Go Green Radio

It comes as news to no one that the energy industry is the most profitable on Earth. Based on their rise to prominence in the 20th Century, the annual earnings of the top five oil companies alone (ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Conoco Philips, and Chevron) are now measured in the hundreds of billions of dollars. In his new book, Following the Money, Craig Shields presents a set of interviews with subject matter experts who discuss the effects that economics and financial power have on the course of the world’s energy policy. If it is true that we need a radical change in our approach to transportation and energy so that we can forge a sustainable path to consumption of resources here on Earth, it will only happen with action by a large, informed electorate of people who understand and honestly care what’s going on around them. Tune in, and become part of the informed electorate!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Yearly plug-in vehicle sales increased 198 percent in 2012, and the number of available models in the U.S. market is expected to triple by model year 2015. Since entering the market just more than two years ago, more than 70,000 plug-in vehicles have hit American roads. Today we’ll be joined by Brian Wynne, President of the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA), to discuss both performance and public policy issues that impact the electrification of light transportation in the U.S.

The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) is leading a national movement to improve student performance and the entire educational experience by building the best possible schools. Today we’ll be joined by the CHPS Executive Director, Bill Orr, who will explain the mission, vision and services of the organization. Learn how your school and your child can be positively impacted by creating a healthy, green, sustainable learning environment.

Do America’s poor, working-class, and persons of color bear a disproportionate share of the country’s environmental problems? Are environmental hazards to human health more likely to be located near the neighborhoods of those who are the most vulnerable and least powerful in our society? Has the mainstream environmental movement helped –or hurt- the underrepresented segments of our population with NIMBY-ism? Today we’ll explore these sensitive, but essential topics with the “father of Environmental Justice”, Dr. Robert Bullard. Professor Bullard was featured in the July 2007 CNN People You Should Know, in 2008, Newsweek named him one of 13 Environmental Leaders of the Century, and in 2013, he was honored with the Sierra Club John Muir Award, the first African American to win the award.

How do we remove toxic chemicals from our bodies and homes? Bruce Lourie and Rick Smith, two of Canada’s environmental leaders, have been asked this question on an almost daily basis since the publication of their runaway international bestseller, Slow Death by Rubber Duck: How the Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Life Affects Our Health. Rick joins us today to discuss his practical and often surprising advice. He will also share the truth behind organic foods, which detox methods actually work, if indoor air quality is improving, how we dispose of waste (where do those chemicals go?), and the ins and outs of a greener economy.

With a million more of us every 4½ days on a planet that's not getting any bigger, prospects for a sustainable human future seem ever more in doubt. Alan Weisman traveled to more than 20 countries to ask what experts agreed were the probably the most important questions on Earth-and also the hardest: How many humans can the planet hold without capsizing? How robust must the Earth's ecosystem be to assure our continued existence? Can we know which other species are essential to our survival? And, how might we actually arrive at a stable, optimum population, and design an economy to allow genuine prosperity without endless growth? Tune in as we talk with Alan about what he encountered on his global search for answers.

What will it take to teach the next generation to live sustainably? Can environmental education enhance academic achievement in math, science and social studies? These are among the many important questions that the Green Schools National Network (GSNN) addresses by connecting education professionals from across the U.S. Today we’ll be joined by GSNN CEO, Jim McGrath, and COO, Dr. Jenny Seydel, to discuss the latest trends in the green schools movement, and some best practices for communities that want to provide kids with green, healthy and sustainable schools.

Hillary and Chelsea Clinton made protecting wild African elephants the centerpiece of the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative, in part because the elephants are facing extinction in a decade given current poaching rates, but also because their tusks are financing terrorism. Today we are joined by bestselling author and war correspondent, Mike Bond, to discuss the real world threat that is the subject of his new fiction novel, The Last Savanna. The book is based on his participation in military operations with Kenyan rangers against elephant poachers.

