Author: Bill Moulton

Earth’s temperature soared to a record high last month, nearly 1.5C degrees above average as measured by weather satellites. That’s a huge amount even in these record-breaking atmospheric times according to scientists at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

To put that in perspective, a 1.5C degree rise is the line in the sand established at the Paris Accords as not to be exceed by 2100. 

As February broke new weather ground, the month ended with Leonardo DiCaprio’s long-anticipated Oscar win. Indeed, the story that was the most tweeted Oscar moment of all-time was the mega star’s speech following his Best Actor victory in The Revenant.

DiCaprio started off by praising his fellow nominees and Martin Scorsese for mentoring him over the course of the past two decades, along with 20th Century Fox, his parents and his friends. Then, he made an impassioned call for the strongest action possible to address the threat of human-caused climate change:

“Making The Revenant was about man’s relationship to the natural world. A world that we collectively felt in 2015 as the hottest year in recorded history. Our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to be able to find snow.

Climate change is real, it is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.

We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people out there who would be most affected by this.

For our children’s children, and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed.”

Millions of fans whom DiCaprio will never meet cheered his courageous words. With the Republican Party seemingly poised to nominate a celebrity climate-denier as the 45th President of the United States — with what may be the heaviest eco-footprint in America — it was appropriate that DiCaprio use his celebrity spotlight to remind the world of the looming threat to all of us.

DiCaprio deserves high praise for his nearly two decades of dedication to reducing carbon pollution, and his unwavering support for climate scientists and environmental activists. However, one man — as powerful and popular as Leo is—cannot fight climate change alone. DiCaprio may never win another Oscar. He may never have another opportunity to urge tens of millions of viewers to join the effort to preserve a livable planet.

So kudos to Leo for issuing this call to action while the world was watching. But now what? For me DiCaprio’s plea prompts the following question: How CAN and where DO Americans work collectively to fight climate change? The crisis, and other environmental challenges, need and deserve comprehensive ongoing national television coverage. Where and how else are we supposed to start talking about it as America’s favorite leading man implored us to do?

Perhaps one reason average citizens are not as concerned and ready to act as they should or could be is they don’t see regular coverage in the news and almost NEVER see solutions-oriented programming. It doesn’t yet exist. That void is a huge opportunity.

As a seasoned broadcast news journalist-turned-Green talk show host, I have spent more than a decade advocating for dedicated programming on these timely, complex and changing stories. For inexplicable reasons network news programmers have failed to see the “green light” and tend to view such shows as “too niched” or “too negative.”

But it’s a niche that affects all of us and If Americans are all about hope, fortitude, ingenuity, patriotism, can-do spirit and unwavering commitment to our children’s future then why not take on our most pressing environmental challenges? The most egative consequences will only be the outcome if we continue to ignore warning signs to act.

Where is it written that the eco-evolution shall not be televised? Why not chronicle the biggest story of our time, what’s happening to our life support system before our eyes? It’s so much more than ONE story (see www.thegreenfront.com and www.ecotalkradio.com).

The worsening climate crisis can most effectively be addressed with a concerted and comprehensive effort by mainstream news media, in both print and traditional broadcast/cable outlets. Only major networks and newspapers have sufficient resources to cover threats of this magnitude— and emerging opportunities— with the depth, breadth and long reach needed to be accessible by the mass public.

Progressive online news sites and social media alone cannot provide the trans-partisan discussions needed if we are to come up to speed quickly on what we are facing and what we can do to be “part of the solution.” It will require more than 140 characters and an attention span of more than a minute if we hope to succeed.

So while a call to action from even a high-profile figure, and global platform like the Oscars is a great and needed step it should serve as launching pad for a nationwide awareness campaign focused on the challenges posed by climate and other threats to nature, our life support system, as well as dynamic conversations on proposed and varied solutions from the best and brightest among us.

Personalities on the frontlines of sustainability are knowledgeable, passionate, hopeful and deserve to be widely seen and heard in 2016. Why not tap into their collective wisdom? There are hundreds— actually thousands— of change makers in the trenches from science, politics, business, activism, the arts and beyond eager to participate in conversations about solutions.

As DiCaprio told ABC’s Robin Roberts backstage after the Oscars, we need more citizens to get educated and taking action. Now.

“As I said in the speech, it is the most urgent crisis that we’ve ever faced as a civilization and the more people that talk about this and get involved and, as I said, vote for leaders who really want to make a difference, you know, we can actually tackle this problem.

We have the capacity to go 100 percent renewable using existing technologies, we just have to have the political will. Our very existence is at stake.”

Or put another way, if we don’t act soon, and icebergs continue to melt, we may all be in for a titanic amount of trouble. Since no one wants that, what are we waiting for?

To say we are living in turbulent times is to state the painfully obvious. The political landscape veers between frightening and farcical on a nearly daily, if not hourly, basis.

As we reel from news of one act of terror to another horrific gun shooting and careen from extreme weather event to bracing for the latest sexual predator reveal, it is enough to make one want to hide under the covers and say “wake me up when it’s over.”

However tempting, that is not an option so how do we cope with the current chaos and relentless assaults on our sensibilities? Especially those of us who, for better or worse, have made it our life’s purpose to be agents of change? How can progressives advance the full agenda for a better tomorrow when politically motivated short term thinking is pushing us backwards fast? With so many messes to clean up when and if we do get turned around in the right direction, it feels downright daunting. Where do we find the fuel to keep going and sufficient energy to refill our hope tanks if we dare to care about the fate of the planet and humanity?

With so many bullets to dodge, the title of a weekend conference held at New York’s Omega Institute last month was especially intriguing: Being Fearless: Action in a Time of Disruption. As a passionate broadcast journalist-turned-environmental writer, commentator, speaker and advocate for action, even I was in need of a chutzpah and hope reboot in order to stay in the fight. Based on the West Coast, I had heard of the Institute—and its Center for Sustainable Living—but had never been. When I found myself with a rare free weekend in New York City last month, off I went.

Omega is a warm and welcoming place located in the Hudson Valley River town of Rhinebeck, where Chelsea Clinton famously wed in 2010. Situated on 250 acres, the camp-like setting includes a main hall for presentations, a large dining lodge where tasty “mostly vegetarian” fare is served cafeteria style and cabins of various age and size surround the center. Walking paths and gardens connect the buildings and in mid-October, flowers were still in bloom and the trees barely beginning to change color—a late start I was told—courtesy of global warming.

The weekend kicked off with a reception Friday evening for speakers. As media, I was included and immediately felt at home in the company of staff, presenters, and performers. After we joined attendees in the big hall, Omega’s CEO, Skip Backus, kicked things off with words that resonated about the need to take pause, listen and learn before we take action to make the kind of deep changes these times demand. Assembled with seemingly kindred spirits of varying backgrounds and professions, it felt comforting to be a part of something bigger, an oasis from the craziness, however fleeting.

There was a succession of speakers that first night, each compelling but the standout for me was Dr. Cornel West, a dynamic professor who is part historian, part poet, and part preacher. I had seen him on television but in person he weaved, bobbed and circled the podium like a spinning top, all the while giving social commentary in lines that rhymed and reflected a brilliant mind. In fact, the program bio called West “a provocative democratic intellectual” and the professor of philosophy and Christian practice lived up to that billing. Among his keen observations, “America is a problem-solving people but when it comes to catastrophe, we’re in denial.” He cautioned that “we will find out who we really are in these times.” Indeed West and many other speakers had a similar thread in their messages; if we don’t like what we’re seeing around us it will take a commitment to telling the truth and bearing witness to love and justice. As many who preceded him have also noted, we must love ourselves first and change within before changing the world.

One of the tools is practicing mindfulness, also not a new concept at least not where I come from. That said, it is one thing to talk about it and another to practice as I am learning.

Saturday morning kicked off with a meditation led by stress reduction guru Jon Kabat-Zinn. His soothing voice and friendly manner set a relaxed tone which continued into the next session with Rhonda Magee, a professor of contemplative law. Their topic was “mindfulness in the face of injustice” and “identity-based suffering.” All the talks were recorded as were performances by talented ensembles including Climbing PoeTree, a combo dance, poetry, rap group with mesmerizing moves that punctuated their social commentary.

The morning concluded with Paul Hawken giving his slideshow on “Project Drawdown” based on his book about the most impactful ways to reverse climate change. He includes some less obvious contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, like food waste—-the third largest factor—and solutions like educating women in developing countries to help them rise above poverty and have fewer children. I would liked to have heard something about the need to better educate all people to raise ecological literacy, especially here in the U.S. where an active and well-funded disinformation campaign has had such a negative impact on progress. The unmet potential of our mainstream news media to effectively counter economically motivated falsehoods and clear up confusion about our climate crisis is an inexcusable failure.

It is my longtime preoccupation with this lapse that drew me to the Fearless conference. In particular, a panel discussion featuring CNN contributor, Van Jones, and Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman about the Changing Roles and Responsibilities of Media. Bill Moyers was to have been on the panel, as well serve as conference keynoter, but he was not able to make it. Moyers was replaced by presidential historian, Jon Meacham whose current claim to fame is having been fearless enough to ask Donald Trump what he reads. Although Meacham is a contributor on MSNBC, offering analysis on the Trump presidency seen through a historical lens, media is not his primary focus and he said as much on the panel. Although not his fault, nor the conference planners, it would have been helpful to hear Moyer’s perspective, having worked in public television for decades.

That, and the fact the moderator did not steer the discussion in the direction of the panel’s title, yielded a discussion more focused on politics than the changing role and responsibilities of media. Despite the disappointing pivot there were some relevant and revealing quotes that emerged at the end of the panel and in the Q & A session that followed when news media and climate change briefly became the focus.

A bit of a disclaimer is in order here. With a long background in broadcast news, most of it spent working for the CBS Radio network, I experienced the impact of being heard on a national channel in terms of reach, even if only reading breaking news of the day. I left to cover environmental issues as an independent producer and host of green radio shows. Ten years later I decided TV has the advantage of showing both the problems and the people with solutions and have been pitching the news networks on what would be the first program dedicated to addressing our urgent eco-challenges. I would love to have been on that panel to share insider insights. Over the years I have heard every excuse in the book from program execs resistant to offering content on climate and green solutions, none of them legitimate in my strong view. Their responses are revealing in terms of them not recognizing the game-changing potential of getting America to wake up and smell the carbon.

Van Jones was on my Air America radio show on World Environment Day in 2005 before he was well known. I was so impressed with his brilliance and bold ideas that I told him he should be in the White House and after our in-studio interview I suggested he use “Green Collar Jobs” as a renaming of his then movement, “Green Jobs, Not Jails” because I loved his vision of training underprivileged youth to work in solar and other green sectors (I hate waste and there is nothing worse than a life wasted). He ran with it and used it in the title of his best-selling book, “The Green Collar Economy.” Fast forward to 2017 and since I had recently pitched CNN on a climate series I was particularly interested in his thoughts on the news networks’ near-failure to connect the dots between recent record-breaking hurricanes, floods, wildfires and a warming earth. If more emphasis was put on what’s fueling these devastating weather events by CNN, MSNBC and the Big 3 (ABC, CBS, NBC), then FOX would not have the undue influence it has had in fomenting the politicization of climate and other environmental threats, thwarting both political and public progress as FOX actively sows dissension, doubt, and denial.

The most pertinent comments, for my purposes, came from Amy Goodman who said we need media that makes these connections, as she has done so well on her award-winning Pacifica radio program. Goodman has long been fearless, an outspoken critic of the so-called corporate media and its repeated failure to explain why we are seeing such devastating weather events. Her reporting on Standing Rock was a stand-out and she even got arrested briefly as a result. When she turned to Jones and asked why CNN spends so little airtime discussing climate change, he replied that whenever they tried to discuss the topic, the ratings would go down, according to his bosses.

I have heard that before—from Van and a few CNN staffers—-and question how they can even track ratings based on such fleeting mentions. I also wonder when they last tested that since, as Amy said onstage, everything has changed in light of the recent hurricanes and fires, the latest evidence of “weather on steroids.” I loved what Van went on to say and with some dramatic flourish, “there are only two things we cannot recover from and we are now seeing both, runaway climate change and the prospect of nuclear war. The way we live can kill us and the way we kill can kill us all. These two existential threats should get us very focused and very calm to build the kind of movement that can win the country back over. Anything we’re doing that’s not that is a criminal waste of time.” That strong statement rang true, not only with me but with the audience that applauded loudly.

When pushed further by Goodman on whether CNN has an anti-climate stance, Jones paused briefly to consider and offered—by way of observation more than justification—that “the public is ahead of corporate media and politics which will have to catch up,” adding “the news media and political parties don’t lead anything, they’re lucky if they’re the caboose at the end of the train. What leads stuff, he concluded, is the people.”

