Regeneration, restoration,  reversing the mistakes of early white settlers …This is the new narrative we need to hear.Further Reading:https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/five-meat-and-dairy-companies-emit-more-emissions-than-major-oil-companies-study-finds/Petition by John Graham Petersonhttps://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/turnbull-policy-guarantees-nothing-but-the-status-quo-on-power-and-climate-20180722-p4zsx1.htmlhttps://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/science/silence-of-the-lambs-nsw-farmer-to-shoot-starving-flock-because-he-cant-afford-to-feed-themThe Radio Team 23rd July:  Andy Britt on production,  Roger Vize on podcasts and Vivien Langford -interviews 24 Jul 2018|Categories: Community Show

Subscribe: Android | Email | RSS | MoreMonday 4th June 2018Tina FawcettTina Fawcett speaks to Vivien Langford from Oxford. She was involved in a UK Government report into the feasibility of Personal carbon rations. She wrote Suicidal Planet and thinks that by focusing on our personal carbon budget more people would engage realistically with the problem of global warming. The British decided that this was an idea before its time but Australians with a carbon footprint of 23 tonnes compared to the average European with 8 should not shy away from this detailed and sensible discussion. It is NOT easy listening. George MonbiotGeorge Monbiot talks about his struggle to get the media to take climate change seriously. He feels piecemeal solutions like carbon rations will not work until we have a less reactive,more propositional approach. He says our policies are grown hydroponically and are not embedded in the soil of real values. We are listening out for a restorative narrative that resonates with our concerns. It was difficult to get good audio quality through our skype connection and he was very patient. It will be worth your while to be patient too as you listen to this profound discussion.Further Reading:1.Suicidal Planetby Tina Fawcett, Mayer Hillman and Sudhir Chella Rajanhttps://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-312-35355-1http://low-carbon-renovation.blogspot.com/Youtube with Dr Yael Parag: http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/people/tfawcett.htmlMayer Hillman: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/26/were-doomed-mayer-hillman-on-the-climate-reality-no-one-else-will-dare-mention2. Rules for Revolutionaries by Becky Bond & Zack Exleyhttps://www.amazon.com/Rules-Revolutionaries-Organizing-Change-Everything-ebook/dp/B01MG20YZ0https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/rules-for-revolutionaries/3. Out of the Wreckage by George Monbiothttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/14/out-of-the-wreckage-george-monbiot-review4. Breaking the spell of Loneliness Song G.Monbiot and Ewan McLenanhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZL8Li01w4s The team tonight: Andy Britt, Roger Vize and Vivien Langford

Port Augusta  Podcast of 28 May 2018BZE played a major part in this story of Port Augusta which is turning from being a coal fired powerhouse to becoming a Renewable Energy Hub.BE radio presenter Vivien Langford took the bus from Adelaide passing hills resplendent with wind turbines and talks to people involved in this transformation.Dan Van Holst Pelikaan DAN VAN HOLST PELIKAAN,  the Minster for Energy in the South Australian parliament,  is an old friend of this programme.  His electorate stretches far into the desert and he has been behind the responsible transition of its workforce into the clean tech industry for years.  He paid tribute to the staunch Port Augusta community,  Doctors for the Environment Australia  and Beyond Zero Emissions  for galvanising  the REPOWER PORT AUGUSTA project.   Brett Prentis  BRETT PRENTIS  worked for 29 years at the power station.  Now he is campaigning for the correct rehabilitation of the ash pits left behind.  The Greenpeace report DONE AND DUSTED tells the story and he was on the ABC 7.30 Report.  All fair minded people agree it has to be a just transition and the health of residents has been sorely tried.  Companies like Alinta andits subsidiaries need national standards to retire our aging power stations in accordance with  world’s best practice.  David Shearman DR DAVID SHEARMAN tells Vivien about the doctors who researched the lung cancer and asthma rate when the power station was still emitting particulates. He says the lobbying effort they put in should be a blue print for other communities faced with the phase out of old power stations. His submissions to the Senate and the alarm bells he rings for state health departments is exhilarating to hear about.   Dan Spencer  DAN SPENCER was on the AYCC march from Port Augusta to Adelaide.  He tells us about the logistics of community organising and the pleasure that can be had from nudging the  transition to clean energy forward.  The climate is mutating but the Australian Youth Coalition is fighting back with education and mobilisation.   Daniel Thompson DANIEL THOMPSON represents SOLAR RESERVE.  They are building a new 24 hour solar plant using heliostats and a tower filled with molten salt. Vivien asks him to describe this project, which surely will become a tourist mecca. It will not replace all the power previously produced  but listeners will be happy to hear that there are  more plants in the offing.   Sam Johnson SAM JOHNSON is the Mayor of Port Augusta.  There is a colourful portrait of the late Mayor Joy Baluch in his office and he says ministers trembled to meet her,  so fierce was her opposition to the power station. He talks about joining forces with  the mayors of other sparcely populated  towns.  They intend to be the Renewable Energy Hub for Australia.  With 11 projects in the pipeline and the Green Steel proposed at Whyalla, they are leading the way.  Thanks  to Michael Lord BZE and Martin Zavan  Greenpeace who briefed Vivien.Thank you to all the speakers who made her so welcome. It was a marvellous visit.The team : Andy Britt, Roger Vize, Kurt Johnson and Vivien Langford 

