Author Archives: Bill Moulton

Earth’s temperature soared to a record high last month, nearly 1.5C degrees above average as measured by weather satellites. That’s a huge amount even in these record-breaking atmospheric times according to scientists at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

To put that in perspective, a 1.5C degree rise is the line in the sand established at the Paris Accords as not to be exceed by 2100. 

As February broke new weather ground, the month ended with Leonardo DiCaprio’s long-anticipated Oscar win. Indeed, the story that was the most tweeted Oscar moment of all-time was the mega star’s speech following his Best Actor victory in The Revenant.

DiCaprio started off by praising his fellow nominees and Martin Scorsese for mentoring him over the course of the past two decades, along with 20th Century Fox, his parents and his friends. Then, he made an impassioned call for the strongest action possible to address the threat of human-caused climate change:

“Making The Revenant was about man’s relationship to the natural world. A world that we collectively felt in 2015 as the hottest year in recorded history. Our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to be able to find snow.

Climate change is real, it is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.

We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people out there who would be most affected by this.

For our children’s children, and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed.”

Millions of fans whom DiCaprio will never meet cheered his courageous words. With the Republican Party seemingly poised to nominate a celebrity climate-denier as the 45th President of the United States — with what may be the heaviest eco-footprint in America — it was appropriate that DiCaprio use his celebrity spotlight to remind the world of the looming threat to all of us.

DiCaprio deserves high praise for his nearly two decades of dedication to reducing carbon pollution, and his unwavering support for climate scientists and environmental activists. However, one man — as powerful and popular as Leo is—cannot fight climate change alone. DiCaprio may never win another Oscar. He may never have another opportunity to urge tens of millions of viewers to join the effort to preserve a livable planet.

So kudos to Leo for issuing this call to action while the world was watching. But now what? For me DiCaprio’s plea prompts the following question: How CAN and where DO Americans work collectively to fight climate change? The crisis, and other environmental challenges, need and deserve comprehensive ongoing national television coverage. Where and how else are we supposed to start talking about it as America’s favorite leading man implored us to do?

Perhaps one reason average citizens are not as concerned and ready to act as they should or could be is they don’t see regular coverage in the news and almost NEVER see solutions-oriented programming. It doesn’t yet exist. That void is a huge opportunity.

As a seasoned broadcast news journalist-turned-Green talk show host, I have spent more than a decade advocating for dedicated programming on these timely, complex and changing stories. For inexplicable reasons network news programmers have failed to see the “green light” and tend to view such shows as “too niched” or “too negative.”

But it’s a niche that affects all of us and If Americans are all about hope, fortitude, ingenuity, patriotism, can-do spirit and unwavering commitment to our children’s future then why not take on our most pressing environmental challenges? The most egative consequences will only be the outcome if we continue to ignore warning signs to act.

Where is it written that the eco-evolution shall not be televised? Why not chronicle the biggest story of our time, what’s happening to our life support system before our eyes? It’s so much more than ONE story (see www.thegreenfront.com and www.ecotalkradio.com).

The worsening climate crisis can most effectively be addressed with a concerted and comprehensive effort by mainstream news media, in both print and traditional broadcast/cable outlets. Only major networks and newspapers have sufficient resources to cover threats of this magnitude— and emerging opportunities— with the depth, breadth and long reach needed to be accessible by the mass public.

Progressive online news sites and social media alone cannot provide the trans-partisan discussions needed if we are to come up to speed quickly on what we are facing and what we can do to be “part of the solution.” It will require more than 140 characters and an attention span of more than a minute if we hope to succeed.

So while a call to action from even a high-profile figure, and global platform like the Oscars is a great and needed step it should serve as launching pad for a nationwide awareness campaign focused on the challenges posed by climate and other threats to nature, our life support system, as well as dynamic conversations on proposed and varied solutions from the best and brightest among us.

