Tag Archives: global warming

Podcast

Is The World Running Out Of Food? Joel Bourne, THE END OF PLENTY

We spend the hour talking with journalist Joel K. Bourne, Jr. about population, the threat of famine and new ways to prevent it. His book is The End of Plenty: The Race To Feed A Crowded World. Continue reading

Podcast

Sci-fi Imagines Climate Change: Paolo Bacigalupi’s THE WATER KNIFE & SHIPBREAKER

Paolo Bacigalupi talks about his new thriller, The Water Knife. It’s about the fight over water supplies in the American Southwest that erupts when a climate-driven mega-drought hits the region.

Then, we re-air portions of our 2011 interview with Bacigalupi about his sci fi novel for young adults, Shipbreaker. Also set in the climate-changed world of the near future, it takes place in Florida in a time of sea level rise. Continue reading

Web Extras

Web Only Extra: J.A. Mills on the Climate Change Threat To Tigers

bloodWildlife investigator J.A. Mills tells Francesca how climate change adds to the dire threats facing wild tigers. Her book is Blood of the Tiger: A Story  about Conspiracy, Greed, and the Battle to Save A Magnificent Species.

Listen to the full interview with J.A. Mills

 

Podcast

Overpopulation: Ecological Elephant In The Room?

Tom Butler of the Foundation for Deep Ecology talks about a gorgeous — and disturbing — new coffee table book of photojournalism, Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot.

And women mystery writers have gone from being ignored to being stars of the genre. We talk with mystery writer Sara Paretsky about women’s changing position in the genre and about her own socially conscious mystery writing. Then we congratulate Elizabeth Kolbert on her Pulitzer Prize for The Sixth Extinction. Continue reading

Web Extras

Web Exclusive: Per Espen Stoknes, What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming

what_we_think_aboutThe more we know about climate change, the less we do about it. It’s the “climate paradox.” That’s why we need a new psychology of climate change, according to Norwegian author and economist, Per Espen Stoknes.

His new book, What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming, tackles the climate paradox head on in an eminently readable book that should be obligatory reading for all who care about our future and are frustrated at the slow pace of action. Continue reading

Podcast

Superstorms of the 21st Century: The Battle To Save The Coasts

Kathryn Miles talks about her gripping moment-by-moment account of the biggest Atlantic storm ever recorded, Superstorm: Nine Days Inside Hurricane Sandy (Dutton 2014).

And beachfront homeowners are trying to save their property from sea level rise and storm surge by building hard structures to keep the ocean at bay. But at what cost to the public? And does it even work? Marine scientist Doug Hardy talks about his report for his local conservation advisory council, The Starvation of Southold’s Beaches.” It’s got lessons for every coastal resident — and every US taxpayer. Continue reading

Podcast

Paying The Price Of The War On Terror. Also, Talking Climate For Everyone

Journalist James Risen talks about his explosive new book, Pay Any Price: Greed, Power, and Endless War. And George Marshall talks about what’s been keeping the climate crisis from seizing the hearts and minds of the public — and how to change that. His important book is Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change. Continue reading

Podcast

Climate Changes Everything

Naomi Klein talks about her ground-breaking new book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism and The Climate. It’s about how the climate crisis could lead to a more just and safer world. Then, the Senate voted down the Keystone XL pipeline for now, but is almost certain to pass it after January. We talk with climate journalist John Cushman, re-airing an interview with him about the pipeline and what it will mean if it’s approved.

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Podcast

Naomi Oreskes, THE COLLAPSE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION & Dr. James Hansen, STORMS OF MY GRANDCHILDREN

Naomi Oreskes
Naomi Oreskes
Dr. James Hansen
Dr. James Hansen

Naomi Oreskes talks about the speculative novel she co-wrote with Erik Conway, The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future. Then, as the world prepares for climate talks and the People’s climate march in New York City, we hear our 2010 interview with climatologist Dr. James Hansen.

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Podcast

Paul Ehrlich, HOPE ON EARTH & Ryan Mitchell, TINY HOUSE LIVING

Paul R. Ehrlich
Paul R. Ehrlich
Ryan Mitchell
Ryan Mitchell

World-renowned biologist Paul Ehrlich of The Population Bomb fame talks about his new book (with Michael Charles Tobias) Hope on Earth: A Conversation. And Ryan Mitchell discusses Tiny House Living: Ideas For Building and Living Well In Less than 400 Square Feet.

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Podcast

Elizabeth Kolbert, THE SIXTH EXTINCTION & Annalee Newitz, SCATTER, ADAPT AND REMEMBER

Annalee Newitz
Annalee Newitz
Elizabeth Kolbert
Elizabeth Kolbert

Science reporter Elizabeth Kolbert talks about her book,The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History. And Annalee Newitz discusses the prospects for human survival amid the mass extinction we are causing. Her book is Scatter, Adapt and Remember.

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Podcast

Boris Fishman, A REPLACEMENT LIFE & John Cushman, KEYSTONE AND BEYOND

Boris Fishman
Boris Fishman
John Cushman
John Cushman

Boris Fishman talks about his terrific debut novel about coming of age as an immigrant in America, A REPLACEMENT LIFE.

And Obama just announced a get-tough policy on carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants. Now the question is, will he or won’t he on the Keystone XL pipeline? John Cushman of Inside Climate News tells the story leading up to Obama’s predicament on the pipeline and where he might go in the future. Cushman’s new e-book is KEYSTONE AND BEYOND.

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Podcast

John Cushman of Inside Climate News: Keystone XL Pipeline

John Cushman
John Cushman

If you were reading or listening to the news this week, you might have heard about the State Department’s environmental impact report on the Keystone XL pipeline. If so, you probably think it cleared the way for the pipeline to go forward. At least,that’s what most of the media seemed to think.

But the reality is more complicated than that. In fact, while it contained language cheered by proponents of the pipeline, the report also raised some real questions that environmentalists will be using as ammunition in the continuing fight over whether Keystone XL will be built. John Cushman discusses what the report does and doesn’t say and why the fight to stop Keystone XL is so important.

The State Department’s EIS, it turns out, “relied heavily” on studies funded by Alberta, Canada government agencies and carried out by Jacobs Consultancy, a subsidiary of a major tar sands developer, as Cushman reported several days after his interview with WV:

The Jacobs Consultancy is a subsidiary of Jacobs Engineering, a giant natural resources development company with extensive operations in Alberta’s tar sands fields. The engineering company has worked on dozens of major projects in the region over the years. Its most recent contract, with Canadian oil sands leader Suncor, was announced in January.

“The Alberta Oil Sands are a very important component of our business,” the parent company said in late 2011, announcing seven new contracts in the region. “Jacobs has a strong history in the area, and we are pleased to support our clients in these initiatives.”

A journalist in Washington since the mid 70s, Cushman covered the EPA for the New York Times and now works with Inside Climate News, the online news site that won a Pulitzer Prize last year for its report,”The Dilbit Disaster,” an investigation into the million-gallon spill of Canadian tar sands oil into the Kalamazoo River in 2010.

Podcast

Ruth Thomas-Suh, REJECT, Herbert Thomas, THE SHAME RESPONSE TO REJECTION & John Cushman on KXL

ruthpicture
Ruth Thomas-Suh
Herbert Thomas
Herbert Thomas

Ruth Thomas-Suh talks about her powerful new film, REJECT. Joining the conversation is her father, Herbert Thomas, author of THE SHAME RESPONSE TO REJECTION. And environmental journalist John Cushman talks about about what’s really in the State Department’s Environmental Impact report on the Keystone XL pipeline.

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