FORA.tv Environment Today

Bill Gates on Energy Innovation: Technologies to Replace Oil and Coal

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:41:56 -0700

In an interview with WIRED's Chris Anderson, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates considers which developing energy technologies may present the best long-term alternatives to oil and coal power plants. This program was recorded in collaboration with the WIRED Business Conference 2011, on May 3, 2011.

Bill Gates III is chairman of Microsoft Corporation, the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. In July 2008, Gates transitioned out of a day-to-day role in the company to spend more time on his global health and education work at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates continues to serve as Microsoft's chairman and an advisor on key development projects.

Chris Anderson is editor in chief of WIRED magazine, a position he's held since 2001. During his tenure, the magazine has received eight National Magazine Awards and seven additional nominations. It won the prestigious top prize for general excellence in 2005, 2007, and 2009. In 2009, Adweek honored WIRED as its Magazine of the Decade.

Mark Hertsgaard on Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 11 May 2011 12:16:56 -0700

Healy Hamilton, the director of the Center for Applied Biodiversity Informatics at the California Academy of Sciences, talks with freelance science journalist Mark Hertsgaard about his latest book, Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth.

This program was recorded in collaboration with the California Academy of Sciences, on March 23, 2011.

Visit http://FORA.tv to view full-length video of any program featured in this podcast. For more topics on the environment, visit http://fora.tv/topic/environment.

Mark Hertsgaard, an independent journalist based in San Francisco, is the author of five books that have been translated into sixteen languages. He covers climate change for Vanity Fair, The Nation, Time and Die Zeit and has written for many of the world's leading newspapers and magazines.

Ellie Cohen: Climate Change and Ecosystems

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 14:39:32 -0700

Ellie Cohen, head of PRBO Conservation Science, checks out the data to forecast ecological impacts of global warming, especially in California and along the North American west coast. Which species will survive and thrive in the new global climate? This program was recorded in collaboration with the California Academy of Sciences, on March 19, 2011.

This program features visual aids. A complete video version is available at: http://fora.tv/2011/03/19/BioForum_Climate_Change_and_Ecosystems

The California coast includes some of the most diverse marine habitats in the world, but the health of our coastal habitats is at risk. Climate change, pollution, and overfishing threaten to diminish the vitality of the marine ecosystems which play an important role in San Francisco Bay Area life.

Join the California Academy of Sciences to learn about the amazing diversity of life just off our coast and how local researchers are working to understand the effects of global climate change on intricate species interactions. What are the challenges we face as ocean conservators and educators, and what actions can we take? - California Academy of Sciences

Ellie M. Cohen is President and CEO of PRBO Conservation Science. In addition, Ellie currently serves as an invited member of the US North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) Committee's Policy and Legislative Subcommittee, as a management board member of both the San Francisco Bay (Immediate Past Chair) and the Central Valley Joint Ventures (USFWS), and as a member of NOAA's Pacific Coast Ocean Observing System Governing Board.

A Low-Carbon Future: The Nuclear Question

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 17:34:47 -0800

A panel of energy and environmental experts discuss what, if any, role nuclear power should play in the fight against global warming. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, on October 6, 2010.

This program features visual aids. A complete video version is available at: http://fora.tv/2010/10/06/A_Low-Carbon_Future_The_Nuclear_Question

With the obvious urgent need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and the global demand for energy rising exponentially, nuclear energy may be the only non-carbon-emitting technology capable of meeting the world's requirements.

The nuclear industry's image has been compromised by the threat of weapons proliferation, reactor malfunctions and the storage of radioactive waste. However, today's proponents argue that improvements in reactor design have made them safer, as well as more fuel-efficient and cost-competitive to build, compared with coal plants.

Participants in the panel discussion include energy technology entrepreneur Gus Nathan, environmental scientist Barry Brook, and international energy law expert Kim Talus. Talus is especially critical of the absence of balanced and objective discussion about nuclear energy in Australia, the polarised positions akin to a "religious issue." He also opines the lack of public education and industry expertise. Brook is convinced a very fast reactor is something Australia should be strongly considering.

"Thinking Critically About Sustainable Energy: A Nuclear Future" is the fourth of a series of public forums hosted by RiAus aimed at providing a comprehensive examination of sustainable energy technologies and a critical evaluation of their potential for reducing carbon emissions.

Food Inc.'s Joel Salatin: War Stories from the Local Food Front

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 12:37:04 -0800

American farmer Joel Salatin, the star of the documentary Food Inc, has become a "pin up boy" for the growing food "re-localization" movement. On a recent visit to Canberra, he gives his take on food politics after a lifetime of experience in natural and profitable farming. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, on November 24, 2010.

Visit http://FORA.tv to view full-length video of any program featured in this podcast. For more topics on the environment, visit http://fora.tv/topic/environment.

Salatin came to prominence with his ideas about creating abundance on a family farm. His methods include learning how to mimic nature and arrange the facets of farm life so they don't operate as independent operations, but rather a system of "intertwined cycles."

Disregarding conventional wisdom, the Salatins planted trees, built huge compost piles, dug ponds, moved cows daily with portable electric fencing, and utilized portable sheltering systems to produce all their animals on perennial prairie polycultures.

Salatin believes we’re now living through an age of a "food inquisition", not unlike the religious inquisition of 500 years ago, where the powers behind industrialized agriculture and food production are putting heretical farmers like him "on the rack."

In this talk, organized by Milkwood Permaculture in association with Slow Food Canberra, Salatin lays out twelve false assumptions peddled by the "inquisitors," which sustainable farming methods counter.

Wonderfest 2010: Dare We Try to Engineer Earth's Climate?

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 12:00:11 -0800

Julio Friedmann and Jane C.S. Long, environmental scientists with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, discuss current issues, research, and possible risks of engineering Earth's climate to mitigate the impacts of global warming. This program was recorded in collaboration with Wonderfest 2010, on November 7, 2010.

Visit http://FORA.tv to view full-length video of any program featured in this podcast. For more topics on the environment, visit http://fora.tv/topic/environment.

This program was recorded at the 12th Annual Wonderfest, the San Francisco Bay Area Festival of Science.

Wonderfest's broad goals are best described by its mission statement: Through public discourse about provocative scientific questions, Wonderfest aspires to stimulate curiosity, promote careful reasoning, challenge unexamined beliefs, and encourage life-long learning.

Wonderfest achieves these ends by presenting series of scientific events to the general public. At most of these events, pairs of articulate and accomplished researchers discuss and debate compelling questions at the edge of scientific understanding.

Julio Friedmann is the Carbon Management Program Leader for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he leads initiatives and research into carbon capture, carbon storage, and fossil fuel recovery and utilization. In this role, he has submitted Congressional testimony for the U.S. Senate and California and Wisconsin State Assemblies and testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Jane C.S. Long is the associate director for energy and environment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The New York High Line: An Urban Model, Or Not?

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:00:11 -0800

Does New York City's celebrated new High Line park provide a model for reconstituting dilapidated urban spaces? This program was recorded in collaboration with the City University of New York, on December 8, 2010.

Exploring the power of place in our lives, this year the Great Issues Forum poses questions such as: How does our sense of place define us? How are our notions of space and place evolving as we move into the future? How is urbanization shaping our physical and human environment?

Participants include Malcolm Gladwell, best-selling author and New Yorker contributor; Jerilyn Perine, Executive Director of the Citizens Housing and Planning Council; and Robert Hammond, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Friends of the High Line.

The conversation is moderated by John Mollenkopf, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Sociology at the Graduate Center, and Director of the Center for Urban Research.

