Eco Radio KC

EcoRadio KC welcomes Kristan Chamberlain, Executive Director, and Heather Nevarez,  Director of Operations of KC Can Compost. KC Can Compost is an innovative social and environmental enterprise conceived by Shelter KC, a charity that provides homeless men and women with compassionate relief services, long-term recovery support, and green employment training. Together, they educate and employ once-...

Dorothy Barnett, Executive Director of the Climate + Energy Project joins hosts Brent Ragsdale and Dave Bennett Freeling to talk about climate and energy related legislation in Kansas.  We will play clips from the Clean Energy Business Council's 3rd Annual Policy Summit that took place on January 16th and WEALTH Day, (Water, Energy, Air, Land, Transportation & Health) which was February 10th....

EcoRadio KC will have a round table discussion on gardens with Dennis Patton, Johnson County Kansas Horticulture Agent.  Dennis specializes in Ornamentals, Turf and volunteer management of Extension Master Gardeners, but don’t worry, he knows about all growing things! As no table is round in Kansas City without Missouri involvement, Cory Creed, Field Specialist in […]

On this show we have in-studio two distinguished professors from the University of Kansas, Dr. Leonard Krishtalka, Director of the Biodiversity Institute and Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, and Dr. Jorge Soberon, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Senior Scientist at the Biodiversity Institute.  The first half of the show is a recording of a talk Dr. Krishtalka […]

Join hosts Richard Mabion and Dave Bennett Freeling as they sit down with young people who have been learning and teaching others about water quality in the KC area through the Kids About Water program (KAW). Find out how you can help the next generation maintain our waterways for drinking and recreation.  We’ll also be […]

Join hosts Richard Mabion and Dave Bennett Freeling as they sit down with young people who have been learning and teaching others about water quality in the KC area through the Kids About Water program (KAW). Find out how you can help the next generation maintain our waterways for drinking and recreation.  We’ll also be […]

This week we get an update on the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule that have been changed to weaken our health protections over the past year.  It’s been a year since EPA held its only public hearing in KC, KS on proposals to change the rules.  The discussion will be moderated by Host […]

This week hear about all the issues that have impacted your environment over the past year and help us look toward a brighter future! EcoRadio KC has been broadcasting on KKFI for over 10 years.   We are one of the best local resources for information and advocacy on behalf of your environment.  This is a huge responsibility for us and we do not take it lightly!  Our 5 co-producers spend countless...

As sea levels rise and the planet warms what effects should we anticipate in our region of the country? Patrick Marchman is a member of the Agenda Setters for the Climigration Network. He founded the Climate Migration and Managed Retreat Member Interest Group, at the American Society of Adaptation Professionals. Marchman has a Master’s degree in Marine Affairs from the University of Washington in...

Out on the plains of western Kansas, you can hear the same sounds from nature that early Americans listened to hundreds and thousands of years ago, but many of the sounds have been lost.  Through machine dependent farming and monocultures of corn, alfalfa, soy and wheat nature’s great seed bank has been robbed and few have acted to save it. One institution that has been a great champion of restori...

Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) issued permits to the operators of four hog operations on two sites in Phillips and Norton Counties in Kansas and the Kansas Sierra Club filed for judicial review of that permit. On 12/6/19, the Kansas Sierra Club prevailed in the case.  Craig Volland, Agriculture Committee Chair of the […]

Monsignor Stewart Swetland of Donnelly College will be in the house this week talking to Richard about why we should be better stewards for the Earth within our communities.  He has been preaching recently on Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si" on care of our common home.   Swetland says, “Environmental justice is a concern for every person because it is a part of the human vocation to participa...

