EcoTalk's Archives

"Host your own talk show" competition: Vote for One Green Talk Show before July 3.

Philippe Boucher — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 08:45:15 -0700

Oprah's seeking a new talent to debut on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).

Look at my video for One Green Talk Show and thank you for your votes.

On the Green Front Program for May 21 2009

Philippe Boucher — Fri, 22 May 2009 01:37:18 -0700

On the Green Front Program for May 14 2009

Philippe Boucher — Sat, 16 May 2009 21:29:50 -0700

5-15-09 From Betsy's iPhone - at the Summit: Al Gore, Carolyn Revelle, Larry Schweger
5-14-09 The Climate Project in Nashville for its North American Summit: Attorney Susan Mac Cormac about changing the corporation form
5-14-09 The Climate Project in Nashville for its North American Summit: David Vasquez about the Sun Train
5-14-09 The Climate Project in Nashville for its North American Summit: Peter Joseph, emergency physician
5-14-09 The Climate Project in Nashville for its North American Summit: Tami Coleman
5-14-09 Hundreds of Grass-Roots Activists and Scientific Leaders Meet in Nashville for Al Gore’s North American Summit

On the Green Front Program for May 5 2009

Philippe Boucher — Thu, 07 May 2009 21:31:00 -0700

On The Green Front Program for April 23

Philippe Boucher — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:46:21 -0700

On The Green Front Program for April 16

Philippe Boucher — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:20:00 -0700

On The Green Front Program for April 9

Philippe Boucher — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 03:20:00 -0700

On The Green Front Program for April 2d: Environmental Education

Philippe Boucher — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 17:54:21 -0700

On The Green Front Program for March 26: Clean Cars

Philippe Boucher — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:57:00 -0700

On The Green Front Program for March 19: Eco-Fashion

Philippe Boucher — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 19:30:56 -0700

On The Green Front program for March 12

Philippe Boucher — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:22:26 -0700

The Green Lining

Philippe Boucher — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:15:00 -0700

Inauguration Eve in DC – Showing my tag which reads: “Black Is The New Green!”

2009 is off to a roller coaster start. For me, and millions of Americans, it kicked off January 20th in Washington on a cold but clear D.C. day.

Flying into the nation's capitol for 26 hours of witnessing history, and attending Al Gore's Green Ball (see photo of "New Arrival" poster at the National Portrait Gallery), was an absolute thrill.

But the high, and the honeymoon, did not last long as we've dipped deeper into financial gloom. The malls are quiet, foreclosure and bankruptcy lawyers are busy, and the banks suddenly need our help (and I thought all those bounced check fees were enough!).

So just when we finally get a President who never misses an opportunity to talk about renewable energy, who has broken color barriers, and who gets "green", we're all struggling to stay out of the red! But the green lining in the black cloud is the swift shift into downwardly mobile gear.

Simplifying, saving, and a back-to-basics approach that would have seemed unthinkable even a year ago, is the new Zeitgeist. For the first time in America, bigger is not better and shopping as a national pastime is at least for now, a thing of the past.

This is the type of tipping point that’s hard to imagine, and harder to predict. The confluence of events shifting global financial markets, altering the energy landscape and changing personal habits, seemingly overnight, is rapid and rough enough to make Malcolm Gladwell’s head spin!

So what do we now? Hold our breath? Wait for the other shoe to drop?

Well, at least we’re not being told to just go shopping, although the closing of wallets is part of the problem…and part of the solution.

Construction is down and home sales are declining meaning far fewer Americans are buying new furniture, window treatments and appliances. Even renovation projects have been put on hold faster than customer service can say “just a moment”.

Challenging and painful as the economic downturn is to millions of Americans, the flip side of that coin is less stuff is being consumed, constructed and commissioned and that’s easier on our environment.

It’s too bad that it takes something like this perfect storm of events to

get us, cold turkey, off our addiction to shopping, schlepping and spending. But since it has, let’s look at the bright side.

Our appetites for bingeing are at least temporarily curbed and our tendencies to overeat, drink and spend are tempered by the sobering reality that this is not just a momentary blip. The financial gurus tell us we’re in for a spell of economic turbulence that may be long enough to make us stop, look in the mirror, think and hopefully, make a mid-course correction in the American Dream of bigger, better, badder, and at any cost.

As James Kunstler wrote in a recent article entitled “Poverty Of Imagination":

“Peak energy has combined with the diminishing returns of over-investments in complexity to pull the “kill switch” on our vaunted “way of life” - the set of arrangements that we won't apologize for or negotiate. So, the big question before the nation is: do we try to restart the whole smoking, creaking hopeless, futureless machine? Or do we start behaving differently?”

It is with that hope for a new safer, saner and more sustainable way of living, that I invite you to join me On The Green Front for conversations that inform, inspire, and just might help turn this sinking ship around.

Last week's program featured Jennifer Gray, co-founder of Transition Towns in America, an informed and integrated approach to addressing climate change, peak oil and need for community. Find out why this movement has taken off in the U.K, and is taking hold in the U.S.

We also met Rob Wheeler, founder of Campaign For A Sustainable America and learned why his project made the Top Ten list with voters at change.org.

For more great conversations about conservation, I hope to “see” you on the internet, Thursdays at 1pm pst and archived at voiceamerica.com’s Green Talk Channel.

On The Green Front

Philippe Boucher — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:45:55 -0800

Betsy on Voice America's Green Talk Network and the new On The Green Front Blog.

GREEN MEDIA TRAILBLAZER BETSY ROSENBERG RETURNS TO THE AIRWAVES WITH ON THE GREEN FRONT ON VOICEAMERICA INTERNET RADIO

After a nearly two-year hiatus to “recharge”, “refuel” and “refresh” her decade-long quest to bring green content into the mainstream media, eco-pioneer Betsy Rosenberg is back with a new call-in radio talk show.

