EcoTalk's Archives

Bank of America invests Green in Green

Bank of America's Director of Public Policy James Mahoney joins Betsy to break down the finer points of their just announced $20 billion investment in environmental sustainability. Among them are a green credit card, less paper used on a daily basis, green home loans, green business loans, credits for employees who buy hybrids, and increasing the percentage of green clients in their investment portfolios. Greener homes, greener businesses, more hybrids, and more green investment are exactly the type of things that corporations the size of Bank of America can put into motion. Some might question the inherent sustainability of such large corporations, but this might be a matter of going green with the businesses you have, and not the ones you'd like to have. LISTEN (10 min)

Solar + Business= Debate

Today's EcoTalk featured a compelling debate on long and short term viability of Solar Power. Severin Bornstein, Director of the University of California Energy Institute, says that although solar shows long-term promise , it requires more research and development before it's ready for prime time. On the other hand, JP Ross, Policy Director for the Vote Solar Initiative, takes the egg to Bornstein's chicken, citing increased use and demand as the engines that will drive technological innovation. But these two explain everything better than I can.
Listen for yourself! PART ONE (11 min)  PART TWO (7 min)

MIT's Sustainable Business Lab

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)

Williams College Makes the Grade

Stephanie Boyd of Williams College talks about their top grade on a recent campus sustainability report card, and how, true to its reputation, Williams is modest but unsatisfied: last week the college pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to 10 percent below 1991 levels by 2020. LISTEN (11 min)

A Carbon Neutral Super Bowl?

NFL Director of Environmental Programs (take a moment to let that sink in) Jack Groh tells Betsy how the league of grunts and gridiron are going to offset the carbon emissions of one of the biggest consumer spectacles in the world. Betsy wonders if mentioning that fact during the game might make a bigger difference than anything that they themselves might do. LISTEN (11 min)

Bill McKibben: Step It Up 2007

Leading environmental thinker Bill McKibben calls in from Sundance and urges us all to get involved in Step It Up 2007, a call to every one of us to organize climate change rallies in our own communities (and in our own styles!) on April 14th. April Power will launch a Spring flowering of creative solutions and united optimism in the face of Climate Change. Bill also talks about his new book Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future due out in March.
PART 1 (11 min) PART 2 (7 min)

Catch Bill in the new film Everything's Cool, which had its premiere this week at the Sundance Film Festival.

 

Timberland: Sustainable Values, Sustainable Innovation

Timberland has always been a high quality footwear company while watching the size of their ecological footprint. Manager of Environmental Stewardship Betsy Blaisdell tells us about their innovative new labeling system that spells out their products' total environmental impact, and the values that guide Timberland's bottom line. LISTEN (12 min)

Gus Speth: Sustainability in Higher Education

Higher Education Correspondent Shana Weber takes us front row at a speech by Gus Speth, Yale Dean of Forestry and Environmental Studies at the Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium Meeting. LISTEN (8 min)

Tony Cortese: Education for Sustainability

Tony Cortese, President of Second Nature, Education for Sustainability talks about the recent AASHE 2006 Conference: The Role of Higher Education in Creating a Sustainable World.

LISTEN ( 7min)