GreenerPolitics

You know, when you run your own podcast, you always hope for the big interview, the one that will make all the hard work you do worthwhile. If I was running a sportscast, it would be an interview with Wayne Gretzky. If this was a podcast covering the doings of the Royal Family, an interview with Prince Harry would not be amiss.

On GreenerPolitics, I scored my dream interview, a chat with Michael Braungart, co-author of Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. We talk about waste, the politics of protest, and the need to celebrate human ingenuity.

And speaking of ingenuity, we talk with Nancy Knowlton and David Martin, the co-founders of Smart Technologies, though you might know them better for their invention of the digital-interactive whiteboard.

You know, the one that hooks up to your computer and enables you to communicate verbaly and with pictures in real time.

We talk about how technology fosters creativity and innovation and we talk about what’s coming up for these fast-paced innovators who make their home in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

When it comes to being Greener, if you’re not on the cutting edge of technology and innovation, then you might miss the boat. For example, I thought I knew everything there was to know about material efficiency, cradle to cradle manufacturing – all that stuff. And then in waltzes in Tim Antoniuk with a revolutionary idea: if we can maximize the desireability of the objects we use, then we will reduce the chances of throwing it away.

In fact, his ideas would be great entries into the Buckminster Fuller Challenge: a $100,000 prize for the best idea that enables us to live sustainably. I interview Elizabeth Thompson of the Buckminster Fuller Institute about this prize as well as the legacy that Bucky Fuller has left behind.

For those unfamiliar with Buckminster Fuller, here is a short excerpt courtesy of Wikkipedia:

Fuller was concerned about sustainability and about human survival under the existing socio-economic system, yet optimistic about humanity’s future. Defining wealth in terms of knowledge, as the “technological ability to protect, nurture, support, and accommodate all growth needs of life”, his analysis of the condition of “Spaceship Earth” led him to conclude that at a certain point in the 1970s humanity had crossed an unprecedented watershed.

Fuller was convinced that the accumulation of relevant knowledge, combined with the quantities of key recyclable resources that had already been extracted from the earth, had reached a critical level, such that competition for necessities was no longer necessary. Cooperation had become the optimum survival strategy. “Selfishness”, he declared, “is unnecessary and…unrationalizable…War is obsolete…”

The election for Leader in British Columbia is very much about ideas and direction. In this debate, the candidates are asked 5 questions and are given 3 minutes to respond with a 30 second rebuttal afterwards.

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The Green Party of British Columbia site is also hosting a live streaming debate which you can watch by clicking the link

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Comment below for general questions and observations about the the Leadership Race. To direct specific questions or comments to a particular candidate, use the links here:

Join the Jack Etkin Discussion

Join the Sylvaine Zimmermann Discussion

Join the Damian Kettlewell Discussion

Join the Jane Sterk Discussion

Join the Ben West Discussion

Green Party of Canada Tries Electronic Voting

In October, the Green Party of Canada will be electing its governing council using electronic voting, or e-voting for short. Now while on the surface it seems to be a ‘green choice’ getting away from the paper ballot, cutting down on carbon emissions associated with postage, some within the green party have questioned the veracity of the results and how prone the system would be to electoral tampering. In a two part interview, I talk with the principals of eVote.ca and everyone counts about the election and the longer term potential of electronic voting on democracy.

Larry Franschman, principal of eVote.ca and Craig Burton of Everyone Counts in Australia are responsible for collecting, collating and reporting election results.

Green Party USA: Talking with National Political Director Brent McMillan
Brent Miller is the national political director for the Green Party of the United States. In addition to setting up green parties across the United States, recruiting presidential candidates, he provides local greens with training on how to fight and win elections.

On August 23, I caught him on his way to train the Greens of Tennessee and chatted with him about : What every green should know, fundraising, dealing with the media, getting out the vote and ideas around merchandising and presidential recruitment.

Bottom line: the Green Party needs to work hard to get its message out to voters and the media that is effective and timely; time is of the essence.

MMP: The Good, The Bad, The Adorable

Whenever we talk about elections, we seem to focus on what candidate or what party we plan on voting for. Perhaps because of this, we tend to forget the electoral system that shapes our choices. In Ontario, the choice is between Conservative, Liberals, the NDP and the Green Party. However, a move is afoot in Canada to change the system to allow us a more flexible choice on the ballot called Mixed Member Proportional representation or MMP.

The Good

Jim Harris is the former Leader of the Green Party of Canada and recent inductee to the board of directors for Fair Vote Canada. He believes that there is a historic opportunity to move to a system of Mixed Member Proportional Representation.
We talk about what it will take to win this historical vote, how it might be accomplished, and what kind of opposition the ‘Yes’ side is likely to encounter in the next few months.

If you’re interested in getting involved in this campaign, you can contact Jim at jim@jimharris.ca. You can also visit his blog on the Ontario election by visiting www.voteformmp.ca or by phoning Toll Free: 1-866-383-3667.
The Bad

Joseph Angolano is completing his Ph’d in Democratic Theory at the London School of Economics and is the creator of the website, www.notommp.ca. He accepted my invitation to come onto GP Radio to communicate his concerns about mixed member proportional representation, ranging from the politics around list creation to just plain confusing the Ontario voter. I spoke to him from his home in Toronto, Ontario on August 23.

Joseph will be working hard on the ‘no to MMP’ campaign doing research and keeping up his website.

Let the battle for MMP begin!

The Adorable

Scott Piatkowski and Rebecca Granovski Larson are two pet lovers who are representing their pets on Facebook: Adorable Puppies for Electoral Reform and Adorable Kittens for MMP.

Avo, a 6 month old puppy, believes that Mixed Member Proportional Representation will be good because it would allow all breeds of dogs to play together in Parliament.

Avo would also like to give dogs the vote and would institute mandatory dog walks and snausage subsidies for all citizens.

Scott Piatkowski represents the powerful lobby group of adorable kittens who present the citizens of Ontario with an ultimatum: pass MMP or all kittens in Ontario will lie on your newspaper while you are reading it, refuse to use the litterbox, or simply ignore you.

Pass MMP or face the consequences!