Moir's Environmental Dialogues, Ocean River Shields of Achilles

With the knowledge of Carson and the courage of Achilles, individuals are steadfastly going the distance to defend wildlife and ecosystems from assaults of environmental degradations and destructions. Join environmental studies scientist Dr. Rob Moir for lively dialogue and revealing narrative inquiry into how individuals are overcoming the obstacles turning forlorn hope into effective actions for oceans, rivers, watersheds, wildlife and ecosystems. Discover how listening to individuals, thinking locally, and acting in concert with others, you can act to save ecosystems. Act to bring about a greener and blue Planet Earth. Moir’s Environmental Dialogues is broadcast live every Wednesday at 9 AM Pacific Time on The Green Talk Network. For free iTunes podcast search "Moir's."

	51. Dwindling Herring and Clearing the Coastline Patrick Paquette, a community organizer who represents bass fishing organizations in Massachusetts and Matthew McKenzie, Maritime History Professor at the University of Connecticut, talk with Rob about where have all the herring gone and how Cape Cod has changed over two centuries from a vibrant fishing community to something completely different. Patrick Paquette explains early efforts to save herring by collaborating with diverse interest groups through the CHOIR collaboration “where different voices needed to learn to sing in harmony.” He also noted a striped bass food shortage along the East Coast caused by industrial-scale fishing of coastal herring, mackerel and menhaden. Prof McKenzie tells the social and ecological history of the rise and demise of Cape Cod’s coastal fisheries in the nineteenth century. His book, Clearing the Coastline, includes Thoreau’s thoughts on Cape Cod fisheries and how these were adjusted by posthumous publishers to better fit what they wished to promote. Matt also tells of helping out at a family’s herring weirs on Cape Cod and of a fisherman well known to Patrick Paquette. This year NMFS and the New England Fishery Management Council failed to take measures to stem the decline of sea herring, river herring, and shad populations. Join in our efforts to save river herring, click here for more information on ORI actions.

	50. The Humpback Whales of Stellwagen Bank Les Kaufman, CI and Boston University professor along with John Williamson, president of Stellwagen Alive talk with Rob about their whale watch voyage onto Stellwagen Bank August 5th where forage fish were running strong and humpback whales feeding voraciously.

	49. Working Towards a Greener and Healthier British Virgin Islands & the Benefits of Sustainable Living with Clean, Renewable Energy Charlotte McDevitt, Executive Director of GreenVI.org, is working towards a vision of a green, clean, healthy and prosperous British Virgin Islands.

	48. River Rafters to Cow Power, Wal-Mart’s Green Revolution Ed Humes, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author, Force of Nature: The Unlikely Story of Wal-Mart's Green Revolution (Harper Collins, May 2011).

	47. Grass, it’s What Cows Want to Eat, Good for Cattle, Better from Environment, Healthier Us. Leslie Cox, Hampshire College Farm Center Manager talks with Rob about cow and grass management for happier cows, healthier consumers and a greener nation. The Farm, created by Prof. Ray Coppinger, is a place where college students and faculty integrate science and alternative technology for testing sustainable farming methods. The cows are Dutch Belted, a very rare and highly esteemed breed, developed in the Netherlands in the 1600s.

	46. ORI and Fisherment Challenge Herring Plan, or Where have all the herring gone? Pam Lyons Gromen, Executive Director of the National Coalition for Marine Conservation and Earthjustice’s Roger Fleming talk about where have the herring gone. When NMFS and NEFMC failed to stem the decline of sea herring, river herring and shad populations, a recreational fishing advocate, charter boat captain, and the Ocean River Institute filed suit, represented by Earthjustice.

	45. Fog Warning: NH’s Gundalow and Homer’s Dory Man with Halibut Molly Bolster, Executive Director of the nonprofit Gundalow Company http://www.gundalow.org and Jeff Bolster, Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire, talk with me about marine environmental history informing today’s ocean conservation and stewardship. We must understand the oceans of the past to protect the oceans of the future. According to a recent report the state of rivers and Great Bay that flow into Portsmouth NH are declining according to 11 out of 12 indicators. Molly Bolster addresses these trends by using a replica boat, modeled after the last gundalow, as an educational platform. A new gundalow is being built which poses challenges of its own. Jeff Bolster describes how skewed visions of the past have led to disastrous marine policies and why historical perspective is critical to revitalize fisheries and ecosystems. In "The Fog Warning" by Winslow Homer Jeff gives us new insights into ocean conservation.

