Spirit in Action

Earth Movements & Music - Current Issues, Actions, and Songs

,p>A number of musicians sharing their songs about the environmental issues of our day (and progress being made) - fracking, frac sand mining, the loss of the honeybees, global warming, incineration, fossil fuels, and mining. Includes Si Kahn, Tom Neilson, Chuck LeMonds, Emma's Revolution, and Alice Di Micele.

Duration:: 55m
Broadcast on:: 20 Apr 2014
Audio Format:: other

[music] ♪ Let us sing this song for the healing of the world ♪ ♪ That we may hear as one ♪ ♪ With every voice of every song ♪ ♪ We will move this world along ♪ ♪ And our lives will feel the echo of our healing ♪ ♪ With every voice of every song ♪ Welcome to Spirit in Action. My name is Mark Helpsmeat. Each week, I'll be bringing you stories of people living lives of fruitful service, of peace, community, compassion, creative action, and progressive efforts. I'll be tracing the spiritual roots that support and nourish them in their service. Hoping to inspire and encourage you to sink deep roots and produce sacred fruit in your own life. ♪ Let us sing this song for the dreaming of the world ♪ ♪ That we may dream as one ♪ ♪ With every voice of every song ♪ ♪ We will move this world along ♪ There's a lot of special in today's Spirit in Action. There's five special guests, and they each bring special music with them, and there's special hope from each of them for the future of the planet Earth. It's easy to become hopeless and depressed by a steady stream of dire warnings, and while we absolutely need to expose the wrong turns, bad intentions, and threatening possibilities, we also need hope and a way into a better future. There can be a kind of adrenaline rush out of fear and anger and righteous indignation, and it can become kind of addictive, so I try to bring you guests that sure point out the bad things, but also show you the light out of the tunnel, and we've got five musicians here today to do just that. I'm recording this just before Earth Day, so I decided to track down folks with songs about the environmental issues of our day, and to bring them together for an inspirational music fest. The problem is, I found a lot more of them than can fit into a single hour, so we'll start off today and continue in the next couple weeks. First up is folk musician and lifetime activist and organizer, Sycon. If you tuned in last week, you'll have learned about the Pebble Mine at Bristol Bay, Alaska, and some of this interview overlaps with that info. Although last week, we also spoke with some other wonderful workers in the cause in Alaska, so it's worth a listen, all on its own. We're off to North Carolina right now, by phone, to speak with Sycon. Sy, welcome back to Spirit and Action, the special Earth Day edition. Mark, it's great to be back on the show. It has such an auspicious occasion. Yes, one of the most important holidays on my calendar, for sure. So, Sy, how much are you connected to environmentalism over your life? I mean, you've got all this activism with labor unions, workers, all kinds of things. How much with care for the Earth? You know, if it's care for the Earth, I believe that caring for the Earth's creatures is human and non-human creatures is absolutely critical. And so, to me, when you're working with coal miners who are living under distressed conditions, that's care for the Earth. You need to have the ability and the capacity to lead a healthy life for yourself and your family if you have one, in order to avoid doing harm to the Earth. So, to me, it's a seamless web. I used to argue with environmentalist friends who are, like, pure, like, no, no, no, you're working on the issue of brown lung, the disease, the textile mill workers get, cotton mill workers get. That's not environmentalism. And I used to say, if the air inside a factory is polluted, why is that different from air outside the factory being polluted? So, to me, environmental issues have always been central. Well, how did you get connected with Bristol Bay? We're going to be sharing your song, "Mushing to Save Bristol Bay." How did you get connected with that area? It's a little bit out of your pathway. The miracle of email, I managed to make it to 66 without ever having been to Alaska, and that was not a place I ever intended to go. Quite frankly, it was not on my, you know, bucket scot a hole in it list. But I got an email through my website from a commercial fisherman in Alaska named Dan Strickland who told me about this pending environmental disaster of gigantic proportions known as the pebble mine. This is a proposed gold and copper mine in the headwaters of the rivers where half of the sockeye salmon left in the world spawn every year. It would be an open pit mine, two and a half miles wide, three quarters of a mile deep. It would have 12 billion, not 12 million, 12 billion tons of sulfuric acid-laced toxic waste, and it would leave a footprint forever. It would be the sort of environmental devastation that you see from the moon. And basically, this commercial fisherman named Dan Strickland told me about the very