Labor Day’s come and gone, and the leaves are starting to turn color here in New England, so we at Sea Change are highlighting some of our summer programming.  We focused a lot on sustainable agriculture, economic alternatives, green jobs, and the climate crisis.  Check out some of our summer shows below.

Our visit to the 35th Annual Conference of the Northeast Organic Farming Association yielded two shows:

Growing Food — Growing Community featuring NOFA conference keynoter Will Allen of Growing Power, as well as presenters Abby Youngblood of Just Food and Scott Kellogg of the Rhizome Collective in Austin, Texas.

And Urban Agriculture: Sprouting Farms on Rooftops and Empty Lots features Ippy Amatul-Wadud of Gardening the Community, an inner-city organic agriculture project for youth, as well as Alice Leung and Akshay Kolte of Top Sprouts,  a startup company that puts greenhouses atop downtown buildings.

Earlier in the summer, we covered Big Agriculture: Tipping the Balance of Regulation, featuring Grist Food Editor Tom Philpott on the impact of the farm lobby on climate and food safety legislation, and Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness author Lisa Hamilton on food policy from the perspective of the small farmer.

In our look at economic alternatives, David Korten outlines his  Agenda for a New Economy and asks, a Wall Street Economy Based on Phantom Wealth, or a Main Street Economy Based on Real Wealth?

Les Leopold tells us about The Looting of America, which is also the title of his new book.

And Benito Diaz of the University of the Andes in Venezuela explains how Social Economy Promotes the Common Good.

We looked at The Next Generation in Green Jobs and Energy Efficiency with Patricia Moss, Project Manager of  Groundwork Springfield, and the Green Team of teens and young adults working in green jobs.

Sea Change is blessed to be based at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, home of perhaps the foremost green jobs economist, Bob Pollin of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI.)  We spoke with Bob about 2 new PERI reports on Boosting Employment with Green Jobs.  (We’ve spoken with Bob twice in the past — once in a debate with Marc Gunther on green jobs, and once on green recovery.)

On the climate front, we heard a carbon critique of Cash for Clunkers by Gwen Ottinger of the Chemical Heritage Foundation in a show that also featured FireDogLake blog founder Jane Hamsher on keeping the public option in healthcare.

We featured a debate on biomass between Bob Saul of GMO Renewable Resources (who supported it as a climate solution) and Chris Matera of Massachusetts Forest Watch (who argues that it exacerbates climate change.)

Another debate focued on the Climate Bill, pitting Joe Romm of ClimateProgress (who cautiously supports the Waxman-Markey Climate Bill) against Carroll Muffett of Greenpeace, who opposes it.  (Joe Romm is a regular guest and commentator on the show.

The week after, we featured Rachel Cleetus of the Union of Concerned Scientists on the group’s National Blueprint for a Clean Energy Economy, Climate 2030 and David Goldberg about Transportation for America’s  Route to Reform.

Two weeks before, we heard Matt Madia of OMBWatch explain a provision in the climate bill that would strip the EPA of its authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.

In that same show, we spotlighted Stephan Faris talking about his new book, Forecast: The Consequences of Climate Change.

Coming up this fall, we’ll hear more from David Korten, as he discusses his book, The Great Turning.  And we’ll also hear about The Great Turning from the woman who coined the term, Joanna Macy.  And we will continue to cover the shifts to social, environmental, and economic sustainability, here on Sea Change.