John Hickey, Chapter Director of the Missouri Chapter of the Sierra Club will call our studio to discuss negative effects of gerrymandering with our live guest Kevin Grooms of the Thomas Hart Benton Kansas City Missouri Sierra Club group. Their research has shown Missouri voters are relatively split evenly by partisanship, half are Republican, half are […]

Man Cave finds the “last man on earth” (coincidentally named “Tim”) burrowed into what is essentially a Hobbit home, somewhere in Canada, broadcasting into a microphone for whomever might yet be out there listening. Realizing that perhaps there may not be anyone out there still listening, Tim faces the inability to have any impact on humanity itself, and turns his attention to warning whatever far...

Wiki is an Hawaiian word meaning quick. Ward Cunningham heard the word in Hawaii and used it to refer to the efficient and open collaborative projects that he was working on in the early 1990s that went on to inspire many projects like Wikipedia.   The wiki provides a way for different people to share their knowledge, to educate one another and to solve problems.  Ward Cunningham also first used a...

16-year old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg recently urged the US Congress to "Unite Behind the Science."  This week, Kenneth Schmitz, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Physical Chemistry and Environmental Studies at UMKC, will join hosts Brent Ragsdale and Dave Bennett in the studio to give an overview of the science of climate change. Topics will include the evolution of Earth's atmosphere, a h...

“Warheads to Windmills: How to Pay for a Green New Deal” by Timmon Wallis is a plan to solve the climate crisis by using  the resources currently wasted on nuclear weapons.  This would also solve the income inequality problem by creating millions of good-paying permanent jobs to manufacture windmills and solar panels, install and maintain them.  Visit NuclearBan. US to learn more. Kansas City’s Ex...

First, Coco Castle and Meredith McAllister join host Craig Lubow to discuss composting on behalf of Compost Collective KC. Second, Annie Speicher Joins Craig for a discussion of her film, “Right to Harm”. The discussion will include adverse impacts of CAFOs. Home https://www.compostcollectivekc.com/ Our goal? Keep food waste out of the landfill and make it […]

On this episode of EcoRadioKC, we hear from the great storyteller, Wes Jackson.  Wes is the pragmatic visionary who created The Land Institute of Salina, Kansas 43 years ago as a research site to understand the ecosphere combining intellectual rigor with hands on labor. Together they work to develop sustainable food supplies for our species and the ecosystem beyond the foreseeable future.  Hear th...

In the first half, John Kurman joins host Craig Lubow to talk about plastic bag bans. Do they work? What are the unintended consequences? What are the alternatives? John is a long time environmental activist. He is currently associated with Bridging the Gap. During the second half Eco Radio hosts Craig Lubow, Richard Mabion, and […]

We feature a Veterans' Day Special this week with host Richard Mabion and his guest Maurice Copeland.  Mr Copeland is a Kansas City native, Vietnam and Cold War Veteran who served for 32 years.  He is also a poet, artist and advocate for the sick and dying workers of the Bannister nuclear weapons production complex.

On today’s show, Matt Riggs, Outreach Coordinator with Mid-America Regional Counsel (MARC) comes to the KKFI studio to discuss recycling plastics with our host, Teresa Wilke. MARC is a nonprofit association of city and county governments and the metropolitan planning organization for the bistate Kansas City region. MARC serves nine counties and 119 cities. MARC […]

This week host Brent Ragsdale brings Frank Jakob into the studio to discuss all aspects of transitioning our energy sources off of hydrocarbon fuels. Frank E. Jakob, PMP, P.E. is a Technology Manager specializing in Energy Storage with Black & Veatch. We will start with the state of the US energy mix and trends in […]

Richard’s guest this week is Huldah C Blamoville, M.D. Dr Blamoville is a pediatrician in St Louis and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital-St. Louis University and St. Louis Children’s Hospital-Washington University.  She has been active against lead contamination involving children early in life and as they grow.  […]

Please tune in this week when Host Teresa Wilke talks live to Carey Gillam, a journalist, author, and a public interest researcher for US Right to Know, a not-for-profit food industry research group. Hear more about her book, Whitewash and the retaliation she has endured since its publication.  You can read her latest article in […]