On the Green Front with Betsy Rosenberg airs on Voice America’s Green Talk Network today, and every Thursday, at 1:00 p.m. pacific and 4pm east at www.voiceamerica.com (type “Betsy Rosenberg” in the search engine) and /or http://tinyurl.com/bfwhje (direct link).

The program is archived at www.greentalknetwork.com and will soon be available with downloadable podcasts on demand from itunes.

Betsy Rosenberg is an award-winning news reporter, anchor, green radio host and environmental advocate. A 25-year broadcast veteran, Betsy's groundbreaking program, EcoTalk on AirAmerica, was the first green show in the country to air daily, focusing exclusively on environmental issues from the science of climate change, to peak oil, to endangered oceans and species, waste, fuel efficiency and beyond.

Her focus has always been on how these challenges impact humans and how we must all become the solution if we’re to survive, and thrive, on this planet. She has interviewed nearly everyone in the green forefront, from Al Gore to Robert Kennedy Jr. and so many others - including Van Jones, Bill McKibben, Gov. Brian Schweitzer, Dr. Jim Hansen and Richard Louv - only now attracting attention from mainstream media.

Betsy has also been a keynote speaker, featured presenter, panelist and moderator at many green conferences around the nation and has been a regular guest on local and national television shows including CNN Headline News and Fox's "Hannity and Colmes."

Betsy was also years ahead of the curve with her gas-roots campaign, Don’t Be Fueled! a national campaign aimed at increasing supply and demand for more fuel efficient vehicles. In addition to producing Green-To-Go radio features (quick tips, lasting impact!), Betsy is a graduate of The Climate Project, Al Gore’s training program designed to better educate the public about climate change. In addition to being a wife, mother, and volunteer with the Marin-based EcoMoms Alliance, Betsy travels and speaks across the country to help raise America’s Eco-IQ by connecting the dots with her unique ability to inform, humor, and inspire.

Ms. Rosenberg is proud to welcome her charter sponsors for the debut of the new program:

Sustainable Life Media, Clorox’s Green Works and Mighty Leaf Tea.

Betsy will also be partnering with Rob Wheeler of the Citizens Network for Sustainable Development, which was recently voted one of the Top Ten Projects on Change.org and communications specialist and author John Marshal Roberts, author of Igniting Inspiration, a persuasion manual for visionaries.

Betsy looks forward to seeing and hearing you On the Green Front on Voice America!

FOR MORE INFORMATION, SAMPLES OR TO SPEAK WITH BETSY ROSENBERG, PLEASE CONTACT LEA SASLAV AT LS PUBLICITY ASSOCIATES Email: leasaslav1@yahoo.com Phone: 415.235.6149 and 415.717.4183

We Won’t Be Fueled Again! Or, Teetering On Two Wheels Round a Sharp Corner

Philippe Boucher — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:46:01 -0800

An open letter to GM, Ford and Chrysler (Mostly GM!)

Dear Big Three Automakers,

So there you are in Washington DC with your hands outstretched and your hats out, speaking truth to power. “We’re in trouble Mr. Treasury. Please bail us out Uncle Sam, Please don’t let us die Mother Earth, don’chya know we’re too big to fail?” Those were the plaintive cries heard echoing in the nation’s capitol chambers from the mouths of once powerful and almighty Titans of the SUV Age.

And just like their gas-guzzling former darlings on wheels, these men, and they ARE mostly men, suddenly seem old, tired and of a bygone era. Good riddance gentlemen, your vehicles were just too big to succeed!

Somewhere in the depths of your gas-filled gut, you must have known judgment day was coming. All those years you made 10 – 15 thousand dollars profit on each giant guzzler you sold, such a large mark-up that your sales teams were trained to push the biggest and the baddest models onto unsuspecting consumers. Car buyers looking for a 2 or 4 door sedan would drive off the lots feeling high and mighty about the great deal they got, until they filled up at a gas station. That’s when the gloating went into idle.

While there is some smug satisfaction to be felt by environmental activists and gasroots groups like the one I co-founded in 2002 called Don’t Be Fueled! Mothers for Clean and Safe Vehicles, the “we told you so’s” will not last long. They cannot because there is so much work to be done in getting our economy and environment out of the ditch, and darkness is fast approaching. That’s why there will be little reveling and no joy in Motown’s demise. Because when the Big 3 go down, we all suffer, and that’s why we can no longer tolerate the dragging of wheels.

Reading about GM chief Rick Wagoner’s impassioned pleas for government intervention, I had to do a double take - almost gave me whiplash! Is this the same executive and company that has fought, with tens of millions in advertising dollars, to stave off government regulations that would tighten fuel economy standards and restrict tailpipe emissions in California and beyond? Is this the same Robert Lutz who proclaimed the dip in SUV sales a year ago just a blip, and predicted gas would fall below two dollars per gallon again? Please excuse me Mr. Lutz, but with each passing day, you are looking more and more, like a putz!

I wonder what you’ve all been drinking, leaded gasoline perhaps? The u-turn in your change of tune, and fortunes, is staggering and surreal. And yet…this is precisely the scenario that a small group of Mothers from Marin predicted six years ago!

I recall the meeting held with two of us from Don’t Be Fueled! and Dave Barthmuss, Group Manager for General Motors' Western Region, Environment & Energy Communications team, who was in San Francisco in 2004 to meet with “stakeholders” to discuss GM’s green future. After thanking Bill Shireman (Global Futures) for arranging the intimate gathering, we proceeded to tell Mr. Barthmuss, in very plain Mom’s English, that the company was wasting its time and money talking to school kids about the hydrogen future. Presumably they were trying to get a jump on brand loyalty from the next generation of American drivers, but they were also carefully crafting a greener image than the Hummer was providing in those high-on-gas-fumes salad days.