Deepwater Crisis: Ecosystem Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill Disaster

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:44:25 -0800

This program features visual aids. A complete video version is available at: http://fora.tv/2010/11/09/Ecosystem_Impact_of_the_Deepwater_Horizon_Disaster

Dr. Peter Roopnarine presents early results of a study of the impact of the Gulf oil spill on marine life there, particularly the mollusks. The techniques used can also be applied to a variety of questions ranging from evolutionary biology to drought in the southwest. This program was recorded in collaboration with the California Academy of Sciences, on November 9, 2010.

Peter Roopnarine is curator of the Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology at the California Academy of Sciences.

Gregory C. Farrington is the current executive director of the California Academy of Sciences.

The Psychology of Energy Conservation

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 13:31:01 -0800

Psychologists meet with green business experts to discus new innovations in green technology -- and how to get consumers to embrace them. This program was recorded in collaboration with Swissnex San Francisco, on September 15, 2010.

This program features visual aids. A full video version is available at: http://fora.tv/2010/09/15/The_Psychology_of_Energy_Conservation

Are you smarter than a refrigerator? Smart grid, smart car, smart home energy management. The energy dialogue revolves around "smart" buzzwords. But can technology really lure us into reducing our energy consumption? And what’s the science behind the newer, smarter gadgets and systems leading us toward a greener future? - Swissnex San Francisco

Dr. June Flora is a senior research scientist at H-STAR Institute at Stanford University. Her research and work focuses primarily on the study and development of energy reduction and conservation interventions. This work is funded by the Department of Energy, with Byron Reeves Ph.D. as principal investigator.

Sean Harrington is Director of Client Solutions for OPOWER. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mr. Harrington leads the company's operations on the West Coast. Mr. Harrington is an experienced entrepreneur, having founded and built a successful company and worked in the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Michael Kanellos is the Editor in Chief at Greentech Media, where he covers emerging technologies and companies in the green world. Prior to joining the company in 2008, he worked for CNET Network's News.com for eleven years. Among other jobs at CNET, he launched the company's push into clean technology.

Sunil Maulik is Vice President of Sales and Business Development for People Power. He has co-founded three software companies including GeneEd, where he developed a system for healthcare e-learning. Prior to GeneEd, he served as VP of Business Development at Pangea Systems, a Kleiner-Perkins funded bioinformatics company, head of West Coast sales for Tripos, and an applications scientist at Roche Bioscience.

Linda Schuck is Director of the Behavior, Energy and Climate Change Project at CIEE. Currently, her work is focused on expanding behavior and decision research and its use in energy and climate policy and technology commercialization. Prior to joining CIEE, she directed the California Climate Change Project at Stanford University.

Mark Bittman: The Food Matters Cookbook

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 13:04:15 -0800

Author Mark Bittman discusses healthy and sustainable eating in a conversation on his book, The Food Matters Cookbook: 500 Revolutionary Recipes for Better Living. This program was recorded in collaboration with Sixth and I Historic Synagogue, on October 5, 2010.

Visit http://FORA.tv to view full-length video of any program featured in this podcast. For more topics on the environment, visit http://fora.tv/topic/environment.

In The Food Matters Cookbook: 500 Revolutionary Recipes for Better Living, Mark Bittman offers over 500 recipes for fresh, delicious dishes that rely largely on fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Fish, meat, and poultry are treated as garnishes and for those who prefer to avoid meat, there are plenty of vegetarian recipes.

The book also discusses why food matters to our health and to that of the planet. There's information on what ingredients are best and how to buy seasonally, responsibly, and sustainably, whether you're shopping for tomatoes or grass fed beef. - Sixth and I Historic Synagogue

Mark Bittman is a bestselling cookbook author, journalist and television personality.

Although Mark Bittman never formally trained as a chef, his pursuits as a curious and tenacious foodie have made him a casual culinary master. His weekly New York Times food column, The Minimalist, meshes accessible and inexpensive ingredients with "anyone-can" cooking techniques to produce exceedingly delicious dishes. Bittman's funny, friendly attitude and trademark informal approach to food-craft extend to his blockbuster TV programs (which retain delays and mishaps that other producers would edit out), his blog, Bitten, and ambitious cookbooks, like How to Cook Everything and The Best Recipes in the World.

After a decade as the "Minimalist," Bittman has emerged a respected spokesperson on all things edible: He's concerned about the ecological and health impacts of our modern diet, which he characterizes as overwhelmingly meat-centered and hooked on fast food. His criticism has the world listening: His revolutionary How to Cook Everything Vegetarian is a bestseller, and his memorable talk at the 2007 EG Conference (available now on TED.com) delivered a stinging condemnation of the way we eat now. A subsequent New York Times article pursued the same argument.

Bittman is currently at work on a new book, Food Matters, which explores the link between our eating habits and the environment, offering an accessible plan for a planet-friendly diet.

Peter Gleick - Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 17:30:23 -0700

Peter Gleick, scientist and freshwater expert, talks about his latest book: Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water. This program was recorded in collaboration with the California Academy of Sciences, on September 30, 2010.

This program features visual aids. A complete video of this event is available for free at http://fora.tv/2010/09/30/The_Story_Behind_Our_Obsession_with_Bottled_Water

Tap water is safe almost everywhere in the U.S. It takes far more water to make the plastic bottle than it even holds. Most bottled water is simply water from somebody else's tap! Why on earth does this industry continue to thrive? - California Academy of Sciences

Peter H. Gleick is co-founder and president of the Pacific Institute in Oakland, California. Dr. Gleick is an internationally recognized water expert and in 2003 was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship for his science and policy work on water issues worldwide. In 2006 he was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences. His research and writing address the critical connections between water and human health, the human right to water, the hydrologic impacts of climate change, sustainable water use, privatization and globalization and international conflicts over water resources.

He serves on the boards of numerous journals and organizations and was elected an Academician of the International Water Academy in Oslo, Norway in 1999. Dr. Gleick is the author of many scientific papers and five books, including the biennial water report The World's Water.

David de Rothschild: The Plastiki Expedition

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 17:37:23 -0700

British adventurer and environmentalist David de Rothschild recounts his Plastiki Expedition -- an awareness-raising trip from San Francisco to Sydney on a boat made entirely of recycled plastic bottles. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, on July 29, 2010.

This program features visual aids. A complete video version is available at:http://fora.tv/2010/07/29/David_de_Rothschild_The_Plastiki_Expedition

The Plastiki is no average boat. It is made up of 12,500 plastic bottles salvaged from the garbage bins of San Francisco. Onboard there are solar panels, wind turbines and a hydroponic vertical garden.

On July 26, 2010, the Plastiki docked safely in Sydney Harbor, after a 129-day voyage from San Francisco. Fresh off the boat, eco-explorer David de Rothschild sat down with Sally Dominguez at Sydney Ideas, to talk about his voyage aboard the Plastiki, how the unique boat was built and why plastics pose a major threat to our oceans. - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

David de Rothschild is an eco-explorer and founder of the environmental organization Adventure Ecology. He was the expedition leader of the Plastiki voyage, from the time when it was just a sketch on paper.

National Geographic has named de Rothschild an Emerging Explorer. He is also a Clean Up The World Ambassador and a UNEP Climate Hero. He has written several books on global warming and sustainability, including a children's book, The Boy the Girl and the Tree.

Sally Dominguez is an Australian sustainable design expert based in San Francisco. She is a regular judge on ABC TV's "The New Inventors." Dominguez is a sustainable architect and has designed numerous award winning products, such as the Nest high-chair and a rainwater tank that can be used vertically or horizontally. She regularly writes about design, sustainability and cars for a range of publications.

