EcoTalk's Archives

#85 EcoTalk

Our program comes out of New York this week so we'll speak with state senator, Liz Krueger who's questioning mixed messaging behind a vote by her fellow New York representatives to grant tax breaks to big oil companies while the White House touts the benefits of renewable energy.
Politics turned to parody this week as Prez Bush visited the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Lab that had just been eviscerated by budget cuts. Several dozen laid off employees were quickly called back to perhaps serve as examples of "renewable" energy sources?  So now that the workers are back where will the money come from for any action?  NRDC's Jon Coifman weighs in.
LISTEN (9 min)
We'll talk to several Californians about the new "Compact", a vow taken by several hundred people to not buy anything but essentials this year.
Co-founder annd schoolteacher Sarah Pelmas will share what she's learned from this social experiment with commentary from another academic, Peter Sealey, a marketing professor at the Haas School of Business in Berkeley.
Lastly, a chat with Paolo Timoni, President and CEO of Vespa and two other motorized vehicle companies on how Americans can kick their oil habit by buying a scooter!

#84 Ecotalk

First, urgent action: Dr. Margaret Reeves from Pesticide Action Network wants us to help stop carcinogenic Methyl Iodide from being registered as a pesticide by EPA. Email your comment before Tuesday February 21st!

Would it shock you to learn that chemicals, some of them toxic, were found to be present in 100% of newborns tested for exposure? We'll hear more about that alarming development from Richard Wiles, Environmental Working Group (EWG) Senior VP for Research. Discussing toxins found in the blood of umbilical cords and actions to tackle this problem. Here is a clickable table of product categories, from carpeting to clothes, that you can browse and shopping advice for consumers.
Ohio Citizen Action is working on this and has compiled some good info. LISTEN (7 min)
 

Marianne Martin, Associate Director, University of Colorado at Boulder, Environmental Center talks about Sustainability 101 classes. LISTEN (7 min)

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Will Rogers, President, Trust for Public Land and Bill Cronon,  Professor of History, Geography, and Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin – Madison , author of a forthcoming book "Saving Nature in Time" talk about the importance of protecting land in 21^st Century environmental conservation. LISTEN (7 min)

Joan Mulhern, Earthjustice's Senior Legislative Counsel, talks about recent Administration efforts to undermine environmental protection of our nations waterways, and what we can do about it, now.

More information about the pending cases in front of the Supreme Court. LISTEN (7 min)

Win a bike tour in Oregon

The Portland Peace and Justice Center is organizing this summer a series of bike tours in Oregon. Betsy will tell us about it and you can win a free spot by entering the raffle via this link. Clicking this link will also bring you a $50 discount on the standard $125 registration fee.

Sun's cool threads

Greg Papadopoulos, Executive VP and Chief Technology Officer for
Sun Microsystems discusses Sun's Eco-Responsibility Initiative and the new "cool threads technology" that saves energy and space . Listen (10 min)

1000 barrels a second (part 2)

Peter Tertzakian, energy economist and author of a just released book, A Thousand Barrels A Second – The Coming of the Oil Break Point and the Challenges Facing An Energy Dependent World continues his discussion with Betsy about how to get our society into fuel detox.  Listen (7 min).
Betsy also mentioned Richard Heinberg's "The Party's Over". His mot recent book is "Power Down".

Sustainable travels

Vladislav Davidzon, Founder and Executive Director of Sustainable
Energy in Motion Bicycle Tours
Shaun Murphy, Founder of Coolfuel Roadtrip USA  Listen (11 min)

Science Integrity

Francesca Grifo, Director of the Scientific Integrity Program for the
Union of Concerned Scientists talks about political censorship and distortion of science by the Bush administration. Listen (7 min)

Ecotalk # 82

Listen to the whole show (37 min)
NASA’s Chief Climate Scientist, Jim Hansen
Listen (part 1 = min) Listen (part 2 = 3 min)
Peter Tertzakian, author of A Thousand Barrels A Second – The Coming of the Oil Break Point and the Challenges Facing An Energy Dependent World. Listen
Kristin Patten about diamond mining Listen (3 min)
Matthew White, President of GreenKarat Recycled Gold Jewelry Listen (3 min)
Barney Feinblum, about  organic wines. Listen (5 min)
Margaret Reeves with Pesticide Action Network and Gerald Prolman of Organic Bouquet  Listen (7 min)

Imminent danger

NASA’s Chief Climate Scientist, Jim Hansen, turned down more than 100 requests for interviews this week in the wake of a front page New York Times article about administration efforts to curb his candor in speaking publicly about imminent dangers of global warming. He chose EcoTalk to share thoughts on what’s behind attempts to muzzle him and why we must take action now.
Listen (part 1 = 9 min)
Listen (part 2 = 3 min)

MUSIC CREDIT: ALL music on EcoTalk #82 is from M.U.S.E. Musicians United to Sustain the Environment, a nonprofit organization using the creativity of music to make a pragmatic environmental impact.

1000 barrels a second

Commentary on this week’s State of the Union is provided by Peter Tertzakian, energy economist and author of a just released book, A Thousand Barrels A Second – The Coming of the Oil Break Point and the Challenges Facing An Energy Dependent World. Listen (3 min)