Joe Clement hosts today's Old Mole and we hear:

 Joe Clement and Frann Michel review the apocalyptic psycho-thriller Take Shelter, staring Michael Shannon as a blue-collared man in rural Ohio who becomes deeply disturbed by terrifying dreams involving mega-storms, attacks by dogs and neighbors, and even faceless intruders kidnapping his deaf daughter. When he begins building-out a storm-shelter in his backyard without consulting his wife, played by Jessica Chastain, he alienates her and ultimately his community. All the while he struggles with the possibility that he has his mother's schizophrenia and yet is certain that "a storm is coming".

Bill Resnick talks with Al Weinrub from the Local Clean Energy Alliance about the coming struggle to control wind and solar energy as the costs for producing the hardware come down. They discuss the differences, advantages and ultimate tension between centralized corporate models of energy production and more distributed, locally produced forms that harness the practically universal availability of the wind and sun's energy.

The once booming solar panel industry has hit some difficult times. According to a report from Common Dreams, supply has exceeded demand, which has resulted in factory closures and a loss of jobs. Four years ago, with surging energy prices and a looming recession, hundreds of solar panel manufacturing plants were built to meet rising demand. Now with a weakened economy and a cheap supply of natural gas, only a handful of solar panel manufacturers remain profitable.While solar panels, or photovoltaic energy as its known to industry insiders, is struggling, the market for solar thermal energy remains steady.

Mike Fitzgerald, the owner of Gresham based Eco Systems explains.

 

 Hosted by Abe Proctor and Joe Uris

 It's a grab bag of topics on Abe and Joe's end-of-the-year show. Plus: predictions for 2012.