Education is a dynamic institution. Every few years classrooms are introduced to new technologies and reforms that alter the learning experience in many ways. Throughout all these changes, however, two things have remained the same: first, human beings are completely dependent on natural systems, and second, human beings are capable of rendering natural systems incapable of supporting life. To what extent are we teaching students the necessary skills to preserve the natural systems on which they rely? Our guest today is Dr. Jerry Lieberman, who will discuss practical ways to use the environment around any school to create standards-based environmental education programs.

Green labels are popping up on products from clothing to electronics, and it isn’t easy to tell which ones are credible and which ones are misleading. Our guest today is Scot Case, Director, Market Development at UL Environment. UL Environment is the sustainability arm of UL – the independent safety certification company with a 120 year history. As a third-party entity that tests, validates and certifies, UL Environment helps consumers find sustainable products they can trust. This is especially true for technology products as increased consumer demand has driven UL Environment to develop and manufacturers to adopt new sustainability standards for technologies like mobile devices, computers, entertainment electronics and home appliances.

How do we remove toxic chemicals from our bodies and homes? Bruce Lourie and Rick Smith, two of Canada’s environmental leaders, have been asked this question on an almost daily basis since the publication of their runaway international bestseller, Slow Death by Rubber Duck: How the Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Life Affects Our Health. Rick joins us today to discuss his practical and often surprising advice. He will also share the truth behind organic foods, which detox methods actually work, if indoor air quality is improving, how we dispose of waste (where do those chemicals go?), and the ins and outs of a greener economy.

Do America’s poor, working-class, and persons of color bear a disproportionate share of the country’s environmental problems? Are environmental hazards to human health more likely to be located near the neighborhoods of those who are the most vulnerable and least powerful in our society? Has the mainstream environmental movement helped –or hurt- the underrepresented segments of our population with NIMBY-ism? Today we’ll explore these sensitive, but essential topics with the “father of Environmental Justice”, Dr. Robert Bullard. Professor Bullard was featured in the July 2007 CNN People You Should Know, in 2008, Newsweek named him one of 13 Environmental Leaders of the Century, and in 2013, he was honored with the Sierra Club John Muir Award, the first African American to win the award.

With a million more of us every 4½ days on a planet that's not getting any bigger, prospects for a sustainable human future seem ever more in doubt. Alan Weisman traveled to more than 20 countries to ask what experts agreed were the probably the most important questions on Earth-and also the hardest: How many humans can the planet hold without capsizing? How robust must the Earth's ecosystem be to assure our continued existence? Can we know which other species are essential to our survival? And, how might we actually arrive at a stable, optimum population, and design an economy to allow genuine prosperity without endless growth? Tune in as we talk with Alan about what he encountered on his global search for answers.

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.

Today we’re joined by Lois Gibbs, environmental health advocate made famous by her leadership during the Love Canal crisis in upstate New York, and Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Mark Kitchell (Berkeley in the Sixties) to discuss his new documentary, A Fierce Green Fire, which spans 50 years of grassroots and global activism from the 1960s-2009 and connects the major causes of environmentalism: from the conservation movement and Sierra Club halting dams in the Grand Canyon to battling toxic waste at Love Canal (Niagara, NY); from alternative ecology strands like Greenpeace and its save the whales campaign to the rise of global resource crises like saving the Amazon rainforest; and the ongoing climate change effort. Narrated by Robert Redford, Ashley Judd, Van Jones, Isabel Allende and Meryl Streep. A Fierce Green Fire, premiering nationally on Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22, 2014, 9-10 p.m. on PBS (check local listings).

The Green Schools National Network held its annual conference in Sacramento, CA in late March 2014, and I had the chance to interview some of the leaders on the GSNN Advisory Board. On todays’ episode, you’ll hear from Stephen Ritz, the teacher behind the Green Bronx Machine (http://greenbronxmachine.org) who gained national notoriety after his TED talk (http://youtu.be/RF6qTlgtHU0). Michael Ferraro, CEO of Growums (http://growums.com/), was one of the conference sponsors. You’ll hear from Bill Orr, Executive Director of the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (http://www.chps.net/); Jaimie Cloud, founder of the Cloud Institute (http://cloudinstitute.org/); and Rachel Gutter, Director of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools (http://www.centerforgreenschools.org).