Solar Suitcases: A Source of Light and Power

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 12:56:35 -0700

This program features visual aids. A complete video of this event is available for free at: http://fora.tv/2010/05/23/Solar_Suitcases_A_Source_of_Light_and_Power

In response to the need for reliable light and mobile communication in maternity hospitals and clinics in developing countries, WE CARE Solar has designed portable solar electric kits that fit in a suitcase-sized package.

Brent Moellenberg and Lauren Stachel describe the conditions in medical facilities abroad and how these "solar suitcases" are being field tested in Nigeria and Haiti. This program was recorded in collaboration with Maker Faire 2010, on May 23, 2010.

Laura Stachel is the co-founder and director of WE CARE Solar, and is a retired obstetrician-gynecologist who has been researching maternity care in Nigeria over the last two years. She is the Associate Director of Emergency Obstetric Research for the Bixby Center of Population Health and Sustainability at UC Berkeley and has been delivering solar suitcases to clinics for the last year.

Brent Moellenberg is WE CARE Solar's Director for Haiti Operations, and has been working with renewable energy in the developing world for over 5 years. A mechanical engineer, incessant tinkerer and proud Maker, Moellenberg has varied experience in everything from wheat farming to data storage development, and is a long-time volunteer with the San Francisco Engineers Without Borders Haiti project.

Pavan Sukhdev on Economics and the Environment: What Is the World Worth?

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:59:22 -0700

Can current economic theories adapt to curb environmental damage? UN economist Pavan Sukhdev looks for answers. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, on August 3, 2010.

This program features visual aids. A complete video version is available at: http://fora.tv/2010/08/03/Pavan_Sukhdev_What_Is_the_World_Worth

Environmental damage is already costing us trillions a year, according to Pavan Sukhdev, head of the UN Green Economy Initiative. Sukhdev applies numbers to things that nature does for free – like purifying drinking water, supplying food and fuel, protecting coasts from storms, and generally keeping humans alive and healthy.

The cost of the global financial crisis stunned the world, with an estimated $862 billion in direct government bailouts alone. After years of running down our natural capital, are we getting close to an environmental version of the credit crunch?

Climate change has been grabbing most of the headlines in recent years, but we are now up against many environmental limits at once. Sukhdev looks at what this tells us about the limitations of our economic system and how it needs to change. The pioneering economist (who also works for Deutsche Bank) describes what the global economy would look like with nature on the balance sheet.

His talk was presented by the Centre for Policy Development at the Sydney Opera House. Afterwards, he joined a panel consisting of leading business people, climate change advocates and scientists. - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Pavan Sukhdev is Special Advisor and Head of UNEP's Green Economy Initiative, a major project suite to demonstrate that the greening of economies is not a burden on growth but rather a new engine for growth, employment and the reduction of persistent poverty.

Other speakers:

Peter Cosier is the Executive Director and Founding Member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists.

Paul Gilding is an independent writer, advisor and advocate for action on climate change and sustainability.

Miriam Lyons is the Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Development.

Jennifer Westacott is the national lead partner for KPMG's Sustainability, Climate Change and Water practice.

Climate Blogger Joe Romm: Poltiics After the BP Spill

podcasts@fora.tv — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:41:54 -0700

Climate blogger Joe Romm discusses issues in environmental politics in the wake of the BP Gulf oil spill. This program was recorded in collaboration with Climate One and the Commonwealth Club of California, on July 19, 2010.

Visit http://FORA.tv to view full-length video of any program featured in this podcast. For more topics on the environment, visit http://fora.tv/topic/environment.

It is "morally unconscionable" for the fossil fuel industry, and the politicians who carry their water in Congress, to stand in the way of action on climate change, says Climate Progress blogger Joe Romm.

Confronted by such a grave threat, we need to act now, he says. Which means we can't wait for technologies yet invented. More R and D funding for clean energy would be wonderful, but "we need to deploy every last piece of low-carbon technology we have today if we're to give the next generation a fighting chance." - Commonwealth Club of California and Climate One

Dr. Joseph Romm is the editor of Climate Progress and a Senior Fellow at the American Progress. In 2009, Time magazine named him one of the “Heroes of the Environment″ and “The Web’s most influential climate-change blogger.”

Romm was Acting Assistant Secretary of Energy for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy during the Clinton Administration where he directed $1 billion in research, development, demonstration, and deployment of clean energy and carbon-mitigating technology. He holds a Ph.D. in physics from MIT. In 2008, Romm was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for “distinguished service toward a sustainable energy future and for persuasive discourse on why citizens, corporations, and governments should adopt sustainable technologies.”

Tim Flannery: It's Now or Never on Global Warming

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:03:44 -0700

Tim Flannery, chairman of the Copenhagen Climate Council, recaps the science and current political controversies of global warming. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, on May 12, 2010.

Visit http://FORA.tv to view full-length video of any program featured in this podcast. For more topics on the environment, visit http://fora.tv/topic/environment.

Here at Darwin's annual writers' event, Professor Tim Flannery launches his Wordstorm 2010 address with a primer on the basic science of climate change, which he argues was universally unchallenged until recent years when it's become a political football.

Flannery knows that problem first-hand, having been head of the Copenhagen Climate Council. He speaks of the media's attempt to discredit the Copenhagen talks and his deep disappointment at the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) not being passed in Australia's parliament. He offers a damning critique of the Rudd Government's "funking out" on this issue. - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Tim Flannery has written such books as the definitive ecological histories of Australia (The Future Eaters) and North America (The Eternal Frontier). He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers.

As a field zoologist he has discovered and named more than thirty new species of mammals (including two tree-kangaroos) and at 34 he was awarded the Edgeworth David Medal for Outstanding Research.

He is a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books and The Times Literary Supplement and has edited and introduced many historical works, including The Birth of Sydney, The Diaries of William Buckley and The Explorers. He received a Centenary of Federation Medal for his service to science and in 2002 he became the first environmentalist to deliver the Australia Day address to the nation.

Tim Flannery spent a year as professor of Australian studies at Harvard, where he taught in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. In Australia he is a leading member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, which reports independently to government on sustainability issues.

Tim Flannery was named Australian of the Year the day before Australia Day on 25th January 2007.

Julia Whitty: Deep Blue Home

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:06:18 -0700

Environmentalist author and filmmaker Julia Whitty talks about her book, Deep Blue Home: An Intimate Ecology of Our Wild Ocean. This program was recorded in collaboration with Book Passage bookstore, on July 14, 2010.

Visit http://FORA.tv to view full-length video of any program featured in this podcast. For more topics on the environment, visit http://fora.tv/topic/environment.

Julia Whitty talks about Deep Blue Home. Whitty presents a penetrating exploration of the three-dimensional ocean river, far more powerful than the Nile or the Amazon, encircling the globe. It's a watery force connected to the earth's climate control and so to the eventual fate of the human race. - Book Passage

Julia Whitty is a writer and former documentary filmmaker. She is the author of Deep Blue Home: An Intimate Ecology of Our Wild Ocean, released in July 2010, and of The Fragile Edge, a book on coral reefs, winner of a PEN USA Literary Award, the John Burroughs Medal, the Kiriyama Prize, and finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

Her short story collection A Tortoise for the Queen of Tonga won an O. Henry and was a finalist for the PEN Hemingway Award.

Van Jones on BP, Obama, and the Future of the Green Economy

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 10:03:49 -0700

Van Jones, former White House advisor on green jobs, addresses the Commonwealth of California. This program was recorded on June 29, 2010.