	44. Leviathan, The History of Whaling in America with Eric Jay Dolin (itunes) Eric Jay Dolin tells us about the history of whaling with a bit about the beginning of the whale watching industry and Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

	43. How Green is Senator Brown? Citizens of Massachusetts are outraged that U.S. Senator Scott Brown has voted repeatedly to eliminate clean air legislation. Erik Blasbaugh, Acting Executive Director of the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters, Ben Wright, Advocate for Environment Massachusetts, Vanessa Rule, Director, The Better Future Project and Jason Kolwaski, Policy Director, 350.org add their perspectives on the Senator's recent actions against environmental legislation.

	42 Saving Amazon Rainforests with Olivia Newton John and Amazon John Easterling In a special Earth Day edition Rob spoke with Olivia Newton-John and her husband Amazon John Easterling about their work to save the Amazon Rainforest. Olivia tells why this rainforest is so important for the planet. Free iTunes podcast

	Bert Lettsome a.k.a. Washasha X Sings Ras Mangrove and Talks About Nature in The British Virgin Islands (iTunes)

	41. North America Mother Earth Water Walk from the 4 Compass Directions with a copper pail of seawater. (itune 4/13) Five native Americans describe the 2011 Mother Earth Water Walk to Wisconsin from 4 directions. The walk with copper pail of seawater has begun at Olympia, Washington, under the watchful eyes of loon and bald eagle. Walkers will gather sea water in Gulfport, Mississippi, Machias, Maine and Churchill, Manitoba and walk to Bad River, Wisconsin. Telling me of the epic endeavour are Dawnis Kennedy, Joanne Robertson (coordinator) Sharon M. Day (South), Tina (West) and Madeleine Huntjens (East).To learn more and to assist please visit http://www.motherearthwaterwalk.com or view their progress at http://emptyglassforwater.ca/map/ Click here for more information and biographies of Rob's guests.

	40. Quelling the Storm at Sea and the Ocean View from Lazy Point [itunes] Carl Safina talks about, and reads from, his book The View from Lazy Point. To sail these complex and opaque waters with treacherous shores looming large to leeward, we must be more nibble in our steering and find our way with a “compass of compassion.”

	39. Child Honoring, an All Inclusive Culture of Respect for People, Wildlife and Environments. [Download MP] [itunes] In 1979 Raffi was kissed by a beluga whale. Raffi’s original philosophy of Child Honouring: How to Turn This World Around has become, more than a book, a covenant of nine principles: Respectful Love, Diversity, Caring Community, Conscious Parenting, Emotional Intelligence, Nonviolence, Safe Environments, Sustainability, & Ethical Commerce.

	38. Stopping Coal-fired Power Plants in Salem MA and Chicago IL Kelly Mitchell, Greenpeace Coal Campaigner and Chicago resident discusses the citizen-led efforts to shut down the Salem Harbor coal plant in Massachusetts and the Fisk and Crawford coal plants in Chicago, IL. [Download MP3] [itunes]

	37. Guillemots, Puffins and Bears of an Arctic Island Dr. George Divoky has traveled to remote Cooper Island in the Arctic for nearly 30 years. Braving the elements and the occasional polar bear, his mission is to study the Black Guillemots — seabirds closely related to the extinct Great Auk.

	36. Promoting and Attaining a Healthy and Sustainable Indian River Lagoon with Capt Nancy Beaver

	35. River Herring Troubles in the Gulf of Maine & Western Atlantic Ocean Rob talks with Dr. Jamie M. Cournane about herring. Jamie mapped "hot spots" of riverherring bycatch by trawlers and seiners that target Atlantic herring. Where fish are more likely to be found during specific months of the year was charted. Fisheries managers can use this spatial/depth/time information to better manage for survival of river herring.

	34. The Great Penguin Rescue Saving a Species from Extinction Dyan deNapoli, author of the newly released book The Great Penguin Rescue, tells the remarkable story of the largest and most successful wildlife rescue ever mounted.

	33. Lake Baikal Troubles and Solutions in the Sacred Sea Peter Thomson, Environment Editor at the public radio program The World, describes visiting the world’s deepest, oldest, and largest supply of fresh water in his new book, “Sacred Sea: A Journey to Lake Baikal.”

	32. Somerville, Climate, De-Pave Action! Vanessa Rule and Eric Becker of the Somerville Climate Action explain how one goes from rallies to taking up pick ax to de-paving an urban core.

	31. The Natural History of the American Fur Industry, plus personal account on becoming an environmental policy expert Eric Jay Dolin’s latest book is Fur, Fortune and Empire, an epic history of beaver, buffalo, seal and sea otter.

