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Author: William Craven

Sports Illustrated: Time to Pay Attention

Written by William Craven on . Posted in Sports.

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So your friendly EcoTalk producer here was brushing up on his college basketball to faithfully observe the March Madness holidays. I reached for a trusty issue of Sports Illustrated and…..my job was on the cover. In the latest example of the connections that people are drawing between climate change and, well, most aspects of their lives, SI asks a fair question: are baseball in South Florida, the ash bat favored by Major Leaguers, and the Winter Olympics all equally at risk? Cover story co-writer and fact-checker David Epstein tells us about the wide-ranging, thoughtful, and scientifically solid report that SI has delivered. Betsy rolls her eyes at a climate change/swimsuit issue tie-in, but if you ask me, anything to get the word out! LISTEN (11 min)
PS: Looking at the top of the magazine, you gotta wonder: Can we at least have some Organic Athletes?

Deadly Sonar: The U.S. Navy’s Assault on Whales and Science

Written by William Craven on . Posted in NRDC segment.

Sonarmain NRDC’s flagship magazine OnEarth features an article by Peter Canby on the Navy’s use of Sonar (widely accepted to be harmful and/or fatal to whales), and the Navy’s efforts to silence its (often authoritative, science-based) critics. Daniel Hinerfeld follows up on the article with NRDC Senior Policy Analyst Michael Jasny. LISTEN (7 min)
Picture: Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale Research

TreehuggerRadio

Written by William Craven on . Posted in TreeHugger Radio.

Thradio23  Treehugger looks at the winners of this year’s Globie Awards while Warren McLaren reports from Sydney on Australia’s recent
move to ban the bulb. Also, Congress is taking seriously the idea of
passing a Renewable Porfolio Standard for the nation. Dr. Ana Unruh
Cohen of the Center for American Progress explains what this might look
like. We also speak to David Suzuki about his recent sustainability
tour of Canadian provinces.  LISTEN (9 min)

The Heat Is On: Making Global Warming A Presidential Priority

Written by William Craven on . Posted in climate change, League of Conservation Voters.

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As long as this absurdly early presidential campaign season is underway, EcoTalk might as well get its two cents in. Simply hearing environmental platitudes on the campaign trail represents progress, but it is our job to tell them what we expect from them on energy policy and climate change. Here Tony Massaro, Political Director for the League of Conservation Voters, talks about how they and other green groups are putting heat on politicians in every single congressional district in the United States. LISTEN (10 min)

Dmitry Lisitsyn and the fight for Sakhalin

Written by William Craven on . Posted in Oil addiction.

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In January we invited Pacific Environment to tell us about Shell Oil’s Sakhalin Project, the largest oil project in the world. Unsurprisingly, this project has wreaked havoc on the ecosystem and people of Sakhalin, an island in the Russian Far East. Here local activist Dmitry Lisitsyn and Sara Moore tell Betsy about the citizens of Sakhalin and their fight for the only land that they can call home.
The politics are complicated, the corporate profiteering is staggering, the people of Sakhalin are secure in their human rights, and the game is not yet over. LISTEN (11 min)

Think Outside the Bottle

Written by William Craven on . Posted in water. 3 Comments on Think Outside the Bottle

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Is bottled water "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people." Corporate Accountability International‘s Ashley Schaeffer tells Betsy that not only is the bottled water (owned by Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Nestle) nearly identical to the water in your sink, and not only are they somehow convincing us to pay as much for water as we do for oil, but the prevalence of bottled water contributes to the undermining of the concept of water as a universal human right. There are people all over the world who are already paying the price, and emerging global conflicts over water bode ill for the future.

To change course, and to reassert the primacy of water in the lives of every human on Earth, each one of us needs to start thinking outside the bottle. LISTEN (9 min)

Asian Pollution Affects Pacific Storms

Written by William Craven on . Posted in air pollution, climate change.

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As Betsy says, "More proof that we all live downstream." When it comes to pollution and environmental degradation, it’s often not so much what we bring on ourselves, its what we pass along to others. A new report out this week draws conclusive links between carbon emissions in China and India with intensifying storms in the Pacific North. Report co-author Renyi Zhang, a scientist at Texas A&M’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences says that storms are not necessarily becoming more plentiful in the Northwest, but that they are increasing in strength and intensity. LISTEN (11 min)

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Harm de Blij: Why Geography Matters

Written by William Craven on . Posted in Books, climate change. 1 Comment on Harm de Blij: Why Geography Matters

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As Michigan State Professor Harm de Blij tells Betsy in this fascinating interview, "Geography is the only science that combines analysis of natural environments in the context of human society." So why have Americans become so ignorant of Geography, just at the moment when the Earth and its problems are ever more inter-related? Professor de Blij’s new book, Why Geography Matters: Three Challenges Facing America: Climate Change, the Rise of China, and Global Terrorism, answers, and guides us forward. LISTEN (12 min)