Visit http://FORA.tv to view full-length video of any program featured in this podcast. For more topics on the environment, visit http://fora.tv/topic/environment.

Van Jones broke new ground with his proposal for a green-collar economy, stating that "the time has come to move beyond eco-elitism to eco-populism." He fights for environmental justice and to create an economy that is both sustainable and that lifts up the poorest communities through green-collar jobs.

Jones describes how the third wave of environmentalism -- the investment wave -- could solve inequality and catastrophe with a "Green New Deal" mindset. The Commonwealth Club awards Van Jones a 21st Century Visionary Award for guiding the nation to ecological equality. - Commonwealth Club of California

Van Jones is a globally recognized, award-winning pioneer in human rights and the clean-energy economy. Jones is a co-founder of three successful non-profit organizations: the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Color of Change and Green For All. He is the best-selling author of the definitive book on green jobs: The Green-Collar Economy. He served as the green jobs advisor in the Obama White House in 2009.

Jones is currently a senior fellow at the Center For American Progress. Additionally, he is a senior policy advisor at Green For All.

Jones also holds a joint appointment at Princeton University, as a distinguished visiting fellow in both the Center for African American Studies and in the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

David Helvarg - Saved by the Sea: A Love Story with Fish

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 11:43:02 -0700

Lifelong ocean conservationist David Helvarg discusses his memoir, Saved by the Sea: A Love Story with Fish. This program was recorded in collaboration with Book Passage bookstore, on June 2, 2010.

Visit http://FORA.tv to view full-length video of any program featured in this podcast. For more topics on the environment, visit http://fora.tv/topic/environment.

David Helvarg has devoted his life to the world's oceans and the people who depend on them. His memoir, Saved by the Sea, is the remarkable story of his career both in activism and journalism, where his fight to save the oceans has become a visionary and at times all-consuming cause.

This eloquent and honestly told tale of the changes in one man's journey and the world's oceans over the last half-century is also a profound, startling, and sometimes surprisingly funny reflection on the state of our seas and the intimate ways in which our lives are all linked to the natural world around us.

Helvarg is founder and president of the Blue Frontier Campaign, a Washington, D.C.-based organization working for ocean and coastal conservation. An award-winning journalist, he has written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian, Popular Science, Sierra, and The Nation, and has produced more than forty documentaries for PBS, the Discovery Channel, and others. His previous books include The War Against the Greens, Blue Frontier, 50 Ways to Save the Ocean, and Rescue Warriors.

Dr Elizabeth Hadly: Mammals and Climate Change

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:44:34 -0700

Stanford biologist Elizabeth Hadly discusses the effects of changing global temperatures on mammal species. This program was recorded in collaboration with the California Academy of Sciences, on May 18, 2010.

This program features visual aids. A full video version is available at http://fora.tv/2010/05/18/Dr_Elizabeth_Hadly_Mammals_and_Climate_Change

Stanford biology professor Elizabeth Hadly's research in the far reaches of the globe from India to Patagonia to Southeast Asia addresses the issues of what determines and maintains vertebrate (especially mammal) diversity through space and time and how that diversity is influenced by the environment. - California Academy of Sciences

Elizabeth Hadly is Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences and Departmen of Geology and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University. The research of Elizabeth Hadly probes how perturbations such as climatic change influence the evolution and ecology of Neogene vertebrates. She uses a combined field and laboratory approach to examine how ecological perturbations link or decouple levels of biological organization, because understanding the links among ecosystems, species, populations and genes is central to understanding how organisms exist, evolve and become extinct. She addresses problems in organismal biology from both evolutionary and ecological perspectives, primarily using extant mammals. One of the unique aspects of her overall approach is the focus on the decadal to millennial time scale, a scale that is little studied, although it is a scale that is integral to understanding links between ecology and evolution.

Professor Hadly's field research involves excavation of finely stratified Holocene paleontological sites and collection of modern specimens in western North America and Patagonia. Construction of a state-of-the-art ancient DNA laboratory has made possible the study of genetic structure of populations through time. Laboratory work includes morphometric and molecular analyses with the intent to extend the level of investigation down to the population and genetic levels. Ongoing projects at the macroecological scale include the study of the ecological and evolutionary factors influencing biological diversity through a comparison of temperate terrestrial vertebrate faunas in North and South America.

USDA Deputy Kathleen Merrigan - Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:54:12 -0700

Kathleen Merrigan, United States Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, explains the USDA's Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative. This program was recorded in collaboration with the New School, on February 25, 2010.

This program features visual aids. To view a complete video version, visit http://fora.tv/2010/02/25/Kathleen_Merrigan_Know_Your_Farmer_Know_Your_Food

Kathleen Merrigan, the United States Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and creator of the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative, talks at The New School. She speaks about efforts to strengthen urban food sheds, including strategies to link urban and rural areas and the roles that cities can play in rebuilding food systems. The event is sponsored by the Tishman Environment and Design Center. - The New School

Bill McKibben - Eaarth: Making Life on a Tough New Planet

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 26 May 2010 15:22:34 -0700

Bill McKibben discusses his book, Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet. This program was recorded in collaboration with Dominican University of California, on April 22, 2010.

Visit http://FORA.tv to view full-length video of any program featured in this podcast. For more topics on the environment, visit http://fora.tv/topic/environment.

Twenty years ago, with The End of Nature, McKibben offered one of the earliest warnings about global warming. Those warnings went mostly unheeded. Now, he insists, we need to acknowledge that a massive change is already underway on a planet that we might as well re-name Eaarth. Our hope depends, he argues, on creating a community that can weather trouble on an unprecedented scale. - Dominican University of California

Environmentalist Bill McKibben is a scholar in environmental studies at Middlebury College.

McKibben is an American environmentalist and writer who frequently writes about global warming, alternative energy, and the risks associated with human genetic engineering. Beginning in the summer of 2006, he led the organization of the largest demonstrations against global warming in American history. McKibben is active in the Methodist Church, and his writing sometimes has a spiritual bent.

He is the author of The End of Nature (1989), the first book for a general audience about global warming. Recent books include Enough (2004), which critiques human genetic engineering and other rapidly advancing technologies; Wandering Home (2005), which catalogs his foot-travels across the Vermont landscape; and Age of Missing Information (2006), in which he compares his experience watching 1700 hours of videotaped TV to that of contemplating nature in the Adirondacks.

MIchael Pollan on Food Rules: An Eater's Manual

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:45:28 -0700

Award-winning food writer Michael Pollan talks about his book "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual." This program was recorded in collaboration with Book Passage bookstore, in San Francisco, CA, on January 23, 2010.

Visit http://FORA.tv to view full-length video of any program featured in this podcast. For more topics on the environment, visit http://fora.tv/topic/environment.

Michael Pollan, one of the best-known names in food-related issues, offers a guide about health and food. Food Rules: An Eater's Manual is a set of memorable ideas for eating wisely. Many of them are drawn from a variety of ethnic or cultural traditions. Whether at the supermarket or an all-you-can-eat buffet, this handy, pocket-size resource is for people who would like to become more mindful of what they are eating. - Book Passage

Michael Pollan is the author of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, The Omnivore's Dilemma and The Botany of Desire.

A contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine, Pollan is the recipient of numerous journalistic awards, including the James Beard Award for best magazine series in 2003 and the Reuters-I.U.C.N. 2000 Global Award for Environmental Journalism.

Pollan served for many years as executive editor of Harper's Magazine and is now the Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley. His articles have been anthologized in Best American Science Writing 2004, Best American Essays 2003, and the Norton Book of Nature Writing.