We mothers, backed by thousands of other outraged moms, or so we said, were demanding that U.S. carmakers give us more fuel efficient family-friendly vehicles, like hybrid minivans and SUVs. We were soccer moms, not anarchists, and we spoke in calm but firm tones. To his credit, Mr. Barthmuss listened intently when we told him they would be seen as greenwashers if GM, and other automakers (absent Honda which took the high road on this), continued to litigate, rather than innovate. We also scolded him, in our firm but gentle motherly manner, for ignoring hybrid technology available today, in favor of a hydrogen future that may or may not ever materialize. Talk about stalling…!

Several years later, at a future green car expo, Dave Barthmuss conceded to me, in hushed tones, that our conversation in that downtown SF conference room, had indeed, made an impact on him. The next time we spoke was on my national radio program, EcoTalk, a few years later when GM was rounding up the last of its EV-1 electric cars – to the great upset of many of its leasees who loved the groundbreaking vehicle. At that time, General Motors was forcibly removing the cars and trucking the new age wheels off to the desert in Mesa, Arizona where they were crushed to death in the black darkness of night. This was in the fall of 2005, during the same week Hurricane Rita was bearing down on Galveston, Texas stranding hundreds of SUV drivers who had run out of fuel along the shoulder of freeways as they fled for higher ground. Adding to the absurdity, GM announced that it would not be crushing all the EV-1’s. Instead they would donate a few to car museums so future generations (if there are any) could marvel at the late great electric car that supposedly nobody wanted. In fact, there were about 5,000 people on a waiting list for EV-1’s at the time, according to Chelsea Sexton who organized a week long protest outside the GM facility in Southern California, and who starred in the seminal documentary, “Who Killed The Electric Car?”.

So you say we should bail you out; the government you fought, and the public you duped into thinking we “needed” these behemoths of the road? What do you take us for, fossil fools? No, you lived off those axles of evil, laughing all the way to the bank. Now we should save you from bankruptcy and an untimely death?

Part of me would like to see you go away. Go into a corner and have a “time out”, think about all the bad car-ma you have wrought, all in the name of greed. Take ten minutes…or ten days…whatever it takes to feel appropriate remorse over letting down your children, your country and your sacred shareholders in the quest for short term profits, putting your special interests over the public’s interest, especially heinous in the wake of 9/11, when you lobbied hard against strengthening CAFÉ standards, when it was not supposed to be “business as usual”. The Senate believed Trent-Lies-A-Lot when he held up a picture of a purple SMART car and said “if this legislation passes, it will be the death of SUVs and we’ll all be forced to drive purple-people eaters”. You had the backing of President Bush who threatened that imposing stronger CAFÉ standards on American-made vehicles would “hurt the economy and cost jobs”. So nothing changed and look what’s happened; thousands of jobs have been lost, the economy is in the tank, SUVs are sitting on car lots gathering dust and there are waiting lists for SMART cars more than a year long! And now that we are in the driver’s seat, and you are a deer caught in the headlights, let us, the American people, ponder your fate.

I, for one, have already made up my mind. You sealed your fate several years ago when you made a deal with the devil. Otherwise we’d all be getting 35 miles per gallon, or higher, today. As we moms see it, the only way you can exorcise the devil, and come out of your corner, is to have a total car-ma conversion, become a true leader and corporate steward of the environment. That’s right, if you want to survive, then we want change we can believe in.

We will demand that green strings - make it ropes - be fully and firmly attached to any bailout deal and that General Motors recycle itself into Green Motors, and not just in name. Start by replacing the high paid executives who drove you deep into the sea of red ink. Plow full steam ahead into a more sustainable future (for GM and US) and retool those assembly plants now to churn out hybrid vehicles in every model, and not just hybrid light. Nothing that gets less than 30 mph will pass inspection. And while you’re at it, dust off that dormant electric car assembly line, crank those factories up into full gear, and accelerate America into a brighter, greener tomorrow. Give a jolt to the Chevy Volt you plan to debut in a year and make that electric car your bread and butter. And last, but not least, you must agree to not spend one red cent on lobbying to defeat green legislation.

Then, after you’ve had your “come to Jesus” eco-epiphanies, and your inconvenient arrogance extracted in rehab, go on Larry King, Oprah and Ellen to beg forgiveness for your sins and to assure America that your makeover will have traction. Then, and only then, can you get back to work and remember that big brother will be watching you. Nothing short of a total green makeover will satisfy us. If that sounds too radical and technologically challenging, consider that the Toyota Prius I’m driving gets over 45 miles per gallon and so did the first and second Prius’ I’ve leased since 2003. And consider the alternative….crashing head-on into a wall, and certain death. Now, doesn’t a greener future through re-in-car-nation sound a bit brighter? The choice is yours but we won’t be fueled again.

By Betsy Rosenberg, Creator, Host - EcoTalk Radio www.ecotalk.net

Co-Founder - Don’t Be Fueled! Mothers For Clean and Safe Vehicles www.dontbefueled.com

You say you have Green Fatigue? That is soooo tiresome…!

Philippe Boucher — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 07:48:52 -0700

Well maybe YOU don’t suffer from “green fatigue” – if you did you probably wouldn’t be reading this but it is a term I’ve heard tossed about in the past few months and each time I hear it – though it goes by other names as well; “green glut”, “green saturation”, “green overload”, etc. – each time I want to turn red with anger.

Picture by Christina Koci Hernandez

Why does that so infuriate me? As a relative newcomer to the “old guard” environmental activists – I’ve only been at this a dozen years – I am well aware of the pain that accompanies being marginalized by a culture that would, until recently, rather fight ecological reality and its many danger signs in the form of denial, than switch to a more sustainable way of living.

Up until last year, being green in a black and white world was akin to being a Communist, enemy infiltrator, or both. Actually it often felt more like being a martian from another planet, a planet where to waste was a crime, and to conserve was a virtue, and not a freaky habit adopted by hippies and social agitators on the fringes of mainstream American society.

So what happened? The price of fuel topped three dollars a gallon and the slumbering masses awoke with a sharp jolt to the pocketbook and a belated hangover, complete with a sobering rethink of the almighty SUV as our national vehicle of choice.

