Dear Friends,
HERE’S THIS WEEK’S PROGRAM. We cover these topics (see below for time stamps):
1. A federal agency slapped a nearly $4 million fine on the company responsible for the 2020 CO2 pipeline rupture in Satartia, Mississippi. That catastrophe sent 49 people to the hospital. Midwesterners living along the route of three proposed CO2 pipelines should be deeply concerned about how an accident might impact them and their communities.
2. The Wet’suwet’en people of British Columbia have been fighting to stop Coastal GasLink from building a pipeline through their land. That effort takes on additional importance now as the company threatens to drill under a river central to the Wet’suwet’en’s existence. Advocate Jeff Kisling joins me for that discussion.
Walk for Appalachia’s Future
3. Congratulations, Earthlings! With microplastics found on Mount Everest and an earlier detection of their presence in the Mariana Trench, humans have effectively conquered the highest and lowest points on the planet. Not only that, but microplastics are turning up in organisms large and small, including humans. This news is yet another reason we need to move quickly away from fossil fuels..
4. From the Rockies through the prairie to the eastern mountains, our program is all about pipelines this week. During our second segment, Matthew Pickett shares the uplifting story about the Walk for Appalachia’s Future — a trek of hundreds of miles rallying people to oppose the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
5. Politics is so much fun. I’d almost rather choke down a bowl of microplastics. Ok, kidding — about both. When it comes to political activism, we need a broad change of strategies in the toolbox. But heckling? No. That’s never cool. It’s especially troubling when a Democratic candidate for the Iowa House heckles Congresswoman Axne, Iowa’s only Democratic member of Congress, to the point that she has to shut down the event before others in attendance are able to ask their questions.
6. Whatever craziness exists on the Left is often dwarfed by what the Right has to offer. Enter the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature. On the very last day of session — the same day as the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas — Republicans passed legislation allowing deer to be gunned down with AR15s. That’s a special, and dangerous, kind of crazy that makes heckling look tame.
7. During our Farm and Food segment, Kathy Byrnes joins me for a look at what many experts are calling the emerging global food shortage (by “food shortage” I mean “hunger”). Things are already bad in some of the most vulnerable regions of the globe. Sadly, without serious, concerted global action, they’re on track to get worse — much worse.
Thanks for reading, listening, and taking action!
Ed
*******
LISTEN TO THIS WEEK’S FALLON FORUM
(01:25) Pipeline company fined $4 million for 2020 rupture
(03:50) Wet’suwet’en people fight a gas pipeline, with Jeff Kisling
(18:35) Micro plastic pollution a growing concern
(20:15) Walk for Appalachia’s Future, with Matthew Pickett
(40:35) Democratic candidate heckles US Congresswoman
(48:00) Republican lawmakers authorize AR15 deer hunts
(53:40) A global food crisis on the horizon, with Kathy Byrnes
– KHOI 89.1 FM (Ames, Iowa)
– KICI.LP 105.3 FM (Iowa City, Iowa)
– WHIV 102.3 FM (New Orleans, Louisiana)
– KPIP-LP, 94.7 FM (Fayette, Missouri)
– KCEI 90.1 FM (Taos, New Mexico)
– KRFP 90.3 FM (Moscow, Idaho)
– WGRN 94.1 FM (Columbus, Ohio)
Please support the local businesses and non-profits who make this program possible. Click on their logos on the Fallon Forum website and in our weekly email, and visit Dr. Drake Family Psychiatry, Story County Veterinary Clinic, Bold Iowa, and Birds & Bees Urban Farm. Thanks for supporting the civil alternative to the shock jocks!
Ed Fallon