He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, the painter Judith Belzer, and their son, Isaac.

Stephen Schneider - Science as a Contact Sport: The Politics of Global Warming

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:34:38 -0700

This program features visual aids. A complete video of this event is available at http://fora.tv/2010/03/17/Meeting_the_Energy_Challenge

Stephen Schneider, professor of environmental studies at Stanford University, looks to clarify the science behind the spin on global warming. Schneider explains why many climate scientists are frustrated with the way their research is discussed in the media and the political sphere, and gives his take on how to move the conversation forward.

This event was recorded as part of an event titled "Meeting the Energy Challenge," in collaboration with swissnex San Francisco, on March 17, 2010.

Stephen H. Schneider is the Melvin and Joan Lane Professor for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies at Stanford University, a professor of biological sciences, and professor (by courtesy) of civil and environmental engineering. He’s also a senior fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford.

Schneider received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and plasma physics from Columbia University and studied the role of greenhouse gases and suspended particulate material on climate as a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. He was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and was a member of the scientific staff of NCAR, where he co-founded the Climate Project.

Internationally recognized for research, policy analysis, and outreach in climate change, he focuses on climate change science, integrated assessment of ecological and economic impacts of human-induced climate change, and identifying viable climate policies and technological solutions. He has consulted with federal agencies and White House staff in several administrations.

Currently, Schneider is counseling policy makers about the importance of using risk management strategies in climate-policy decision making, given the uncertainties in future projections of global climate change and related impacts. In addition to continuing to serve as advisor to decision-makers, he consults with corporate executives and other stakeholders in industry and the nonprofit sectors regarding possible climate-related events and is actively engaged in improving public understanding of science and the environment through extensive media communication and public outreach.

Elizabeth Grossman - Chasing Molecules: The Promise of Green Chemistry

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:57:14 -0700

Environmental journalist Elizabeth Grossman discusses her book, Chasing Molecules: Poisonous Products, Human Health, and the Promise of Green Chemistry. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Commonwealth Club of California, on March 10, 2010.

Visit http://FORA.tv to view full-length video of any program featured in this podcast. For more topics on the environment, visit http://fora.tv/topic/environment.

There is substantial evidence that environmental conditions and environmental pollutants -- among them synthetic chemicals in consumer products -- have a profound effect on human health.

Elizabeth Grossman, author of Chasing Molecules: Poisonous Products, Human Health, and the Promise of Green Chemistry, illustrates the potential for green chemistry to revolutionize the materials we make, how they're used, and the possible benefits to our health and environment. - Commonwealth Club of California

Elizabeth Grossman is the author of High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxics, and Human Health, Watershed: The Undamming of America, and Adventuring Along the Lewis and Clark Trail., and co-editor of Shadow Cat: Encountering the American Mountain Lion. Her writing has appeared in Mother Jones, The Nation, Salon, The Washington Post, and other publications. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Michael Oppenheimer - Global Warming: How Policy Can Catch Up With Science

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:30:36 -0700

This program was recorded in collaboration with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, on February 23, 2010.

Visit http://FORA.tv to view full-length video of any program featured in this podcast. For more topics on the environment, visit http://fora.tv/topic/environment.

How to combat climate change is a highly politicized issue worldwide. For many, the arguments surrounding global warming and the ways to combat it can be convoluted and confusing.

Delivering the first of the Sydney Ideas lectures for 2010, world-renowned climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer outlines the evidence for global warming and explains how it was gathered.

Michael Oppenheimer is a Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs at Princeton University. He was the Lead Author on the third and fourth assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published in 2001 and 2007 respectively.

Before joining the faculty at Princeton, he spent 20 years as chief scientist at The Environmental Defense Fund.

Geoengineering: Global Salvation or Global Ruin?

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:18:54 -0700

Should humans address man-made rising temperatures and sea levels by tinkering further with mother nature? A lively debate about geoengineering has burst into the mainstream recently with reference to Ken Caldeira's work in the final chapter of the popular book SuperFreakonomics.

This panel takes a measured look at the good, bad and ugly of what could and should be done. What is technically feasible? How could new tactics be tested? Does the mere possibility of geoengineering diminish efforts to reduce carbon pollution? Our speakers share their distinct perspectives on this passionate environmental topic. - Commonwealth Club

Ken Caldeira is an atmospheric scientist who works at the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Global Ecology. He researches ocean acidification, climate effects of trees, intentional climate modification, and interactions in the global carbon/climate system. He also works as a staff scientist for Intellectual Ventures, a Seattle-based invention and patent company headed up by Nathan Myhrvold.

Albert Lin is Professor of Law at UC Davis School of Law. His special interests include environmental law, natural resources, and evidence.

Dr. David Whelan is the Boeing Integrated Defense Systems Chief Scientist and Vice President / General Manager, Deputy to the President of IDS Advanced Systems. Whelan has responsibility to create, seek out and explore new technology and business growth vectors for the Boeing Company.

Gregory Dalton is chief operating officer at the Commonwealth Club of California and Director of The Club's Climate 1 Initiative. He previously was international editor at The Industry Standard magazine, an editor for the Associated Press in New York, and a correspondent in China and Canada for the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper.

Rethinking How to Feed The World: A Davos World Economic Forum Panel

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:53:44 -0800

World leaders and CEOs at the Davos 2010 World Economic Forum participate in a panel called Rethinking how to feed the world. This program was recorded on January 29, 2010.

The panel discusses the challenges facing global food production and possible solutions that will increase yield and support agricultural producers worldwide.

The panel is moderated by Prannoy Roy, Chairman, New Delhi Television (NDTV), India, and panelists included: Jakaya M. Kikwete, William H. Gates III, Ellen Kullman, Nguyen Tan Dung, Patricia A. Woertz, Prannoy Roy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala - World Economic Forum

Nguyen Tan Dung is the prime minister of Vietnam.

William (Bill) H. Gates is chairman of Microsoft Corporation and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete is a Tanzanian politician and current President of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Ellen J. Kullman, 53, is chief executive officer of DuPont.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a director of the World Bank, was Nigeria's Finance Minister and then briefly Foreign Affairs Minister from 2003 to 2006.

Dr. Prannoy L. Roy is the founder and the Executive Chairperson of New Delhi Television (NDTV).

Patricia A. Woertz is chairman of the board of directors, chief executive officer and president of Archer Daniels Midland Company.

What Will the World Be Like In 60 Years?

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:53:44 -0800

What will the world be like in 60 years? Back in the 1950s, people speculated that by now we would be flying around in commuter-copters, striding rivers with man-made sea-legs, and living in climate-controlled bubble cities.

As visiting thinker Chris Luebkeman said to an audience at University of New South Wales, "the future is fundamentally fiction." However, it's still an interesting thing to consider, and here, delivering a lecture as part of the university's BrainFood series, Dr. Luebkeman indulged in some fascinating speculation. - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Dr. Chris Luebkeman runs the Global Foresight + Innovation initiative at Arup, a global design and engineering firm and a leading creative force behind many of the world's most innovative projects and structures. In his book, Drivers of Change 2009, Chris and the Foresight team at Arup look at 50 important factors that will affect our world, arranged in a framework known as STEEP (social, technological, economic, environmental and political).

Matthew England is a physical oceanographer and climate scientist who was born in Sydney on June 11, 1966. He holds a B.Sc. and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Sydney, Australia. In 2005 he became a Professor at the University of New South Wales, and was awarded an Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship that same year.

