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Bill McKibben, Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College and author of a dozen books about the environment, beginning with "The End of Nature" in 1989, which is regarded as the first book for a general audience on climate change. The group he founded, 350.org, has coordinated 15,000 rallies in 189 countries since 2009. The Boston Globe said in 2010 that he was "probably the country’s most important environmentalist."
Alexis Tsipras, a member of the Hellenic parliament, president of the Synaspismos political party since 2008, head of the SYRIZA parliamentary group since 2009, and leader of the Opposition since June 2012. SYRIZA currently leads in Greek opinion polls. Listen to the audio here.
Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live,
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Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines'
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(Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)
Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET
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"Rand Paul: Making a Point," by Reginald Johnson, March 8, 2013
"The Bipartisan Gift: Budget Cuts," by Reginald Johnson, March 2, 2013
"Fighting for Gun Control," by Reginald Johnson, Feb. 18, 2013
"Tyranny of the Minority," by Reginald Johnson, Jan. 28, 2013
"Is President Obama About to Betray Those Who Re-elected Him Less than 2 Months Ago?" by Scott Harris, Dec. 21, 2012
"Will the Slaughter of the Innocents in Newtown Lead to Gun Law Reform in U.S.?" by Scott Harris and Anna Manzo, Dec. 16, 2012
"My Friend in Sandy Hook," by Doug Moss, posted by Scott Harris, Dec. 16, 2012
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Posted May 25, 2011
Interview with Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, conducted by Scott Harris
The Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, admitted last week that the three failed reactors they operate at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant complex have melted down. According to the utility company, nuclear reactor Units 1, 2 and 3, which lost their cooling systems in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake-triggered tsunami, have had their fuel rods melt, transformed into a highly radioactive molten mass and settled to the bottom of the reactor’s containment vessels. There are indications that some of the super-heated uranium fuel has melted through Unit 1's reactor steel container and reached a second protective layer made of concrete.
TEPCO’s announcement has confirmed what many scientists believed to have occurred weeks ago after hydrogen explosions severely damaged three of Fukushima’s reactor buildings. There is growing suspicion that the utility and Japanese government have been less than transparent on reporting all they knew about the crisis and the danger to human health resulting from radiation exposure.
A New York Times article examining the failure of emergency vents designed to prevent hydrogen explosions at the Fukushima reactors said that a scientist had warned the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission five years ago about the flawed system, yet no action was taken. There are 23 U.S. nuclear reactors that currently use this same defective venting system. Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. He discusses the extraordinary challenges facing the Japanese to control Fukushima’s triple meltdown – and his recommendation that the U.S and other governments should begin phasing out the nuclear power industry.
Download a free copy of Arjun Makhijani's book titled, “Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy” here.
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