When the BioMass Hits the Wind Turbine

153 – Save the Soil

According to a United Nation's study, the planet has only about 60 years of soil left. The nutrients in our soil have been so depleted that today you must eat 8 oranges to get the same vitamins that your grandparents got by eating just one. So what are the issues and what can we do about them?

 

Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station are joined by Heather Kabler and Chitra Iyer of the Isha Foundation to discuss the Save Soil Movement and what is being done to raise awareness of this critical issue.

178 - Solar Cookers

Cooking with the sun. Not only is it a practical solution to deforestation in third-world nations, keeping smoke and ash out of poorly ventilated buildings and causing women to risk their health and safety by walking miles for fire wood – but is also a great alternative here at home as well.

Join perhaps the nation's leading expert on solar cookers, Luther Krueger, as he discusses the art and science behind solar cookers with Jay and Annie Warmke of Blue Rock Station.

177 - Changing the World

As the song goes... "we all want to change the world..."
but how to go about it?

The old tropes, call your congressman, write a letter, protest... it just seems that absolutely no one in power is listening.  So how can we, each of us, change our little part of the world.

Join Annie and Jay Warmke from Blue Rock Station for a discussion on how to make "good trouble."

145 – High Tunnels

In case you hadn't noticed, the climate is changing and plants are dying. How can homesteaders cope with extreme weather events and a changing ecology. Well, one way is to create an environment for their garden that they can control to a certain extent. This is where high tunnels come in.

A high tunnel, or hoop house is a greenhouse like structure where plants can be cultivated and raised under more controlled conditions.

Join Annie and Jay Warmke from Blue Rock Station for a discussion on their experience with high tunnels, building it, the grant process with the government, and plans for how they intend to use it in the future.

118 – Preppers

The world is teetering on the edge of disaster. The Great Depression – the Cold War – 9-11 – Katrina – the 2008 Economic Meltdown – Covid...

Doesn't it make sense to build yourself a bunker, stock it with beans and ammunition, and wait out the Zombie Apocalypse? Is that what it means to be a “prepper.” Or is it just a common sense approach to have the skills and supplies on hand to deal with whatever emergency may come your way?

Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station as they discuss the realities of living a sustainable life.

176 - Community Benefit Agreements

Huge amounts of money have been allocated by the government under the Infrastructure Law as well as the Inflation Reduction Act. So how do local recipients ensure that the funds actually benefit the local community – and not just provide wages for out-of-town workers who swoop in to build a project and then move on to follow the money? Community Benefit Agreements are one tool to make sure these funds are equitably distributed.

Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station are joined by Natalia Rudiak of ReImagine Appalachia in a discussion of how the region can “win the win” when these funds are allocated.

175 - The Right to Repair

s amazing as it might seem, there is a move by some corporations (and of course the government is enacting laws to support them) to prohibit customers from repairing the products they buy – forcing them to buy new things when the old may only need a bit of upkeep. And some groups are fighting back.

 

Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station in a discussion of the issues and implications of corporations trying to take away your right to repair.

174 - Money Available to Install Solar on your Home or Business

Solar is already the cheapest form of energy available – bar none. And the government, through a number of recent incentive programs, has just put it on sale. You almost cannot afford NOT to put solar on your home or business.

 

Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station in a discussion of the various tax credits and grants that are now available to make solar even more affordable and will lead to an amazing energy transition.

173 - Reimagining Appalachia

It seems that the Appalachian region is always in a state of recession. When times are good nationwide – nothing seems to change in Appalachia. When the nation is struggling, Appalachia feels it first and longest.

Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station are joined by Natalia Rudiak, special projects director at Reimagine Appalachia in a discussion of the challenges facing the Appalachian region of the Ohio River Valley and what can be done to create a vibrant and sustainable economy.

172 - End of the Age of Fossil Fuels

We are living through transformative times. Not since the Industrial Revolution has the energy system that powers our society changed in such profound ways. But we are too close to it to see it clearly. Over the next three years, wind and solar will make up 90% of all new energy sources. Coal is dead. Nuclear is dead. Natural gas is dying.

Join Annie and Jay Warmke of Blue Rock Station in a discussion of the enormous changes that are going on around us and how it is the end of the world as we know it... and thank God!