Dr. Adrian Paterson is the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation's newly appointed Chief Executive Officer. Previously, he was general manager, Business Development and Operations, at the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Company in South Africa. He has a BSc in Chemistry and a PhD in Engineering from the University of Cape Town.

Alec Tzannes is the Faculty Dean of UNSW Built Environment. He is also Director of Tzannes Associates, which has received more than 40 major state and national awards, including Australia's top award for new residential work, the RAIA Robin Boyd Award.

Sander van der Leeuw - Archeology, Innovation and Sustainability

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:28:09 -0800

Archeologist Sander van der Leeuw addresses the Long Now Foundation. This program was recorded on November 18, 2009.

Are we the first civilization to try and innovate our way out of climate change? How have past societies engineered sustainable solutions to a shifting world?

Sander van der Leeuw, Director of the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University and External Faculty Member of the Santa Fe Institute, has spent his career studying these questions. During his seminar, van der Leeuw explores this research into the past, as well as its application to our current global predicament. - The Long Now Foundation

Sander van der Leeuw - An archaeologist and historian by training, after teaching appointments at Leyden, Amsterdam, Cambridge (UK) and Paris he presently holds the Chair of Anthropology at Arizona State University in the USA. He is an External Faculty Member of the Santa Fe Institute, a Correspondent of the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Member of the Institut Universitaire de France.

His research interests have been in archaeological theory, reconstruction of ancient ceramic technologies, regional archaeology, (ancient and modern) man-land relationships, GIS and modelling, and Complex Systems Theory. He did archaeological fieldwork in Syria, Holland and France, and conducted ethno-archaeological studies in the Near East, the Philippines and Mexico.

Stewart Brand is a co-founder and managing director of Global Business Network, founded and runs the GBN Book Club, and is the president of The Long Now Foundation.

Brand is well known for founding, editing and publishing the Whole Earth Catalog (01968-85), which received a National Book Award for the 01972 issue. In 01984, he founded The WELL (Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link), a computer teleconference system for the San Francisco Bay Area. It now has 11,000 active users worldwide and is considered a bellwether of the genre.

Jonathan Safran Foer - Eating Animals

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:57:52 -0800

Author and vegetarian Jonathan Safran Foer talks about his book, Eating Animals. This program was recorded in collaboration with Sixth and I Historic Synagogue, on December 1, 2009.

Written with the verve readers know from his novels, Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer's first nonfiction book -- Eating Animals -- grew out of his need to justify dietary decisions to his children.

A vegetarian and sometime vegan, Foer carefully examines the stories we tell ourselves about what we eat, considering notions of comfort, tradition, and culture. He blends his memories of the roles food played in his childhood with literary representations of meals; reviews various philosophies of food; and conducts his own investigations into factory farms. - Sixth and I Historic Synagogue

Jonathan Safran Foer is a novelist and short story writer whose works have appeared in the Paris Review, Conjunctions, The New York Times and The New Yorker. He is best known for his semi-autobiographical novel, Everything Is Illuminated.

FORA.tv COP15 Wrap-Up with Bjørn Lomborg

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:50:08 -0800

FORA.tv's own Stuart Schulzke interviews climate policy critic Bjørn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist, on the final day of the COP15 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Lomborg gives his take on agreements reached by the participating nations, his own controversial views on climate change policy, and the ongoing debate on the causes and potential effects of global warming. This interview was recorded on December 18, 2009.

Bjørn Lomborg was named one of the 100 globally most influential people by Time magazine in 2004 and has written for numerous publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist.

He is presently an adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School and in 2004, he started the Copenhagen Consensus, a conference of top economists who come together to prioritize the best solutions for the world's greatest challenges.

Stuart Schulzke is FORA.tv's Director of Content Development. He earned two graduate degrees at the University of Oxford and his research has ranged from conflict resolution in Palestine to anti-corruption strategies in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe. Schulzke previously worked for the United States House of Representatives, primarily in framing media strategies for the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.

He oversees the development of FORA.tv partnerships with content providers and plays a primary role in formulating the company's overall content strategy.

Naomi Klein Slams Corporate Climate Lobbyists at COP15

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:28:58 -0800

Author and journalist Naomi Klein reveals Monsanto as the winner of the 2009 Angry Mermaid Award for the worst corporate lobbying group. She, along with Paul de Clerck from Friends of the Earth International and Dorothy Guerrero from Focus on the Global South, discuss the effects of corporate lobbying on the global climate debate. - COP15

Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, author, and filmmaker. Her first book, the international bestseller No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, was translated into twenty-eight languages and called "a movement bible" by The New York Times. She writes an internationally syndicated column for The Nation and The Guardian and reported from Iraq for Harper’s Magazine. In 2004, she released The Take, a feature documentary about Argentina's occupied factories, co-produced with director Avi Lewis.

Paul de Clerck is a corporate campaigner for Friends of the Earth International, a grassroots environmental network that campaigns on today's most urgent environmental and social issues.

Dorothy Guerrero is a senior research associate at Focus on the Global South, a non-governmental organization that works in Thailand, the Philippines and India to generate critical analysis and encourage debates on national and international policies related to corporate-led globalization, neo-liberalism and militarization.

Scott Harrison - Water As Luxury

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:46:21 -0800

This presentation features many visual aids. To view a complete video version of this program, visit: http://fora.tv/2009/11/06/Scott_Harrison_Water_As_Luxury

chaity: water founder Scott Harrison presents his story at LuxuryLab's 2009 Innovation Forum. This program was recorded on November 6, 2009.

LuxuryLab presents its first-ever INNOVATION FORUM, an unprecedented event addressing the rapidly changing luxury marketplace.

Held at TheTimesCenter, the forum brought together thought leaders to share never-seen-before research, trends, best practices, and a passion for ideas. - LuxuryLab

Scott Harrison spent 10 years as a New York City party promoter, throwing fashion and music events at top nightclubs for the likes of MTV, VH1, ABC TV, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Universal Records, Island Records, Bacardi, and Anheuser-Busch. In the fall of 2004, disgusted with the selfish and indulgent life he led, he returned to his childhood Christian faith and left nightlife to volunteer with a team of humanitarian doctors and surgeons onboard a hospital ship in Liberia, Africa. Armed with a pair of Nikons, Harrison spent eight months as the ship's volunteer photojournalist, documenting the incredible need he saw there.

Returning home to New York City a year later, he produced a large exhibition in Chelsea of more than 100 photographs and videos from the journey. The show gathered major media attention and brought in more than $96,000 in donations for medical procedures and freshwater well projects in Africa.

Following another six-month journey on the ship to West Africa, he returned to New York City to found the non-profit organization charity: water. Turning his full attention to the global water crisis and the 1.1 billion people without clean water to drink, he and a small team created exhibitions in galleries and outdoor parks, online campaigns, and nationally-aired public service announcements.

In three years, with the help of more than 60,000 donors from 200 countries and 300+ media mentions, charity: water has raised not only massive awareness, but more than $10 million, funding more than 1,400 water projects in 16 developing nations. Those projects will provide over 700,000 people with clean, safe drinking water.

Stewart Brand - Rethinking Green Assumptions

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:34:18 -0800

Environmentalist pioneer Stewart Brand talks about his book, Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto, in a discussion at the Long Now Foundation. This program was recorded in San Francisco, CA, on October 9, 2009.

Stewart Brand is a co-founder and managing director of Global Business Network, founded and runs the GBN Book Club, and is the president of The Long Now Foundation.