broad coalition of Alaska natives of people who fish commercially, people who fish for sport, of people who work in the fishing industry, the packing houses, the catteries of environmentalists, of progressive people to stop the pebble mine. And he said, "We need the theme song." He said, "I can't pay you to do this, but I can get you to Alaska." He said, "Just come here and write us a theme song." And he said, "Oh, you know what? What could you do?" How could you turn that off or like that? It is where my heart is. It's an issue that links what classical environmentalists would say. Yes, that is an environmental issue. But it's also a cultural survival issue because on the rivers that drain into Bristol Bay are Alaska native villages that have been there for 50,000 years since the ancestors of those living there now came over on the land bridge from Siberia. And these villagers speak languages understood in Easter Siberia. It is a working people's issue. If the mine is built and that destroys the fishing industry, thousands of workers will lose their jobs and their ability to make a living. So for me, it's a perfect storm issue, something that joins human rights, cultural survival, native rights, workers' rights, and classic environmentalism. And it includes a woman from Wisconsin, Monica Zappa. Tell me about her. Monica Zappa, proud daughter of Wisconsin, learned dog sled racing. Her parents, mother and father were both mushers in a magnificent term that we use for dog sled racing. So Monica grew up as a skilled dog sled racer, as a skilled musher, and decided one day, well, close to a doctorate in geology at Tulane, that her role in life was to run the idea of the last great race that commemorates a dog sled race in the 1920s that saved the lives of the children of gnome during a depth theory of epidemic when 20 dogs that teams in the winter, wind and cold of Alaska winter ran almost 1,000 miles to bring the serum from Anchorage to gnome. She just completed her first idea to run. And when I met her last summer at Salem Soccer Festival, created by one of the organizations that's fighting to stop the pebble mind, to bring awareness about this issue to people. When I met Monica Zappa last summer, she was at a booth that said "mushing for Bristol Bay." And there were pictures of her dogs, her dog sled team, wearing jackets that had to stop the pebble mind logo. And on the dog truck, on her gear, stopped the pebble mind. So we talked, I brought her by the booth for Musicians United to Protect Bristol Bay. That's an organization that Dan Strickland and I started together with former Alaska State Senator Suzanne Little. I took her by the booth to meet Suzanne. And another Wisconsin resident, Stephen Lee Rich, a great stand-up comic and musician who's the volunteer lead organizer for Musicians United to Protect Bristol Bay. You begin to see the mysterious Wisconsin Alaska connection. It's all a plot. So we agreed that we would be Monica's lead sponsor for the editor on. And that we would work with her on media, on connections, and on getting her really profoundly powerful and moving story out, she didn't just run it wearing our logo and stop the pebble mind logos. At every checkpoint on the idea rod where there was an actual village, a living village, she left packets of information, she talked to the children, she deliberately delayed her own race so that she could be a living presence to the need to stop the pebble mind and to protect the people, the jobs, the communities, the cultures, the languages, and the wild sockeye salmon of Bristol Bay forever. So for me, it's a truly heroic act. This year, the idea rod was the toughest. It's been in decades. The winds were up to 65 miles an hour. Sledge got literally blown off the track and the tangles of driftwood. There were places where because of global warming. It was such a warm winter in Alaska. You, in Wisconsin, had much colder weather. It was 40 in Anchorage when it was below zero in Wisconsin. We stole some of their cold, yeah? They're not happy about it, Mark. They're coming after you. I just want you to know that. The bushes were running for, you know, mile after mile on solid ground on rocks. At 19th of the 69 starters dropped out by the end of the race, but monarchs across the finish line. Wow. And Elizabeth Middington, my longtime partner at Spousellite, we stayed up late and we watched on through the magic of how her birthday get the pictures from gnome to Charlotte or Carolina. We watched her cross the finish line and bless her heart. As Monica Zappa got off for a sled, imagine 975 miles through bitter winter and a wind 13 days alone on the trail. She stepped off of her sled. The cameras came in on her and she said, "I'm Monica Zappa, I am mushing to stop the Purple Mine and to protect Crystal Bay." And then Tim Ozmar, her partner, a very famous, I did a road racer who's run at 26 times. Tim raced up with a banner that said, "Clean water, wild salmon, and the stock pebble logo in the middle." And they unfurled it for the cameras. I would have been lying face down on this dough asleep. In