Archived Radio Show

April 29, 2024

Original Radio Show  ID:
WSA240429

Listen to the Show on the Mp3 Player below

Duration 57 minutes

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Featuring

Click the Name to access the Segment below

1. Commentary by Elaine B. Holtz,  Host of Women's Spaces 

2. Jenny Blaker, Environmental Advocate, Sonoma County Climate Activist Network (SOCOCAN)

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1. Commentary by Elaine B. Holtz:  I have A special guest this morning. Joining me in the studio is Jenny Blaker. Jenny is a long-time participant in the environmental movement. Last week when I interviewed Starthawk we talked a bit about ecofeminism and in reading Jenny’s resume I would put her in that category. She recently co-coordinated the Coalition Opposing New Gas Stations with my dear friend Woody Hastings. She recently created a Biomass Power Basics - a factsheet resource list. For today’s show she will be talking to us about protecting forests and opposing the Biomass energy industry. a subject I must admit I know little about and am looking forward to getting educated.

A little trivia about Jenny: On March 21, 2009, "The National Women’s History Project now called the Women’s History Project honored Jenny Blaker as one of seven women in Sonoma County to be recognized as “Women taking a lead to save the planet.”

Today is also the last Monday of April and we will be doing the Women’s Spaces Pledge. Wow where did April go. We are moving into may, time is flying.

A special Happy Birthday to my beautiful daughter Susan. I can hardly believe this she is 60 years old. For me it is 60 years of joy and I know it will be many, many more years of joy. She is a fabulous daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, friend, and soccer player. I am immensely proud of her. She continues to be a blessing in my life and through our relationship I grew to understand what love truly is. I am honored to be her mother. We had a wonderous birthday party at Safari West.

A special shout out to my beautiful grand daughter Katie and her fiancé Trevor who are listening. Love you guys.

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2. Our Guest Jenny Bake, an environmentalist, shares her journey into environmental activism, citing her childhood experiences with nature and her subsequent involvement in various environmental initiatives upon moving to California. She emphasizes the importance of protecting green spaces and combating sprawl development. Blaker discusses her engagement with the Cotati Creek Critters habitat restoration project and her academic pursuits in ecology and environmental philosophy.

Acknowledging her recognition as one of seven influential women in Sonoma County for her environmental efforts, Blaker expresses hope for increased female participation in the environmental movement. The conversation delves into the challenges posed by climate change and the pressing need for environmental protection.

Blaker highlights the issue of biomass energy and its detrimental effects on forests and communities. She criticizes the practice of burning trees for fuel, citing its contribution to air pollution, health issues, and biodiversity loss. Despite the severity of the problem, Blaker notes a lack of mainstream attention to this issue and urges greater public awareness and action.
She suggests avenues for involvement, such as learning about the issue, combating greenwashing, and advocating for policy changes. Blaker shares resources for further information and encourages participation in local initiatives and events. 

About our Guest:  Jenny Baker is an environmentalist who is originally from the UK. She co-coordinated the Coalition Opposing New Gas Stations and recently created a Biomass Power Basics factsheet resource list. For today’s show she will be talking to us about Biomass a subject I have to admit I know little about and am looking forward to getting educated.

For the past few years, Jenny has been immersed in and passionate about protecting forests from excessive vegetation management, and the insidious and growing threat of the biomass energy industry, which will be her focus today. She recently created a Biomass Power Basics factsheet/resource list for Sonoma County Climate Activist Network (SOCO).

She has an MA degree in Conservation Psychology from SSU’s “Action for a Viable Future” program (2006). She is the former Outreach Coordinator for the Cotati Creek Critters’ habitat restoration and community tree planting project along the Laguna de Santa Rosa in Cotati. Later she was involved with Sonoma Solidarity with Standing Rock. She is Co-coordinator of the Coalition Opposing New Gas Stations (CONGAS), along with Woody Hastings, and an advocate for local creeks, trails, and pedestrian and bicycle issues.