Dying oceans, peak oil, disappearing species and melting glaciers were no match for the rising price on a gallon of gas. Seemingly overnight, the masses were outraged and suddenly open to new alternatives, both as a source for fuel, and as lifestyle change. Combine that with the triple hit of Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita and you have a perfect storm of factors that finally launched the Great Eco-awakening.

And just in time…the grim statistics don’t need recitation here, you know we’re doomed. Unless, unless we wake up now…today…and begin to turn this sinking ship of a planet towards the bright light of a newly-popular sun. Embracing renewable energy like solar, wind and geothermal is the new Holy Grail, tempting and yet – until now – elusive enough to seem more green dream than reality.

So now that the world is waking up to the planetary perils we face, and people across the globe see that a true sea change is needed – before the sea changes us - suddenly we hear from some predictable corners; the mainstream media, fickle consumers and Sunday pundits that the green movement has peaked and its 15 minutes of fame are passing.

To that I say “why green fatigue when the new eco-consciousness - so hard-fought and long in coming - is still in its infancy, still in (chlorine-free) diapers?” How is it that a nation so obsessed with sports, sex, stars (the Hollywood type) and the stock market is now tired of hearing about global sustainability, a topic that has been on the front pages for about five minutes in comparison?

To them I say “Take your Green Ennui and shove it!”. If sustainable survival is merely a passing fad – as some would have us believe – than I say we humans will be the same; a transient species that brought itself to the brink of greatness, only to get buried in its own greed, shortsightedness and well-honed denial. If it really is all about trendiness than maybe we have indeed - like our oil - peaked.

People Against Dirty: Method's co-founder Eric Ryan

Philippe Boucher — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:20:00 -0700

Method Products has made a name for itself designing household cleaning products that are not only green but also cool-looking enough to display above the kitchen counter. Betsy talks with co-founder and "chief brand architect" Eric Ryan. Listen now...

Initially produced for Sustainable Life Media

EcoTalk’s 12 Step Program for “Warm-a-holics*”

Philippe Boucher — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 04:09:23 -0700

Because we all contribute to global warming, be co-dependent no more:

1st Step: Admit you are powerless over your addiction to using energy and that your high energy use has become unmanageable, and then change 10 light bulbs in your house to compact florescent bulbs. Taking this first step saves 1,795 lbs of carbon dioxide per year!

2nd Step: Come to believe that a power strip turned off can restore you to sanity. Turn off your power strip when not in use and save 300-500 lbs of CO2 output per year!

3rd Step: Make a decision to turn your water heater down to 120 degrees, and turn your will over to the care of the planet, as you understand it. This step saves 550 lbs of CO2 per year!

4th Step: Take a searching and fearless moral inventory of yourself and then wash out the waste in cold-water laundry. Save 1,533 lbs of CO2 per year!

5th step: Admit to yourself and to a human witness the exact nature of your true driving needs (how often do you drive the entire soccer team around?), and drive a more fuel efficient car (increase of 3 mpg) will save 2,400 lbs of CO2 emissions per year, and save getting hosed at the pumps!

6th Step: Take an oath that you are entirely ready to begin composting 25% of your garbage. Save 1,040 lbs a year!

7th Step: Humbly wrap your heater in an insulation jacket. Save 1,000 lbs!

8th Step: Make a list of all your errands; become willing to combine them on the same trip, and drive 10 miles less a week. Save 500 lbs per year!

9th Step: Make amends to the planet and turn your thermostat down 2 degrees in the winter and up 2 degrees in the summer. Save 2,000 lbs of CO2!

10th Step: Take personal inventory of your appliances and unplug them when they are not in use. Save 300 lbs a year!

11th Step: Seek through prayer and meditation to lighten your footprint on the planet and clean the coils in your refrigerator twice a year. Saves 651 bs of CO2 per year!

12th Step: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, resolve to take this message to other energy addicts, and to practice these principles in all your affairs. And if you get really motivated, switch to solar power. It’ll save 5,749 lbs of CO2 output a year!

EcoTalk Sampler

William Craven — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:25:27 -0700

Want to hear what engaging, positive voices EcoTalk could bring to your radio station? Check out Betsy Rosenberg's inspiring mix of green ideas, trends, and personalities, and call your local affiliate to demand that EcoTalk be heard on your patch of this great green Earth. LISTEN

You want to look for previous shows and listen to past recordings.
The 2007 programs are listed on EcoTalk 2007
The 2006 programs are listed on EcoTalk 2006
The 2005 programs are listed on EcoTalk 2005
The 2004 programs are listed on EcoTalk 2004
Unfortunately, broken links sometimes happen :(
We apologize in advance if/when you encouter them. Thank you for your understanding.

Powering the planet

Philippe Boucher — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:23:37 -0700

Powering the planet (pdf) is the title of the inaugural speech given by Nathan Lewis at the California Clean Innovation Conference. At this point we don't have a recording.

EcoTalk's Final Show(?)

William Craven — Fri, 18 May 2007 21:18:51 -0700

This might be EcoTalk's last hurrah as a daily show, but we'll be damned if we won't go out with yet another jam-packed hour of news that will inform the future that us optimists are determined to see through.
If the mainstream media were a little more concerned with concrete plans for our energy future than the cost of somebody's haircut, presidential outside shot Governor Bill Richardson (NM) might have a reasonable shot at the White House this upcoming silly season. David Sandretti of the League of Conservation Voters joins Betsy to outline the big guy's plan to combat climate change. LISTEN (10 min)

Treehugger Radio

William Craven — Fri, 18 May 2007 21:10:10 -0700

Treehugger Correspondent Simran Sethi
reports on France's request that the US show more leadership on reducing emissions, the green rebuilding of tornado-devastated Greensburg, Kansas, the unusual challenge of making the Burning Man festival sustainable, and Paul Hawken's incisive new book "Blessed Unrest." LISTEN (8 min)

Exxpose Exxon

William Craven — Fri, 18 May 2007 21:06:07 -0700

Shawnee Hoover of Exxpose Exxon comments on reports that say that despite their ongoing insistence that they've severed ties with the Competitive Enterprise Institute and renounced smearing the science of climate change, Exxon "is still funding more than $2 million to the majority of climate skeptic groups" closely linked to CEI and their ilk. LISTEN (8 min)

The saddest part of this is that Exxon and other deniers know that they will someday have to accept and address the challenges of climate change, yet they cynically continue to sow doubt so as to squeeze a few more bucks out of the fossil fuel era. If we were to act now, we could minimize the impacts of climate change on our daily lifestyles. But Exxon's denial creates a self-fulfilling prophecy: the longer we wait, the more likely it is that our lifestyles will be compromised significantly, as Exxon currently warns.