musicians United to protect Crystal Bay are magnificent media guru, a couple of cultural strategies incorporated in New York said, "So you have to write her a song." And I said, "Paul, I'm tired. I've written too many songs. I don't have it in me." He said, "It's due this week." So I wrote a song. It's called "Mushing to Saint Bristol Bay" and it's about Monica Zappa. But by the way, the really good news is that the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency, has initiating procedures, under Section 404(c) of the Environmental Protection Act, has established the EPA that will lead to the closing of the mind. This is something everybody in listening range of your program needs to know about, because in June there will be a comment period. And we need hundreds of thousands of comments saying, "No, this is a critical environmental crisis. The Bristol Bay area has got to be protected, it's got to be preserved, and we need to do the right thing. This is an environmental issue, but it's also an issue for our times." It's definitely an issue for our times. Si, you're always doing good work no matter where you're focusing your attention. And I'm glad that you've given some of the Bristol Bay. This is SiCon rocking it out with "Mushing to Saint Bristol Bay." What's that covered around the mountain? Kicking up the snow in their tracks. It's Monica Zappa and her team of Huskies they're running and they won't turn back. Out on the "I did a rough trail." The dogs are pulling on the lines. A strong young woman stands on the runners, "Mushing to stop the pebble mind." A cold moon rises at the edge of the world. The sky has nothing more to say. No sound to be heard but the crinkly of the snow. "Mushing to Saint Bristol Bay." "Mushing to Saint Bristol Bay." It's twenty degrees below zero. That's your bottom dollar that's cold. We're running up the pros in Yukon River and I hope that the ice will hold. Out on the "I did a rough trail." The dogs are pulling on the lines. A strong young woman stands on the runners, "Mushing to stop the pebble mind." A cold moon rises at the edge of the world. The sky has nothing more to say. No sound to be heard but the crinkly of the snow. "Mushing to Saint Bristol Bay." "Mushing to Saint Bristol Bay." [music] We'll race from Willow to White Mountain. We'll run from White Mountain to Nome. Our courage will take us there safely. Like the salmon we'll find our way home. [music] Out on the "I did a rough trail." The dogs are pulling on the lines. A strong young woman stands on the runners, "Mushing to stop the pebble mind." A cold moon rises at the edge of the world. The sky has nothing more to say. No sound to be heard but the crinkly of the snow. "Mushing to Saint Bristol Bay." "Mushing to Saint Bristol Bay." "Mushing to Saint Bristol Bay." [music] This icon and his song "Mushing to Saint Bristol Bay." Remember that you can check out the full hour interview with Sy and three other Alaskan Bristol Bay activists on NortonSpiritRadio.org where you also find some more related music. Right now, for our Earth Day 2014 special, we'll talk to a musician called Czech Lomans who lived the earlier part of his life in my area of Wisconsin but has been over in Austria for quite some time. And he's got a song about honeybees. Czech Lomans joins us via Skype from Austria. Hey Chuck, I'm really pleased you could join me for this special Earth Day edition of Spirit in Action. Mark, thanks for calling. Thanks for asking me to take part. And you're the only person in this interview who I'm talking to in Austria because even though you have lived in Eau Claire where I live, you've been over there for a couple decades now, right? Yeah, it's been about 23 years. I moved over here like in 1991. And you have a pretty long standing connection with folk music. Do you also have a major connection with environmentalism? Is that a big deal for you? Of course, it's always been important for me. And I answer your question about folk music. I mean, that's basically where I started, you know, listening to folk music and songwriters. And, you know, just recently with Pete Seeger dying, I realized how much he influenced me just with writing topical songs, political songs. And I didn't think about it until that time. And I've written a lot of different political songs about many different topics. So that is a part of my music. So what is it that's so compelling about the little tiny insect called the B to you? Well, I guess it was between three and four years ago. I read an article for the first time about millions of bees dying at one time in America and in Europe. And the connection to pesticides, neonicotinoids. And I just started thinking about that. I'd never thought before about the importance of what bees do for pollination and the important role they play. You know, I guess we learn all that in biology. But I hadn't really thought about the connection for a long time. It just was quite deeply moved by it. And that's the reason I ended up writing this song, which I released on a new album to be or not to be about the bees. And also about the