Necrofauna & Necropipelines (575)

Stefan starts off the show with a review on "the price of oil" as it pertains to both economic externalities associated with oil production but also the human welfare cost in real lives of both oil workers and the communities these companies operate in. He follows the story of one particular case of 'sour gas' injuring workers as well as the larger story of the media narrative (or lack there of) that we hear about in the newspaper and on TV. Fear and money breed silence in Saskatchewan How the reporters in an historic Canadian journalism collaboration cornered a silent killer Wall government dodges questions about dangerous industry failures Our guest this week is Britt Wray, author of 'Rise of the Necrofauna: The Science, Ethics, and Risks of the De-Extinction'. Britt helps Saryn understand the technology involved in such a feat requires, the surprising array of companies already working on this technology (and how far they've already come) as well as the moral and logistical issues associated with implementing such a high-tech revitalization of the natural order. This topic is sure to evoke strong opinions on both sides, but like it or not these technologies are coming and the time to talk about them is now. The most important distinction to make here is that the purpose is NOT a 'Jurassic Park' style entertainment basis for such work, but rather the revitalization of devastation wrought by human actions over the last several hundred or thousands of years. Relax, dinosaurs are not coming back any time soon. Publisher Page for Rise of the Necrofauna Science is inching closer to bringing species back from extinction — but the rise of necrofauna has risks In the final section, Saryn and Stefan talk about the just announced cancelling of the TransCanada Energy East pipeline. Environmental activists are happy, many others are not but aside from discussing the news (and how it all happened) the hosts also discuss the most important component of why this story is important that the corporate media isn't talking about which is that this IS NOT a case of environment VS economy, and that really everyone should be happy about this (yes, even oil workers). Energy East pipeline: What you need to know Last stop for Energy East pipeline TransCanada terminates Energy East pipeline project