Personalities on the frontlines of sustainability are knowledgeable, passionate, hopeful and deserve to be widely seen and heard in 2016. Why not tap into their collective wisdom? There are hundreds— actually thousands— of change makers in the trenches from science, politics, business, activism, the arts and beyond eager to participate in conversations about solutions.

As DiCaprio told ABC’s Robin Roberts backstage after the Oscars, we need more citizens to get educated and taking action. Now.

“As I said in the speech, it is the most urgent crisis that we’ve ever faced as a civilization and the more people that talk about this and get involved and, as I said, vote for leaders who really want to make a difference, you know, we can actually tackle this problem.

We have the capacity to go 100 percent renewable using existing technologies, we just have to have the political will. Our very existence is at stake.”

Or put another way, if we don’t act soon, and icebergs continue to melt, we may all be in for a titanic amount of trouble. Since no one wants that, what are we waiting for?

To say we are living in turbulent times is to state the painfully obvious. The political landscape veers between frightening and farcical on a nearly daily, if not hourly, basis.

As we reel from news of one act of terror to another horrific gun shooting and careen from extreme weather event to bracing for the latest sexual predator reveal, it is enough to make one want to hide under the covers and say “wake me up when it’s over.”

However tempting, that is not an option so how do we cope with the current chaos and relentless assaults on our sensibilities? Especially those of us who, for better or worse, have made it our life’s purpose to be agents of change? How can progressives advance the full agenda for a better tomorrow when politically motivated short term thinking is pushing us backwards fast? With so many messes to clean up when and if we do get turned around in the right direction, it feels downright daunting. Where do we find the fuel to keep going and sufficient energy to refill our hope tanks if we dare to care about the fate of the planet and humanity?

With so many bullets to dodge, the title of a weekend conference held at New York’s Omega Institute last month was especially intriguing: Being Fearless: Action in a Time of Disruption. As a passionate broadcast journalist-turned-environmental writer, commentator, speaker and advocate for action, even I was in need of a chutzpah and hope reboot in order to stay in the fight. Based on the West Coast, I had heard of the Institute—and its Center for Sustainable Living—but had never been. When I found myself with a rare free weekend in New York City last month, off I went.

Omega is a warm and welcoming place located in the Hudson Valley River town of Rhinebeck, where Chelsea Clinton famously wed in 2010. Situated on 250 acres, the camp-like setting includes a main hall for presentations, a large dining lodge where tasty “mostly vegetarian” fare is served cafeteria style and cabins of various age and size surround the center. Walking paths and gardens connect the buildings and in mid-October, flowers were still in bloom and the trees barely beginning to change color—a late start I was told—courtesy of global warming.

The weekend kicked off with a reception Friday evening for speakers. As media, I was included and immediately felt at home in the company of staff, presenters, and performers. After we joined attendees in the big hall, Omega’s CEO, Skip Backus, kicked things off with words that resonated about the need to take pause, listen and learn before we take action to make the kind of deep changes these times demand. Assembled with seemingly kindred spirits of varying backgrounds and professions, it felt comforting to be a part of something bigger, an oasis from the craziness, however fleeting.

There was a succession of speakers that first night, each compelling but the standout for me was Dr. Cornel West, a dynamic professor who is part historian, part poet, and part preacher. I had seen him on television but in person he weaved, bobbed and circled the podium like a spinning top, all the while giving social commentary in lines that rhymed and reflected a brilliant mind. In fact, the program bio called West “a provocative democratic intellectual” and the professor of philosophy and Christian practice lived up to that billing. Among his keen observations, “America is a problem-solving people but when it comes to catastrophe, we’re in denial.” He cautioned that “we will find out who we really are in these times.” Indeed West and many other speakers had a similar thread in their messages; if we don’t like what we’re seeing around us it will take a commitment to telling the truth and bearing witness to love and justice. As many who preceded him have also noted, we must love ourselves first and change within before changing the world.