connection, you know, with Monsanto and buyer, pharmacy, who some of the largest producers of the neonicotinoids that are used by a lot of farmers worldwide. Is the situation any better there in Europe and particularly Austria, where you're currently located? They've all got them here since. I mean, but, you know, they didn't happen so easily. There was such a strong lobby for using them. And, you know, all the arguments were that it's not the pesticides. It's some kind of a might that is destroying the beehives, which probably does play some kind of role. But I think there's definitely enough proof showing that the pesticides are weakening their immune system. So I'm really thankful that the parliament in Austria outlawed these pesticides within Austria. But Monsanto is working really hard and buyer to keep them on the market European wide. I think there has been a moratorium put on them in Europe, generally, if I'm not mistaken. But, you know, this constantly being attacked and they're trying to get it back on the market. But in Austria, it's definitely outlawed, yes. So it is better than in America. I haven't heard anything about America deciding not to use these pesticides. Yeah, I'm afraid we're not keeping up with Europe there. How about GMOs? Well, in Europe, they're basically from what I understand. They're not real welcome here. Definitely not welcome in Austria. Austria has just a really high level of food culture here. It has one of the highest levels of organic farmers per capita of any country in the world is what I heard. I don't know if that's still the case. But people here in Austria seem to have a real appreciation for good quality food. And they don't want to have gene manipulated food. And I don't think it's just because of a superstition. It's just because nobody knows what's going to happen to people eating gene manipulated foods. And I kind of like that. I really appreciate that fact because I can go down to our farmers market, you know, two kilometers away on Saturday and on Wednesdays. And there's probably four or five very good organic farmers there and other farmers who are offering really good products too, you know. So I like the fact that I have a good food source. And, you know, the whole thing about getting beef and different meats just pumped with antibiotics. And, you know, I don't know what else they use, growth hormones. They don't have that here. That's not allowed. And do they have more bees than what we have here? Do you know if there's more bees? When's the last time you were stung? Well, I've been stung for a long time. Let me put it like that. And I'll tell you, it's springtime here now. The daffodils are out and, you know, there's already trees starting to bloom. But I'll tell you, last year, last spring, I didn't see hardly any bees for the longest time. And throughout the summer, you know, I didn't see any. But I noticed that there's two blooming trees in our yard and they were covered with bees last week when it was warm. And I was happy to see that, to be honest with you, because it concerned me last year. So there has been a definite decline. And it's only been a couple of years that they stopped using the pesticide in Austria. I'm not real sure what effect that has really had at this point. But it's been a problem. There's been, you know, I'd say in the last sense, I've become aware of the issue. There's been a couple of years where they were saying that, like, millions of bees had died. Now, we don't have the same situation here in Austria where beekeepers, like an America truck, millions of bees out to California, and that's one thing that fascinated me when I started reading up on these issues. You know, the trucking bees out there to pollinate the almonds and different fruit trees. And it's kind of like shocking to me, you know. Okay, if America's a much bigger country, you know, but we have about seven to eight million people living in Austria. But the way they use bees, like in an industrial form, is not heard of here. Well, I appreciate you, through your music, bringing attention to this, something that's going to really affect our lives. Thank you for writing to be or not to be, including, I don't know, it's got kind of flight over the bumblebee, or at least flight over honeybee in there. You've got a little Shakespeare. You've got it all in there plus some nice education. So thanks for doing that, Chuck. Well, just want to point out the bass player who played the counter bass. His name is Peter Herbert. He's an Austrian. But he's lived in between Paris and New York and has played with, like, Paul Simon. And many of the top jazz players who are out on the scene, or some of them have already passed away. So, real grateful they've had him, especially on this song. And I'm like, "Wow, I want to point that out." The artist sharing with us today is Chuck Lomans, and the song is "To Be or Not To Be." ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Chuck Lomans and his song "To Be or Not To Be," one of the environmental issues, part of today's "Spirit and Action, Earth Day Special." This is "Spirit in Action," an Northern Spirit radio production on the web at northernspiritradio.org, with close to nine years of programs for free listening and download. Use our RSS feed or subscribe via iTunes, and on our site you can find links to and info about all of our fine guests. You can make our communication two-way by posting your comments, and you can click "Donate" to make this program possible. You're a vital part of the work. Also remember to support your local community radio station with your hands and wallet, because there's no other source like it of alternative news and music. Start there. We're looking at the environmental issues of 2014 today in Word and Song, looking for both what needs fixing and the kind of fixing that's going on. Our next guest is right here in Eau Claire with me. I've had Tom Nielsen on my show several times before, so check that out on northernspiritradio.org. Right now I want to welcome you, Tom, back to "Spirit in Action." Thank you, Mark. It's good to be back. You do a range of music on all of the social issues of the day, but of course environmental is one of the things that you're concerned about. What environmental issues have captured your attention over the last several years? Over the last few years I have done a lot of fundraisers, written a lot of songs for people working on everything from nuclear waste to mountaintop, removal to fracking to various forms of incineration. One event that I was very, very much part of the leadership of was stopping an incinerator that they were trying to put into our town in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and we had a very successful campaign against it. We actually stopped foreign incinerators that they wanted to put three in western mass and one in southern Vermont. It was a done deal by the town government, by the state government, and I was brought into it very serendipitously just, I thought I was really up on events and things happening in my town, but I did not know anything about this incinerator, this power plant using trees to generate energy, which we weren't even going to get any of. It was all going out on the grid and it was less than half of a percent and burning clear, cutting our trees to supposedly create green and renewable energy, but all the science that is out shows that it is not clean, it's not green, and cutting trees is probably one of the worst things we can do is probably one of the biggest contributors to global warming. One of the things that happened to know about this campaign was that usually you think of the tree huggers, the earth-loving liberals who were part of the movement, you had a much wider coalition in this case. And this, when we deal with an issue, it brings people out who are really concerned about the issue and protecting their communities, and that was the case here in Greenfield, where we had people who called themselves a knee party or called themselves Republican or people who didn't call themselves anything, but it was a real people's collective effort to get information out and to stop these power plants from going in. The democratic leadership in the state was very, very pro biomass, and then the politicians, you know, running under that Democrat umbrella were pro biomass, and so it was definitely a collective effort. They had the money, and pretty much they had the media, they had the local paper, it was pro biomass, they had the town government, the town council at the start of this some four or five years ago was 12 to one in favor of incineration, and one of the things we did was start getting our own people interested in town government and running, and a year ago, I think it was a new town council voted 11 to zero with one abstention for a moratorium on all ways to energy, so it really did demonstrate the collective power of people to take control of their communities, and it was, you know, something that they can all, we can all be very, very proud of. And you chronicle some of the dangers, some of the issues involved in that in your song Biomess, which is also a title song for the album. On that album, there's another song that I'd like to share right now. It's called Solstice Morning. It's not a happy ending song. It's actually some of the dire consequences that can come from how we produce our energy. Let's say a little bit about Solstice Morning. It's certainly how we produce our energy, but more important to me is that people trust those people who produce our energy when they continually say it's safe. There's nothing to worry about. We know what we're doing. Fracking isn't going to harm your water supplies when we know it does. Mountain tapering mobile has destroyed communities, and I think something like over 100,000 miles of streams in Appalachia. And that was the case with Kingston Fossil Fuel Company. This die could blown out twice before it had not been fixed appropriately. And on the Solstice Morning in 2008, December Solstice, it broke again. It was very slow moving. It broke about four in the morning. And everybody got out and no one died. But you can go online and take a look at the pictures along the Emory River. And no one's going to live in Harriman, Tennessee any time too soon. It's a big, super fun site. And what was spilling was collash, slurry spill that was happening. The song we're going to listen to right now, Solstice Morning is by Tom Nielsen. You'll find him at tomnilsommusic.com. Find the link from nerdinspiritradio.org. Tom, thanks for your work consistently raising these issues, calling attention and trying to help people mobilize together to be effective for the Earth and people's interests. Thank you, Mark. And thank you for keeping the music and the work alive. Solstice Morning, Tom Nielsen. Solstice Morning, Harriman Way. Compliments of the TVA. Break through your window, flow through door. Fill up your home to the second floor. Four billion gallons of sludge and collash. Wear kinks and fossils, thinkin' their stash. Those cold ashpons are takin' time brown. Of chromium, cadmium, and barium. That dark cloudin' 84. Mixin' slurry and sludge from the mountain horn. Get blue out and get in 2003. Send a message to Harriman, Tennessee. Send a message to Harriman, Tennessee. Run the emery to Tennessee, all that spills in. To the Ohio, down the Mississippi, to the Delta Gulf. Into the Gulf of Mexico. Pours in the Gulf of Mexico. Clean calls up fairytale, we don't need. Just a corporate sale of pollution and rain. Arsenate, mercury, nickel, and lead. We're all lying in the banks of the river there. Don't eat the fish, don't swim in the river. Water first, not just from eatin' their dinner. Don't drink the water, breathe the air bouquet. 'Cause you're suckin' coal ash from the TV. Run the emery to Tennessee, all that spills in. To the Ohio, down the Mississippi, to the Delta Gulf. All lying to the Delta Gulf of Mexico. Pours in the Gulf of Mexico. Now Obama says that CO2 can be captured and reunited for you. But captured, clean coal technology. This redirecting down the Tennessee. Redirecting down the Tennessee. From the emery to the Tennessee, all that spills in. To the Ohio, down the Mississippi, to the Delta Gulf. Into the Gulf of Mexico. Pours in the Gulf of Mexico. That was Tom Nielsen and a beautiful, if sad song, Solstice Morning. I'd be remiss for this spirit and action Earth Day if I didn't in some way address the global climate change crisis. So our next guest is Pat Humphries, half of the awesome duo called Emma's Revolution. And we'll get her on the phone right now while she's between planes at the airport. Pat, welcome back once more to Spirit and Action. Thank you so much. I'm having you here today because of your song, Kill 'em and Jarrow. Global warming, obviously looming as a primary concern for so many of us. Especially as Earth Day approaches, we're looking at Earth as a whole and seeing the issues. How did you get connected to the issue of global warming and Kill 'em and Jarrow? Well, specifically, actually we were called by a local organization in the DC area called the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. To seeing that one of their first demonstrations actually outside the White House about global warming climate change. They said to us, "Can you throw a little climate change into your set?" And we sort of scratched our heads thinking, "How do you throw a little climate change into your set?" But just the day before, we had read an article about how the 11,000 year old ice on Mount Kill 'em and Jarrow was melting. And to my mind, that was a permanent ice cap and we did a little research on it. And that's what all the books said at that time, that that ice cap was permanent. We, at the same time, learned about all of these small -- it was an alliance of small island nations. And we learned that a bunch of these islands were beginning to disappear. So that sort of sparked Sandy to come up with that line. Oh, people were saying that in this follow-up article about all these kind of what seemed like wacky ideas to save the ice cap on Kill 'em and Jarrow. They were thinking about putting a big tarp over top of it to see if that would actually stem the change. And no mention of us actually changing our behavior, so we thought it was also ridiculous. Sandy came up with that line, "Oh, Kill 'em and Jarrow." And we just sort of took off from there. Do you see any hope? I mean, you have contact with a lot of environmentally active folks. Climate change and dealing with global warming. Do you see signs of hope anywhere? Well, you know, with how rapidly the climate is actually warming, it's hard to say whether measures that people are taking are going to happen fast enough. You know, they're going to be enough of them. But it does seem everywhere we go that we run into more and more people that are not only getting it, but changing their behavior dramatically. You know, I just talked to somebody yesterday who -- she and her husband actually moved into a trailer in the town that they live in. And, you know, it's not -- it wasn't like part of their class generally to even do something like that, but they wanted to stay in their area. And they wanted to have a smaller footprint in general, and they wanted to be closer to their work so that they could bicycle the work. I thought that was a really interesting approach. And, you know, more and more folks that were sort of deniers, or at least resistant to this idea. I see not only them sort of coming to the realization that this is really happening because they see the evidence all the time now, but taking steps to minimize their impact on the Earth in general. Yes, I do see those people. We have a transition town movement active here in Eau Claire, where I live in Wisconsin, which maybe goes a little bit countercultural because we've had one of the coldest winters on record here. But, of course, global climate change predicts that kind of thing, the fact that Alaska is a lot warmer than it usually is. Right. Well, people are calling it climate chaos, you know, even because it's not only -- I mean, it's all a result of the warming. You know, we're having these erratic tornado seasons and hurricane season, things like that. Well, let's get to the music. We're going to play now from Emma's Revolution. That's Pat Humphries and Sandio Kilimanjaro. Thank you so much, Pat, for joining me for Spirit and Action again. Thank you. Thank you for covering your topic, you people. What happened for 11,000 years? Ancient ice and the snow is melting like 11,000 tears down the phase of Kilimanjaro. We're time itself is frozen, suspended in the air. Now the water flows on Kilimanjaro, damaging the essence of our atmosphere. Threatens our existence, Kilimanjaro. Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro. Kilimanjaro, where the ocean meets the rivers and the bays, watch their waters rise. Reclaiming the food drylands yesterday, right before our eyes. From Tuba Lake to Tonga, shores and New Orleans, Venice de Jamaica, Kilimanjaro. From South Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, flooding from the tears of Kilimanjaro. Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro. Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro. Kilimanjaro, what will be in 11,000 years? Will we be at all? Will humans have realized our fears, or will we heed this call? We have burned our image on the old sky, squandering our privilege, Kilimanjaro. The glacial ice is falling, and corporations lie, covering and stalling, Kilimanjaro. We can see you crying, and we can find the ear. What we've been denying, Kilimanjaro. We can stop the earning, we can stop the tears. We are finally learning, we are finally learning, we are finally learning. Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro. Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro. Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro. Great music by the duo called Emma's Revolution, and we just spoke to Pat Humphries. There's so much more we could talk about around global warming and climate change, or climate chaos. But right now, we've got one last guest, and the topic is fracking. We'll have more guests next week about further environmental issues and music of our day. Right now, we'll be calling up prolific songwriter and enduring activist, Alice Demacelli. Alice, I'm so pleased to talk to you again after, I think, three years. Yeah, thank you so much, Mark. I'm glad to be talking to you again, too. I tracked you down for this Earth Day special, Alice. Normally, you're in Oregon, but I understand you're down in Colorado. What are you doing there? I flew into play of benefit for the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center. It's a Gary Ball memorial, Gary is an old friend of mine, activist from Mendocino County, California. And he and his life study moved to Boulder many years ago. Gary has since left us, but Betty is still carrying on, and she's put on this memorial concert for me every year. So, I'm really honored to be down here playing this show, and then I'm doing several of those shows here as well. So, I'm just doing a little mini tour for the weekend. I'm very excited. Last time you were on Song of the Soul, this is Spirit in Action, about Earth Day. You, in general, are very concerned about environmental stuff. Oh, of course, yeah. I mean, I've been activist for 30 years now. We're going to be sharing a song today that's about fracking, and I don't know that they're doing any fracking in Oregon where you live. How did you connect with fracking concerns? Well, they're doing fracking in California. I live really close to the border of California. They're starting to do more fracking in California, and they want to frack in Oregon, and they want to frack all over the planet. I was actually up late one night. I think I was in a hotel room or something, watching this movie about fracking. And it just overtook me. And so, within several days, I was sort of -- I felt like I was possessed. And then the song came out, and I kind of felt like, "Okay, well, I'm channeling an organic farmer in Pennsylvania in order to write the song." I haven't met the person who it's really about yet, so I'm imagining one of these days I'm going to get a phone call, or I'm going to get an email from