Richard Heinberg and Madonna help Betsy say Goodbye

William Craven — Fri, 18 May 2007 20:47:05 -0700

Richard Heinberg performs his role as EcoTalk's final (for now) guest with aplomb, discussing Exxon's latest shenanigans as well as his books The Party's Over and The Oil Depletion Protocol.

And finally, Betsy sees us out with a brand new Madonna tune, released as part of the LiveEarth series of concerts to combat climate change: "Hey You." Download it here! LISTEN (12 min)

Toronto Mayor David Miller and the Clinton Climate Initiative

William Craven — Thu, 17 May 2007 19:52:03 -0700

Toronto Mayor David Miller talks about representing one of the sixteen major world cities (plus five major banking institutions) to cut carbon emissions by renovating city-owned buildings with the Greenest of practices and the Clinton Climate Initiative: "This is a win win win win win win." This what it takes! Teamwork, optimism, and practical business. LISTEN (11 min)

Paul Ehrlich

William Craven — Thu, 17 May 2007 19:50:44 -0700

Paul Ehrlich has been both authoritative and controversial for forty years, so that fact that to this day his still somewhat taboo advocacy of population control and his other work are cited in newspaper editorials no longer shocks him: "I am an outsider from the point of view of the media. I am an insider from the point of view of science. Scientists don't care what Jerry Falwell, or Limbaugh, or Coulter say. They care about what other scientists say." Join us for a special interview that is as compelling as it is freewheeling.
PART ONE (7 min) PART TWO (12 min)

Greg & Connie Mattison are taking TV into their own hands with GreenByDesign

William Craven — Thu, 17 May 2007 19:48:47 -0700

Greg & Connie Mattison of the "GreenByDesign", the creative and frisky Green Building TV show that's taking the state of the New Jersey (and beyond) by storm. Connie: "I think there are many out there who don't know where to begin. We thought, 'Well, you can watch us while we learn.'" Greg: "We call ourselves newlygreens." Check it out! LISTEN (8 min)

Keep EcoTalk on the air with Beantrees Organic Coffee!!!

William Craven — Wed, 16 May 2007 10:10:00 -0700

Beantrees Organic Coffee founder Barrie Gromala tells us about the coffee that has won over celebrities like Oprah's chef and Aerosmith, and announces a great deal for all of us and our planet: order coffee from Beantrees.com, and Beantrees will donate one dollar per bag to keep EcoTalk on the air!
LISTEN (9 min)

Andres Edwards and EduTracks

William Craven — Wed, 16 May 2007 10:05:00 -0700

In the growing Green Building Community, Andres Edwards of EduTracks and author of The Sustainability Revolution is among the most thoughtful. Here he opines on Tibet, Deep Ecology, and helping companies like Whole Foods, Pfizer, small non profits, and government agencies make the practical decisions that we will look back on and call wisdom: "When I started, it was a huge learning curve for folks to begin to understand, 'What is Green building?' As it's very rapidly been mainstreamed people are a lot more familiar." LISTEN (11 min)

Ward Hubbell takes Green Building to Washington

William Craven — Wed, 16 May 2007 09:51:00 -0700

Green Building Initiative's Ward Hubbell checks in with EcoTalk following his Senate testimony on how the Federal Government makes Green Building an implicit part of a smart, forward-thinking government: "I think what [the Senate] were trying to do was get educated on the various rating systems out there and the different approaches." Find out about GBI's Green Globes rating system here. LISTEN (8 min)

Frank O'Donnell on Bush's slooow turn towards the light

William Craven — Wed, 16 May 2007 09:28:00 -0700

Clean Air Watch President (and EcoTalk favorite) Frank O'Donnell weighs in on the President Bush's pledge to abide by the Clean Air Act (or at least mouth words to that effect). "I think that the president has come up with a strategy to stall off any kind of action, and essentially put the US EPA into a straitjacket of bureauracratic process," Frank tells Betsy. Does this have to be "a long process", as the President says? LISTEN (10 min)

Best of EcoTalk

Philippe Boucher — Mon, 14 May 2007 12:28:00 -0700

This is a rerun of our April 30 program:
Greenpeace Canada Targets Prime Minister Harper LISTEN (10 min)
Vanity Fair's 2nd Annual Green Issue LISTEN ( 8 min)
Kim McKay: True Green LISTEN (12 min)
Lori Pye, Eco-Psychology, and Eco-Suicide LISTEN (8 min)

The San Francisco Chronicle about EcoTalk: Environmental radio show hopes to flourish -- but it needs a lot of green

Philippe Boucher — Sat, 12 May 2007 07:59:39 -0700

Read it all in Joe Garofoli's chronicle with a series of photos by Christina Koci Hernandez.

Environmental radio show hopes to flourish -- but it needs a lot of green

Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Betsy Rosenberg is a longtime Bay Area radio journalist who has spent the past few years working to keep her nationally broadcast environmental program on the air. She also has emptied her six-figure retirement fund to do it. Now, if she can't raise enough money by May 18, she may lose her pioneering show on the liberal Air America radio network.

In the self-syndicating corner of the radio world, Rosenberg acts simultaneously as the producer, interviewer and chief fundraiser for "EcoTalk," which currently airs nightly in 20 Air America markets, including San Francisco at 11 p.m. Air America -- which is trying to claw its way out of bankruptcy -- said it cannot finance the show, which draws a loyal but modest audience, and come May 21 is shuffling its lineup to try to jump-start interest in its struggling enterprise.

