Radio Broadcast Archives

In this segment Betsy and Paul Waldman of Media Matters swat away those pesky climate change myths that keep buzzing out of the mouths of Hannity, Inhofe, et al. They also address some of the mainstream media’s (including the New York Times’) favorite climate change tropes, and provide us with the tools to deconstruct them, for the benefit of your dear old uncle in denial.
LISTEN (11 min)

Picture: Kyle Cassidy

Sander DeVries stops by to tell Betsy about his and his brothers’ jobs moonlighting as superheroes who are going to rid your life of junkmail. I’m getting at least 41 pounds of junkmail a year, my share of more than a hundred million trees a year. So there is no doubt that I am going to sign up with 41 Pounds and pay them 41 dollars for five years of junkmail amnesty. The fact that half of that 41 bucks is going to charity is the icing on the cake. LISTEN (7 min)

President of Resource Renewal Huey Johnson talks about Green Plans, the fuits of Huey’s scouring the earth for the most ecologically sustainable models of human civilization. Listen here for tales of your United States, New Zealand, and Holland: "Corporate Holland, the big businesses, decided the most radical thing they could do was be honest with the government and say ‘Environmental problems exist. You tell us what goals you want, leave us alone, and we’ll deliver them.’" LISTEN (12 min)

One of the leading examples of the Green Plans movement is that of New Zealand. Associate Professor of City Planning at the University of Auckland, Tom Fookes tells Betsy all about the sensible municipal planning that has been common sense for all time, but is only recently coming back into vogue. Here Dr. Fookes talks about the different approaches New Zealand and Holland are taking to the same challenges. LISTEN (8 min)

Campaign for America’s Future co-Director Robert Borosage laments the petty frivolity of this early presidential campaign season and breaks down Barack, Hillary, (Al?) and John’s positions on energy, sure to be the issue of the post-Bush era: "Hillary has pledged to be governed by the rules of pay-as-you go, not spending any money without a way to pay for it. Republicans will block any effort to increase taxes. So it’s not at all clear how much resources can be freed up to create a bill that will have the scope, and the depth, and the breadth of a multi-layered drive towards energy independence."
LISTEN (8 min)

President of the EarthDay Network Kathleen Rogers summarizes their comprehensive new ranking of cities’ environmental quality of life, including the vulnerability of your urban population and what individual cities are doing to combat that most global of problems, climate change:  "What we’ve provided is a roadmap for community groups to go to their mayors and talk to them about areas where they need improvement." Listen here, read up on your city, and then head to City Hall! LISTEN (12 min)

Ann Bancroft checks in with Betsy before she and Liv Arnesen embark on a journey to the North Pole without resupply, the first women to do so. Along the way the two 50-something women will not only ski with more gear than this 28-year old male producer could carry, but they will also have to swim across some ice crevices that simply did not exist twenty years ago. Ann shares her feelings for polar exploration as it relates to climate change, and looks ahead to discussing the world’s greatest challenges by with classrooms during her trip. LISTEN (12 min)
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If you’re buying a last minute gift for your significant other (sweetheart, honey, hunny-bunny, lil’ cutie, you get the picture), don’t buy perfume or cologne unless you actually know what’s in it. Renee Sharp, Senior Analyst for the Environmental Working Group tells Betsy that the government does not require these products or their ingredients to be tested for safety. Listen here to find out what products are safe to buy, and what our government (not food, and not drugs exactly, but regardless, sounds like a job for the FDA) should be doing. Mu-ah! LISTEN (7 min)

With Clean Air Watch’s Frank O’Donnell watching from the congressional pews, Barbara Boxer’s Environment and Public Works Committee this week put EPA Chief Steve Johnson on the stand, and Senator Boxer took him to task: "You are accountable to the American people, not special interests." Also, as an extra treat: the latest bizarre statements from Senator James Inhofe.
PART ONE (11 min) PART TWO (7 min)

Planet Tran Founder and CEO Seth Riney hopes his fleet of hybrid vehicles will shuttle you back and forth to the airport in cities across America. LISTEN (8 min)