Guest Links:

Sonoma County Climate Activists Network (SOCOCAN): https://www.sonomacountycan.org/jenny-blaker1.html

Biomass Power Basics Fact Sheet created by Jenny Blaker: https://www.sonomacountycan.org/biomass-facts.html

Coalition Opposing New Gas Stations: https://con-gas.org/ 

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Our History Is Our Strength

Check out important dates to remember in Herstory at the National Women's History Alliance, where the date descriptions were sourced unless otherwise indicated.

Special thank you to the National Women’s History Alliance for making women’s history alive. Shout out to Co-Founder and Retiring Executive Director, Molly McGregor who will be on the show when we celebrate Women’s History Month in March for making the fabulous list of Women in History where I get most of the info I present in this Herstory segment.

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Herstory Events:

April 26, 1777 – American Revolution heroine Sybil Ludington, 16 years old, rides forty miles on horseback in the middle of the night to warn the American militia that the British were invading.

April 28, 1993 – First “Take Our Daughters to Work” Day, sponsored by the Ms. Foundation, in 2003 it became “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work” Day. 

Herstory Birthdays:

April 29, 1913 (1999) – Margaret Owings, California artist, writer, environmental activist, founder of Friends of the Sea Otter (1968), assisted the Environmental Defense Fund.

April 29, 1880 (1965): Lillian Bertha Jones Horace, pioneering educator and writer, Texas’s earliest known African American woman novelist, one of only two known black southern women novelists of the early to mid-twentieth century (Zora Neale Hurston is the other); one of only two black women nationally.

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Announcements

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Wednesday, May 1, 2024 Peace and Justice Center issues new weekly list of events and links to community non-profit organizations: PJC website www.pjcsoco.org

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Monday, May 6, 2024 11 AM PT # repeats 11 PM PT, the show will feature to be announced.  Radio KBBF 89.1 FM, North SF Bay or live streaming at https://kbbf.org/live

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Wednesday, May 8, 2024, 11 AM PT, repeat of Monday's show that will feature to be announced.  Radio KPCA 103.3 FM, Petaluma, CA. https://petalumacommunityaccess.org/kpca 

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Saturday, June 15, 2024, 10 AM to 6 PM, 54th Annual MLK Juneteenth Community Festival Celebration, Martin Luther King Park, 171 Hendley Street, Santa Rosa, CA (east of the fairgrounds). For more info, arrange for a booth or sponsorship see https://www.sonomacountyjuneteenth.com/

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Saturday, August 10, 2024, National Organization for Women (NOW) - California Conference, at the Presbyterian Church of the Roses in Santa Rosa. To volunteer, have a booth, to sponsor - please contact NOW Sonoma County at info@nowsonoma.org, or see CA NOW's webpage at https://www.canow.org/2024-annual-conference/ .

Music Selections

The Opening and Closing Theme song The Woman in Your Life is You is done with permission of the Composer and Singer Alix Dobkin ((August 16, 1940 – May 19, 2021) Alix Dobkin death was just announced - Thank you for all you did for Lesbians to be recognized and Women to be honored. May you rest in peace. See our Interview with Alix Dobkin on 12/1/2014 and our Memorial to Alix Dobkin on 5/24/2021

The Woman in Your Life is You by Alix Dobkin from the album Living with Lavender Jane (2010 Women's Wax Works) - www.alixdobkin.com

The Earth is our Mother, sung by The Revels Children,  from the album Seasons For Singing – A Celebration of Country Life (1995 Revels Records).

Pale Moon, sung by Becky Hobbs, from the album Nanyehi (Released 2011@ 2011 Becky Hobbs)

People Have the Power, sung by Patti Smith, from the album The Bridge School Collection (2006 The Bridge School)

Morning has Broken, sung by Emily Linge and Sina,  from the single Morning has Broken (Released 2021 Emily Linge Music Under License to Studio 17)

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For music purchasing opportunity, supporting the artists: