Yesterday Dr. Francesca Grifo of the Union of Concerned Scientists testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on systematic and widespread suppression of climate science by the upper echelons of our government. If true, such suppression of the public service performed by government scientists amounts to reckless endangerment of public health and welfare. PART ONE (11 min) PART TWO (7 min)
Betsy says he sounds like one of the Car Talk guys. Ed says he’s a former comedian, and it’s pretty clear that Plumber Ed del Grande knows a heck of a lot about water conservation. He’s a spokesman for Kohler, and he chats with Betsy from Knoxville, TN, where he’s doing his own "Ed" show for HGTV. LISTEN (12 min)
NRDC‘s Daniel Hinerfeld reports from the Sundance Film Festival on the Film Your Issue contest, a competition to get young auteurs to put their hopes, fears, and creativity on film. FYI judges included John Cusack, Wolf Blitzer, and Mandy Moore. Here Moore tells Daniel about the responsibility she feels for her planet. LISTEN (8 min)
Stephanie Boyd of Williams College talks about their top grade on a recent campus sustainability report card, and how, true to its reputation, Williams is modest but unsatisfied: last week the college pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to 10 percent below 1991 levels by 2020. LISTEN (11 min)
Betsy and her producer Will Craven chat about EcoTalk’s uncertain future, its value to them, and the letters from listeners that make it so worthwhile, if not exactly sustainable. LISTEN (8 min)
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NFL Director of Environmental Programs (take a moment to let that sink in) Jack Groh tells Betsy how the league of grunts and gridiron are going to offset the carbon emissions of one of the biggest consumer spectacles in the world. Betsy wonders if mentioning that fact during the game might make a bigger difference than anything that they themselves might do. LISTEN (11 min)
Over a tasty reggae beat Treehugger Correspondent Simran Sethi breaks down the new US Climate Action Partnership between some of America’s biggest businesses, chats with "Winds of Change" author Eugene Linden about President G(lobal) W(arming) Bush, and shares the criteria for getting on the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations. Is it on the level? LISTEN (7 min)
Scott Bruce of the Nautilus Institute tells Betsy of the literal and symbolic impact of building a windfarm in North Korea, and how renewable energy can help build a lasting peace in East Asia. LISTEN (12 min)
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EarthJustice VP of Policy and Legislation Marty Hayden muses on Bush’s big speech this week: "I think he sought to avoid Katrina, both in the context of climate change and social justice." LISTEN (11 min)
Executive Director of EcoEquity Tom Athanasiou has accompanied EcoEquity’s new project Global Climate Justice for Americans with a searing new essay titled "An Inconvenient Truth II": "The problem is inexorably a global problem, and you cannot really get your arms around it without dealing with the problem of global inequality." LISTEN (7 min)