The network has given Rosenberg an option: pay or no play. To remain in a weekend time slot for a year, she estimates she will need to raise $250,000 from sponsors, to cover production costs and salaries for a producer and blog editor and for studio time. She's hoping to raise $60,000 by May 18 to keep the show on for at least the next few months, and then take it from there.

While Rosenberg finds herself at the confluence of two trends that have received a lot of buzz -- the green movement and progressive radio -- she's also finding there isn't a lot of cash to back up the sizzle. At least not at her level of the green media food chain. It is one thing for Vanity Fair magazine to produce an ad-thick green issue, as it did in May, or for former Vice President Al Gore to pack the lecture circuit, but Rosenberg has discovered, to her great dismay, that the market doesn't yet have the depth to support smaller environmental media.

As a broadcast journalist covering the environment full time, she also doesn't have overwhelming competition. Although the Society of Environmental Journalists counts 62 radio journalists among its 1,384 members and National Public Radio broadcasts its weekly "Living on Earth" program to 300 markets, in addition to producing an in-depth, year-long series on climate change -- Rosenberg, 51, is believed to have one of the few nationally broadcast radio interview programs devoted exclusively to the planet's issues.

"I've hung in there all this time and I think the green train is just around the corner," said Rosenberg, who has produced environmental news reports on KCBS-AM in San Francisco for a decade until this year. "But I'm not a salesperson. I'm a journalist and an activist. But now I'm stuck trying to sell ads to keep something I feel passionately about on the air."

When Air America began programming in March 2004, Rosenberg approached the network with the idea of a regular environmental program. It agreed, but said it was her responsibility to find advertisers. Over the next few years, she had moderate success finding funders, both commercial and nonprofit, to finance the then-weekend program, whose Web site is www.ecotalkblog.com.

Last fall, when "EcoTalk" moved to a nightly spot, the network agreed to pick up more responsibility for ad sales. But the landscape changed in October when Air America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Since then, Rosenberg has been largely subsidizing the program's cost. And she said that her husband, a lawyer who runs a San Francisco legal financing firm, has been supportive. "He told me that I have to practice what I preach: My show has to be sustainable," she said.

It is important to Rosenberg that the show airs to a national audience, ensuring that the topics discussed are heard beyond the green-friendly Bay Area. Or, as Rosenberg is fond of saying, "My goal is greening the red and blue states one show at a time." She's been a street activist as well, trying to reach the soccer-mom audience by co-founding a group called "Don't Be Fueled: Mothers for Clean and Safe Vehicles." In 2002, the Marin County resident traded in her Mercedes 320 SUV for a Toyota Prius.

"Betsy is hard-working and obsessively passionate about the environment, and commendably so," said Bob Agnew, program director for San Francisco's KQKE-AM, one of Air America's top five markets. Upon hearing about how much of her own money Rosenberg has invested in its survival, Agnew said, "Wow."

Throughout the sponsorship turmoil, the movement's heavy hitters have appeared on "EcoTalk" -- from politicians like Gore and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., to eco-friendly celebrities like Darryl Hannah and Body Shop founder Anita Roddick.

"Her range of guests and topics has been great and she plays an important role in the movement," said Chip Giller, president of Grist.org, a popular online environmental Web site whose motto is "gloom and doom with a sense of humor."

"But right now the question is whether we have reached a tipping point (in green media) or whether this is part of an 18-month ride after (Gore's documentary about climate change) 'An Inconvenient Truth.' The next two or three years will show whether green is here to stay. I certainly hope it is," Giller said.

The problem is, Air America can't wait that long.

"I'm taking this day to day," said Air America Chief Operating Officer Scott Elberg. The content of the "EcoTalk" isn't a problem, he said. The show has 50,600 listeners in its current nightly time slot, according to Arbitron ratings, and airs in 22 markets, down from a high of 40.

"We love Betsy, we think she's a star, and we'd love to find a way to continue to work with her," Elberg said. "But we didn't get the traction that we needed to with that show (in the nightly time slot)." While Elberg hopes the green market flourishes, right now he isn't seeing it turn into ad dollars, at least on his network, whose liberal outlook would seem to be a natural vehicle for environmentally friendly companies looking to advertise.

"There's a lot of talk about it," Elberg said, "but I have yet to see the corporate dollars follow it."

E-mail Joe Garofoli at jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/12/DDG0SPPFQ51.DTL

This article appeared on page E - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Your LAST chance to save EcoTalk

Philippe Boucher — Fri, 11 May 2007 22:03:00 -0700

Dear Friends of EcoTalk

“EcoTalk’s Inconvenient Truth":

If Green is the new Black why are we in the Red?

The nearly three years of broadcasting our groundbreaking program on Air America have come with nearly constant turbulence. As the nation's first progressive network with ambitious expansion plans experienced growing pains, EcoTalk weathered them all - but not without significant cost. Selling advertising and partnerships was our only means to cover production costs and that task was made difficult for many reasons.

The program’s continuation has been possible largely through donation of my time and personal funds. Getting a primetime program dedicated to environmental issues on the national airwaves has not been easy, and we’d hate to lose this coveted slot simply due to a temporary cash shortfall. Especially as Americans are just now tuning into their environment!

If Green is the new Black why are we in the Red?

The short answer is bad luck! Since Air America does not pay EcoTalk for the program, we get five network spots to sell to cover costs.

In the first year we were put on early Sunday mornings and the new network was slow to provide audience info necessary for selling ads.

In the second year the network was charging EcoTalk $10,000 per month to air our show so breaking even was impossible.

In the third year Air America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy – the same week we went to a daily format!!

Consequently we’ve not been able to sell any spots during the 8 month transition to new network ownership.

