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What does our future on this warming globe hold? We explore this question today with Stephan Faris, who talks about his new book, FORECAST: The Consequences of Climate Change
Articles Tagged ‘ EPA ’
Forecasting Climate Change
Making the Case for a Green Stimulus
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Alex Bowen, a Principal Research Fellow at The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment of the London School of Economics, discusses An Outline of the Case for a ‘Green’ Stimulus, a report he co-authored with Lord Nicholas Stern, the man behind the 2006 Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change. And in the ViewPoint, Donald Bartlett of the investigative journalism team Bartlett and Steele advances the idea of a Federal Reserve for health care. Click to continue reading and listen to the show…
After Capitalism: PROUT as a Sustainable, Democratic Economic Model
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ViewPoint: Jim Motavalli on Cars and Carbon
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Jim Motavalli
Jim Motavalli blogs on green matters for The Daily Green and Mother Nature Network and he blogs about cars in the New York Times “Automobiles” section. He was also a long-time editor for E–the Environmental Magazine, where he continues as a contributing writer. Motavalli combines his passion for autos and environment in his book, FORWARD DRIVE: The Race To Build Clean Cars for the Future
The Transition — to Sustainability
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Hunter Lovins
Charlie Cray
Today we talk with Hunter Lovins, founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions, about the Presidential Climate Action Project. The Sea Change ViewPoint comes from Charlie Cray of the Center for Corporate Policy.
For many people, the election of Barack Obama as the US President stoked hope for big change. The transition to the Obama Administration brings promise of shifts to government regulations and policies to promote sustainability. Long before the election, though, a group of influential sustainability leaders gathered to brainstorm recommendations to the incoming President on tackling climate change. The Presidential Climate Action Project was born, Click to continue reading and listen to the show…
The End of Food?
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Paul Roberts
, Roberts says the technologies meant to end hunger don’t fit the conditions in the very countries they were supposed to feed. Small farmers are squeezed off the land, their families go hungry, and suicide sweeps their ranks. Rich countries are vulnerable, too. In a globalized food system, plant diseases could wipe out major food crops like wheat, fish stocks are crashing, and antibiotic resistance threatens both our meat animals–and ourselves. Roberts says the global industrialized food system is overextended, under threat of disruptions and unsustainable.
CWR News Analysis — The 24th Anniversary of Bhopal:
–International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal
–EarthRights International: Bano v. Union Carbide Case History
–Press Release: “Victory Against Union Carbide Corp.: Court Reverses Dismissal of Pollution Claims”
–Second Circuit Appeals Court Decision in Bano v. Union Carbide
–Press Release: “Chevron Found Not Liable for Killings, Shootings, and Torture of Nigerian Peaceful Protesters”
–FindLaw: “Chevron Wins an Alien Tort Statute Case – But the Victory May Be Less Important than It Might Seem”
CWR ViewPoint — Are NGOs and Corporations Too Cozy?
Marc Gunther
On Monday, the Washington DC offices of the NGO Environmental Defense were “invaded” by grassroots climate activists from Rising Tide North America. Dr. Rachel Smolker, daughter of a co-founder of Environmental Defense, protested ED’s collaboration with corporations, particularly its involvement in the US Climate Action Partnership, an alliance of NGOs and big companies that advocates for carbon cap-and-trade. The activists label this a “false” solution to the climate crisis, and lampooned the NGO with “Mr. Green” and “Mr. Wash” scrubbing the ED offices clean.
Last month, Fortune magazine’s Sustainability Columnist Marc Gunther blogged and wrote an article on the “cozy” relationships between NGOs and corporations. For the Corporate Watchdog Radio ViewPoint, we caught up with Marc from his home office in Bethesda for his take on this issue.
How the Rich Are Destroying the Earth
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Herve Kempf
, Kempf explains how the wealthy of the world are living unsustainable lifestyles, and everyone else is trashing the earth too trying to keep up with the rich Joneses. The solution? Move away from materialism and growth.
CWR News Analysis — The Greening of Wal-Mart?:
Sources:
–CSRwire: “Wal-Mart Celebrates Thanksgiving by Sourcing Local Food, Supporting Hunger-Relief, and Buying Wind Power”
–GreenBiz: “Wal-Mart’s New CEO: What Does it Mean for Green?”