While I definitely agree with Van’s belief that the major news networks are not trailblazers, in my view the people have spoken. In the last few years alone hundreds of thousands of Americans have marched, as well as across the world, to demand action and leadership. The People’s Climate March in 2014 was almost entirely ignored by the New York-based news networks in terms of coverage, despite 400,000 turning out in Manhattan alone. Never mind that the march went right past several of the big network headquarters. Last April two back to back science and climate marches in Washington D.C.— and around the country—did get decent coverage from the big cable and broadcast news networks, but there was still something important missing from the coverage. There were zero climate scientists, environmental experts or advocates doing in-studio commentary. Instead, CNN and MSNBC, which I monitored, had their “political analysts” on discussing climate as a political issue, framing it as a Trump vs. climate activists competition, as if there were competing teams in a sporting event. This is a recurring problem that perpetuates the status quo of avoiding serious discussion of the urgency, irreversible ecological and humanitarian consequences and economic impact of a warming world and all its manifestations. If the public doesn’t see it on the news, how serious a problem could it really be? In other words it is something they can ignore.

So while Van makes a good point, especially the news media lagging on taking climate as seriously as the threat would dictate, in my view that is no reason to excuse or let those tasked with informing the public off the hook. I can see where Van may not want to challenge his bosses but I sure wish someone would enlighten them! Since when should what is covered be determined by ratings? And perhaps viewers would be more interested if they had a better understanding of consequences that can be mitigated and opportunities inherent in the crisis.

If I seem to be harping on this it’s because I firmly believe (and have fought to change this for two decades) that until there is better coverage and connecting of causal dots, the misinformation—and paralysis—will continue. And while a failing climate, warming oceans, and collapsing ecosystems are not the only arena in which there is political gridlock and media malpractice, these are challenges that will not be easily reversed, if at all. Time is key and enough citizens have spoken up and taken to the streets that there is no legitimate reason in 2017 for the climate silence, and same for other eco threats. At the same time there is an underlying environmental literacy issue that must be addressed. I cannot think of a better use of mass media channels than this given that is at stake.

I would love to have asked some follow up questions of Van but as is usually the case, most of the speakers didn’t stick around after their presentations, which is unfortunate.

A few highlights from Sunday morning included David Orr, an author and Oberlin environmental studies professor, and Opal Tometi, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter. There was one standout presentation from someone who did not stand very tall but who loomed large in every other way. Thirteen-year-old Elijah Coles-Brown, a young orator who appears to have what it takes to be an up and coming Barack Obama, captivated the audience with his mature mannerisms and motivating message about rising above being bullied “when I was young.”

It was also unfortunate that I didn’t have time to tour Omega’s Center for Sustainable Living, touted for its LEED Platinum building certification and state-of-the-art water reclamation facility—but now I have reason to return next year for one of their many workshops on topics ranging from personal growth to social change. In addition to the usual self improvement programming fare I was impressed to see Omega offering innovative programs for Veterans including yoga and other modalities to help vets heal from the trauma of war.

I left Omega feeling recharged for the battles ahead but already just one month later, there have been two more mass shootings, a terror attack in downtown Manhattan, and a steady stream of affronts to our senses coming from occupants of the White House.

As I struggle to retain the sense of community and shared purpose that was palpable at Omega, I find myself clinging to one overarching hope; that with all the shaking up exposing an underbelly of what’s wrong with America in terms of inequity, hypocrisy, sexual predators and just plain evil, it is painfully evident that the old ways are not working and will not get us where we want and need to go in order to thrive. If indeed the time has arrived for karma calls to manifest then bring it on but we can’t get through this alone. More than 500 attended the weekend at Omega with 2,500 participating in the live stream but organizers want to share it with a much wider audience.

The way the world is going there will be challenges anew to tackle and while I do believe change begins with ourselves—and that was certainly an overarching theme to the weekend— it is also true that there are still not enough of us needed to fight all the hate, falsehoods, denial and polarization we see reflected in the news every day. This has always been the challenge but with a growing sense of urgency I feel too impatient to wait for enlightenment to spread person to person.

I guess I should meditate on that but in the meantime please spread the word that what happened in Rhinebeck doesn’t have to stay in Rhinebeck. For another month, until December 14th, you can access all the presentations I’ve written about, and many others I couldn’t cover, for a mere $5 fee that helps to offset the costs of bringing the conference to a worldwide audience. You can find the link at https://www.eomega.org/online-workshops/being-fearless-on-demand

I encourage you to check it out for your own well being, all of our sakes, and mostly for our children who deserve to have a future they can look forward to and not dread.

My takeaways are that it’s necessary to shore up for the long haul while being prepared for short term setbacks. Barring nuclear attack or climate meltdown, we’ll be around for the foreseeable future. While there is plenty to be upset about we only have one precious life so we ought not let anyone, or anything, ruin it. In the end Donald Trump isn’t worth it. Just don’t stop caring because we need all of us to get through these dark but dynamic days.

Al Gore’s pivotal film, An Inconvenient Truth (AIT), put climate change on the world map, and got many Americans thinking, and talking, about this worsening existential threat. There has been real progress with much of it coming in late 2015, including President Obama’s executive actions, Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si and the pivotal Paris Agreement. Last week’s tributes to Gore and the film’s producers were welcome and deserved. Some of us who had been concerned, and communicating about global warming for years prior, thought AIT would change everything. It didn’t.

A decade later there remain glaring gaps that are key to wider public acceptance and much needed mass action. What’s still missing comprises a long list, but at the top I put a lack of credible information and inspiration, programming aimed at the general public coming from mainstream news outlets, both broadcast and cable, and on the television and radio networks. There’s a sustainability revolution underway but you’d never know it if you just get your news from the networks only. It’s far bigger than the information or tech revolution for this one will determine our collective fate.

While world leaders, government agencies, insurance companies and corporate America have begun to take the threat(s) seriously, national news outlets are still (with a few exceptions) ignoring the biggest story of our time—what’s happening to nature, our life support system—at our own hands. Inexplicably, none of the news networks are offering any programming to educate the public, nor providing a national forum for discussing solutions about what citizens and communities can do to have a positive impact. News executives do not see this as their responsibility and assume few care enough to tune in. They also don’t know what they don’t know.

I believe they are wrong on both counts but trying to convince program executives of that, let alone get a meeting, has been a frustrating focus of mine, going back even before Gore’s film came out. In fact his was among the networks we pitched when he and Joel Hyatt owned Current TV! Gore was on my radio show when An Inconvenient Truth debuted and I’ve been trained by him, as part of his Climate Reality Project, so he knows that I’m qualified. Gore turning down a ready-to-go show on climate change while lambasting mainstream media for ignoring the issue was a little more than inconvenient – I have filed that one under “Inexplicable”.

In an anniversary interview last month Gore repeated his still apt line about how weather reports are starting to sound like The Book of Revelations. And it’s only getting worse. Last week southeastern Texas experienced its second “1 in 500 year flood” with nine lives lost. At last report fires were still burning in Canada’s tar sands territory and India melted a new high temperature record of 124 degrees Fahrenheit. Parts of Sri Lanka were under 8 feet of water and nearly 25-million Americans were in the path of severe storms carrying Wizard of Oz-like “monster tornados” touching down in Kansas and Nebraska. Weather conditions in Minneapolis were so severe that crowds at Beyonce’s concert had to evacuate the stadium. As Dorothy might say if she dropped in today, “Tornados, fires, and floods, Oh My”!

