Go Green Radio

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.

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.

Much of the commentary on the Pope’s encyclical, Laudato Si, has centered on who is on his side, and who should feel chastised, e.g. environmentalists vs. big oil; Northern hemisphere vs. Southern; developed countries vs. developing countries. But on today’s episode of Go Green Radio we will focus on ways the Pope encourages readers to be on the same side, “We need to strengthen the conviction that we are one single human family.” Our guest today is Fr. James Martin, Editor-at-Large at America, The National Catholic Review. Father Martin is a Jesuit priest, author of multiple New York Times bestsellers, and has appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, The History Channel, the BBC, National Geographic TV, Fox News, NPR, and many more. @JamesMartinSJ

Today we’re joined by actor/producer, Raphael Sbarge to discuss Green Wish, a grassroots, non-profit organization that funds local, green organizations through customers’ small donations at local retailers. Green Wish was founded in 2009 by Sbarge, after the birth of his first child, “I was struck by how alive I suddenly felt as a father,” he explained. “Conversely, I also felt remarkably vulnerable and defenseless to protect this little person’s journey in a world as vast and complex as ours. I had to ask, ‘What can we do to contribute in any small way to leave the world a better place than when we found it?’” The answer: Green Wish. When you donate to Green Wish, you’re actually helping numerous environmental groups, right in your own community. On today’s episode, we’ll also discuss Raphael’s documentary, Is There Hope For Planet Earth?

In March of this year, Rolling Stone magazine reported that Bonnie Raitt, Indigo Girls, Kristen Graves, John Butler Trio and Michael Franti are among two dozen musicians who have contributed songs to Buy This Fracking Album, a two-disc compilation LP intended to educate listeners about hydro-fracking, a controversial method of extracting natural gas from the earth's shale. In a statement, Raitt said, One of the most critical environmental issues of our time is banning fracking everywhere because it destroys our water, our communities and our planet. The 24-track set, produced by Jason Samel, features a mix of original recordings, previously released tracks and live versions of older songs – all of which share the theme of environmental awareness. Proceeds will benefit various anti-fracking organizations, including Food and Water Watch and Marcellus Protest. Today we’ll be joined by the album’s producer, @jasonsamel, and one of the featured artists, @kristengraves. @frackingalbum

The Urban School Food Alliance (Alliance), a coalition of the largest school districts in the United States that includes New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami-Dade, Dallas and Orlando, announced that it will start rolling out the use of compostable round plates at cafeterias this month, saying good-bye to polystyrene trays. The districts in the Alliance serve 2.5 million meals a day, and the six districts project to remove 225 million polystyrene trays from landfills every year. Tune in as we speak with the Chairman of the Alliance, Eric Goldstein, and the director of Natural Resource Defense Council's New York urban program and senior attorney, Mark Izeman.

New farmland-mapping research published this week shows that up to 90 percent of Americans could be fed entirely by food grown or raised within 100 miles of their homes. Professor Elliott Campbell, with the University of California, Merced, School of Engineering, discusses the possibilities in a study entitled “The Large Potential of Local Croplands to Meet Food Demand in the United States.” The research results are the cover story of the newest edition of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, the flagship journal for the Ecological Society of America, which boasts a membership of 10,000 scientists. Tune in as we discuss the implications of his research with Professor Campbell.

In her new book, Driving the Future, Margo Oge (Former Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, United States Environmental Protection Agency) portrays a future where clean, intelligent vehicles with lighter frames and alternative power trains will produce zero emissions and run at 100+ mpg. With electronic architectures more like that of airplanes, cars will be smarter and safer, will park themselves, and will network with other vehicles on the road to drive themselves. Offering an insider account of the partnership between Federal agencies, states, environmental groups, and car manufacturers that led to the historic deal, she discusses the science of climate change, the politics of addressing it and the lessons learned for policymakers.

Opening a new era for cooperation on the world’s most critical water issues, mayors from across Great Lakes and the Middle East will sign a pioneering agreement this month that links their cities through game-changing “Sister Waters” partnerships. The treaty-signing will take place at Water after Borders: Global Stakes, Local Politics, a historic two-day summit at the University of Illinois at Chicago, April 23rd-24th, 2015. Water After Borders will focus on strategies for sharing water across political, geographical, and cultural boundaries. The partnerships will be facilitated by EcoPeace Middle East – an Israeli/Jordanian/Palestinian trilateral organization dedicated to environmental peacebuilding – and the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Cities Initiative - a coalition aimed at protecting and restoring the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. Tune in to hear the mayors themselves discuss this historic partnership!

In her new book, Driving the Future, Margo Oge (Former Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, United States Environmental Protection Agency) portrays a future where clean, intelligent vehicles with lighter frames and alternative power trains will produce zero emissions and run at 100+ mpg. With electronic architectures more like that of airplanes, cars will be smarter and safer, will park themselves, and will network with other vehicles on the road to drive themselves. Offering an insider account of the partnership between Federal agencies, states, environmental groups, and car manufacturers that led to the historic deal, she discusses the science of climate change, the politics of addressing it and the lessons learned for policymakers.

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.

Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot (OVER) crystallizes the ecological and social tragedies of humanity’s ballooning numbers and consumption. It’s time to make millions of people acutely, immediately, and viscerally aware of the dangers and deprivations facing people and the planet. Our guest today is Bill Ryerson, founder and president of Population Media Center; he also serves as Chair and CEO of The Population Institute in Washington, DC. We will discuss ways to proceed into a sustainable, collaborative, and hopeful future using global communication systems.

Opening a new era for cooperation on the world’s most critical water issues, mayors from across Great Lakes and the Middle East will sign a pioneering agreement this month that links their cities through game-changing “Sister Waters” partnerships. The treaty-signing will take place at Water after Borders: Global Stakes, Local Politics, a historic two-day summit at the University of Illinois at Chicago, April 23rd-24th, 2015. Water After Borders will focus on strategies for sharing water across political, geographical, and cultural boundaries. The partnerships will be facilitated by EcoPeace Middle East – an Israeli/Jordanian/Palestinian trilateral organization dedicated to environmental peacebuilding – and the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Cities Initiative - a coalition aimed at protecting and restoring the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. Tune in to hear the mayors themselves discuss this historic partnership!

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.

What do major fashion retailers and designers like HM, Target, Gap and Levi have in common? They are all working with the Natural Resources Defense Council NRDC to create clothing that uses less water and energy to produce, transport, and care for. Through implementation of the NRDC’s Clean By Design program, these corporate partners utilize their tremendous buying power as a lever to reduce the environmental impacts of their suppliers abroad. Clean by Design focuses on improving process efficiency to reduce waste and emissions and improve the environment. Tune in to hear Dr. Linda Greer discuss the program in detail, and learn how consumers can influence the growing sustainable apparel movement.

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.