–The Green Wave Marches On: Wal-Mart in China
–Grist: “Wal-Mart Comes to the Farmers Market”
–Press Release: “Walmart Gives Consumers Opportunity To Support Local Economies Through Locally Grown Program”
–Cornucopia Institute: Wal-Mart Organics: Market Expansion or Market Delusion?
–Press Release: “Wal-Mart Makes Major Commitment to Renewable Wind Power”
–Wal-Mart Carbon Disclosure Project Response, 2007
–Lee Scott Message in Wal-Mart Sustainability Progress report, 2007
CWR ViewPoint:
Jonathan Weil
Bloomberg Columnist Jonathan Weil, the first journalist to expose Enron’s cooked books in 2001, recently criticized President-Elect Barack Obama’s appointments to the Transition Economic Advisory Board, pointing out that almost half hail from companies that fried their financial statements or fueled the market meltdown — or both. CWR Co-hosts Bill Baue and Francesca Rheannon chat with Weil about his critique.
Joe Romm Compares Presidential Platforms on Environment and Energy
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We reported last week that Barack Obama will regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act if elected. Not so for John McCain. Today writer and scientist Joseph Romm wrote on his blog Climate Progess, that a McCain-Palin administration would use a voluntary or incentive-based approach, one that “has never worked in any country to restrain emissions growth.” Today, we talk to Joe Romm about how Barack Obama and John McCain differ on their approaches to the climate crisis and alternative energy. Romm is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, where he maintains its blog, Climate Progress. It was named one of the top 15 green websites by Time Magazine. Romm is also the author of the 2006 book Hell and High Water: Global Warming–the Solution and the Politics–and What We Should Do. He was Acting Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy during the Clinton Administration.
CWR Headlines:
–BPA is OK — According to a Chemical-Friendly FDA
–Scientists Blast FDA report on BPA Safety
–Phthalate-Laden Toys Flooding the Market
–The Other Debt Crisis — How we’re Overspending Our Ecological Budget
Envisioning the Future of Sustainability
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It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future. Yogi Berra said that. He also said, the future ain’t what it used to be. For Glen Hiemstra, the future holds the key to current planning. The founder of the website futurist.com, Hiemstra consults for businesses and governments on how to take the long view on trends. In his book, Turning the Future into Revenue, he argues that the planning horizon should stretch out for several decades in order to meet the sustainability challenges we face right now.
CWR Headlines:
–Google Unveils Clean Energy Plan
–Starbucks Accused of Wasting Water, Explores Alternatives
–Palin Stretches the Truth on Darfur Divestment
The Community-Building Power of Wind
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When it comes to renewable energy, wind is taking the lead–at least at this stage of technological development. But what’s the best model for developing it? Should we follow the centralized utility model with big wind farms set up in a few places — offshore Massachusetts or the state of Texas — and then send the juice over wires to power homes and businesses far away? That’s the dominant model in the US. Or should we follow the community-owned wind power model, where the people using the power have a financial stake in it, too? Maybe a healthy mix of both would be best. Today, CWR co-host Francesca Rheannon speaks with Dan Juhl of Juhl Wind Development, which is helping communities around the country develop locally owned wind power cooperatives. The company has developed about 140 megawatts — or several hundred million dollars worth — of community-based wind projects. Francesca met him at the Sustainable Energy Summit at the University of Massachusetts in June. And Rheannon speaks with journalist Elizabeth Kolbert. Her recent New Yorker article, “The Island in the Wind,” profiles the Danish island of Samso, known internationally as the “renewable energy island” because residents get most of their power from windmills they cooperatively own.
Community-Based Energy Development
Complete interview with Dan Juhl
Elizabeth Kolbert: “The Island in the Wind”
CWR Headlines:
–The US can achieve 20 percent energy from wind by 2030 with help from GE and T. Boone Pickens
Updates: –European parliament votes to include aviation emissions in Emissions Trading Scheme
–EPA report links climate change to human health risks, but Bush blocks GHG emissions regulation under Clean Air Act
