environment

Unplugging the Grid: Dr. Helen Caldicott’s Battle Against Nuclear Power

Bill Thompson

Do you know where your electricity comes from? Currently about 20% of America’s electricity is generated through nuclear power.

But activists like Dr. Helen Caldicott say that percentage should be zero.

For decades, the Australian-born doctor, who founded Physicians for Social Responsibility, has been lobbying hard against nuclear power. And nuclear weapons, as well.

And she has been a strong advocate for environmental issues generally, and for women’s rights.

When I interviewed her in 2006, it was for her book Nuclear Power is Not The Answer.

So here now, from 2006, Dr Helen Caldicott.

Dr. Helen Caldicott is 85 now. The Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC named her one of the most influential women of the 20th century.0

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Anita Roddick

Bill Thompson

In 1976 a British business woman started a small business to sell skin and hair care products.

But she also wanted it to reflect her ethics and values, including human rights, animal rights, and the environment.

Anita Roddick called her business The Body Shop.

Today The Body Shop has over 3,000 stores in 65 countries. But it is still loyal to Anita Roddick’s ethics and values.

In 2001 Roddick wrote a book called Business As Unusual, a look back at the sometimes-turbulent ‘90s for The Body Shop.

So here now from 2001, Anita Roddick.

Anita Roddick died in 2007. She was 64.

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Wangari Maathai

Bill Thompson

She was the first African woman to win the Nobel Prize.

Kenyan-born Wangari Maathai was educated in the U.S., then returned to Kenya and became a social, environmental and political activist

Photo: Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com

In 1977, when she was 37 years old, Wangari Maathai established what she called the “Green Belt Movement.”

What started as a modest effort to improve the environment and natural resources grew into a major environmental — and women’s rights — effort. And it frequently got Maathai in trouble.

I met her 14 years ago when she wrote a book about her life and her work.

Here now, from 2006, Wangari Maathai.

Wangari Maathai died in 2011 after fighting ovarian cancer at age 71. She is buried at the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies in Nairobi, Kenya.