someone saying, "You wrote this song about me, but until then, I'm just going to keep singing it." So it's not my own personal experience, but it's what I gathered from reading a lot about fracking and hearing a lot about fracking and watching this movie about fracking. There were several shows in a row on it, and I was sort of in saw me at one night. So I was educating myself on the subject, you know, so it just becomes from that, and I'm happy to share it with the world. It's going to be coming out on an album next year that I won't be releasing probably until January, but in the meantime, if anyone finds up for my email list on my website, they can have a copy of the song for free. You can download it for free, because I think it's just a really important song to get out there, so. And that website is allasthemacelli.com. If you can't spell Demacelli, come to Nordenspiritradio.org. I'll have a link to her, of course. And you can also listen to my previous interview with her. I entitled it "Made Out of Water," which is named one of her songs. You have a real connection, I think, to water, don't you, Alice? Absolutely, absolutely. I'm a whitewater kayaker, and a raft guide, and those are things that I love, but I've just always been connected to the rain and to the water. And it's interesting, because where I grew up in New Jersey, you know, we were told not to touch the water, because it was poison. But I've always been a water lover, and I've always loved swimming, and just, you know, I love rivers, and so, yeah, I'm definitely a water girl. And so, therefore, all the more obvious, why you'd be connected with this fracking, which, in places like Pennsylvania, is just poisoning the underground water. Yeah, I mean, you know, even one of the lines in the songs is, you know, it all comes down to water. No one can argue with that. I think that's really true. You can't argue with that. If it's water, you know, if we destroy our water, we don't exist anymore. You know, there's nothing to argue about. There's nothing to think about. There's nothing to talk about, because if we don't have clean water, we cannot survive. Period. So, a song urging us to survival. The song is, "I Want My Old Life Back." Alice DiMacelli here today for Spirit in Action. Thank you so much, Alice. Thank you so much, Mark. I really appreciate you having me on, and I appreciate you playing this song, and I appreciate all the other wonderful music you're playing on your show, too. So, thank you. We say goodbye to our last guest for today's Earth Day special, Alice DiMacelli. Website AliceDiMacelli.com, or check out the link via NordenspiritRadio.org. We'll have more music, environmental concerns, and achievements next week, but we'll finish off today with Alice's song, "I Want My Old Life Back." And we'll see you next week for Spirit in Action. ♪ I had a farm in Pennsylvania ♪ ♪ These were maker but my life was good ♪ ♪ Until the energy boom came to my town ♪ ♪ And I ain't nobody living in my old neighborhood ♪ ♪ There ain't nobody living in the old neighborhood ♪ ♪ You see it all comes down to water ♪ ♪ No one can argue with that ♪ ♪ My well's been poisoned, my pond is dead ♪ ♪ Ain't no amount of money gonna ever bring it back ♪ ♪ No amount of money could never bring it back ♪ ♪ So break you ♪ ♪ Your natural gas ain't nothing natural about that ♪ ♪ Break you ♪ ♪ And your chemical wealth ♪ ♪ I want my old life back ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ We farmers hold this land as sacred ♪ ♪ Westerns of a divine trust ♪ ♪ But these corporations ♪ ♪ They only worship profit ♪ ♪ They go book for home until it's by ♪ ♪ They go book for home until it's by ♪ ♪ But what if the people would stand up ♪ ♪ And say make it clean now what we ain't gonna pay ♪ ♪ 'Cause I do believe with all of our technology ♪ ♪ But Jesus, gotta be awake, gotta be awake, gotta be awake ♪ ♪ Gotta be awake, gotta be awake, gotta be awake ♪ ♪ Now I moved east all into Philly ♪ ♪ And my new neighbors are nice enough ♪ ♪ Got myself a job working in the deli ♪ ♪ Oh how I miss the land and this is more than a little rock ♪ ♪ Oh yeah I miss my land and this is more than a little touch ♪ ♪ So rock you ♪ ♪ Your natural gas ain't nothing natural about that ♪ ♪ Rock you ♪ ♪ Your chemical wells ♪ ♪ I want my old life back ♪ ♪ I want my old life back ♪ ♪ I want my old life back ♪ The theme music for this program is "Turning of the World" performed by Sarah Thompson. This spirit in action program is an effort of Northern Spirit Radio. You can listen to our programs and find links and information about us and our guests on our website, northernspiritradio.org. Thank you for listening. I am your host, Mark Helpsmeet, and I welcome your comments and stories of those leading lives of spiritual fruit. May you find deep roots to support you and grow steadily toward the light. It is spirit in action. ♪ With every voice ♪ ♪ With every song ♪ ♪ We will move this world along ♪ ♪ With every voice ♪ ♪ With every song ♪ ♪ We will move this world along ♪ ♪ And our lives will feel the echo of our healing ♪ (upbeat music)