Sue Whitney and Ki Nassauer– the JunkMasters— have combined good taste, an unabashed love for the discarded gems found at garage sales and the spirit of conservation in their new book Decorating JunkMarket Style. There’s beauty in the texture and tactile sense of so many of the things we throw out. Junk, Vintage, Shabby Chic, whatever you want to call it: Let’s live within our means in style. LISTEN (10 min)
Columbia University Center for Climate Systems Research Scientist Mark Chandler says that the accumulation of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere as well as a predicted El Nino could make 2007 the hottest year on record. He speaks to us from Madison, Wisconsin, where the lakes might go unfrozen in winter for the first time on record. LISTEN (6 min)
Apollo Alliance President Jerome Ringo returns to cover the swearing in of Congress, including the conversations he had with Hillary Clinton and Homeland Security chair Benny Thompson. Naturally, for someone who heads a group named after the moon mission, Jerome is very optimistic that this Congress will act decisively on energy policy, land conservation, and sensible pollution controls. LISTEN (11 min)
Larry Schweiger, President and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, tells us his thoughts and observations as a new and potential-rich Congress is sworn in. He also discusses the possibility that Pelosi and Co. will roll back counterproductive tax breaks and subsidies for big oil (subsidies contribute to the destruction of our grandchildren’s future with their money, he says), delves into the motivations that brought him back to the National WIldlife Federation, and the grandchild who keeps his eye focused on the goal of a sustainable world for him to flourish in.
A single cruise ship generates as much air pollution as 12,000 cars. One cruise ship of 3,000 guests and crew also plow through 11 tons of garbage per day. And 23 gallons of toxic waste. And 270,000 gallons of bacteria-contaminated graywater. Shall I keep going? No, better to let Gershon Cohen of the Campaign to Safeguard America’s Waters tell you, because he is not only an authority on the cruise industry but is also armed with workable solutions to this Titanic-sized problem, such as Alaska’s successful state ballot initiative that demanded that Cruise Ships play by the same rules as everyone else. LISTEN (11 min)
picture : Oceana
Last week, as we sipped on cups of cider with family and friends, an ice shelf the size of Manhattan fell into the sea off of Northern Canada. Being that ice shelves, once fallen, tend not to hop back up and reattach themselves, we were left fretting over what such a fall portends. Luke Copland, a bonafide Glaciologist at the University of Ottawa, stopped by to tell us. LISTEN (7 min)
Apparently, no one can find any reasons not to buy tons of oil from OPEC. No strings attached whatsoever! But seriously folks, as US reliance on OPEC’s "black gold" reaches a 15-year high, Jerome Ringo, President of the Apollo Alliance, breaks down their ten point plan to break our addiction to oil. LISTEN (11 min)
Image: Climate Change Poster Art
On the first Treehugger Thursday of 2007, Simran Sethi gets the Resolutions of several Eco Movers and Shakers, including Ideal Bite founders Heather Stephenson and Jen Boulden, model and TV media host Summer Rayne Oakes, Big Green Apple Author Ben Jervey, sustainable design guru Jill Fehrenbacher, EcoTalk’s Green Biz correspondent Joel Makower of greenbiz.com, and Treehugger’s own Jacob Gordon. Can’t break your resolutions now, guys: Simran has you on tape. LISTEN (9 min)
Freelance Environmental Journalist Seth Shulman was commisioned by the Union of Concerned Scientists to write a report on the tactics ExxonMobil uses to encourage public skepticism of the dangers posed by climate change. Today the Union of Concerned Scientists released his report titled Smoke, Mirrors, and Hot Air: How Exxon Mobil Uses Big Tobacco’s Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science. LISTEN (11 min)
NRDC‘s Daniel Hinerfeld hears the different resolutions that Americans are going to stick with in 2007, from decreasing their energy consumption to taking fewer showers.
LISTEN (7 min)
What’s your New Year’s Resolution? How are you planning to contribute to a more sustainable planet in 2007? Email betsy@ecotalk.net .