Radio Broadcast Archives

A veritable national treasure, Pete McCloskey really has seen and done it all: the last in a long line of McCloskey Republicans dating back to 1859, a Korean War Vet, a Republican Congressman from 1967 to 1983, a candidate against Richard Nixon in the ’72 primary on an anti-Vietnam War platform, a co-founder of Earth Day, and co-author of the 1973 Endangered Species Act.
PART ONE (11 min)  PART TWO (7 min)

Long alienated by his own party’s abandonment of its principles of conservation, McCloskey
switched to the Democratic party this month, at the ripe age of 80.
Listen here for a good half-century of amazing stories and political
perspective, including his participation in the first Earth Day
celebration in 1970.

"Barbara Boxer Gives a Damn,"– that was the slogan of her 1982 campaign for the House of Representatives, and for 25 years Senator Barbara Boxer has been giving a damn for American people, American priorities, and for Global environmental sustainability. LISTEN (12 min)

Here Senator Boxer tells Betsy of the possibilities for strong,
practical environmental legislation now that she, not James Inhofe,
holds the gavel: "We’ve already passed a bill through my committee (Committee on Environment and Public Works)
that deals with government buildings becoming models of energy
efficiency; we passed that with a provision that also makes grants to
cities and counties throughout the country. There’s a lot on my plate,
but I will tell you: with the work you’re doing, and the work that so
many are doing across this country, I think we can get this done."
As
for the ‘China and India aren’t doing it so we won’t either’ method of
global leadership, Senator Boxer says: "Since when do we wait for China
to lead on the environment?"

Global Green USA CEO and President Matt Peterson stops by, first to chat with Betsy about five simple things all of us can do this Earth day to give back to Mother Earth: "If you can wash clothes with cold water instead of hot, you can save 500 pounds of carbon dioxide a year." In the second segment, Matt takes stock of his organization and its founder Mikhail Gorbachev, his buddy Leonardo DiCaprio, and both the footprint and reach (and open ear!) of Starbucks.
PART ONE (6 min)  PART TWO (12 min)

Orbitz Travel Insider Jeanenne Diefendorf shares some great tips for lightening your footprint during your summer travels: "We really want to encourage travelers, not only when they’re planning their travel, but within the course of the journey itself, to get involved. There are so many great volunteer opportunities out there, whether you want to spend a couple hours or a couple weeks."  LISTEN (8 min)

Sundance Channel President & CEO Larry Aidem stops by to herald the launch of Robert Redford’s "The Green", the first network television series devoted exclusively to environmental issues: "We’ve never been a channel that was overly concerned with style. A lot
of the folks you’re going to see are people who have enormous
credibility in this space, who really know what they’re talking about,
and are there because of that, not because they’re good-looking
hipsters."

With the couch serving as some Americans’ natural habitat, we’re thrilled to see the always top-quality Sundance team (now including our Treehugger buddy Simran Sethi) put together a series that will engage viewers in the joys outside their window, the wisdom of owning that car in their driveway, and the chemicals that could be in that couch that they’re sitting in.
PART ONE (11 min) PART TWO (7 min)

Minnesota Sierra Club Organizer Joshua Houdek tells Betsy about he and his fiancee Kristi’s plans for a Zero-Waste Wedding: "We decided that we can do something for the biggest day of our lives that aligns with our values and beliefs." Joshua also reports that he thinks "he’s turning into a green wedding planner."  LISTEN (8 min)

Picture Allen Brisson-Smith New York Times

California Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi operates at the intersection of a statewide green economy with some serious momentum, a Govern(ato)r who’s redefined green politics and milked it for every photo op he can (not really a criticism at all, either), a Liquefied Natural Gas controversy in Southern Cali that has the Lt. Gov. and the Gov. on opposite sides, and a nation that’s looking to Sacramento rather than Washington for leadership. As Betsy can’t help but say at the end of this interview, "John Garamendi: You’re all good."
PART ONE (7 min)   PART TWO (12 min)

Hopefully you’ve got a cozy, quirky, wise, and progressive little place like this in your town– The White Dog Café is the type of community hub that keeps communities sustainable. Valuing a bottom line deeper than the bottom line, owner Judy Wicks has, with passion and joy, kept the White Dog ahead of the curve in cooking New American cuisine, purchasing wind power, composting (through a partnership with the nearby University of Pennsylvania), table talks, storytelling, and green building tours. In a word, the White Dog is Nourishing. LISTEN (7 min)

Photographic Artist Chris Jordan has channeled his own relationship with consumer products and consumption habits into photographic work that reflects some rather mind-boggling statistics about you, and me, and everyone we know: "Just yesterday I completed a new image about cellphones. This is a photograph that I compiled digitally from several thousand smaller photographs. It’s a 5×9 foot print that depicts 426,000 cellphones. That is the number of cellphones that are retired every day."
LISTEN (11 min)

Appalachian Voices Executive Director Mary Ann Hitt tells Betsy how now is the time for all of us to unite against the tragic practice of mountaintop removal and coal mining. Habitats, ecosystems, and cultures are at stake, and greed and our reliance on fossil fuels continue to be formidable opponents. May 12-16 is Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington, DC, and everyone needs to visit ilovemountains.org, where you can contact your congressperson, watch videos of mountains being destroyed, and view the incredible "National Memorial for the Mountains" on Google Earth. LISTEN (12 min)