Go Green Radio

The African elephant was originally listed as “threatened” by the U.S. Government in 1978. Since then, the species’ population has declined by about 60 percent, primarily due to poaching for the ivory trade. Habitat destruction and unsustainable trophy hunting also contributed to the decline. Today we’re joined by Peter LaFontaine, Campaign Officer, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Masha Kalinina, International Trade Policy Specialist, Humane Society International, who will discuss a recent petition filed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to uplist African elephants from threatened to endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

McDonald’s new CEO recently announced that the company is committing to serve chicken raised without antibiotics used in human medicines in all of their U.S. restaurants within two years. As McDonald’s grooms its supply chain to deliver on this promise, this could signal a significant uptick in the supply of affordable, antibiotic-free chicken available to the general public in America. Today we’ll be joined by Sasha Stashwick, a Senior Advocate with the Natural Resource Defense Council’s Energy & Transportation and Food & Agriculture programs. She will discuss the rationale behind the move to antibiotic-free meats, and what other leaders in the food industry are doing to address this issue.

Leaders in the culinary arts, business, public health, and environmental sciences are working together to develop business-friendly solutions to today’s most pressing social and environmental concerns, such as: • Obesity, diabetes, and healthcare costs • The sourcing and production of our food • The challenge of feeding an additional two billion people by 2050, as global resources decline Menus of Change: The Business of Healthy, Sustainable, Delicious Food Choices is a ground-breaking initiative from The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health that examines these key issues. Today we’ll be joined by William Rosenzweig, Executive Director and Dean of the Food Business School (FBS), the new center for executive and graduate education at The Culinary Institute of America; and Sophie Egan, director of programs and culinary nutrition for the strategic initiatives group at The Culinary Institute of America.

For California, 2013 was the driest calendar year ever recorded across virtually the entire state. On January 17, 2014, Governor Jerry Brown proclaimed the drought to be a State of Emergency, directed state officials to take all necessary actions to assist the hardest hit communities, and called for all Californians to pitch in to reduce water use by 20 percent. While CA agencies and experts have clearly identified those actions best suited to provide relief, some observers wonder whether the long-term answer to California’s drought lies in the ocean through the promotion of seawater desalination. On today’s episode, we’ll explore an overview of the science and policy related to seawater desalination and demonstrates why this option is generally the least promising option for drought relief.

In June 2012, Alameda County in California became the first local government body to pass a safe drug disposal ordinance that would hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for the safe collection and disposal of unused medications from the public. Now San Francisco and numerous additional local governments are on the cusp of doing the same. Today we’ll talk with former Center for Disease Control physician, Dr. Matt Willis; Heidi Sanborn, executive director of the CA Product Stewardship Council; Guillermo Rodriguez of the San Francisco Department of the Environment; and Conor Johnston, from the office of the President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

If you think President Obama’s veto of the bill that would allow the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline has put the issue to rest, think again. Congressional leaders have publicly announced that they are just getting started, and plan to attach Keystone XL language to future bills in an effort to make subsequent vetoes more difficult for the President. Plans for the pipeline have been in the works since 2008, so it is entirely possible that the issue will bleed into the next President’s term. Today we’re joined by attorney, Anthony Swift, of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) who will help us understand what every American should know about the Keystone XL pipeline.

The African elephant was originally listed as “threatened” by the U.S. Government in 1978. Since then, the species’ population has declined by about 60 percent, primarily due to poaching for the ivory trade. Habitat destruction and unsustainable trophy hunting also contributed to the decline. Today we’re joined by Peter LaFontaine, Campaign Officer, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Masha Kalinina, International Trade Policy Specialist, Humane Society International, who will discuss a recent petition filed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to uplist African elephants from threatened to endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

CONFESSIONS OF AN ECO-TERRORIST is the true, no holds barred story of 30 years of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) campaigns leading up to the hit show Whale Wars. It’s a feature documentary that reveals the true odyssey of the most wanted environmentalist today, Captain Paul Watson. Filmmaker and longest-serving SSCS crew member Peter Jay Brown documented the mythic deeds of the organization while acting as the cinematographer, first mate, deckhand, quartermaster, Zodiac driver and officer/captain in Watson’s absence starting in 1980. Peter Brown, a Sea Shepherd insider expertly exercises aikido with his camera by turning a negative accusation into a positive confession of influential activism. He gives us an intimate and honest look at what really goes on behind the scenes on some of the most infamous environmental campaigns ever.

Ed Begley, Jr. joins us to discuss an entire day of Earth Day coverage of Hollywood’s efforts to Go Green. Interviews will be covered on www.BiteSize TV.com/live, and will bring together actors, authors, scientists, business innovators and other celebrities who are out front in the green movement, along with the leading experts on a wide range of environmental issues—from climate change and protecting our oceans to green fashion and sustainable farming. Ed will also discuss the Earth Day launch of Our Green House, the network’s newest reality show documenting Begley and his wife, Rachelle, as they build a brand new, ultra-green home.

Part autobiography, part treatise, in Creating Climate Wealth, Jigar Shah demonstrates how all of us can participate in the largest wealth creation opportunity of our time. Shah explains that proven, scalable climate solutions, using an infrastructure-as-a-service model, will create the next economy. The book draws lessons from what Shah learned in the creation and success of SunEdison and as CEO of The Carbon War Room. The key message is that climate wealth is at our fingertips – accessible to entrepreneurs, investors, governments, NGO’s, and corporations, and will create thousands of jobs.

