Bob Tarte tells Betsy all about the trials, tribulations, and simple pleasures of living amongst, <gulp>, nearly 40 animals, all catalogued in his new book Fowl Weather: How thirty-nine animals and one sock monkey took over my life. Warning: You might not want to try this at home. Or, at least consult your significant other before doing anything rash! LISTEN (8 min)
Adam Kolton, Senior Director of Congressional Affairs for the National WIldlife Federation tells Betsy about the rallies that bolstered a big week for climate change on Capitol Hill: "There’s an expectation that Congress start to get things done. Bills need to start passing in one chamber or another." LISTEN (11 min)
Mammologist, biologist, writer, and 2007 Australian of the Year Tim Flannery tells Betsy about water rationing in a draught-striken Australia, his book for all ages The Weathermakers, and how us Yanks can’t afford to wait out Bush’s term in office. PART ONE (7 min) PART TWO (12 min)
If a tree falls to make some paper, and then that paper is recycled for the 12 million copy initial run of the new Harry Potter book, has that tree martyred itself for other trees and millions of Harry Potter fanatics worldwide? Liza Murphy, Senior Manager for Market Development with the Rainforest Alliance says….well, she doesn’t answer that question, but she breaks down how Rainforest Alliance and Scholastic Book pulled off this magic trick, and set the standard for how all books should be made. LISTEN (8 min)
Grist Magazine staff writer David Roberts kept a rather wily running commentary of yesterday’s congressional hearings on the White House putting their grubby claws all over taxpayer-funded science. The good guys got some jabs in, but was all the "lawyering" and "technobabble" a distraction from the fact that in the only contest that really matters (Climate Change!), we’re falling behind? "It was a political circus" Roberts says. "Trying to pretend that we’re arguing about science when what we’re actually arguing about is policy, helps the conservatives.
PART 1 (11 min) PART 2 (7 min)
Carbon Coalition co-chair Ted Leach tells Betsy that in New Hampshire, "people just need to open their eyes and they know that something isn’t right. In 1977, there were 48 ski areas in New Hampshire. Today, there are 15. In the early 1970s, 80% of the Maple Syrup in this country was generated in New England, and 20% in Canada. Today, it’s just the reverse." Never ones to sit still ("Live Free or Die" after all), hundreds of townships have resolved to stop climate change in its tracks, by making any presidential hopeful go through them. LISTEN (11 min)
The Army Corps of Engineers was once one of our nation’s most reputable military services, using an incredibly accomplished staff to protect us from natural disasters and help plan our nation’s industrial infrastructure. But as NWF Senior Water Resource Specialist David Conrad tells us, "This agency is overwhelmed." Is more pork (from both sides of the aisle) the way to return it to its former glory? Post Katrina, I think everyone is hungry for something different. LISTEN (9 min)
Ted Smith of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition and author of Challenging the Chip comments on his recent trips to China and India to see firsthand the underbelly of, basically, a world of people like me typing on this computer and you reading on yours: E-waste, the fastest growing waste stream in the world, and toxic poison for some of the world’s poorest. Ted says that at this point "we’re losing the battle," and that the US needs "to join the international community at the treaty level," by ratifying the Basel Convention. That we contribute so much to the problem but are not among the 166 signatories of this humane global treaty is shameful, and needs immediate attention from our elected officials.
PART ONE (11 min) PART TWO (7 min)
Bank of America’s Director of Public Policy James Mahoney joins Betsy to break down the finer points of their just announced $20 billion investment in environmental sustainability. Among them are a green credit card, less paper used on a daily basis, green home loans, green business loans, credits for employees who buy hybrids, and increasing the percentage of green clients in their investment portfolios. Greener homes, greener businesses, more hybrids, and more green investment are exactly the type of things that corporations the size of Bank of America can put into motion. Some might question the inherent sustainability of such large corporations, but this might be a matter of going green with the businesses you have, and not the ones you’d like to have. LISTEN (10 min)
Jeff Cleary of Blue Water Laundry tells Betsy about the dirty business of dry cleaning, particularly the practice of using perchloroethylene (perc, for short), and the three alternative methods (GreenEarth, CO2, and Wet Cleaning) that do the job without harming groundwater, air, or your body. Ask your dry cleaner for one of these options, and if they respond with a quizzical look, send them our way. If they give you stubborn disdain, let them know what the market demands, and that you’ll take your dollar to where you can find the supply. LISTEN (10 min)