POWER STRUGGLE CONTINUES -- Nuclear Power Series on Facebook Live in May
Free Speech TV will host
POWER STRUGGLE CONTINUES, a four-part series of half-hour Facebook Live conversations about nuclear power, safety, waste, and environmental justice, beginning on Wednesday, May 1 at 2 pm ET. New episodes of
POWER STRUGGLE CONTINUES will go live on Free Speech TV’s Facebook page (
Facebook.com/FreeSpeechTV) at 2 pm ET every Wednesday through May 22.
The Facebook Live series POWER STRUGGLE CONTINUES extends the conversation around and supplements FSTV’s continued on-air broadcasts of POWER STRUGGLE, filmmaker Robbie Leppzer’s timely documentary chronicling a successful grassroots citizens’ effort to shut down an aging nuclear power plant in Vermont.
Robbie Leppzer will serve as the moderator for each Facebook Live panel discussion, which will feature candid and far-reaching conversations with activists featured in POWER STRUGGLE, as well as national nuclear safety watchdogs, organizational advocates, and representatives of communities directly impacted by production of nuclear energy.
For more information about the POWER STRUGGLE CONTINUES Facebook Live series, and broadcast times for POWER STRUGGLE, visit:
POWER STRUGGLE CONTINUES: Nuclear Waste (Episode 1) • May 1 at 2pm ET / 11am PT [See recording here.]
Filmmaker Robbie Leppzer examines the long-term public health hazards from high-level radioactive waste generated from nuclear power plants, and specific proposals to site nuclear waste dumps in Latino and indigenous communities in New Mexico, Texas and Nevada. Program guests include: Kevin Kamps, nuclear waste specialist at Beyond Nuclear, Ian Zabarte, Principal Man of the Western Bands of the Shoshone Nation of Indians in Nevada, and Rose Gardner, cofounder of Alliance For Environmental Strategies, based in New Mexico and Texas.
POWER STRUGGLE CONTINUES: Economics of Nuclear Energy (Episode 2) • May 8 at 2pm ET / 11am PT
Filmmaker Robbie Leppzer examines the economics of nuclear power and the prospects for renewable energy alternatives, how nuclear power is viewed within the climate justice movement, and how nuclear energy issues are covered in the mainstream media. Program guests include Harvey Wasserman, author of SOLARTOPIA!, Tim Judson, executive director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, and Libbe HaLevy, producer and host of the weekly podcast NUCLEAR HOTSEAT.
POWER STRUGGLE CONTINUES: Nuclear Safety (Episode 3) • May 15 at 2pm ET / 11am PT
Filmmaker Robbie Leppzer examines current safety issues regarding nuclear power plants across the United States, particularly the 21 operating Mark One reactors that have the same design flaws as the Fukushima reactors that melted down in Japan, along with a look at the ongoing nuclear disaster at Fukushima itself. Program guests include nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen and Maggie Gundersen, President of Fairewinds Energy Education (both are featured in POWER STRUGGLE).
POWER STRUGGLE CONTINUES: Indigenous Impact (Episode 4) • May 22 at 2pm ET / 11am PT
Filmmaker Robbie Leppzer examines the public health consequences of uranium mining and proposed nuclear waste dumps on indigenous communities. Program guests include Leona Morgan (Diné or Navajo), an activist opposing uranium mining and proposed nuclear waste dumps in New Mexico, and Charmaine White Face (Lakota), who is fighting to clean up abandoned open-pit uranium mines in South Dakota.
All Facebook Live video conversations in the
POWER STRUGGLE CONTINUES series will be subsequently posted on this page, as well as on Free Speech TV’s Facebook page at
Facebook.com/FreeSpeechTV, and will be available for additional free distribution and re-postings.
About Power Struggle
Filmed over five years, this feature-length documentary chronicles the heated battle to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, located on the banks of the Connecticut River in southern Vermont. The film captures perspectives on all sides of the controversy, including from local residents both for and against nuclear power, elected officials (including Sen. Bernie Sanders and Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin), nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen, a Vermont Yankee spokesperson, and federal nuclear regulators.
Power Struggle is a timely, inspiring story of democracy in action. It’s a story about whether citizens’ voices will be heard against big moneyed interests, and what people are doing locally right now to make a difference for a sustainable energy future.
About Robbie Leppzer
Robbie Leppzer is an award-winning independent documentary filmmaker and radio producer based in Wendell, Massachusetts, who has directed more than 30 documentaries over the past 40 years. His critically acclaimed feature-length and short documentaries, as well as commissioned television news magazine segments, about contemporary social issues have been broadcast by CNN International, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, HBO/Cinemax, PBS, CNN, Sundance Channel, HDNet, Free Speech TV, Link TV, National Public Radio, and Pacifica Radio.
From the environmental protests of the 1970s, to the growing global peace, social justice and environmental movements of the new millennium, Leppzer has chronicled grassroots social movements over the last four decades.
“I film stories of people who stick their necks out to take risks for grassroots social change and build bridges across cultures,” said Leppzer.
About Free Speech TV
Free Speech TV is a national, independent, nonprofit news network committed to advancing progressive social change. As the alternative to media networks owned by billionaires, governments and corporations, Free Speech TV elevates unique perspectives through daily news programs, independent documentaries and special events coverage.
Free Speech TV reaches more than 38 million households nationally on DISH (channel 9415), DIRECTV (348), Sling TV, and over 150 community cable affiliates. Free Speech TV streams live 24/7 at
freespeech.org, is available on-demand and streaming on Roku and Apple TV, and maintains an active presence on
Facebook,
Twitter, and
Instagram. Free Speech TV believes a more just and democratic world is possible when the media empowers people with the information they need to fight for what matters.
Wednesday’s regular segment, Beyond Nuclear, is about nuclear issues, including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Sputnik news analyst and producer Nicole Roussell, join the show.
May 30, 2019