Articles Tagged ‘ Obama ’

Inside The Mind of Mitt: Romney and the Environment

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.

Environmental Journalist Jeff Goodell on Politics, Policy & Coal

If you could get the President’s attention for just long enough to tell him the ten things you’d like him to do to save the planet, or at least put us on a more sustainable path, what would you say? This week on Sea Change Radio, host Alex Wise talks with environmental author and journalist, Jeff Goodell.  He expounds on his list, recently published in Rolling Stone, of the ten things President Obama could do now, without having to wrestle with Congress, which would have a significant positive environmental impact.  He also shares a small bit of the wisdom contained in his 2006 book, Big Coal, helping debunk the myth of “Clean Coal,” elucidating the perils of mountain-top removal coal mining, and discussing the role that railroad companies play in energy prices in the United States.

The Future of Electricity

In 1880, Thomas Edison patented a system for the distribution of electricity that within 2 years was providing power through a grid to parts of lower Manhattan. How far have we come since then? According to this week’s guests, not far enough. This week on Sea Change Radio, host Alex Wise first talks to sustainability consultant Ted Howes who explains the direction utility companies should be taking to work smarter, not harder, and why this smart grid technology is meeting with some resistance. Then we hear from Danny Kennedy, the founder of Sungevity, one of the solar companies whose “Glo-bama” campaign successfully advocated for the re-installation of solar panels on the White House. He talks about the powerful statement that is made when a US president decides to install solar, or, in the case of Ronald Reagan, reject it.

ViewPoint: Don Bartlett on a Federal Reserve for Health Care

donaldbarlettThe investigative reporting team of Don Bartlett and Jim Steele has been looking under the hood of issues vital to Americans since 1971. One of these has been health care. Their 2004 book, Critical Condition: How Health Care in America Became Big Business--and Bad Medicine, examined How Health Care in America Became Big Business — and Bad Medicine, as the subtitle of the book goes. One recommendation they made in the book was for a new independent independent agency, to manage health care. Click to continue reading and listen to the show…

Envisioning a Green Economy

joelmakower

This week, green business guru Joel Makower encourages us to envision success in creating a clean, sustainable economy that averts climate catastrophe and improves our environment, communities, and lives.  And shareholder activist John Harrington urges banks bailed out with Troubled Asset Relief Program funding to make sure they stabilize US economic security.

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After Capitalism: PROUT as a Sustainable, Democratic Economic Model

dadamaheshvarananda

Today, Dada Maheshvarananda meditates on the alternative economic model of Progressive Utilization Theory, or PROUT. Joe Romm of Climate Progress analyzes the climate resolve of the Obama Administration. Lisa Woll of the Social Investment Forum proposes an Office for Innovation in Corporate Social Responsibility to the Obama Administration.  And auto and environment expert Jim Motavalli comments on the significance of President Obama’s executive order directing the EPA to reconsider its refusal to grant California a waiver allowing it to regulate greenhouse gases from autos.

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News Analysis: Lisa Woll Proposes Federal Office of CSR Innovation

lisawollThe Social Investment Forum (SIF) submitted a letter to President Obama listing a series of policy proposals, from proxy access allowing shareholders to nominate board candidates to “say on pay” giving investors a vote on executive compensation.  SIF also urges the Obama Administration to establish an Office for Innovation in Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR.  This idea dates back to the early 2000s, propounded first by Susan Aaronson at the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, and supported by a Government Accountability Office report finding major lack of coordination on federal CSR initiatives.  SIF CEO Lisa Woll explains the rationale behind the recommendations, and how they will promote advancement toward sustainability.

ViewPoint: Francesca Rheannon — A Modest Proposal

francescarheannonSea Change Co-Host Francesca Rheannon has a modest proposal for building demand for energy efficiency: a Home Energy Savings Equal Opportunity Program. Click to continue reading and listen to the show…

Blog: Top Corporate Social Responsibility News of 2008

bb1Each January for the past several years, Bill has surveyed the top Corporate Social Responsibility news stories of the past year for CSRwire.com, where he is a contributing writer. Here’s this year’s edition:

A “green” recovery from economic and environmental meltdowns; the advent of Shareholder Activism 2.0 with binding resolutions at TARP banks; CSR adopts Web 2.0 strategies for sustainability reporting; is Wal-Mart really green?; and much more…

The economic meltdown of 2008 mirrors the simultaneous environmental meltdown fueled by the climate calamity – both share common roots, and many in the Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (CSR) community believe they share a common salvation. Click to continue reading and listen to the show…

Blog: Change we can’t believe in?

FrancescaRheannonBarack Obama has said time and again that change comes from the bottom up at least as much as from policy directives from on high. He’s right–and he seems to be giving signs that pressure from below is going to be needed to keep him true to his own campaign promises. Click to continue reading and listen to the show…