News anchors, reporters and weather people are, for the most part neglecting to connect the dots, even if only tentatively. So the public remains indifferent and the beat goes on. As well as the heat. As I write this hundreds of residents in the north of L.A. community of Calabasas are being evacuated as a 200 acre fire spreads in near 100 degree weather

Also missing in action is any meaningful discussion about the climate crisis during yet another presidential cycle. In the primary debate season moderators failed to ask substantive questions about the candidates’ plans to tackle climate change. When they did throw in a fleeting mention, there was no grilling of dismissive Republicans who dare still call it “a hoax,” including the apparent nominee, Donald Trump, who is by his own accounts “not a great believer.” That, while Trump petitions to build a seawall to protect his latest acquisition, a golf course in Ireland. Thanks to Bernie Sanders—who has long been a climate champion in the Senate—the topic has at least been raised, prompting Hillary Clinton to mention her clean energy plans more often on the campaign trail and to come out against the Keystone XL project. Continuing the climate silence giving short shrift to a phenomenon that is already altering life on earth, as we’ve known it, for yet another election cycle, is truly inexcusable.

As another climate champion in the Senate, Sheldon Whitehouse, said in a recent Time to Wake Up Senate speech, “We are sleepwalking through history as carbon piles up in the atmosphere…sitting on our hands acting helpless.” I would add that we are acting like clueless zombies and our culture is complicit in making that okay.

The persistent sad fact is that there is no government or media entity offering citizens and communities advice on how to reduce emissions and help reverse other troubling eco-trends. Of course there is plenty of information on the worldwide web and available through membership in environmental organizations like the Sierra Club and NRDC. But that requires becoming a member or actively seeking out material, which primarily is done by the already eco-aware. Why not make the best thinking on the part of experts more widely available and easily accessible? Given the scope and urgency of these multiple and overlapping crises, it is inexplicable that we are not seeing more mainstream programming focused on exploring the issues, discussing options for what’s needed to scale up. What are we waiting for, all of Greenland to melt? Until it IS too late to stop runaway climate destruction? Or until—perish the thought—we have a climate “disbeliever” in the White House, someone who likely has the heaviest per capita eco-footprint in the world with all of his buildings, boats, golf courses and planes? Not to mention hot air.

Until I attended America’s largest Earth Day Expo and its parallel EARTHxFilm Festival in Dallas two weeks ago, I had no idea that Texas was America’s top wind power state. Oil state? Of course. Full of gas? Guess so. But wind, who knew? I’m from California—the San Francisco Bay Area to be exact—living in a green bubble, though even we are not nearly as eco-savvy as we could be and people might presume.

Let’s face it, when it comes to protecting our eco-sphere, the place we all call home that makes all life possible—or not—there’s a lot for each of us to learn and not a lot of time to come up to speed. That sentiment—a desire to learn and share what can be learned about our rapidly changing environment and climate—is what inspired founder Trammell S. Crow.

When I think of Texas I think of a few things, all of them supersized: BIG petroleum companies that sometimes cause BIG oil spills, BIG beef producers, and BIG cities like Houston and Dallas with world class shopping. With those stereotypical and simplistic views, I was overdue for a second visit, and excited to be covering what is now billed as the BIGGEST Earth Day gathering in the world. My first trip to Dallas was a decade ago when asked to speak at the Texas Women’s Conference on climate change. I recall being stunned to learn that then Governor Rick Perry rejected the evidence of human-caused climate change. . Those were the early days of climate denial and the concept that an elected official running a state as significant as Texas could ignore scientific consensus was too strange for me to comprehend. While I still don’t get or respect what I call “deny-o-saurs” we now know, all too well, what dark forces are fueling it.

This year, especially in the wake of Mr. Trump’s Cabinet picks for the EPA and Energy Department—not to mention his State Department choice, Exxon’s own Rex Tillerson—I was in need of an infusion of inspiration. I was curious about whether the event would look, feel and sound like so many of the West Coast hosted environmental gatherings I’ve covered during twenty years on the green beat.

The answer was both “yes” and “no.”

Since first hearing about the man with a BIG vision behind the six-year old event, I was eager to meet Crow. I was curious, as I always am when interviewing green visionaries, to learn what motivated him—an heir to a real estate development fortune and patron of the Arts—to spend his greenbacks spreading the green gospel around Dallas and beyond. I’ve since learned that Crow’s grand vision is BIGGER than his home city, BIGGER than even the State of Texas, AND the U.S. It’s only when one considers how quickly Earth Day Dallas has grown into Earth Day Texas and—as of last week—expanded to its new name, EARTHx—with a now national, and even international, focus—that one has to take Crow seriously when he says “If we can turn Texas, we can turn the country and, if we turn the country, we can turn the world.”

From the beginning, Crow’s strategy has been to build a big tent and put out a big welcome mat. EARTHx 2017 brought together not only environmental activists and NGO’s but also a diverse group of business leaders and politicians—many of them Republicans. The big names present included Bill Shireman, founder of Future 500 and an early contact of Crow’s who helped inspire the event, representatives as diverse as Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, a climate champion from Rhode Island, to the opposite end of the political spectrum, Energy Department head, Rick Perry, and the EPA’s Scott Pruitt. They all spoke on the same day, at separate venues, as did retired General Wesley Clark, an impressive and thoughtful presence. Talk about a change in climate!

“It’s about different parties getting in a room that don’t necessarily agree with each other,” according to Michael Cain, President of EARTHxFilm, “No one is excused from the table.”

Crow brought Cain, a Sundance award-winning filmmaker and co-founder of the Dallas International Film Festival, on board a year ago to launch an eco-themed film track to complement the rest of EARTHx. Topics this year ranging from climate change to conservation, plasticity, oceans, clean power solutions, GMOs, farming and extinction, comprised this year’s line-up of 23 full length feature films and 33 shorts. There were also filmmaking workshops and Virtual Reality exhibits.

If the theme of “something for everyone” is coming into view, that was in fact the focus. Cain set out to curate films that “connect to the head and heart” on a range of topics that mirror the trans-partisan programming track.

I was able to squeeze in two new movies, each of them equally impactful and well produced. The first was Plastic Ocean, which like Chasing Coral—one I had seen at Sundance in January but was also screened in Dallas—left an impression that haunts me still.

