In these end days of peak oil, the Canadian province of Alberta is on a mission to replace Saudi Arabia as the world's major source of petroleum. The once pristine boreal forests of Northern Alberta are being transformed into gigantic pit mines as energy companies rush to extract some of the last of the earth's petroleum reserves. The quest to extract and refine these thick, dirty tar sands that lie beneath what was once a wilderness of wetlands and salmon-rich rivers, threatens the ecology and economy of North America.

Harriet Fasenfest, writer, cook, gardener, food preserver and backyard economist, returns to Locus Focus to talk about the art, economics and politics of householding and food preservation just in time for the holidays.

Born and raised in the Bronx, Harriet Fasenfest has lived in the Northwest since 1978. Now retired from Main Street, she is attempting to raise the bones of home economics from the trash bin of modernity. She teaches classes on food preservation at Preserve and lives happily with her husband and children in Portland, Oregon.

Climate talks drew to a close in Copenhagen just before Christmas, with little concrete action to celebrate. Our guest Robert Engelman was there and he tells us what happened in Copenhagen, what didn't happen, what we can hope for and what we need to make sure happens soon.

Many Portlander's think that we get most of our electricity from the Bonneville hydro system, but in fact 40% comes from burning coal, much of it mined by blasting the top off a mountain in Kirk, West Virginia. This week on Locus Focus, guest Judy Bonds, co-director for Coal River Mountain Watch, talks about the impact of this devastating practice on the lives, economy and culture of her community. We'll also hear an update on what's happening at the federal and local level to end mountain top removal mining and put a stop to the wholesale burying of streams under mountains of mine tailings.