Saving the Bay - Lessons Learned for Rhode Island

Rhode Island has a love, respect and pride in its beautiful Narragansett Bay. We play in it, live around it, and depend on it for many a livelihood. Awareness of this natural treasure - and the hard work it takes to keep it pristine - is due in part to the local organization, Save The Bay.

Starting this week, for the next four Wednesdays (May 11 through June 1), at 10 p.m., WSBE Rhode Island PBS will air a series about another beautiful bay, one all the way across the continent.

Narrated by Robert Redford, Saving the Bay explores the history of one of America’s greatest natural resources — San Francisco Bay — with four one-hour episodes tracing the Bay from its geologic origins following the last Ice Age through years of catastrophic exploitation to restoration efforts of today. This spectacular high-definition series takes viewers on an unforgettable journey around the waters of San Francisco Bay and the larger northern California watershed from the Sierra Nevada mountains to the Farallon Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

The series also highlights the story of three women who rallied an entire region to save San Francisco Bay from becoming little more than a river. Spearheaded by three women in the East Bay hills, the story of how the Bay was saved is not only compelling in its own right, but offers an invaluable lesson about how ordinary citizens can have an impact on protecting and enhancing our natural environment.

Conceived as more than purely a public television series, Saving the Bay is a huge public education endeavor designed to raise awareness of San Francisco Bay — it’s evolution, how we almost lost and then saved the Bay, and how we are planning the future of the Bay including wetland restoration, increased public access and balancing the often competing needs of a fragile ecosystem which is the centerpiece of a major urban area home to over 7 million people.

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits over the air on 36.1, and is carried on Cox cable 08/HD 708, Verizon 08/HD 508, Full Channel 08, Dish 7776, DirecTV 36, Comcast HD 819; Massachusetts subscribers of Comcast standard definition should check local listings for channel designation.

Beyond the Light Switch

Comprehensive and timely, BEYOND THE LIGHT SWITCH adds a much-needed and balanced perspective to a national energy debate that will surely become more heated and more critical than anything since health care.

BEYOND THE LIGHT SWITCH airs at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays, May 11 (Part 1) and May 18 (Part 2), with re-broadcast at 12:30 a.m. on Fridays, May 13 (Part 1) and 20 (Part 2). WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits over the air on 36.1, and is seen on Cox cable 08/HD 708, Verizon 08/HD 508, Full Channel 08, Dish 7776, DirecTV 36, Comcast HD 819; Massachusetts subscribers of Comcast standard definition should check local listings for channel designation.

By 2050, America must completely transform its entire electrical infrastructure, a challenge equal to the mobilization efforts for World War II.

To do this, we must rebuild most of our existing electric power plant infrastructure, cut carbon dioxide emissions by 80%, and completely update our power grid – while simultaneously accommodating an expected thirty percent increase in demand. Our modern lives depend upon electricity. But what is the answer? Renewables? Coal? Natural gas? Nuclear? A super grid? It's a complicated and confusing issue for almost everyone.

Hosted by Scientific American Magazine's David Biello, and guided by an independent advisory panel, BEYOND THE LIGHT SWITCH lays out the energy facts and conundrums facing all of us.

Shot on location throughout the United States and featuring interviews with government leaders, industry experts, researchers, innovators, environmentalists, utilities, journalists and authors, BEYOND THE LIGHT SWITCH thoughtfully explores the trade-offs of carbon capture and storage, hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, a nuclear renaissance, the costs of solar power, the sprawl of wind power, and the feasibility of a super grid.

Rhode Island's Role in the Civil War: An Introduction

Retired Rhode Island Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank Williams and University of Rhode Island History Professor Emeritus Maury Klein briefly discuss Rhode Island's role in the Civil War, in this short, information-packed video. Your comments (as always) are welcome!

Televised 2011 Spring Auction begins TONIGHT!

The studio is set, dressed, and lit. The items are lined up backstage, tagged and ready, waiting for their cue to make their television debut. The 2011 Rhode Island PBS Spring Auction starts at 7 p.m. tonight. The Auction continues through Saturday.

For all the activity you see during the show, the first night of live auction is especially busy behind the scenes - and it starts hours before the red lights on the TV cameras start glowing. Friends who have joined us for this annual event each year for decades will reunite, sharing hugs and handshakes. New volunteers will feel as welcome as family. They will chat over dinner, receive assignments and brief training, then man the laptops and phones, or boards and tables, with the confidence that their effort, their time, their dedication are important and appreciated. And they will have fun!

Tune in tonight at 7 p.m. for the excitement and (very) organized chaos of opening night of the 2011 Rhode Island PBS Spring Auction. Follow the bidding action online.

Featured item: 2011 Toyota Prius Hybrid
generously donated by your New England Toyota Dealer!