Journalist, author of "Boiling Point", and helmsman of the always up-to-date The Heat is Online website, Ross Gelbspan here offers his wide-ranging thoughts on the second part of the authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released last Friday: "Things that were considered off the charts and unthinkable six or seven years ago are now becoming conventional wisdom." Betsy sizes up the wisdom of her local gym.
PART ONE (11 min) PART TWO (7 min)
Greenpeace Climate Change expert Chris Miller comments both on the paradigm-shifting Supreme Court decision in Mass. v. EPA, as well as the forthcoming second part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report "The devil is in the details on global warming. The report released this week will be those details. It will reference everything from the plight of the polar bear, to impacts to Greenland ice sheets, extreme weather, hurricanes in the Atlantic, draught situations in the Midwest…" LISTEN (11 min)
Never do a story about Maple Syrup on an empty stomach. Betsy contemplates "pancakes with no syrup", as maple sugar maker Arthur Berndt tells of climate change as it can currently be observed in Vermont, home to one of our sweetest natural resources: "The trees are clearly stressed. We would have fewer days that are suitable for maple syrup production." LISTEN (7 min)
Harvard Oceanographer James McCarthy was co-chair of the 2001 IPCC report, and a contributor to this year’s edition, the 2nd part of which will be released this Friday. Dr. McCarthy gives us a valuable insider’s preview, and offers us this hope:
Betsy: "You say the worst is not going to happen, because…"
Dr. McCarthy: "….because we can’t be that stupid " LISTEN (11 min)
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)
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)
California Congressman Henry Waxman reflects on a week which saw Rep. Waxman himself presiding over hearings on the Bush Administration’s brazen politicization of science; the largest yet (OK, 3,000 is not Dr. King-size, but still) citizen rally in Washington for action against climate change; and the triumphant return of Albert Gore, the man who would be president. Waxman sizes up the momentum, and feels the winds of change at his back: "We have the chance to act. We have the responsibility to act. But we’re not going to be given an indefinite period of time to act." LISTEN (11 min)
Center for American Progress Senior Fellow (and author of Hell and High Water) Joseph Romm tells Betsy how impressed he was by Al Gore’s performance before the House and the Senate Wednesday. In many ways Gore’s testimony was like a sequel to An Inconvenient Truth— You wanted solutions? Gore gave Congress ten, from mundane to brand-spanking new. Imagine if this guy had been president. LISTEN (11 min)
See Al on YouTube as mentioned on Joseph’s blog.
Bill McKibben stops by EcoTalk’s Green Street studio to tell Betsy about his new book Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future and urges you to Step It Up in your own unqiue way as part of the Step It Up global gathering on April 14th. You’ve got about three weeks to read up on how others are stepping it up, and to think about the coolest way possible you can open the public’s eyes to climate change. PART ONE (7 min) PART TWO (12 min)
Picture courtesy Grist
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)