The Green Front - 07/14/10

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Two women on the green front lines of climate change policy and ocean protection will join us today. First, Rachel Finlay Ginis, a LEED-accredited building contractor, designer and founder of the Citizen’s Climate Lobby in Marin County, California. Rachel is just back from Washington DC where she met with dozens of legislators to lobby for a strong energy bill that includes a new carbon policy concept known as “fees and dividends”, a better alternative to “cap and trade”, from a practical and political perspective. Next, Julia Whitty, just back from the Gulf Coast and just in time to launch her new book Deep Blue Home – An Intimate Ecology of Our Wild Ocean. Whitty is passionate about our need to wake up to the gifts of our seas and to ‘seize’ the moment of this oil catastrophe to make a sea change!

The Green Front - 07/07/10

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On The Green Front, two brilliant and passionate authors and experts in their respective fields...first Eric Pooley, author of the just-released book The Climate War, True Believers, Power Brokers and The Fight To Save The Earth. Pooley is also Deputy Editor of Bloomberg Business Week Magazine and Former Managing Editor of Fortune Magazine, so has a very strong financial and political perspective, as well as ecological, making this book one of Betsy’s Best Bets! Another in that category is France Moore Lappe’s Get A Grip2. The best-selling author of Diet For A Small Planet, and Hope’s Edge will share what inspires her in dark times to preserve, prevail and prosper!

The Green Front - 06/30/10

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Green Front Radio makes a rare visit to NYC and the PRN Studios from which this show was broadcast. I snagged the network’s other green host – Steve Barnett – as Paradise Parking Lot was ending – and we chatted about recent environmental news and views. Great to be in-studio, in-person and ALWAYS fun to be visiting the Big Green Apple!  Next, Joseph Romm of The Center for American Progress, joined me to discuss his riveting talk at Al Gore’s Climate Conference this weekend. Joe tells it likes it is, Come Hell Or High Water, which happens to be the name of one of his books – check it out!

The Green Front - 06/23/10

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As the worsening ‘sp-oiler’ (oil plus spill) catastrophe continues to unfold in the Gulf we’ll focus on what’s being done to turn the tide. Gillian Caldwell, Campaign Director for 1Sky, joins us with her views on the continuing disaster, as well as Obama’s speech, pending climate legislation, and this weekend’s action “Hands Across The Sand” and how you can participate in the event. Next, we’ll chat with Ted Glick, Policy Director for Chesapeake Climate Action Network, about his recent arrest and conviction for civil disobedience on pending global warming legislation.

The Green Front - 06/16/10

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We’ll get reaction to the President’s Oval Office speech on the ‘oil kill’. Today’s guests are among many leaders in the green community who feel it did not go nearly far enough and was an opportunity lost, lacking in substance and detail. Still, it was a call to action – if minus the ‘greenprint’ needed on how best to go forward into our clean energy future. We’ll talk to someone on the front line of the BP Blunder and Plunder, Casi Callaway, Executive Director of Mobile BayKeeper in Alabama. Also, Daniel J. Weiss, Senior Fellow at the Center For American Progress, will give us a D.C. insider’s update on pending climate legislation.

The Green Front - 06/09/10

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As the oil gushes and glaciers melt we shine the green light on a few bright spots; two developments as good indicators the tide is turning; first, California’s Proposition 16 went down to defeat, despite P G and E’s $46 million bankrolling of the measure, which would have required communities wanting to enter the electricity business to get two/thirds voter approval. Environmentalists fought hard for the defeat, with only pennies on the dollar spent, opening the door for more locales to offer renewable energy. We’ll speak with Bill Magavern, California Director for the Sierra Club. We’ll celebrate another victory with Bryan Early, of Californians Against Waste. He says a statewide effort to ban single-use plastic bags has passed an important hurdle.

The Green Front - 06/02/10

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Outraged by the continuing Gulf ‘oil kill’? Then don’t miss this interview with Diane Wilson, 4th generation fisherwoman, shrimper, co-founder of Code Pink and author of An Unreasonable Woman. Diane has always called ‘em as she sees ‘em and she’s saying we should all use this nightmare to “seize the day” calling the BP catastrophe a “soul-killing, nail-in-the-coffin apocalypse with no end in sight.” This once-shy grandmother is so strong in her convictions that she risked arrest last week to take part in a ‘Naked Truth’ protest at BP’s headquarters clad only in oil and feathers – hear how this down to earth woman is rockin’ the boat!

The Green Front - 05/26/10

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While America is focused on the devastation unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, a sailing vessel called Ocean Watch is documenting what is happening with the oceans around The Americas by circumnavigating the continent on a mission. David Rockefeller Jr., the founder and chairman of Sailors for the Sea and one of the leaders of this educational expedition, will join us on The Green Front to share their mission to engage all seafarers in becoming better stewards of our imperiled oceans. Ocean Watch stopped in the San Francisco Bay on its year long journey, on the same day President Obama was here to highlight the importance of solar and other renewable resources, on his way down to survey the damage in the Gulf. Next we’ll chat with Catriona MacGregor, environmental educator and author of a new book called Partnering With Nature: The Wild Path to Reconnecting with the Earth.

The Green Front - 05/19/10

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As the still unfolding oil disaster in the Gulf Of Mexico hits the one month mark, we’ll speak to one of the nation’s leading experts on the Bayou coastal region of Louisiana. Mike Tidwell, author of the prescient 2003 book “Bayou Farewell,” and founder of The Chesapeake Climate Action Network, has some strong but informed commentary on what needs to happen in regards to our failed energy policy. Buckle up for this interview, Mike does not mince his words as he implores America to wake up to the multiple crisis’ continued oil dependency will bring. Can the oil destruction have a positive impact on efforts to enact strong climate legislation? We’ll ‘drill down’ (sorry) for a closer look at the Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act with Wade Crowfoot, West Coast Policy Director for The Environmental Defense Fund.

The Green Front - 05/12/10

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While BP executives face a grilling in Washington, the worst oil disaster to hit the U.S. mainland continues unabated. We’ll get candid commentary from Dr. Riki Ott, marine biologist, toxicologist and author of  two books on the Exxon Valdez aftermath. This outspoken “fisherm’am”, whose boldness was inspired by Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, tells us what ‘ott’ to happen next. In our second half we speak to Alex Posorske, with 1Sky, about the Kerry-Lieberman Climate Bill, unveiled in Washington during this week’s edition of The Green Front.

The Green Front - 05/05/10

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With the Gulf of Mexico coastline threatened with an oil slick the size of Texas what is at stake in terms of fishing industry, coastal economy still recovering from Katrina, marine life and human health? We’ll get an expert’s view, and some strong opinions, from Doug Inkley, Senior Wildlife Biologist with the National Wildlife Federation. Also, what we’ve learned – and not learned – from the Exxon Valdeez spill. On a more upbeat note we’ll meet Vinit Allen, author of a great new book – just released – called The Sustainable World Source Book. In fewer than 100 colorful pages, and less than ten dollars, it covers critical issues, viable solutions and resources for action!