Earth Matters Megan Williams, Teishan Ahearne, Bec Horridge, Else Kennedy & Nicky Stott

Follow the Money: federal budget recapIn the federal budget announced last month, A$52.9 million was allocated to expanding Australia’s gas industry, and an extra A$8.7 million was slipped to NSW’s Vales Point power station.The announcements have added new urgency to community efforts to protect the Beetaloo Basin from fracking in the NT and are meeting with resistance from renewable energy advocates across the country. This episode we hear from Dr Brad Smith, campaign director at Nature Conservation Council about resistance to Vales Point upgrades, Dan Robins from Protect Country Alliance about the campaign for the Beetaloo, and Nicky Ison, Energy Transition Manager at World Wildlife Fund about what the budget offers for the renewables industry. Guests: Dr Brad Smith, campaign director, Nature Conservation CouncilDan Robins, Protect Country AllianceNicky Ison, Energy Transition Manager, World Wildlife Fund  

What detoxes CO2 out of the air, regenerates the soil, needs little pesticide or water and helps prevent deforestation?Hemp is a strain of Cannabis Sativa that contains only a trace of the psychoactive THC. Numerous products come from hemp including paper, cloth, medicines, food, building materials and animal feed. Yet in Australia we grown little hemp and import these hemp products.Regeneration boffin and soil scientist Walter Jehne with Nimbin Hemp Embassy and Hemp Party campaigners: Caroline Todd and Michael Balderstone outline some of the benefits of growing this age old multi-use plant and how the war against recreational Cannabis has stopped and held back Australian farmers from growing it in Australia to the detriment of the forests, soils and the climate.This weeks show No. 1270 was produced by Bec HorridgeLinks:Regenerate Earth Nimbin Hemp Embassy Hemp PartyAgrifutures Hemp growers surveyMusic:NAIDOC 2019 Redfern March video by Peter Boyle from Green Left.  This weeks show No. 1270 was produced by Bec Horridge 

Against Eco-fascism: an environmentalism without nature [encore]    We often think of environmental politics as inherently progressive and humane.  But from more mainstream far right parties with a presence in national parliaments to marginal but equally dangerous lone actors and dispersed groups organising on the internet, environmental questions are growing in importance  and are becoming central to their political platforms.  The environmental movement  with a liberatory outlook needs to be vigilant against the increased use of ecological concerns by rightwing governments and fascist groups alike.  This week on Earth Matters, we speak to Nic Beuret. An academic and activist, based in the UK, who has written on the issue of the far right and ecological politics in the era of climate change.   Earth Matters #1268 (#1209) was produced by Teishan and Alex.

The Martuwarra or Fitzroy River in the Kimberely, WA, is one of the last pristine rivers on Earth, but farming magnates are seeking to open up this unique ecosystem to irrigation and undermine decades of community action to protect this river system.  Guests: Dr Anne Poelina, Nyikina Warrwa Traditional Owner and Chair of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River CouncilMartin Pritchard, Director of Environs KimberleyMonique Barker, Campaign Coordinator of Kimberley - Like Nowhere Else Sign the petition to protect the Martuwarra - Fitzroy Riverhttps://www.environskimberley.org.au/protect_fitzroy This week's show is #1267 and was produced by Megan Williams

12 months on from the start of last year's horror bushfire season, four experts discuss what we can learn from last summer's fires to better protect not just property and assets, but Australia's biodiversity and threatened species in future fire seasons.'The impacts (of the fires) on biodiversity is greater than any other single event in our lifetime... They've set back years of work by individuals, community groups and governments on the recovery of nature in Australia...These bushfires were a dreadful event, but they were also an opportunity. They show us the future, a dystopia we need to try to prevent.'- Professor John Woinarski, Deputy Director of the Threatened Species Research Hub Original webinar hosted by: Threatened Species Recovery Hub Guests: John Woinarski, deputy director, Threatened Species Recovery HubOliver Costello, Bunjalung man and CEO, Firesticks AllianceVanessa Westcott, ecologist, Bush Heritage AustraliaDavid Karoly, leader, Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub

The school strikers for climate action are back!   Rosie and Jimmy will tell you clearly what  they want.  Into the lawns of Parliament House Canberran,  they plant hundreds of  placards made by school students  protesting against Morrisons gas led recovery and for renewable energy.  " I have had to miss out on my school and learning  so that I can do the job the adults are  meant to be doing."  Jimmy,School Striker                     When the challenges we face seem huge, it is reassuring to talk to some who has been campaigning  longer than most.  Margaret Blakers advises  on why legal responsibility for  the environment  must  ultimately remain with the  federal government   and not  be handed over to the state governments.          "It has to be on the desk of the prime minister  of the country if koalas are going to be sent extinct."   Margaret Blakers                                 She calls for a referendum on the environment and stares down the gas led recovery outing it as expensive  and  "stupid". Guests: Margaret Blakers              School Strikers: Jimmy and Rosie:  Music: The Formidable Vegetables: The Climate Movement Links:Womens Environmental Leadership Australia  School Strike for Climate Australia Earth Matters    #1264 was produced by Bec Horridge