Satire
It's Wednesday, January 17th.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has scheduled a "campaign training school" for Tory candidates, in anticipation of a snap election in late Spring.
Currently ... finally, a school with corporal punishment and the Lord's Prayer!
This is The Current.
Climate Change Investing
Sir Nicholas Stern made headlines the world over last fall when he estimated that not taking steps to curtail climate change would cost the global economy as much as seven trillion dollars. Sir Nicholas' report made waves not only for its findings, but also for who wrote it. A a former chief economist at the World Bank was linking the economic and the environmental costs of global warming.
Well, investors it seems have been thinking about this. A non-profit investment group called Ceres is advising its clients to be wary of dirty industries such as coal plants. It says the political traction climate change is now getting will likely mean more regulations and more costs for so-called dirty industries that will ultimately make them obsolete and poor investments. We'll speak to someone from Ceres a little later.
The investment group is not alone in its strategy. A coalition of environmental groups is also pressuring banks to reject loans for so-called dirty projects and it is making progress. It says it has commitments from more than a dozen banks to stay away from coal-fired electric plants, while others remain bullish.
Its campaign focuses on a Texas utility called TXU, which is trying to raise 11 billion dollars to build 11 new coal power plants in the state. We heard from Bill Barclay of the Rainforest Action Network explaining what's at stake with the proposal in Texas.
Climate Change Investing – Ebell
Well, not everyone is sold on the need for an environmentally friendly retrofit of the current business model.
Myron Ebell is the Director of Energy and Global Warming Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Until late last year, the Institute received funding from Exxon Mobil and ran a series of advertisements questioning the risks of carbon dioxide emmissions and global warming. Myron Ebell was at his home outside Washington, D.C.
Climate Change Investing – Ceres
Well some people think polluting comes at steep price -- and not just for the environment. Dan Bakal is Director of Electric Power Programs for Ceres, a network of sustainable investors. He was in Columbus, Ohio.
Listen to The Current:  Part 1
(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)
The Current: Part 2
Ethical Pharmaceuticals- Researcher/Proponent
The idea of new medicines at cut rate prices for impoverished countries is either too good to be true or the answer to many of the diseases that plague the developing world.
As two researchers in Britain are testing and hoping to market ... a cheaper drug to treat hepatitis C, it and other so-called "ethical pharmaceuticals" are being put under the microscope.
The drugs are similar to existing, patented drugs, but just different enough to qualify for their own patents. And they cost a fraction of the cost to develop and produce, making them very appealing to people in developing countries who often can't afford the price charged by the major pharmaceutical companies.
And while some say they could revolutionize the treatment of certain diseases, others contend they are simply a waste of time and money.
Doctor Sunil Shaunak is the co-creator of one of these new drugs a still untested Hepatitis C medicine. He is a professor of infectious diseases at Imperial College at the Hammersmith Hospital campus in the UK. He was in our London studio.
Ethical Pharmaceuticals – Critic
So-called ethical drugs also raise some legal questions. Richard Gold is the director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy at McGill University. He thinks Dr. Shaunak's research could alter the pharmaceutical landscape.
Not everyone agrees that much will change with the advent of so-called "ethical pharmaceuticals." Philip Stevens works for the International Policy Network. It's a London-based think-tank that addresses questions of health, safety and the environment.
To discuss Doctor Shaunak's work, which he criticized in a recent article, we were joined by Philip Stevens from our studio in London.
Listen to The Current: Part 2
(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)
The Current: Part 3
Andrea Yates – A Texas Tragedy Documentary
Five years ago, the world was gripped by the story of a Houston woman who drowned her five children. It made headlines around the world. Andrea Pia Yates was charged with capital murder and might have been executed had it not been for a Houston lawyer named George Parnham. Mr. Parnham took on the case pro bono for free and worked tirelessly for his client.
The first trial ended in a conviction. There was a successful appeal and then a second trial. Four and half years after Mr. Parnham made his opening remarks to the first jury, Andrea Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Freelance documentary producer Alison Armstrong followed the trials of Andrea Yates but found herself more fascinated by the efforts of George Parnham. She's prepared a documentary about him called: “The Texas Tragedy.” She was in our Toronto studio.
Music Bridge
Artist: The Sadies
Cut: CD 10 "Of our Land"
CD: "Stories Often Told"
Label: Outside Music
Spine #: 23339-9000-2
Last Word – Wells Fargo
Earlier this morning, we examined the ethics of investing in coal-fired plants in Texas. Well, Texas is not the only place that environmentalists are worried about.
The Rainforest Action Network, which we heard from earlier, is also targetting Wells Fargo for investing in surface mines in the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia. "Surface mining" is an industry term. Environmentalists call it mountain-top removal ... mining companies literally blowing the tops off mountains to get at the veins of coal running through them.
We ended the show this morning with excerpts from a Rainforest Action Network video. The two voices you'll hear are those of Larry Gibson and Maria Gunnoe, West Virginia residents who both live in the Appalachians, talking about one particular blast.
Listen to The Current: Part 3
(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)
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