Author: William Craven

The Greenest Automakers

Written by William Craven on April 4, 2007. Posted in cars, clean vehicles, Union of Concerned Scientists segment. 3 Comments on The Greenest Automakers

Vehicles Engineer for the Union of Concerned Scientists, Don Mackenzie reveals the greenest of all automakers (and not any one model, but the company top to bottom) in a recent UCS study. Envelope please…and the winner is: Honda, in a squeaker over Toyota! OK, so perhaps that’s not quite "Shakespeare in Love" over "Saving Private Ryan", but it is an indication that competition is bringing out the best in Japanese automakers (as well as rapidly improving Korean brands). Where are the Americans? I’ll let Don explain. LISTEN (7 min)

The Earthdance Environmental Film Festival

Written by William Craven on April 4, 2007. Posted in films.

The Earthdance Environmental Film Festival in Oakland, CA April 14th and 15th will showcase a bevy of short, "inspiring, quirky, weird, and wonderful" films. Festival Founder Zakary Zide sat down with Betsy to talk about the idea of a festival-as-mix-CD, short films getting longer, and environmental films getting funnier. As in, ‘wrestling Grizzlies in Grizzly proof suits’ funny. At least, Quentin Tarantino liked it. LISTEN (8 min)

Frank O’Donnell: The Supreme Court sees the Obvious

Written by William Craven on April 3, 2007. Posted in air pollution.

Clean Air Watch President Frank O’Donnell stops by to celebrate this week’s momentous Supreme Court decision in Mass. v. EPA, asserting that the White House is indeed authorized to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. Theoretically, the Bush Administration (or, more concretely, the next administration) could act to regulate emissions without first going through Congress: "Now the Supreme Court has gone on record as saying global warming is indeed not only a problem but is something that can be dealt with even under current law. Now the onus is on the Bush Administration to do something about it." LISTEN (11 min)

A Win For Wildlife

Written by William Craven on April 3, 2007. Posted in air pollution.

National Wildlife Federation Global Warming Director Jeremy Symons gives us his reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision in Mass. v. EPA: "This kicks open a whole new front on the fight against global warming. We’ve got a number of new options that are gonna put pressure on the Bush Administration and Congress, and open up doors to states." Hello, California (and all those states that have signed on to Cali’s plan)! LISTEN (7 min)

Lester Brown: Ethanol is NOT the Answer

Written by William Craven on April 3, 2007. Posted in Energy.

Earth Policy Institute President (and author of Plan B: 2.0) Lester Brown reacts to the effects of climate change now infecting the cover of Time Magazine, and his thoughts on Ethanol being number one on their list of tools to fight global warming: "What we’re beginning to see is a realization that ethanol is not the answer, despite the ethanol euphoria that one sees and feels here in Washington." LISTEN (12 min)

The Greenest School In America? It’s in Hawaii. Obama went there. It rocks.

Written by William Craven on April 3, 2007. Posted in green building.

Punahou School President Jim Scott chats with Betsy about becoming the first school in the US to meet LEED Gold standards (the costs of which were partially financed by a donation from Punahou alumnus Steve Case (of aol fame), and how they are making sure that the lessons are not lost on their students: "We have an obligation to the students to have the buildings become a medium for instruction."
LISTEN (8 min)

Chip Heath: Made to Stick

Written by William Craven on April 2, 2007. Posted in Books.

We’re getting better, but we still need to learn how best to market the product Earth. Chip Heath and his brother Dan have written Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, a book that surveys the whole spectrum of ideas that successfully lodged themselves in the collective imagination, from Kennedy’s Moon Mission to Bill McKibben’s notion of "Cradle to Cradle" Architecture, and finds out what made them stick: "We talk in these abstract ways that mean things to people inside the movement, but that don’t necessarily mean things to outsiders." LISTEN (11 min)

Dan Imhoff & Food Fight

Written by William Craven on April 2, 2007. Posted in Books.

Watershed Media Director Dan Imhoff (and author of Paper or Plastic: Searching for Solutions to an Overpackaged World) joins Betsy to talk about his crucial (and quite colorful and handy) new book Food Fight: A Citizen’s Guide to the Farm Bill. The US Farm Bill wields enormous leverage over our food and our health, and the extent to which we are informed of its contents is the extent to which we can avert a looming diabetes crisis among our children, and apply subsidies in a way that makes dietary and economic sense. Want to help the family farmer? The first thing you can do is stop assuming that the US Farm Bill is only relevant to the family farmer. LISTEN (9 min)

Will Steger & Global Warming 101

Written by William Craven on March 30, 2007. Posted in climate change.

On day thirty-two of his trek through Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic, renowned explorer Will Steger takes a break to tell Betsy how climate change is effecting the livelihoods of the people who have lived there for centuries: "This is ground zero of global warming." This is also Global Warming 101, Will’s initiative to share with us the cultural face of the lands that, through no fault of their own, are the first to experience a man-made climate. LISTEN (11 min)

NRDC & Bill McKibben

Written by William Craven on March 30, 2007. Posted in climate change.

Betsy (and Bob Marley!) introduce an engaging interview between NRDC George Black and Step It Up 07 torchbearer Bill McKibben. The national rally on April 14th is such a crucial opportunity to channel all of our creative and optimistic instincts towards decisive action to protect the only world that humans have thrived in: "(20 years ago) We could have started with the easy, tepid compromise. Now scientifically, our backs are against the wall." Get involved! LISTEN (7 min)