	30. Green Slime Slithering into Casco Bay Maine? What you can do to stem the Slime. Friends of Casco Bay (Portland Maine and north by east) BayKeeper Joe Payne and Associate Director Mary Cerullo say how with increasing regularity and alarming spread green algal mats are covering clam flats and gobbling up oxygen making life difficult for ground fish and ground dwellers including lobsters.

	29. Help Dolphins, Do Not Over-Fertilize, It Flows to the Sea! with Stephen McCulloch

	28. Suffering Bottlenose Dolphins of Indian River Lagoon, Florida with Dr. Greg Bossart

	27. Margo’s Solo Canoe Voyage Along the Pacific Coast for Ocean Health Margo Pellegrino is paddling an outrigger canoe along the Pacific Coast to bring attention to the urgent need for ocean conservation and to address ocean health issues.

	26. Mystic River Watchers, Keepers and Advocates Executive Director, EkOngKar Singh Khalsa tells us about one of the most urban and densely populated watersheds in the Commonwealth.

	25. Biomass Power~Bad for Rivers, Forests and Carbon Emissions Mary S Booth, PhD ecologist discusses the problems and drawbacks to rushing to biomass power without proper safe guards and respect for local environments.

	24. New England Climate Summer Riders Rob talks with four New England Climate Summer Riders, who recently rode into Somerville. Margaret Fetzer-Rogers, Sara Finkle, Yingying Chen, and Bliss Parsons, all college students coming from different schools, share a common desire to combat the climate crisis with education.

	23. Oil Moratorium, Clean Energy, National Ocean Policy! The growing oil spill disaster in the Gulf - now the largest spill in U.S. history - is at the top of everyone's concerns these days. Mike Dunmeyer of Ocean Champions talks about turning this disaster into some positive actions.

	22. Sturgeon, Ocean Wanderers in the Danube River and the East China Sea Dr Boyd Kynard returns as my guest with tales of sturgeon and other migratory fish beyond New England.

	21. Ocean Wanderers: MA Sturgeon and Lampreys Dr Boyd Kynard tells how sturgeons and lampreys are truly ocean river dwellers.

	20. Saving the British Virgin Islands, Precious Salt Ponds & Flamingos with Lianna Jarecki and Noni Georges

	19. Global Ocean in Crisis, Deep Descents in Troubled Ecosystems Alanna Mitchell author of Sea Sick will take us on a dive 3,000 feet into a far Tortuga sinkhole where no one has gone before to discover new life forms, new chemical compounds, and new insights into how it all comes together on the ocean planet.

	18. Climate Crisis and the River CAKEwalker Grab a paddle and pull. Lara Hansen, PhD, will talk of how we can no longer disregard the inevitability of drastic climate change.

	17. Solving a Big Problem in the Ocean Amanda Leland and Tom Lalley of the Environmental Defense Fund will tell what is wrong with overfishing and how management efforts frequently fail.

	16. How to create a national ocean policy (without getting all wet) Sarah Chasis and Alison Chase, of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), tell we may achieve a vision of collaborative ocean stewardship and an Executive Order for healthy seas.

	15. Seaweed Rebels Rally and Wear Blue for President Obama’s National Ocean Policy Sherman’s Lagoon syndicated cartoonist Jim Toomey and Blue Frontier Campaign president David Helvarg talk about the goals and accomplishments of the National Ocean Policy Task Force.

	14. Battling Assaults to the Gulf of Maine Ecosystem with a Responsive Systemic Initiative Peter Alexander of the Gulf of Maine Restoration and Conservation Initiative talks about a new effort to tackle the growing impacts of human activities in the Gulf of Maine.

	13. Climate Change: Local Practices and International Environmental Policies Addressing Global Warming, Turning Towards 350 ppm Carbon Discover how to reduce our carbon footprint, reverse rates of greenhouse gas build-up while creating green jobs and healthier environments with Professor William Moomaw, Senior Director, Tufts Institute of the Environment; Co-Director, Global Development and Environment Institute; and Lead author, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2003.

	12. Sizzle, Global Warming Mockumentary & Shifting Baselines with Randy Olson Randy Olson, marine biologist and filmmaker talks about “shifting baselines” for ecosystems and his newest film Sizzle.

	11. Roz Savage Paddling the Pacific Ocean, Rowing towards a Greener World Roz Savage rowed 3,158 miles solo across the Pacific Ocean, west from Hawaii, to arrive at the low coral atoll islands of Kiribati, Eastern Pacific. 104 days at sea. Hear Roz describe close encounters with a whale shark, large seabirds and flying squid.