If images of fistfuls of plastic debris being removed from the carcasses of shore birds and fish don’t turn your stomach, you’re not paying attention. Especially, when one considers that plastic does not break down in the atmosphere or the ocean, and marine creatures are increasingly mistaking plastic bits for food as more debris reaches the ocean from streams and runoff. The sight of intact plastic beverage bottles bobbing on the ocean floor for perhaps eternity made me feel physically nauseous. That’s the potential of media done well and a perfect, if upsetting; example of what Cain calls “the power of film to change the world.” It’s a mixed blessing “to know” because plastic is so pervasive. But only when enough people are aware can things change.

The second film I previewed was Happenings, a mostly optimistic documentation of the exploding clean power sector from Jamie Redford—son of Robert—who matches his father when it comes to concern about our environment, but without the Hollywood trappings. The filmmaker takes us on a multi-state voyage as he seeks out examples of energy solutions in the works, from Apple’s clean powered data centers in the desert, to Marin County’s Green Energy option for residents and businesses. At one point in the film the younger Redford’s adolescent daughter is less than thrilled about new solar panels going up on the family’s Marin rooftop. When Jamie asks Lena (Redford) why she’s not more excited, she answers—with typical pre-teen snark—because it’s only one house.” What about everyone else?”

Hers is a good question and again fundamental to the challenges of educating and engaging the masses, to go beyond the margins in America’s greener pockets. The message resurfaces in one of the film’s final scenes when, returning from their green energy road trip, Jamie—at the wheel—appears despondent as they drive along the freeway. When Lena asks her Dad why he was so glum, he answered with the essence of her earlier comment—“Despite the few great examples we saw, what about everyone else?” She attempts to comfort her forlorn father but who among us who care—often caring too much while way too many others appear oblivious—cannot relate? The key to success—if we are to leave our children a healthy environment—is to amplify and scale the solutions, commensurate with the scope of the challenges.

This gets us back to Trammell Crow’s mission: to not let what happens in Dallas stay in Dallas. Instead, attendees are urged to interact with the material, whether it’s seeing a powerful film, hearing a provocative talk, or participating in a “hackathon” that featured 1,200 high school and college students attempting to address real-world environmental challenges in short order. There was also an E-Capital Summit, matching investors with start-up eco-preneurs, and more than 1,700 booths of all kinds. Indeed, there was something for everyone.

One of the highlights for me was the food, which was, decidedly, NOT your typical green event fare. At a fundraiser for forest preservation at a venue on the Fair Park site Saturday evening, “chicken fried lobster” was served and because it was so tasty—and there were a few empty seats at our table—I got seconds, and that’s a first.

Usually at climate and sustainability conferences the fare is much more “P.C.” – vegetarian or maybe organic chicken or “sustainably farmed” salmon is served…certainly not steak and lobster, but no complaints! On the one hand, I can appreciate the argument that such gatherings should serve as a model for sustainable living. On the other hand, the raw vegetable salad and quinoa served at lunch the day before, was a bit on the skimpy side—until I realized that it was just the appetizer when a plate of Texas beef was plopped down in front of a surprised me. I had just finished my delicious vegan lemon dessert because the baby vegetable slices had not quite filled me up. A few bites of the beef were enough but I must confess, it did taste good.

There were two other culinary signs that I was not in San Francisco anymore: 1) there was seemingly no coffee to be found anywhere on the 227-acre fairground sight, unheard of where I come from; and 2) in the media and volunteer center instead of the usual organic fruit and cheese platters, there were bags of BBQ Fritos and chocolate chip “health” bars. There was also a refrigerator filled with chilled soda. Desperate for a caffeine fix I helped myself to what was the first Coca-Cola I’ve had in years.

If it sounds like I’m complaining, I am not. I truly loved the contrast and cognitive dissonance that Crow has created, intentionally or not. For too long I have lamented that when I go to an environmental event–- whether a conference or a film screening— it’s the “usual suspects,” people I know to be active in the climate or sustainability communities. Where is everyone else? Even in my own supposedly progressive Marin County, I often ask myself, “where are the soccer moms, or people from my gym?” Many who comprise what I refer to as “the mainstream” were among the reported crowd of 114,000 this year. For someone who laments the slow spread of environmentalism from the margins to Main Street, it’s encouraging to know—with numbers so supersized—that surely hundreds of attendees who came, learned, watched and discussed what they experienced—will go on to become tomorrow’s “solutionaries.” For a builder like Crow it must be satisfying to know that he is laying a foundation for the next generation of leaders.

My overview of the mega-event would not be complete if I failed to mention the glitz factor, or what I call “Greenerati.” Although neither Leonardo DiCaprio nor Mark Ruffalo have yet made their way to Dallas for the biggest Earth Day Expo in the land, it’s just a matter of time before they do. This year actress Jennifer Beals (Flashdance) accepted an award with Michael Green of the Center for Environmental Health and Laura Turner Seydel (Ted’s daughter, also a committed environmentalist) and her husband Rutherford, walked the Green Carpet.—pictured above with Jessica and Matthew Upchurch. Additionally, there were a handful of eco-luminaries including Sylvia Earle, affectionately known by fans as “Her Deepness,” Captain Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd, and filmmaker Jeff Orlowski of Chasing Ice and soon to be released Chasing Coral fame. Louis Psihoyos, who directed pivotal films, including The Cove and Racing Extinction, also drew a crowd.

In the end, I loved spending my twentieth Earth Day since starting out on the green beat, in Texas. Where else can you find someone at the top who is so worth “crowing” about? And chicken fried lobster? As long as there is an ocean for such delicacies I’m down for that (though at the rate we’re warming our oceans, shellfish may someday be a thing of the past). I’m not pretending this type of food is sustainable, or exemplary, but it IS authentic Texan fare. In a world filled with fake news and alternative facts, I have a new appreciation for things that are real. I can also hold in high regard a strategic desire to appeal to all shades of green, PC or not, Texas style.

In Trammell S. Crow’s own words “they come here as empty sponges and they leave saturated. At least until next year when they come back for more.”

I hope to return as well, along with a few California grown suggestions of my own.

It was an extraordinary moment one week ago on April 2: Chris Wallace of Fox News—a media entity that has denigrated climate science and climate activism for years—turning up the heat on EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt for the latter’s disavowal of the scientific verdict on climate change.

Obviously, Wallace won’t be joining 350.org anytime soon; the Fox News Sunday host also has a long history of casting doubt on climate science, and pointedly refused to ask any questions about climate change in the third presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump last fall. So why would Wallace hammer away at Pruitt’s rejection of the evidence that the burning of fossil fuels is driving the planet towards climate chaos?

In all likelihood, Wallace felt motivated to press Pruitt on pollution for the same reason that former Secretary of State James Baker felt motivated to urge the Trump administration to support a federal carbon-pricing policy; in both cases, the idea could well be a survival instinct to protect the Republican Party from self-destruction.