Brand is well known for founding, editing and publishing the Whole Earth Catalog (01968-85), which received a National Book Award for the 01972 issue. In 01984, he founded The WELL (Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link), a computer teleconference system for the San Francisco Bay Area. It now has 11,000 active users worldwide and is considered a bellwether of the genre.

Brand has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Santa Fe Institute, an interdisciplinary center studying the sciences of complexity, since 01989. He received the Golden Gadfly Lifetime Achievement Award from the Media Alliance, San Francisco in the same year.

He was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization which supports civil rights and responsibilities in electronic media, and is an acting adviser to Ecotrust, Portland-based preservers of temperate rain forest from Alaska to San Francisco.

Brand is the author of many pioneering books including The Clock Of The Long Now in 01999, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built in 01994, The Media Lab: Inventing the Future at MIT in 01987, and Two Cybernetic Frontiers on Gregory Bateson and cutting-edge computer science in 01974. It had the first use of the term "personal computer" in print and was the first book to report on computer hackers.

Alicia Silverstone - The Kind Diet: Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:33:15 -0800

Actress and environmental activist Alicia Silverstone talks about her book, The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet. This program was recorded in collaboration with Kepler's Books, on October 19, 2009.

Long before it was cool to "be green," critically acclaimed actress Alicia Silverstone was coming forward as a passionate and vocal advocate for environmental causes. In her new book, Silverstone reveals how eating a plant-based diet not only provides numerous health benefits for you, but is also a major contribution to the health of the planet.

Filled with personal anecdotes, motivational tips, and nearly 100 recipes, The Kind Diet is a fun and accessible way to begin your own journey toward better health. Whether you’re simply curious about life without meat or are ready to go macrobiotic, The Kind Diet's three different approaches offer a way to choose the path that's right for you. - Kepler's Books

Alicia Silverstone is an American actress, author, and former fashion model. She first came to widespread attention in music videos for Aerosmith, and is best known for her roles in Hollywood films such as Clueless (1995) and her portrayal of Batgirl in Batman and Robin (1997).

Silverstone recently published the vegan nutrition book, The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight and Saving the Planet. The guide includes diet and fitness guidance and advice, along with holistic living tips. It "explores the connection between what we put in our bodies and what we're doing to the planet, and how choosing the right foods in the kitchen can help you feeling lighter, sexier, and more alive." She has also produced an online production called "The Kind Life."

It is described as an online expansion of her book, focusing on global warming and vegetarian topics.

Richard Swanson - Solar Cells at the Cusp

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:04:00 -0700

After 55 years of development, photovoltaic electric generation is at a historic moment as it transitions from a niche technology to a significant source of clean, carbon-free energy.

Swanson discusses the promise of photovoltaic solar energy, policy issues needed to meet this promise, and how the industry is addressing these challenges. - Commonwealth Club of California

Richard Swanson received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1974. In 1976, he joined the faculty at Stanford University where he and his group conceived and developed the point-contact solar cell.

Laboratory versions of these cells achieved a record 28 percent conversion efficiency in concentrator cells and 23 percent large-area one-sun cells. In 1991, Dr. Swanson resigned from his faculty position to devote full time to SunPower Corporation, a company he founded to develop and commercialize cost-effective photovoltaic power systems. Dr. Swanson currently serves as its President and Chief Technical Officer. Along with his students and co-workers, he has published more than 200 articles in journals and conference proceedings, as well as several book chapters.

In 2002, Dr. Swanson was awarded the William R. Cherry award by the IEEE for outstanding contributions to the photovoltaic field, and in 2006 the Becquerel Prize in Photovoltaics from the European Communities.

Dr. Bernie Krause - The Great Animal Orchestra

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:22:42 -0700

Dr. Bernie Krause, creator of Wild Sanctuary, demonstrates that every living organism produces sound. This presentation focuses on the symbiotic ways in which the sounds of one organism affect and interrelate with other organisms, local and regional, within a given habitat.

Learn about unusual soundscapes and their relevance to preserving natural sounds worldwide. Biophony--the notion that all sounds in undisturbed natural habitats fit into unique niches--will be used to illustrate the ways in which animals taught humans to dance and sing. - California Academy of Sciences

Since 1968, Dr. Bernie Krause has traveled the world recording and archiving the sounds of creatures and environments large and small. Working at the research sites of Jane Goodall (Gombe, Tanzania), Biruta Galdikas (Camp Leakey, Borneo), and Dian Fossey (Karisoke, Rwanda), he identified the concept of biophony (a/k/a The Niche Hypothesis) based on the relationships of individual creatures to the total biological soundscape within a given habitat.

Dr. Krause was Scientific Director (appointed by NOAA) of the operation that rescued Humphrey the humpback whale from the Sacramento Delta (1985) using processed feeding sounds of the same species to lure him to the ocean. Through his company, Wild Sanctuary, he has recorded over 50 natural soundscape CDs, and creates interactive environmental sound sculpture commissions for museums and other public spaces throughout the world.

Utilizing proprietary delivery technology, his sound sculpture commissions can be heard at the American Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC), the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Chicago Science Museum, the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center (near Mystic, CT), the California Academy of Sciences, the Flint River Center in Albany, Georgia, Natural World Museum (SF), and five new installations at the World Financial Center (NYC opening 6 October 2006). Krause is currently commissioned to prepare a series of tropical and sub-tropical rainforest installations for the new California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park scheduled to open in the Fall of 2008.

Willie Smits - How to Replenish a Rainforest

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:29:53 -0700

This presentation contains visual aids. A full video version is available at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/08/CARBON_Willie_Smits_on_Replenishing_a_Rainforest

This program was recorded in collaboration with the Tides: Momentum Conference, in San Francisco, CA, on September 8, 2009.

Willie Smits is presenting at Momentum 2009 on the Carbon Plenary: A shift is underway from considering environmental issues a "special interest" to an understanding that the human impact on the planet and its life-sustaining atmosphere must inform every aspect of endeavor, from business to politics to culture. Ignorance could destroy even the possibility of bliss unless changing our ways becomes a central tenet of the social contract.

This plenary's speakers will explore this shift, how it can become a celebrated element in our renewal, and how restoration holds the promise of redemption.

Smits' momentum: "Nature is beautiful. Destroying its complexity is suicidal for mankind. I want to contribute to a better and fair future for people and nature." - Momentum Conference

The founder of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation and Chairman of the Masarang Foundation in Indonesia, Willie Smits has rescued tens of thousands of animals from the illegal wildlife trade and planted several million trees. He uses his knowledge of diverse scientific fields, including plant propagation and microbiology, forestry, carbon issues, social agroforestry, environmental monitoring, and alternative energy, for the betterment of people and their living environment.

Masarang Foundation’s most well-known project is its palm sugar factory, a zero-waste facility that provides sustainable jobs and saves 200,000 trees each year. Smits directs a university in Indonesia, his home for 30 years, and has trained more than 1,000 Indonesian environmental experts and hundreds of Ph.D. students. He is the recipient of many awards and was knighted in his country of origin, The Netherlands.

Shai Agassi - The Electric Horizon: A Plan for Electric Cars

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:02:40 -0700

Better Place CEO Shai Agassi discusses his plans for widespread adoption of electric cars. This program was recorded in collaboration with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Melbourne, Australia, on July 22, 2009.

Shai Agassi deliveres the 2009 Alfred Deakin Eco-Innovation Lecture, outlining how through smart business, improving technology and changing public policy, the electric car revolution can commence. - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Shai Agassi is the founder and chief executive of Better Place, the leading electric vehicle services provider. He is focused on one of this century's biggest challenges, moving the world from oil-based to sustainable transportation. Agassi works with government leaders, auto manufacturers, energy companies and others to make his vision "zero-emission vehicles powered by electricity from renewable sources" a reality in countries around the globe.

