Monthly Archives: July 2012

Inside The Mind of Mitt: Romney and the Environment

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In the past Sea Change Radio has sought the input of journalists and policy-makers on President Obama’s environmental record. So far, however, we have not looked at his challenger, Mitt Romney. Many onlookers find themselves baffled as they try to make sense of this candidate’s positions on multiple topics, including climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency, and energy policy.  This week on Sea Change Radio, host Alex Wise talks with environmental journalist Neela Banerjee. A Washington DC-based reporter for the LA Times and Chicago Tribune, Banerjee helps shed some light on the Republican candidate who wants so badly to lead the United States. She discusses Romney’s past and current environmental positions and we get a glimpse of what a hypothetical Romney presidency might look like from a sustainability perspective.

New Acts of Valor: Sara Flounders on the environmental impact of the U.S. military

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Patriotism. Since the birth of the nation-state, humans have equated fighting in battle on behalf one’s country as the ultimate form of patriotism. But the U.S. military is far and away the planet’s biggest polluting force. Given the looming threat of climate change, perhaps it’s time we recognize environmental stewardship as the more patriotic undertaking.

This week on Sea Change Radio, host Alex Wise talks with author and activist Sara Flounders about the pollution and environmental devastation that continues to be wreaked by the greatest fighting force the world has ever known. How do we break this bellicose cycle of using resources to destroy human life and degrade the earth? Can the green movement somehow become the new face of patriotism? And what exactly does mother nature need to tell us until we finally understand that war is not the answer?

John Fullerton & Sen. Tim Wirth on the “New Economy”

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This week on Sea Change Radio, we take a special look back at the recent New Economics Institute Conference held at New York’s Bard College. First we hear from John Fullerton, a former Wall Street bigwig who became a leading practitioner in “impact investment,” a  theory-and-practice approach to financial system transformation which focuses on sustainable and regenerative land use, food, and water. Sea Change Radio co-founder, Bill Baue, speaks with Fullerton about what he sees to be the touchstone issues that define the new economy, the roles he sees banks playing in the transition to this new economy and how he factors social equity and the democratic process into his work.

Next, Ben Kurtzman sits down with Senator Tim Wirth at the New Economics Institute Conference. The former Senator from Colorado who chose not to run for re-election in 1992, citing frustration with the ever increasing role of money in politics, talks about the daunting task of moving progressive policies forward in the age of the Citizens United ruling. The President of the United Nations Foundation since its inception in 1998, Wirth talks about what the New Economy movement means to him, where he sees it headed and how surprised he is at the lack of outrage among college-age Americans when it comes to tackling the issue of climate change.

Making Waves, Making Energy

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If you sit at the edge of Pacific or Atlantic Ocean and watch as waves ferociously slap the sands, you can’t help but recognize the awesome power of the ocean. As you sit there watching, do you ever think, “it sure would be great if we could tap that energy!” Well, it turns out we can. This week on Sea Change Radio, we are talking about wave energy – the processes, both scientific and political, by which wave motion is converted into electricity.

Host Alex Wise begins by talking with George Taylor, a pioneer in wave energy capture who tells us about the progress his company, Ocean Power Technologies, has made to propagate buoy-based ocean power across the globe. Next, Wise talks with Ali Baghei, CEO of another wave energy company called OceanLinx – he tells us how oscillating water column technology works to capture wave energy. Finally, we hear from Todd Woody, environmental editor for Forbes, who has covered the successes and challenges associated with this innovation of seemingly infinite sustainability.

Bill McKibben: Currency For The Green Movement (re-broadcast)

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Bill McKibben is one of the world’s leading environmentalists. In addition to his recent success leading a coalition to stop the construction against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, McKibben heads350.org, an international organization dedicated to raising awareness of global warming. In this encore presentation of Sea Change Radio, host Alex Wise talks with McKibben about the struggle to stop the pipeline, the impact of the Citizens United ruling on the environmental movement and what is on the horizon for him and his fellow green advocates.