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Broadcast on WPKN/WPKM
On The Fourth Thursday Each Month
12:30 PM – 1 PM

The Forest and the Trees is a global and local report on the environment. Host Melinda Tuhus interviews newsmakers including environmental leaders, policy makers and grassroots activists from around the world and around the corner in Connecticut. Issues like deforestation, water privitization, relaxation of federal air pollution regulations, and much more – and the implications for public health.

2003 Editions

Listen to The Forest And The Trees (requires Real Player)

December 2003
An interview with Wenona Hauter of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project about the horrors of the federal energy bill, which just went down to defeat in Congress but will be back in 2004; the voices of several young people active in the Sierra Club's Inner City Outings program in New Haven, an environmental education and outdoor adventure program for kids aged 4 to 16; and finally, a chat with Richard Sussmann of Congregation Mishkan Israel in Hamden, Connecticut, about the temple's upcoming Mitzvah Mall to encourage kids and parents to support social service organizations at the holidays.

November 2003
Bill McKibben, author of "The End of Nature," discusses the state of global climate change 15 years after his book became a classic of the genre, as well as human genetic engineering, which is the topic of his new book, "Enough."

October 2003
Curt Johnson of Connecticut Fund for the Environment talks about the start-up of the Cross-Sound Cable in the wake of the big August energy blackout and potential environmental harms that could result; the Christel Manning of the New Haven Environmental Justice Network defines environmental justice and discusses several of her group's initiatives.

September 2003
Environmental news headlines, followed by updates on the issues raised in August's show; then an interview with Dan Sosland, Executive Director of Environment Northeast, about his organization's new publication, "Climate Change Roadmap for Connecticut."

August 2003
Environmental news headlines; and three environmental challenges: proposed cuts to funding for non-motorized transport in the federal transportation bill; proposed elimination of the Connecticut Council on Environmental Quality; and safety issues at the Millstone nuclear power plant in Waterford, Connecticut.

July 2003
A show about environmental victories, including a court victory that beat back the government's attempt to rename high-level nuclear waste and so dispose of it in a less secure manner; an administrative victory in New Haven to keep a polluting power plant from firing up; some positive developments for cycling coommuters in New Haven; and a personal essay about cycling in Vermont.

May 2003
An interview with an Earthjustice attorney about a bill to drop wilderness designation for 23 million acres in Utah, followed by an interview with Michael Marriott of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service about Bush administration plans to promote the building of a new generation of nuclear power plants.

April 2003
Excerpts from a speech by Love Canal mom and organizer extraordinaire, Lois Gibbs, delivered at the Toxics Action Conference at Wesleyan University on March 22. Gibbs is founder and executive director of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice.

March 2003
A potpourri of interviews with first, New Haven bicycle advocate Elaine Lewinnek about local efforts to improve the urban cycling experience; second, with energy consultant Joel Gordes about attempts by Gov. John Rowland and legislators to raid two important energy conservation funds in order to help close the state's massive budget deficit; and third, a radio feature about the environmental and public health problems that plague veterans of the first Gulf War, and promise to raise their heads in the wake of the second Gulf War.

February 2003
An interview with Robert Watson, immediate past chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the UN-related body of the world's foremost climatologists who concluded that, indeed, human behavior is warming the planet. Watson lost his bid for re-election as chair after the Bush administration pulled the plug on support for him after Watson urged governments – especially developed countries – to take concrete action to slow climate change. Also, a brief conversation with Dana Young, staff attorney at Connecticut Fund for the Environment, about CFE's clean car proposals.

January 2003
An interview with Wangari Maathai, Kenyan feminist and environmentalist. Maathai is founder of the Green Belt Movement, in which rural women have planted millions of trees to purify the air, hold the soil in place, provide firewood and fruit, and beautify the countryside. Maathai has won many international awards and was teaching at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies when this interview was conducted. Since returning to Kenya, she was appointed assistant Environment Minister in Kenya's new government.

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