In her new book, SUPERSTORM: Nine Days Inside Hurricane Sandy (Dutton), investigative journalist and graduate professor of environmental studies Kathryn Miles discusses how mounting inadequacies of our national weather service infrastructure may compound the danger to public safety posed by extreme weather events. The Washington Post said the book is “what you might expect from Stephen King if he wrote nonfiction: a gripping plot with flashes of pure terror. Most astonishing, everything Miles describes actually happened.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. beekeepers lost 1 in 3 honeybees during the winter of 2012, and this is cause for alarm. Declining bee populations have been making news recently, and this is much more than an endangered species story. Certain crops we take for granted are dependent upon bee pollination to grow. Among these are: apples, almonds, blueberries, watermelon, cherries, peaches, avocados, cucumbers, cranberries, onions, blackberries, grapefruit, oranges, raspberries, cantaloupe, pumpkins, pears, and plums. If you want to help ensure these crops remain bountiful (and, hence, affordable), tune in today as Ted Dennard, CEO of Savannah Bee Company, joins us to discuss this crucial topic.

Just a few weeks ago, 17 foundations with assets of about $2 billion agreed to divest their portfolios of coal, oil and gas, and reinvest in the clean energy economy. This adds a major tailwind to the movement that is up and running on 400 college campuses nationwide. Major institutions in San Francisco, including the city itself, have agreed to divest completely. Some of these big names include The Compton Foundation, The Sierra Club Foundation, The San Francisco State University Foundation and more. Four of the leaders of this movement will join us on Go Green Radio to discuss the fossil fuel divestment movement, and its economic implications.

Today we’re joined by Zoë Carpenter, reporter for The Nation, who will discuss her recent article on the impact of oil contributions in the Louisiana Senate Race between Mary Landrieu and Bill Cassidy, The Invisible Oil in Louisiana's Senate Race. (http://www.thenation.com/article/181832/well-oiled-race). We’ll also talk with Harriet Rowan, staff reporter for the Richmond Confidential, an online news service produced by the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley, about Chevron’s multi-million dollar influence on local elections in Richmond, California.

Go Green Radio listeners know that some of the greatest challenges facing humanity in the 21st century will require innovations in engineering that will continue to supply energy, water, food and *joy* to the world’s burgeoning population. Today’s guests, David Goldberg and Mark Somerville, are pioneers helping to create the educational framework that will produce the engineers we need for a thriving society. How can we “humanize” engineering education and create the kind of culture that produces creative problem solvers capable of envisioning and building a better tomorrow? Tune in and find out! For more information on their book, visit www.bigbeacon.org.

Go Green Radio listeners know that some of the greatest challenges facing humanity in the 21st century will require innovations in engineering that will continue to supply energy, water, food and *joy* to the world’s burgeoning population. Today’s guests, David Goldberg and Mark Somerville, are pioneers helping to create the educational framework that will produce the engineers we need for a thriving society. How can we “humanize” engineering education and create the kind of culture that produces creative problem solvers capable of envisioning and building a better tomorrow? Tune in and find out! For more information on their book, visit www.bigbeacon.org.

Today we’re joined by Zoë Carpenter, reporter for The Nation, who will discuss her recent article on the impact of oil contributions in the Louisiana Senate Race between Mary Landrieu and Bill Cassidy, The Invisible Oil in Louisiana's Senate Race. (http://www.thenation.com/article/181832/well-oiled-race). We’ll also talk with Harriet Rowan, staff reporter for the Richmond Confidential, an online news service produced by the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley, about Chevron’s multi-million dollar influence on local elections in Richmond, California.

In 1968, Paul Ehrlich and his wife, Anne, published the book, The Population Bomb, which shook the world as it discussed the connection between environmental degradation and exponential human population growth. Though critics abound, many subsequent scholars and activists have continued the push for humane, science-based public policy to address the quandary of providing a good standard of living for all while faced with the constraints of earth’s finite resources. Today, Dr. Ehrlich and his co-author, Michael Charles Tobias – CEO of the Dancing Star Foundation www.dancingstarfoundation.org, will join us to discuss his newest book, Hope on Earth, which covers some of the most pressing environmental concerns of the moment.

Today’s guest is Karl Gawell, Executive Director of the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA). “California has ambitious climate goals. Fortunately, it also has the geothermal resources and potential to access those goals,” says Gawell. California has about 2,720 MW of geothermal power on-line and produced 13,230 GWh in 2012. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that there are an additional 2,500 MW of discovered geothermal power resources in California and 11,000 MW of undiscovered resources. Tune in to learn more about what it will take to bring all this renewable energy to the grid.

For California, 2013 was the driest calendar year ever recorded across virtually the entire state. On January 17, 2014, Governor Jerry Brown proclaimed the drought to be a State of Emergency, directed state officials to take all necessary actions to assist the hardest hit communities, and called for all Californians to pitch in to reduce water use by 20 percent. While CA agencies and experts have clearly identified those actions best suited to provide relief, some observers wonder whether the long-term answer to California’s drought lies in the ocean through the promotion of seawater desalination. On today’s episode, we’ll explore an overview of the science and policy related to seawater desalination and demonstrates why this option is generally the least promising option for drought relief.