At the same time production costs increased five-fold going from weekly to daily. With that new time slot we made broadcast history in September, becoming the first M-F program devoted to green issues. But now we risk becoming history!

The Need/Opportunity

The network’s new owners want to put only “political” programs on weekdays/nights so we’ve been offered a two-hour time slot Sunday mornings from 10-noon East. We envision a tree-free news magazine with a combination of news, views, trends and updates from regular contributors in green business, building, clean technology, transportation, organics, eco-spirituality, etc.

The network is saving this slot for us but we can only go forward on May 21st if we raise $60-thousand to cover costs during June, July and August.

The only way we can continue broadcasting through this transition period – the month of May – and retain our spot on more than 40 stations, is with immediate donations and advertising commitments while we resume selling sponsorships and get back on track.

Strategically, it’s important to retain our platform to expand to new distribution outlets. We have always had our sights set beyond Air America. New avenues of syndication have opened up, including satellite and podcasting.

So at this crucial fork in the road to sustainability, we respectfully request your contributions, commitment to share this appeal with your circle, and any leads on companies or green groups that would like to support the nation’s only green show while promoting their products or programs.

Our bare bones production costs are $2,500 per week.

Please see a summary of what this "gasroots" program has achieved with so little fuel.

We have chronicled, and hope helped to catalyze, the eco-evolution and would like to continue to serve that role. Keeping EcoTalk afloat will lift all green boats, allowing the spotlight to remain on those on the front lines of climate change, renewable energy, green building, clean tech, waste reduction solutions and beyond.

For more than three years EcoTalk has demonstrated an unwavering dedication to showcasing the important work of so many environmental heroes, and to highlight what’s working.

Both EcoTalk listeners and guests will feel the void if we go silent so please act now, before it really is too late.

In the last few weeks we’ve had Senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer on the program, as well as Lt. Governor John Garamendi and retired Congressman Pete Mcloskey. In addition to green leaning politicians, we spoke to an Oregon schoolteacher who’s being harassed for speaking frankly about ‘inconvenient’ environmental issues and the whistle-blowing Environmental Working Group getting a government contractor fired for being on the payroll of chemical companies. We have been reporting on the mysterious disappearance of bees - and inexplicable ‘killing’ of electric cars - long before the general media picked up these stories!

Finally, on a personal note, I have traveled across the country covering key environmental events, often the only mainstream journalist present for gatherings like the Sundance Mayor’s Conference on Climate Change, AASHE Conference (sustainability in higher ed) and being trained by Al Gore in communicating global warming science.

I have appeared on Hannity and Colmes several times to refute personal attacks on Gore, and the day after Glen Beck mocked global warming science on CNN, we had Paul Waldman of Media Matters on EcoTalk to debunk the debunkers!

Does it bother you that right wingers like Hannity, Limbaugh and Scarborough are making hundreds of millions of dollars a year generating heat while a show like EcoTalk that aims to shed light, make a difference AND entertain is struggling? If so then here is your chance to make a real difference!!

Please take a moment to consider the caliber of guests and range of current, compelling topics and voices EcoTalk brings to the airwaves.

There is no other program like this and it’s unlikely there'll be another one soon.

Before this nonrenewable resource disappears, please consider all of the above.

Time is short so if you can help please use the PayPal option on our website now, or send checks of any amount to:

EcoTalk, P.O. 29025, San Francisco, Ca. 94129.

If you have good leads to green companies, orgs, or angels, pls. call or e-mail me today – timing is key here!!

With deep gratitude and commitment to carry on if the support is there,

Betsy Rosenberg, Host/Ex. Prod. and the EcoTalk Team

www.ecotalk.net betsy@ecotalk.net or (415) 717-4183

Paul Hawken: Blessed Unrest

Philippe Boucher — Fri, 11 May 2007 22:02:44 -0700

Paul Hawken talks about his most recent book Blessed Unrest : How the Largest Movement in the World Came in to Being and Why No One Saw it Coming.
Part 1 (11 min) Part 2 (7 min)

Kevin Contreras: Building Green

Philippe Boucher — Fri, 11 May 2007 22:01:03 -0700

Kevin Contreras talks about his new PBS program Building Green.
LISTEN ( 10 min)
You can also read his blog.

Treehugger Radio

Philippe Boucher — Fri, 11 May 2007 21:59:09 -0700

This week, correspondent Jeff McIntire Strasburg sheds some light on the murky question of ethanol versus biodiesel. We speak with Mark Oberholzer, a runner-up in the 2006 Metropolis Next Generation Design Competition, whose plan for roadside turbines aims at getting something back from the flow of traffic. We also speak with the designer of World Without Oil, an online alternate reality game that simulates a world in the throes of an oil shock. LISTEN (9 min)

Best of EcoTalk

Philippe Boucher — Thu, 10 May 2007 17:10:08 -0700

This is a rerun of our program of April 27:
Schwarzenegger tells the EPA to shape up LISTEN (10 min)
Treehugger: Earth Day Hangover Edition LISTEN (8 min)
PG&E's Nancy McFadden LISTEN (11 min)
Clif Bars GreenNotes Program LISTEN (8 min)

The Fate of the Dead Sea

William Craven — Wed, 09 May 2007 19:08:20 -0700

As the Dead Sea shrinks three feet per year, can Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories find common ground in these common waters to build a more lasting peace? Oregon State professor and author of Hydropolitics along the Jordan River: the impact of scarce water resources on the Arab-Israeli conflict Aaron Wolf offers his thoughts on the solutions, and the political will necessary to save the Dead Sea. LISTEN (11 min)

Organic Agriculture & the World's Poor

William Craven — Wed, 09 May 2007 18:58:11 -0700

Think only inorganic, GMO, pesticide-laden agriculture can feed the world's poor, and that organic is merely an indugence of the elite? While certain parties have a vested interest in having us believe that, University of Michigan researcher Catherine Badgley tells Betsy about some new studies that suggest that organic agriculture can feed the world. LISTEN (7 min)

The Gentle Subversive: Rachel Carson, SIlent Spring, and the Rise of the Environmental Movement

William Craven — Wed, 09 May 2007 18:45:27 -0700

Brad College Environmental Studies Chair Mark H. Lytle checks in to discuss his new book The Gentle Subversive: Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, and the Rise of the Environmental Movement: "[Carson] really believed that the right to endure gave us a right to know. She felt that unless the public had the facts necessary to make an informed decision, they were going to be unwitting victims." We take such citizen advocacy for granted today, but as multinational coporations and the chemical revolution created a brave new world of potential dangers to human beings, Carson was one of the first people to stick her neck out for all of us. LISTEN (12 min)

Verdiem makes computers more energy efficient.

