To get a glimpse of how corporate-oriented trade deals, such as the currently proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, threaten both the public interest and national sovereignty, take a look at an innovative green energy initiative in Ontario, Canada. In the years following the 2008 global economic crash, Ontario moved forward on a climate action plan billed the “most comprehensive renewable energy policy” in the world. It would provide premium rates for renewable energy for businesses, local governments, and first nations, and a lot of local jobs with a requirement that a minimum percentage of the labor force and materials be local to Ontario. In “This Changes Everything,” her book on the climate crisis, Naomi Klein tells what happened next. Citing World Trade Organization rules, the European Union charged that the buy local provisions would discriminate against non-Ontario businesses. The WTO ruled the local laws were illegal, and the project, the improved local economy and contribution to climate action, were scuttled.

Although EBOLA has all but vanished from the news it is still not over by any measure. RN DeAnn McEwen, Nursing Practice, Health and Safety Specialist for National Nurses United joins Casey and Shayne to talk about current issues and remaining challenges in the fight.

NNU is especially alarmed at the serious threat for workers and residents of local communities near the refineries posed by unsafe staffing levels, excessive worker overtime demands, and the reports of daily occurrences of fires, emissions, leaks and explosions that put tens of thousands of people in danger.