Just when you think California has been as ambitious and unequivocal as it can be in the face of a looming energy crisis and climate change, the state steps on the gas: Dan Kalb, California Policy Analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists, tells us about the latest bill in the California legislature, proposing a steep discount for fuel efficient vehicles, and a surcharge for gas guzzlers. LISTEN (12 min)
It’s pretty darn clear that the chocolate eater is not an endangered species, and so it would only make sense that the growing population of chocoholics would help those species who are a key part of our ecosystem, and need our support. Kill two birds wi– no, wait, save the birds!…<sigh>…Just eat chocolate and support endangered species with Endangered Species Chocolates! CEO Wayne Zink: "Endangered species are not just about animals on a list. ‘Endangered’ is where we are right now as a planet." LISTEN (8 min)
Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Good Will Hunting, and An Inconvenient Truth Producer Lawrence Bender stops by to talk about his 21st nomination for an Academy Award, and why his global warming movie was more controversial than the ultra-violent flicks he’s made in the past. Lawrence is also one of the prime movers and shakers behind the 18 Seconds campaign to get people to set aside 18 seconds of their time to screw in a Compact Flourescent Lightbulb, the gateway drug that will get them hooked on energy conservation: "Naturally you’re gonna feel good. So you start to think, ‘What else can I do?’" PART ONE (11 min) PART TWO (7 min)
Columbia Department of Environmental Health Science Microbiologist Dr. Dickson Despommier breaks down the science nonfiction idea that he says is a key component to any serious solution to the Earth’s growing population pressures: Vertical Farms, urban skyscrapers housing productive, efficient, sustainable, and extremely local agriculture for an increasingly urbanized world: "Over the next 50 years there’ll be 3 billion more people on this planet." Are Vertical Farms part of the answer? Dr. Despommier gives his take (yes), and points out that these structures can also serve as water treatment plants and other valuable public infrastructure. LISTEN (8 min)
NRDC President Frances Beinecke talks with Phil Gutis about her recent trip to California.
LISTEN (7 min)
Jonathan Lash of the World Resources Institute presents the San Francisco Clean Tech Forum.
LISTEN (11 min)
The Center for Environmental Health has discovered dangerous levels of lead in our children’s vinyl lunch boxes. And guess who’s covering up their own research on lead and vinyl products? If you guessed the Federal government, then you’ve probably been listening to EcoTalk’s ongoing coverage of how our government has continually sold off public health to the highest bidder. Alexa Engelman, Public Interest Litigation Coordinator for the CEH, tells Betsy about the latest suppression of science, and what you need to know about lead and vinyl. LISTEN (11 min)
Do you go green with the company you’d like to have, or the company you’ve got? Wal-Mart Vice President of Sustainability Andy Ruben tells Betsy how Wal-Mart is attempting to accomplish its three ambitious and open-ended goals:
1. Be supplied by 100% renewable energy.
2. Create zero waste.
3. Sell products that sustain our resources and environment.
He explains how the Green Xanadu of Wal-Marts in Kansas City uses 20% less electricity to operate and how their customers’ green living can begin with a lightbulb.
PART ONE (7 min) PART TWO (12 min)
Professor of Management and Engineering Systems John Sterman of MIT’s Sloan School of Management tells Betsy why being a green MBA is less of a lonely pursuit than when he was at Sloan, and of the launch of their S-Lab, a way of harnessing students’ demand to include sustainability in their bottom lines, and to begin working in the big leagues right away. LISTEN (8 min)
Vaughan Turekian, Chief International Officer for the American Association for the Advancement of Science talks about the noble skepticism that underscores all legitimate scientific inquiry, and how that differs from the straw men scientists being propped up by of the climate change deniers: "When 2500 scientists– and I there are actually more than that– that say that humans are impacting the climate, then humans are impacting the climate." LISTEN (8 min)