Monday 14th May 2018 Amanda CahillAmanda Cahill is the founding director of the Centre for Social Change.  She has worked extensively in developing countries and worries that climate change will force us to trust people who are just perpetuating a colonialist system.  The impact is falling on people who already do not have access to water and electricity and unless we phase out fossil fuels fast, life will get rapidly worse for them.  It is a thoughtful and wide ranging conversation about how climate denialism can so easily turn into climate nihilism as if there is NOTHING WE CAN DO! She spoke to Vivien Langford at the EcoCities Summit in Melbourne.   The leaders from KIRIBAS, who we hear in the second item, talk about the coherence of their communities.  No room for nihilism there.  Vivien met them at a Pacific Leadership training day. Schoolteacher Morisio tells us how children are falling behind as their school books are washed away or damaged by king tides.Pelenise AlofaPelenise Alofa talks up her project of turning the problem they have with roaming pigs into an asset.She is planning a Bio digester to turn the excrement into cooking gas for the villages.We hear an education officer’s moving poem to her grand daughter.Anyone who does not hear the message in there for us to cut our carbon footprint,  must be made of stone.    Phil Glendinning of the Edmund Rice Centre and Tom Zubryki talk about the film they made in Kiribas called “The Hungry Tide.”  We also hear a drama performed at The Australian Museum by the 350.org Pacific group asking forgiveness from Mother Earth.See Kiribas in “ THE HUNGRY TIDE” trailer here:https://vimeo.com/24807784The Hungry Tide from Natalie Schapira on Vimeo. Radio Team: Andy Britt, Vivien Langford, Kurt Johnson and Roger Vize. Thanks to Edmund Rice Centre and Joseph Zane Silulu from 350.org Pacific  14 May 2018|Categories: Community Show

This BZE Radio episode was broadcast on Monday 26th June 2017 In this episode we spare a thought for the people made homeless by the Lismore floods as insurance companies deny a connection with the cyclone. Find out how communities rebuild in the months after the media has moved on, and what forward thinkers are doing now to build up climate resilience in the community.ALL PODCASTS HEREThank you to our guests:Janet Phillips : Foundation for Rural and Regional RenewalRev Dr Margaret Mayman :  Disaster Recovery Chaplaincy NetworkLeigh Ewbank :  Friends of the Earth   As climate change intensifies disasters, it rips up more than trees and bridges.Vivien Langford speaks to Janet Phillips and Rev Dr Margaret Mayman who are helping people cope with the disaster.As the Federal MP for this region, Justine Elliott says, we need “government commitment to long term planning” – to address housing and homelessness issues as well as helping to rebuild businesses and homes.What about the “uber long term plan” of decarbonising our society? Is it insensitive to raise it in the midst of a disaster? Most media stories avoid it.Our third item is about resilience planning. Leigh Ewbank invites us to a Friends of the Earth meeting. Citizens are door-knocking in country towns to find out what help people need to become climate resilient. They will present their recommendations to Premier Daniel Andrews so his climate budget will be wisely spent.You can join  this practical work. Just turn up at FOE in Smith St Fitzroy 6.30pm on Monday evenings.Please also support the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal.Homelessness after cyclone Debbie” The Saturday Paper article by Susan Chenery Brought to you by the BZE Radio Community Show team: Kurt Johnson, Andy Britt, Erin Jones, Vivien Langford and Roger Vize.Catch this and all our shows as a podcast – any time

This BZE Radio episode was broadcast on Monday 22nd May 2017   This week BZE is chewing over food security and climate from a global perspective, as BZE Radio’s Vivien Langford interviews Clare Westwood in Penang and Alan Broughton – Vice President Organic Agriculture Association, with special guest Robin Laurie aka Professor Pym.Thank you to our guests:Clare Westwood –  Clare is a researcher for the Third World Network and Penang Peace and Justice CommissionAlan Broughton –  co-author of “Sustainable Agriculture v Corporate Greed”Robin Laurie – Robin, aka Professor Pym, with a lively radio drama about the incongruity of food as fuel for cars  Climate change is making it hard for poor farming communities in Asia. Clare Westwood talks about agro-ecology communities in the Philippines and the women who are building  social capital to ride out the storm. Clare motivates resilience and takes heart from Laudato Si’s exhortation to ‘hear the cries of the earth, to hear the cries of the poor’. She talks about how green revolution farmers are locked into a toxic focus on productivity and how they can go back to low input, low carbon methods which are more sustainable. We hear about NGOs working against the massive clearing of tropical forests and how logging is affecting local flooding and global warming. Alan Broughton is the Vice President of the Organic Agriculture Association and he explains how he and others think that soil carbon might be enhanced by ‘agroecology’. He tells us how damaging nitrous oxide is both for the climate and for soil carbon. At the global level he says we produce enough food to feed the present population and even the population of 2050, so food insecurity is primarily a distribution problem. We need to be aware that small farmers on 30% of the world’s farm land are providing 70% of the world’s food. Farmers organisations like La Via Campesina are showing a different way, skipping the agri-corporations and finding new ways of farming. Professor Pym is upset that too much good farm land is being planted with cereal crops to feed cars. Hasn’t anyone heard about electric vehicles? She joins us in the  3CR studio to give Vivien a dramatic tutorial based on  ‘The End of Plenty‘ by Joel K Bourne Junior.Brought to you by the BZE Radio Community Show team: Kurt Johnson, Andy Britt, Erin Jones, Vivien Langford and Roger Vize.

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