Pruitt is arguably the single most controversial figure in the Trump administration; his full-on rejection of the overwhelming data proving that oil, gas and coal threaten the planet as a whole could drive those who are not committed right-wingers away from the Republican Party for good, a problem the GOP absolutely cannot afford. As a loyal, lifelong Republican, Baker has an obvious personal interest in protecting the political health of the GOP; as a Fox News figure, Wallace has an obvious professional interest in protecting the political health of Fox’s preferred party.

According to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, “[A]bout half to a majority of Trump voters think global warming is happening and support a variety of climate and clean energy policies…Over half of Trump voters (52%) support eliminating all federal subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, nearly half (48%) support requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a carbon tax and using the money to reduce other taxes by an equal amount, and almost half (48%) support setting strict carbon dioxide emissions limits on existing coal-fired power plants to reduce global warming and improve public health, even if the cost of electricity to consumers and companies would likely increase.” In other words, a significant portion of Trump voters disagree with Pruitt on climate change—and if their concerns about the climate crisis intensify, they may seek alternate political routes.

Baker doesn’t exactly consider himself a climate hawk, and Wallace will never be confused with MSNBC’s climate-conscious Chris Hayes. However, Baker and Wallace clearly understand that the GOP cannot deny the abundant evidence of human-caused climate change in perpetuity, thus risking potentially severe Election Day consequences. One can only wonder when and if Fox’s loudest deny-o-saur, and Trump’s buddy, Sean Hannity will ever wake up and smell the carbon. Given how many times he has spouted outright lies on his program about climate realities—and that’s just the dozen or times I’ve been on his show to spar with him and his climate-denying cronies—it’s impossible to imagine Hannity (or “Inanity” as I call him) ever acknowledging he was wrong. Especially as long as his paycheck, and network’s ratings, depend upon the profits made by perpetuating provocative nonsense. Never mind that the planet’s fate hangs in the balance – let’s mock the tree-huggers at any cost, and denigrate climate scientists too while we’re at it. As if Hannity and Company know more than 97% of experts in their field of focus! But I digress…

The political climate finally appears to be changing in the United States, with a growing number of House Republicans pledging to work with Democrats on climate solutions and major corporations acknowledging the need to curb carbon emissions. If the Trump administration expects to survive politically, it cannot be deaf to the concerns of Republicans who don’t buy into the idea that climate science is a conspiracy concocted by the Chinese government.

It’s not likely that Pruitt will change his tune on climate change anytime soon, but as ecological and political storms gather, it’s not beyond possibility that his time as EPA Administrator will come to an end sooner rather than later. Those who deny the settled science of climate change were thrilled when Pruitt became EPA Administrator, but they may soon find themselves outfoxed by reality.

Greg Reitman is indeed the right man to make this sweet and poignant film at just the right time—amidst a current backdrop of political bitterness, unprecedented national divisiveness and bellicose buildup of military might at the expense of public health and our environment.

Although Donald Trump was not yet on the political scene when Rooted In Peace was conceived and produced, his presidency and dark values loom in stark contrast to the movie’s primary message of the need for peace, hope and love to prevail if humans hope to live in harmony with themselves, each other, and nature.

Open minded and open hearted, Reitman shares his journey from a presumably normal New York City boyhood, filled with the usual comic books and video games, to young adulthood during which his travels exposed him to trauma caused by witnessing violence, even if only as a bystander.

The first two life-changing events occurred on foreign territory—witnessing, as a student, bombing raids in Israel during the first Gulf War, and years later during a visit to Hiroshima while surveying the devastation from World War II. The third encounter with violent trauma hit closer to home as we learn in an interview with Reitman’s brother-in-law, who witnessed the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers.

Setting out on a journey of self discovery—armed with a miniature “peace tree” and existential questions like how did humans learn to become so violent (since we’re not born that way) and how can we reconnect with our inherently peaceful nature as individuals, nations and a planet—Reitman takes his quest for answers to India and seeks out spiritual gurus like the Maharishi and Deepak Chopra. Along the way he poses philosophical queries such as: Is there any such thing as a just war? And can one be an angry peace activist?

Along the way Reitman comes face to face with…himself. First, in the form of health issues which force the filmmaker to seek medical advice, ultimately leading to a change in diet and exercise habits. Next, he confronts anger issues in his relationship with girlfriend Britta, a co-producer in the film. Once he gets the toxic stuff out of his body and relationships, Reitman turns his lens on the endangered health of our planet. He meets with noted environmental thinkers like Paul Hawken, Lester Brown and William McDonough, who weigh in on what must be done to reverse ecosystem decline and the planetary crises caused by, and facing, mankind.

Throughout the film there are cameo appearances and clips with Desmond Tutu, Pete Seeger, David Lynch and Ted Turner. Also threaded throughout was a killer soundtrack with songs from Mike Love and The Beach Boys, Donovan, Sting, Coldplay, Pink Floyd and David Gray.

In the end Reitman welcomes and shares wisdom gleaned from his worldly mentors. Among the nuggets? A meditation practice can expand the brain to become more receptive than reactive: our hearts have a stronger connection to our emotions than our brains: our planet is the circulatory system of all life: and the rage of Gaia (earth) will come back with great vengeance if we continue to abuse, and take from, nature. And closing the loop back to where the film opens with the mini Bonsai, humans have more in common with trees than it would appear on the surface, including the ability, and necessity, to breathe oxygen.

The movie concludes with a nod to its title. Following many scenes in which the seeker-filmmaker is planting trees, Reitman turns over the omnipresent “peace tree” to his nephew, in whom he seemingly plants his hopes for a better future. Finally, in the ultimate act of hope, we see Reitman and his girlfriend tie the knot while the sun sets on the couple beginning their future as a married couple.

Now if only we could make Rooted In Peace required viewing for everyone, especially those in the Trump administration. In that fantasy scenario Reitman, will have planted seeds of change that would cause a pivot toward peace and sustainability and away from a no-win war on ourselves, each other and our precious planet.

Greg Reitman is a director, producer, writer and active member of the Director’s Guild of America. Described by Movie Maker Magazine as “one of the top ten filmmakers producing content that impacts our world,” he is the founder of Blue Water Entertainment, Inc., an independent production company. DVD release for the film is May 10th, to be sold at Whole Foods nationwide.

It has only been two weeks since I returned from Sundance and already I can hardly wait until next year, although it’s hard to imagine anything matching the drama and spectacle of SFF 2017. And that’s just from what happened outside the theaters.