Agassi's visionary leadership with the Better Place model has been recognized widely. TIME Magazine named him to the 2009 TIME 100, the world's 100 most influential people, and one of TIME's "Heroes of the Environment 2008." Fast Company placed him third on its "100 Most Creative People in Business" list. Most recently, Scientific American Magazine named him to the 2009 Scientific American 10, a select group of 10 people who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to assuring the benefits of new technologies and knowledge will accrue to humanity.

Before founding Better Place, Agassi was president of the Products and Technology Group at SAP AG and a member of the software company's executive board. He led global development of SAP's product line and portfolio of industry-specific solutions.

Agassi remains an active member of the Forum of Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum, where he focuses on climate change, transportation and other key issues. He is also a member of the Copenhagen Climate Council and the advisory board of the Corporate Eco Forum.

Dan Miller - A REALLY Inconvenient Truth

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:29:07 -0700

This presentation includes visual aids. A complete video version of this program can be found at http://fora.tv/2009/08/18/A_REALLY_Inconvenient_Truth_Dan_Miller

This program was recorded in collaboration with Berkeley Cybersalon, on August 18, 2008.

Dan Miller's presentation focuses on why the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports are actually best case scenarios. For example, IPCC climate models do not include the effect of melting permafrost releasing greenhouse gases, even though the permafrost is melting now and it holds more greenhouse gases than all that mankind has ever released.

Another example is that IPCC predictions of sea level rise only take into account thermal expansion of the oceans and melting of glaciers; the largest factor, disintegration of glaciers, was not included because it is hard to model. The result is that sea level rise will likely be substantially higher this century than the IPCC predicts.

Miller discusses several other potential catastrophes that are not included in IPCC predictions and also discusses tipping points that could put climate change solutions out of our reach in years or decades, the psychology of climate change, and why it is difficult for people to respond to the threat posed by a warming earth.

His talk concludes with a discussion of ways to address climate change and the risks and opportunities that companies face due to the climate crisis. - Berkeley Cybersalon

Dan Miller is Managing Director of the Roda Group. He is the former president of Ask Jeeves, Inc., a Roda Group affiliate company. He is currently working with a number of Roda Group affiliated companies to assist them with their business development efforts. Mr. Miller sits on the Board of several Roda Group companies.

At the end of 1994, Mr. Miller retired from his position as Executive Vice President of TCSI Corporation (Nasdaq: TCSI), a company he co-founded with his Roda Group partner, Roger Strauch. Mr. Miller retired from the Board of Directors of TCSI in June of 1997. TCSI is a leading provider of integrated software products and services for the global telecommunications industry.

Prior to TCSI, Mr. Miller was a systems engineer at Hughes Aircraft's Space and Communications Group where he was responsible for designing communications payloads for commercial communications satellites.

Panel Discussion: What Will It Cost to Save the Planet?

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:23:55 -0700

This program was recorded at the Santa Fe Institute, in Santa Fe, NM, on July 16, 2009.

It is now generally agreed that human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases are very likely to cause global warming. This will have serious consequences in the next fifty to one hundred years. What should be done? Some economists argue that taking steps now to mitigate this problem is likely to drive up energy costs and result in reduced economic growth. They suggest that in the interests of economic equality - and particularly to foster economic growth in developing countries - it is better to let growth happen as quickly as possible and rely on future increased technological capacities to solve the problem. Others argue that we need immediate and decisive action on this issue. - Whole Earth Films

Professor Sir Partha Sarathi Dasgupta, FBA, FRS, is the Frank Ramsey Professor of Economics at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, and a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge.

Amory Lovins is the Cofounder and CEO, Rocky Mountain Institute. His work focuses on transforming the hydrocarbon, automobile, real estate, electricity, water, semiconductor, and several other sectors toward advanced resource productivity. The Wall Street Journal named Mr. Lovins one of thirty-nine people worldwide "most likely to change the course of business in the '90s"; Newsweek has praised him as "one of the Western world's most influential energy thinkers"; and Car magazine ranked him the twenty-second most powerful person in the global automotive industry.

John Schellnhuber is a founding Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK); since 1993 Director of PIK and Professor for Theoretical Physics at Potsdam University. 2001-2005 additional engagement as Research Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and Professor at the Environmental Sciences School of the University of East Anglia in Norwich (UK). From 2005 - 2009 Visiting Professor in Physics and Visiting Fellow of Christ Church College at Oxford University as well as Distinguished Science Advisor for the Tyndall Centre.

Novella Carpenter and Michael Pollan - The Education of an Urban Farmer

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:45:46 -0700

Novella Carpenter discusses her book, Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, in a conversation with author Michael Pollan. This program was recorded in collaboration with Berkeley Arts and Letters, on June 18, 2009.

Novella Carpenter grew up in rural Idaho and Washington State. She majored in biology and English at the University of Washington in Seattle. While attending Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, she studied under Michael Pollan for two years. Her writing has appeared on Salon.com, Saveur.com, sfgate.com, and in Mother Jones.

Michael Pollan is the author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, a New York Times bestseller. His previous books include The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World (2001); A Place of My Own (1997); and Second Nature (1991). A contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine, Pollan is the recipient of numerous journalistic awards, including the James Beard Award for best magazine series in 2003 and the Reuters-I.U.C.N. 2000 Global Award for Environmental Journalism.

America's Energy Future: A Debate

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:31:16 -0700

Christine Todd Whitman, James Woolsey, John Podesta and Karen Harbert debate energy policy, with a focus on the pros and cons of nuclear energy. This program was recorded in collaboration with the University of Virginia's Miller Center for Public Affairs, on May 14, 2009.

The dual shocks of record-high energy prices and global recession have produced fertile ground for policymakers to radically reform America's energy policy. While many have called for increasing production of domestic oil and coal supplies, others have seen this as a unique opportunity to move beyond an energy policy dominated by fossil fuels.

In July 2008, former Vice President Al Gore outlined the first step in this process when he called for America's electricity supply to be carbon-free in 10 years. - Miller Center of Public Affairs

Karen Alderman Harbert is President and Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy.

John Podesta is the president and CEO of the Center for American Progress and visiting professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center.

Christine Todd Whitman is President of The Whitman Strategy Group, a consulting firm specializing in energy and environmental issues. She served as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (2001-03), and as the first woman governor of New Jersey.

Robert James Woolsey served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and is the chairman of the advisory boards of the Clean Fuels Foundation and the New Uses Council and a trustee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. He also serves on the National Commission on Energy Policy.

Jim Angle is FOX News Channel's chief Washington correspondent and a substitute anchor for "Special Report with Bret Baier."

Jane Hightower - Diagnosis Mercury: Money, Politics, and Poison

podcasts@fora.tv — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:07:13 -0700

Dr. Jane Hightower discusses her book, Diagnosis: Mercury: Money, Politics, and Poison. This program was recorded in collaboration with the California Academy of Sciences, on June 9, 2009.

San Francisco physician Dr. Jane Hightower is acknowledged by many to be the first doctor in the United States to recognize low-level mercury poisoning in patients who regularly ate certain kinds of fish. Hear firsthand about competing interests, varying government standards, and what it took to get high levels of mercury in the blood seen as a problem. - California Academy of Sciences

Jane M. Hightower, M.D., is the author of Diagnosis: Mercury: Money, Politics and Poison. She is a board-certified internal medicine physician in San Francisco, California.