William Craven — Wed, 09 May 2007 18:35:02 -0700

The city of Boston has cut its PC energy use by an astonishing 44 percent with the help of power management software company Verdiem. With power management something we need in every city, Verdiem Vice President of Business Development Dave Harvey tells Betsy what they can offer to any City or Company in the land. LISTEN (8 min)

Best of EcoTalk

Philippe Boucher — Tue, 08 May 2007 12:42:00 -0700

This is a rerun of our April 20 program:
Earth Day co-founder Pete McCloskey PART ONE (11 min) PART TWO (7 min)
Treehugger: Eco America's Bob Perkowitz LISTEN (12 min)
Home Depot's New Eco Options LISTEN (8 min)

Best of EcoTalk

Philippe Boucher — Mon, 07 May 2007 12:34:00 -0700

This is a rerun of our April 19 program:
Senator Barbara Boxer gives a damn LISTEN (12 min)
Matt Peterson and Global Green USA PART ONE (6 min) PART TWO (12 min)
Orbitz Travel & EcoTourism LISTEN (8 min)

Media Matters on Glenn Beck and CNN's new low

William Craven — Sat, 05 May 2007 21:07:28 -0700

It's not just Fox News anymore. When you see media degradation on the level that's being seen on shows like CNN's Glenn Beck, who do you call? Media Matters, of course. Betsy alluded the other day to Beck's desperate linkage of Al Gore to Nazis, and here Media Matters Senior Fellow Paul Waldman joins us to give his reaction to the veracity and audacity of such statements, and such newsman as Mr. Glenn Beck. Has CNN hit a new low? "I think they stooped to a new low when they hired Glenn Beck in the first place."
LISTEN ( min)

California Lt. Governor John Garamendi & E-Waste Recycling

William Craven — Sat, 05 May 2007 21:05:56 -0700

We here at EcoTalk are so taken with California Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi's leadership on energy, public health, and smart (re-)use of resources that we hope that one day he can simply drop the "Lieutenant" from "Lieutenant Governor". He checked in with EcoTalk today to discuss the new e-waste recycling center opening in San Jose, and the global benefits of acting locally. LISTEN (7 min)

Julia Whitty & Mother Jones Magazine: "Gone"

William Craven — Sat, 05 May 2007 21:00:30 -0700

The latest issue of Mother Jones Magazine features an incredible (and ominous) article by Julia Whitty on the astonishing loss of biodiversity that this Earth has endured in the last century, and the precipitous increase to come, if we don't change: "It's the interaction of lifeforms that make our planet habitable. If we subtract 50% of those lifeforms, we're going to have a serious time sustainaing life on this planet." Listen to this interview, read the article in Mother Jones, and check out Whitty's new book The Fragile Edge: Diving and Other Adventures in the South Pacific. LISTEN (11 min)

Treehugger gets on the 100 Mile Diet

William Craven — Sat, 05 May 2007 20:52:04 -0700

On this week's Treehugger Simran Sethi sits down with Alisa Smith and JB MacKinnon to talk about 100milediet.org and its position at the forefront of the "Locavore" revolution, their book Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally, and the ongoing organic versus local (non-)debate: "Really the system to shoot for is local. Organics will follow, whether certified or not, because almost any small farmer both doesn't want to use chemicals and doesn't have to. When you have a wide variety of crops growing in a really small area, they're not susceptible to pests in the same way that 10,000 acres of wheat are." LISTEN (9 min)

IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), Part 3

William Craven — Thu, 03 May 2007 20:04:36 -0700

This is where the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) stuff gets really interesting: whereas the first to parts, released earlier this year, documented the global scientific consensus on climate change and forecast several possible effects, Part 3, to be released tomorrow, offers an array of solutions to minimize the impacts of climate change, and halt any further effects. Will the nations of the world implement these recommendations? Given their obsession with the wording of this document, there's a good chance they will. Center for American Progress Senior Fellow (and author of Hell and High Water) Joseph Romm: "This report has to be signed off on by 120 governments, including the United States, and oil countries like Saudi Arabia. And they can veto any word. So you can take to the bank anything that all those countries agree to." LISTEN (10 min)

Stanford University Climatologist Stephen Schneider

Philippe Boucher — Thu, 03 May 2007 19:57:30 -0700

Stanford University Climatologist Stephen Schneider is on the Synthesis Committee for the IPCC report: "IPCC doesn't tell the world what to do. That's the job of decision makers, ranging from everybody out there deciding what car or refrigerator to buy, to government officials trying to figure out what industries to support and what industries to tax. What we will do is survey the literature, summarize the arguments of various sides, from the coal industry to the enviro groups. Then we'll go beyond that and we'll talk about the scientific merits in those arguments." LISTEN (8 min)

200 Chefs rally to Save our Delicious Food

William Craven — Thu, 03 May 2007 19:55:59 -0700

Care about Wild Salmon's future? Grab a fork and eat one. So says renowned chef Alice Waters and the 200 chefs nationwide who are asking Congress to protect wild salmon habitats, and the delicious, natural nourishment that sustains mammals like us. Greg Higgins, Chef and Owner of Higgins' Restaurant and Bar in Portland, Oregon tells Betsy about the Chefs who will be banging their pots on Capitol Hill next week, so that you can eat the good stuff. LISTEN (9 min)