At the closing Awards Ceremony Festival Director John Cooper said, “This has been one of the wildest, wackiest and most rewarding in recent memory. From a new government to the independently organized Women’s March on Main, to power outages, a cyber attack and record levels of snow, the work of our artists rose above it all.”

With a surreal Presidential Inauguration and a storm of protests across the country, those back-to-back national events set the stage for the festival’s spirited kickoff at 7,000 feet. Turnout for the Women’s March in Park City was more than twice was what expected when Chelsea Handler announced she would be leading the charge. A handful of notables joined her, including musician John Legend and social activist Dolores Huerta, whose film about her life debuted to rave reviews.

It was my first time attending and armed with a full festival media pass, warm boots and a strong desire to take my mind off what was coming down in Washington, it was an entirely satisfying adventure. The thought provoking documentaries, and attendant events, were the perfect distraction to the show going on in D.C.

It was the debut of the New Climate Program that got me to Sundance. Twenty years of covering green news and views on local, national and Internet radio finally paid off. The lure of seeing Al Gore’s sequel to An Inconvenient Truth six months ahead of its public release was just too tempting to miss, as a climate denier was taking office and filling his cabinet with like-minded appointees. The opportunity to be immersed in environmental films was a welcome diversion from the man with America’s biggest ego, and eco-footprint, moving into the White House.

I was not disappointed. Not only did I get to see An Inconvenient Sequel –Truth to Power as well as Chasing Ice’s sequel, Chasing Coral, also about the effects of climate change, I was also able to hear Al Gore, Robert Redford, Jeff Skoll, David Suzuki and President Mohamed Nasheed, formerly of the sinking Maldives, in a timely panel discussion. (Speaking of presidents, I almost got to see Malia Obama, missing her and a girlfriend in a consignment store by only five minutes. Can you imagine Ivanka buying second hand? Neither can I.)

The March was also a highlight. An estimated 8,000 strong — women, men and children — braved a snowstorm, many in bright pink hats, carrying signs that ranged from clever to crude (but still clever). We marched, or rather trudged, in the wind and snow, holding hands to keep each other, and our cell phones, from freezing. As a longtime environmental journalist, Trump’s election hit hard since he appears fixated on inflicting lethal blows to both the planet and the Press. As was the case for millions of others, this mass revolt against the bombastic billionaire — repeated across the country and world — reignited my hope, activism and spirit. It’s a good thing because most of the films I watched were a downer, but like Trump has done, they also got me fired up.

Many of the films moved me because they were substantive, well made, timely and troubling, if not downright terrifying. In the terrifying category, Chasing Coral was a stunner, both visually and for what it portends. Director Jeff Orlowski has done for coral reefs what he did for Arctic glaciers five years earlier; captured on camera through time-lapse photography their demise. Bringing the sobering reality of rapid planetary change that’s occurring “out there” to the big screen “right here” hits home, hits hard and is impossible to dismiss once you’ve witnessed it.

I cannot forget seeing the video of an older woman, a self-proclaimed “die-hard Fox Bill O’Reilly fan” leaving the theatre in tears after viewing Chasing Ice. The woman told an interviewer that she’d come to “laugh about global warming” but now that she’d seen it with her own eyes, was intent on letting everyone she’d previously argued with about climate change know of her pivot in opinion. She vowed to tell friends she was wrong and very sorry “for kicking them out of her house.” That’s the power of media done well and I’d love to track her down for an update! The link can be found here: https://youtu.be/S9xVS9bXMFc

Watching the transformation of coral reefs was equally dramatic. During a three year period the film was colorful, pulsating live organisms morphed into tangled brown carcasses. This is due primarily to warming ocean temperatures at a rate that is both dizzying and sickening. Orlowski and his intrepid crew visited several continents to bear witness to the destruction offshore and to share with the world what it means for our future. An estimated one-quarter of all sea life feed on coral reefs, the underwater canary. During the festival it was announced that Netflix picked up worldwide rights to distribute Chasing Coral, which hopefully will mean millions get to see this alarming wake-up call. It also won an Audience Award in the U.S. Documentary category.

Al Gore’s newly produced An Inconvenient Sequel — Truth to Power premiered on the Festival’s opening night to much fanfare and a few standing ovations with Gore on hand for a Q & A. The film focused on the rapid rise of renewable energy and lowering of costs to help propel growth, especially in the solar sector. But it also showed evidence of mounting threats like rising sea levels, with Miami streets under several feet of water, as well as cause for rising political concern.

Gore’s sequel, like the original 11 years earlier, was part lecture, part travelogue, and part personal journey. The man who would be President is still using some old lines, with references to a “nature hike through the Book of Revelations.” But thankfully, especially for those of us who have spent days with him in his climate training, he also had some chuckle-worthy fresh lines.

Producers Jon Shenk and Bonni Cohen worked with Participant Media to make the sequel, which has now been picked up by Paramount for distribution this summer. Disappointing that we have to wait until July for what will hopefully be another cinematic game changer. At the least It should provide a much needed reality check against the deny-osphere in D.C.

The film included cuts of Trump uttering ridiculous comments about climate change, signaling a dark period ahead. That is unless Al Gore, Elon Musk, Rex Tillerson, or someone can get to Trump before too many of Obama’s hard fought victories are reversed. It says a lot that Tillerson, former head of ExxonMobil — the company that covered up climate data for decades — is the bright spot in Trump’s “basket of deplorables.” That is because he has expressed openness to a revenue-neutral carbon tax, which scientists (and some prominent Republicans, such as former Secretary of State James Baker and George Schultz agree is our best, perhaps only, real hope to avoid carbon catastrophe and climate collapse.

Additional offerings in the new environmental track included Plastic China, Trophy and Water and Power – A California Heist.

Plastic China was a heartbreaker, zooming in on a poor Chinese family forced to make a living picking plastic debris (some from American brands) out of the adjacent landfill to melt down for the Chinese-equivalent of pennies. The father was suffering health problems as a result, and his children didn’t know any other reality, including school.

Trophy, an excellent film by Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau, focused its lens on the sport of big game hunting and the all too lucrative business of poaching. Although it did an excellent job of connecting the dots to extinction threats for species like rhinos and elephants, it also provided a balanced and plausible analysis; the competing interests of natives trying to make a living against conservationists working to save endangered animals. In the case of one South African man, that means using his personal resources to protect rhinos by capturing and breeding them. John Hume prevents them from being killed by cutting off and selling their tusks allowing them to survive, though perhaps not thrive. Hume, advancing in age and a bit battle weary, worries that “his rhinos” will perish after he dies. On the day of Trophy’s World Premiere, The Orchard and CNN Films picked up North American and television rights to distribute the movie. That is encouraging when you consider what CNN’s repeat airings of Blackfish did to rally public outrage against Sea World which ultimately led to a phase-out ban on keeping Orcas in captivity.

