Grassroots with Patti & Doug Wood

An intense and amazingly effective campaign is underway to convince Americans that natural gas is the answer to our energy problems. As a result, a vast network of pipelines is being constructed across the country, millions of Americans are converting their old oil-burning systems to natural gas, and government officials are green-lighting massive new gas-fired power plants. The oil and gas indust...

Patti is the recipient of the EPA’s prestigious Children’s Environmental Health Excellence Award, and the author of Helping To Heal, a book for the parents of children with life-threatening illnesses. In this podcast she talks about what parents can do to help kids thrive, from preparing and eating healthy foods to making a home environment that is free from toxins. For this and other Green Street...

Why the chemical that has replaced BPA has researchers worried all over again. When consumers discovered that the chemical BPA could disrupt the human endocrine system, manufacturers of baby bottles and other plastic products scrambled to find a replacement. Their solution: BPS, a “safer” alternative to BPA. Now it turns out that this “safer” alternative may have exactly the same effect on our hor...

So-called smart meters replace your old reliable analog electric meter with a wireless device that tells the power company when and how you use electricity. Just like a cell phone, the smart meter uses microwave radiation (or RFR) to send a signal. Radiation is emitted from the smart meter when it sends out its signal, adding to the burden of microwave radiation already in your home from cell phon...

Brominated flame retardant chemicals have been in the news recently – the Chicago Tribune ran an excellent series of investigative articles called “Playing With Fire,” and Nicholas Kristoff wrote a fabulous editorial in the Times called “Are You Safe On That Sofa?“ On this edition of Green Street, Patti and Doug talk with Dr. Arlene Blum, founder and Executive Director of the Green Science Policy...

As school systems across the country rush to install wireless transmitters in classrooms, some environmental health experts are warning that constant low-level radiation from these devices can interfere with normal physiological development and may lead to health problems later in life. On this edition of Green Street, Patti and Doug speak with internationally -renowned expert Dr. Magda Havas, of...

Could early-life exposure to chemicals pre-determine our size? Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic, and scientists are puzzled over its cause. Is it really just a matter of calories in and calories out? Could there be another reason? On this edition of Green Street Patti and Doug welcome filmmaker and science journalist Bruce Mohun to talk about his new documentary film, “Programmed to be Fat....

The rates of autism in the United States have skyrocketed over the past decade. While researchers are still debating the role that preservatives in vaccinations may play, other environmental chemicals are being added to the list of suspects that could be responsible for this alarming trend. The list includes many consumer products we use in and around our homes. On this edition of Green Street, Pa...

Autism is often called a “spectrum disorder” because it affects individuals differently and to varying degrees. The autism-spectrum disorders encompass a wide range of symptoms, from social awkwardness to a complete inability to interact and communicate. Rates of autism have been rising for several decades: There is no central register for people with autism, but the best estimates indicate that 1...

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the Pink Ribbon campaign is in full swing. The signs are everywhere – even the NFL teams are wearing pink shoes and pink gloves and pink armbands to remind people about breast cancer…..as if people need to be reminded about it. Millions of people are going to be marching this month for BC awareness, and to raise money for research. So we’ve go...

Everyone knows that radiation causes cancer, and recent events have shown that even with safeguards, nuclear energy plants can never be completely safe. Yet the industry and their elected cheerleaders are still trying to convince Americans that nuclear energy is the answer to our energy needs. On this edition of Green Street, Doug and Patti are joined by award-winning author, journalist and invest...

New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg created yet another food controversy by proposing to ban the sale of sugary sweet drinks over 16 ounces. Of course, health professionals have known for years that soda not only contributes to the epidemic of obesity, but undermines good health in many other ways as well. On this edition of Green Street, Patti and Doug welcome health expert, teacher, author and sc...

The China Study (also known as the “China-Oxford-Cornell Diet and and Health Project”) has been hailed by the New York Times as the “most comprehensive large study ever undertaken of the relationship between diet and the risk of developing disease." On this edition of Green Street we meet the study’s primary author, and discuss the implications of the data collected from the largest population on...

90210 may seem like an unlikely zip code for a story about an environmental disaster, but sadly, this is no Hollywood script. It’s reality. As our national debate about energy continues to grow, the true environmental cost of oil and gas exploration is being understood more clearly. In Hollywood, where an oil rig and power plant sit just outside the schoolyard fence, thousands of recent graduates...

The Truth About Cell Phones with Dr. Devra Davis by A program of Grassroots Environmental Education