The Sky Is Falling, The Nuclear Toll Is Coming Early, and Alan Flurry Expounds On Green Skepticism On Sustainable Georgia This Weekend.

Sustainable Georgia airs across Georgia on GPB Radio this weekend, after Weekend Georgia Gazette at 12:30p Saturday and 4:30p Sunday.
On Earth News we cover the Georgia Legislative vote in favor of Senate Bill 31, which will allow the utilities to pre-bill power bill rate payers for two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle. The vote came amid rising controversy over who was saving how much money on behalf of whom. You can read more about it here.
The sky really was falling over the Arctic Ocean earlier this week, as a $278 million dollar Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite failed to deploy properly after launch and crashed. Scientists lost the opportunity for some eight million daily carbon calculations daily that were to greatly inform our understanding of climate change.
On the oil front, Colonial pipeline announced that because of a decreased demand for oil that they were postponing plans to add an additional pipeline through Georgia.
This week's feature interview is with Athens-based writer Alan Flurry, whose blog What Does Green Mean and Eco Hustle column in Flagpole Magazine are both a healthy antidote to the received wisdom of both mainstream media and mainstream environmentalism. Listen in as we ponder what it means to be green, especially in Athens, a town so green there's even a tree that owns itself(pictured above). We'll close with XTC's Ball And Chain, a paean to tearing things down just to build new ones in the same place.

Greenspace, Save Our Amphibians, Aquaponics, Gray Water and Old Bob Dylan This Weekend On Sustainable Georgia On GPB Radio & Online

This week on the program we look into the green aspects of the Economic Recovery Plan signed into law by President Obama on Tuesday. While their are high hopes and rhetoric about millions of jobs to be gained and thousands of tons of C02 and barrels of oil to be saved, we'll keep watch to see if Fed dollar promises make for a more sustainable Georgia.

Georgia's Regional Water Councils were announced February 14 by the Governor. The councils, organized by watershed, are political appointees charged with water resource planning, and were mandated by last year's Comprehensive Statewide Water Monitoring Plan. Some editorial writers around the state have noted with concern that environmentalists are notably absent from the list, the state's riverkeepers in particular. We recommend that you check out the list of Water Council members here and see who's making decisions on behalf of your watershed. Call them up or drop an email and let them know your concerns, whether it's point-source pollution issues, water conservation, development, or other green concerns.

Greenspace promises to tick up in Walker County and Carroll County, with initiatives this week. Edgar Treiguts reports about a proposed Chickamauga to Cloudland Canyon(pictured above) rail to trail, while the Trust for Public Land and Carroll County creatively used contributions and SPLOST money to set aside 485 acres of land along the Chattahoochee River.

Myriam Levy takes a look at aquaponics, Noel Brown focuses on Georgia's rules regarding gray water re-use, integrative biologist Tyrone Hays talks about the importance of amphibians to our long term prospects as a species, and we shine a light on Alan Flurry and his blog What Does Green Mean? Check it out. We'll talk with Alan on next week's show.

Sustainable Georgia is on the air Saturday at 12:30p and Sunday at 4:30p after Weekend Georgia Gazette on your local GPB Radio station. Also online for stream or download and available as an iTunes podcast.

Nuclear Reactors Paid In Advance, The Center For A Sustainable Coast, and Sand Hill Cranes On Sustainable Georgia This Weekend.

This week the program features a feature from Orlando Montoya in Savannah about the Federal Government's new off shore energy policy. Hint--the buzz phrase "drill, baby, drill" is no longer operative. John Sepulvado drops by with a Q&A about Georgia Senate Bill 31, which is now going before the Georgia House of Representatives. The bill would allow utility companies to begin billing rate-payers for the cost of building two new reactors at Plant Vogtle years before the reactors actually go online.

Does Georgia have alternatives to nuclear power and offshore drilling? The Center for a Sustainable Coast thinks so. Their Executive Director David Kyler joins us for a conversation about studies that show that offshore wind energy could be harnessed and provide clean, non-radioactive, carbon free megawatts in the years to come.

Our Shout Out this week goes out to the Georgia Association of Floodplain Management, who met this week in Columbus. Georgia's floodplain managers keep our towns safe when the water is high, and are devoted to low impact development, greenways, and improved stormwater runoff strategies. They are unheralded workers in most cases, but they are doing good green work. Visit their site here to find out more.

Melissa Stiers drops in as the GPB Nature Watcher, taking in the annual migration of Sand Hill Cranes across our state. Catch the show on GPB Radio across the state, 12:30p Saturday and 4:30p Sunday right after Weekend Gazette.

Sustainable Georgia-Listen and Become A GPB Member, Today at 12:30p, Sunday at 4:30p

Today on Sustainable Georgia we will be asking for you to support the environmental reporting and green community building that the show represents. GPB Radio is holding a brief Winter Membership Campaign that started Friday and continues through Monday, and if you listen to Sustainable Georgia and would like to support our show, please click here and renew your membership or become a new member.

In between our appeals for your support on this week's show, Myriam Levy will talk with two federal wildlife biologists about the possible re-introduction of the Florida Panther back into the Okefenokee Swamp and the adjoining Osceola National Forest. Earth & Sky's Jorge Salazar talks with Global Water Expert Peter Gleick about the water crisis affecting us all. The Sustainable Georgia Ombudsman reports on last week's mispronunciation of perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA. That is all. Please express your support for Sustainable Georgia by making a contribution to Georgia Public Broadcasting today. Thanks.