The final film I screened in the environmental category was Marina Zenovich’s Water and Power: A California Heist. The producers follow the trail and plumb the depths of water wars in scenes reminiscent of Chinatown. This movie is about a real life crisis and shows the impacts on local citizens who suffer through shortages during drought years while private interests profit by manipulating the law. Imagine my chagrin to learn that the Wonderful Company, which makes my favorite pomegranate beverage, is one of the brands benefitting. Locals are forced to drink bottled water and travel to take a shower while paying five dollars for the “privilege.” Not so Wonderful though California’s current deluge eased some of my guilt.

Perhaps the best news…Sundance Board Chair, Pat Mitchell, announced at the “Artist At A Table” dinner on opening night that the Institute plans to continue A New Climate next year. With the current administration taking aim at the EPA, environmental regulations and global climate agreements not boding well for our planet — at least their regressive actions should yield a bumper crop of compelling new films!

What struck me while at Sundance, and left a lasting impression, was how ebullient everyone was to be there. I guess that’s what happens when you mix 40-thousand film fanatics, creative artists, movie-makers and wanna be’s in snow globe of a town. For political progressives, this Rocky Mountain High surrounded by a sea of misery provided welcome refuge.

In the end, attending Sundance 2017 was a guilty pleasure, getting to see a film at 9:00 am on a weekday in a dark screening room and going late into the evening with screenings, sponsor receptions and media parties. But I came to the conclusion that it’s a worthy pursuit to immerse oneself in thoughtful documentaries around the clock for a week, as social change is needed now more than ever.

Oh how I savored being in that Sundance bubble, hiding out in dark theatres knowing soon enough I’d be back to the new reality of shock and awe. But first please pass the popcorn.

Our climate is changing. The impacts on our weather, food and water supplies, oceans, forests, public health, national security and economy are already being felt. Bees and other species are disappearing. These trends do not bode well for humans.

Those facts are not news, or at least not new, but President Obama has made news by making August a Green Letter month taking his newly urgent warnings about our climate crisis on the road. Last stop, Ground Zero, Arctic Alaska where icebergs are melting at a new glacial speed. He will be the first sitting President to bear witness to “the challenge of our time.” Hats off to him and it just might be warm enough.

Perhaps after this record breaking hot summer we will set a new normal for climate change coverage as well. To date, we have not seen a majority of serious environmental developments covered regularly and with sufficient context and depth on the evening news or on any recurring talk shows. It’s time for the news networks to step up their game.

For too long we have had what I call a “Glaring Green Gap.” Our eco-systems are in decline — nearly across the board — and our addiction to fossil fuels is our culture’s dirty not-so-little secret. Outside green circles it has not been part of our national conversation nor a regular part of the media mix. Too few Americans are aware that we are in the midst of a sixth mass extinction, the first caused by humans, and that our seas are under siege due to warming waters, overfishing, “dead zones” and plastic pollution.

While newspapers are doing a better job of going deeper into these issues people are often surprised to learn there are precisely zero talk shows on commercial broadcast stations dedicated to covering our changing environment and discussing what we can do about it. I cannot think of a better use of mass media outlets during this time of crisis especially with timing so critical.

After creating, producing and hosting three popular Green programs: “Trash Talk” on KCBS Radio in San Francisco, “Eco Talk” on Air America — a daily talk show with 50,000 listeners per night back in 2006 — and “Green Front” airing on the internet, I learned there’s a growing audience hungry for this new program genre. Nearly a decade later the multitude of challenges and solutions have expanded exponentially and yet mainstream media has not yet filled the green gap with dedicated content.

A big part of the problem is network gatekeepers, both at the programming and executive levels. They are trained to go with the tried and true which often means playing to the lowest common denominator. Just look at the plethora of so-called reality shows while we ignore eco-realities and our future hangs in the balance!

Additionally, program managers I’ve communicated with over the years assume such content would be “too controversial or too political.” However, with fossil-fuel interests leading, and funding, “the deny-o-sphere,” isn’t it time to stop emphasizing the special interest fear-based aspects and wake up to the practical realities of these shared threats?

In addition to the green programming gap on a national channel, there is no formal education or consistent outreach being offered to citizens and communities. How are average Americans supposed to know what they can do to better understand our changing ecological systems, have a more positive impact and lighter footprint on our life support systems, both for nature’s sake and our own?

If not in mainstream media, what about academia? Sustainable solutions are being discussed on campuses across America in ecology clubs, Environmental Studies programs, and a few new Green MBA programs, but does that mean we should wait until the next generation comes of age armed with enough understanding to start digging out? If we do too little today their task will be that much larger tomorrow. There isn’t enough time to turn over the shovel to Gen X, Y, or my daughter’s Millennial generation, forcing them to clean up an even bigger mess later.
By ignoring the need to educate and engage Americans who have long since left the classroom, we are missing an opportunity — and obligation — to have all able-bodied citizens do their part.

So who is talking about what we can do on channels that reach the masses?
Evidently, at least up until now, mainstream newspaper publishers and broadcast news editors have not seen it as their role or responsibility to offer eco-solutions.

When Paul Rogers, an executive at the San Jose Mercury News, was questioned at a 2013 San Francisco Commonwealth Club panel about why his newspaper didn’t offer more coverage on climate change solutions, he replied that it was the job of Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and other environmental NGOs, not the news media to inform on what steps people can take.

While grass roots groups representing various green causes do their best to get media attention to cover these matters the news media powers-that-be assume it’s up to the grassroots to get word out, if not to do the actual environmental clean-up needed.

Therein lies the Catch-22 of just who is responsible for educating the public on climate and conservation tips?

Meantime, with a handful of notable exceptions, corporate America doesn’t see it as their obligation to accelerate eco-innovation or talk about valuing sustainability in their marketing.
What about the federal government? I’ve often wondered why the EPA doesn’t do substantive public outreach. How can we, as citizens, protect our environment if no one is telling us what to do or why it matters? The information is out there yes, but it has to be easily accessible and omnipresent in order to penetrate the zeitgeist.

It is essential to establish mechanisms and media channels to bring average citizens into the conversation about conservation, and with all the breadth and depth needed to make rapid societal shifts.

Failure to connect the dots between extreme weather events and climate disruption is a failure of leadership on the part of government, corporate America and my professional arena, major news media.

It will be interesting to see how the news networks cover President Obama’s trip to the Arctic this week. I suspect they will get on board this big media opportunity. However, just in case, perhaps Kim Kardashian should go along to ensure maximum exposure. Or maybe someone should send the omnipresent Donald Trump? Then again, no — all his hot air may hasten the melting of Alaska’s glaciers.