Do you believe in climate science - or is it a world-wide conspiracy to control your life?

We begin with a digest of a key hearing at the U.S. government, December 2nd, 2009. You'll hear testimony from Dr. John Holdren, Obama's top science adviser, and Dr. Jane Lubchenco, head of NOAA, among other things. The sparks fly when Republicans like Jim Sensenbrenner talk about a global scientific fraud, "scientific fascism" and a "culture of corruption" in science.

I try to referee the event, with the top 30 minutes of audio, from the full 1 hour 46 minute recording. The digest is 7 megabytes in Lo-Fi, and I introduce each speaker. You can download the whole thing here, as a 26 MB Lo-Fi mp3 file.

Just as a sanity check, you can also download Chairman Ed Markey's 8 minute closing remarks here.

The official government web site for the event is here.

Find some of the video of John Holdren on the hacked email controversy, at Joe Romm's Climate Progress blog, here.

In the second half hour, we finally have some fun, among all the bleak news. British broadcaster Hugh Warwick gets his first tattoo. He's been chosen to represent the hedgehog. It's "A Prickly Affair" - fun yet serious, as we try to get close to nature.

It's Hedgehog Heaven. Grab that hilarious interview here.

READ MORE, INCLUDING NEW STATIONS - AND BREAKING NEWS

Radio Ecoshock is picking up new stations. Welcome to new listeners from Whitehorse in the Yukon, to Grand Rapids, Michigan.

We're now syndicated to 20 stations, with more running the program intermittently. Like Preston FM, in Lancashire, England.

Last week the syndicated program Unwelcome Guests ran our recording of "Smart Decline" with Dr. Bill Rees - going out to another 21 stations.

After our broadcast of "Prosperity Without Growth" by Tim Jackson, our count on Feedburner showed the UK and Switzerland beating out our U.S. listeners for a couple of days. Hello to our new Swiss listeners. Of course we have regular down loaders from all over Europe, from the Philippines, Turkey, South Korea, Australia, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia and too many others to name. Plus literally thousands of downloads monthly from China.

The total of last month's downloads, from ecoshock.org, was almost a terabyte. As a comparison, the famous Library of Congress fits in three terabytes. Of course there's a lot more info in text than in audio, but a terabyte of green audio a month might make a difference. I want to thank all the blogs that have linked to Radio Ecoshock. That really helps.

If your local station doesn't carry Radio Ecoshock, please email them asking for the program. Your requests can make it happen. Eventually your neighbors will know the things we find out here, every week.

I also appreciate your tips and advice. Write me any time. The address is: radio at ecoshock.org

For the half dozen people who heard our ocean special last week, everyone agreed one good solution is to stop eating meat. Why didn't I cover that? Because I'm working on a meat-out program, as cows, pigs and sheep convert the atmosphere, bringing on climate disruption. That's coming up.

So much news coming out the week of the big climate convention in Copenhagen Denmark. As we heard, the oil and power companies are cheering on the usual deniers, trying to pull a last-minute November surprise before the climate summit.

I'm not surprised the mainstream media are pleased to announce the end of climate change. That's right, it was all a big hoax orchestrated by British scientists. We read that in a few feisty emails. What a relief. There is no climate change!

Although I do recall the fire refugees running from record forest fires here last Summer. The Australians haven't forgotten their fire dead. The Arctic Ice is still thin, but that's just a co-incidence, we're told.

The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research has a new report out. They've found that the hole in the ozone layer, hovering over the South Pole, has cooled Antarctica, like a shield from global warming. The full report as PDF is here.

Or check out this excellent article by environmental correspondent Richard Black of the BBC.

Despite that, the air and sea temperature around Antarctica is starting to rise. Warm water is speeding up the West Antarctic Ice sheet melt. Find a link to the full report in my blog.

The Global Carbon Project has found world CO2 emissions rose by 29% between 2000 and 2008. If that continues, Earth could experience 6 degrees Centigrade of warming. That's where we're going, without emergency action. More at globalcarbonproject.org - or read Richard Black's summary at the BBC News website.

Despite impressive public support for climate action in Australia, their proposed carbon trading bill may be defeated by retrograde elements in the Senate. The opposition Liberal Party, which is very conservative, tossed out their leader Malcolm Turnbull, who was going to vote with the new bill. The new leader, Tony Abbott, squeaked in with just one extra vote.

Abbott is the right-wing of the right-wing, a super conservative Catholic and climate skeptic. If Prime Minister Kevin Rudd calls an election over the climate bill, that could be the end of the Liberal Party for a long time. After the big drought, the killer fires and the floods up North, the Australians have had enough of climate denial.

UK journalist George Monbiot, author of the book "Heat", has broken his self-imposed travel ban to go face the climate enemy. That would be Canada, where another ultra Conservative, Stephen Harper, is gung ho to support the dirty tar sands. Monbiot says Canada has become a major force in disrupting and blocking real climate agreements around the world.

Monbiot writes:

"Until now I believed that the nation that has done most to sabotage a new climate change agreement was the United States. I was wrong. The real villain is Canada. Unless we can stop it, the harm done by Canada in December 2009 will outweigh a century of good works.

In 2006 the new Canadian government announced it was abandoning its targets to cut greenhouse gases under the Kyoto protocol. No other country that had ratified the treaty has done this. Canada was meant to have cut emissions by 6% between 1990 and 2012. Instead they have already risen by 26%."

Last week, at a meeting of the Commonwealth nations, there was talk of kicking Canada out. Even the Queen came out with a message warning about the impacts of climate change. But Canada is hard at work upgrading it's West Coast ports and pipelines. Expecting that Obama's administration and public opinion will eventually kill off the American market for dirty tar oil, Canada is ramping up to sell oil to Asia. The Port of Vancouver is plotting access for new Suez class supertankers, now that pipelines from Alberta have been doubled, with more in the works. The Canadian public appears to have fallen asleep by the roadside.

Meanwhile, a Canadian study group called The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy has a new report warning that Canada's Northern infrastructure will pay a heavy price in the warmer world.

They say, quote:

"Melting permafrost is undermining building foundations and threatens roads, pipelines and communications infrastructure,' it said in a report, also citing the potential danger to energy systems, waste disposal sites and ponds containing toxic tailings from mines.

"The risk to infrastructure systems will only intensify as the climate continues to warm."

To say nothing of the increased fires in the boreal forests, and damage to animal life in the North. But who cares, when there's money to be made...

That's it for Radio Ecoshock. I'm Alex Smith.

I appreciate you as a listener, wherever you are in the world. I try to earn your valuable time, with every show. I claim no copyright, pass it on to others, and let's do it again, next week.