One of the tools is practicing mindfulness, also not a new concept at least not where I come from. That said, it is one thing to talk about it and another to practice as I am learning.

Saturday morning kicked off with a meditation led by stress reduction guru Jon Kabat-Zinn. His soothing voice and friendly manner set a relaxed tone which continued into the next session with Rhonda Magee, a professor of contemplative law. Their topic was “mindfulness in the face of injustice” and “identity-based suffering.” All the talks were recorded as were performances by talented ensembles including Climbing PoeTree, a combo dance, poetry, rap group with mesmerizing moves that punctuated their social commentary.

The morning concluded with Paul Hawken giving his slideshow on “Project Drawdown” based on his book about the most impactful ways to reverse climate change. He includes some less obvious contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, like food waste—-the third largest factor—and solutions like educating women in developing countries to help them rise above poverty and have fewer children. I would liked to have heard something about the need to better educate all people to raise ecological literacy, especially here in the U.S. where an active and well-funded disinformation campaign has had such a negative impact on progress. The unmet potential of our mainstream news media to effectively counter economically motivated falsehoods and clear up confusion about our climate crisis is an inexcusable failure.

It is my longtime preoccupation with this lapse that drew me to the Fearless conference. In particular, a panel discussion featuring CNN contributor, Van Jones, and Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman about the Changing Roles and Responsibilities of Media. Bill Moyers was to have been on the panel, as well serve as conference keynoter, but he was not able to make it. Moyers was replaced by presidential historian, Jon Meacham whose current claim to fame is having been fearless enough to ask Donald Trump what he reads. Although Meacham is a contributor on MSNBC, offering analysis on the Trump presidency seen through a historical lens, media is not his primary focus and he said as much on the panel. Although not his fault, nor the conference planners, it would have been helpful to hear Moyer’s perspective, having worked in public television for decades.

That, and the fact the moderator did not steer the discussion in the direction of the panel’s title, yielded a discussion more focused on politics than the changing role and responsibilities of media. Despite the disappointing pivot there were some relevant and revealing quotes that emerged at the end of the panel and in the Q & A session that followed when news media and climate change briefly became the focus.

A bit of a disclaimer is in order here. With a long background in broadcast news, most of it spent working for the CBS Radio network, I experienced the impact of being heard on a national channel in terms of reach, even if only reading breaking news of the day. I left to cover environmental issues as an independent producer and host of green radio shows. Ten years later I decided TV has the advantage of showing both the problems and the people with solutions and have been pitching the news networks on what would be the first program dedicated to addressing our urgent eco-challenges. I would love to have been on that panel to share insider insights. Over the years I have heard every excuse in the book from program execs resistant to offering content on climate and green solutions, none of them legitimate in my strong view. Their responses are revealing in terms of them not recognizing the game-changing potential of getting America to wake up and smell the carbon.

Van Jones was on my Air America radio show on World Environment Day in 2005 before he was well known. I was so impressed with his brilliance and bold ideas that I told him he should be in the White House and after our in-studio interview I suggested he use “Green Collar Jobs” as a renaming of his then movement, “Green Jobs, Not Jails” because I loved his vision of training underprivileged youth to work in solar and other green sectors (I hate waste and there is nothing worse than a life wasted). He ran with it and used it in the title of his best-selling book, “The Green Collar Economy.” Fast forward to 2017 and since I had recently pitched CNN on a climate series I was particularly interested in his thoughts on the news networks’ near-failure to connect the dots between recent record-breaking hurricanes, floods, wildfires and a warming earth. If more emphasis was put on what’s fueling these devastating weather events by CNN, MSNBC and the Big 3 (ABC, CBS, NBC), then FOX would not have the undue influence it has had in fomenting the politicization of climate and other environmental threats, thwarting both political and public progress as FOX actively sows dissension, doubt, and denial.

The most pertinent comments, for my purposes, came from Amy Goodman who said we need media that makes these connections, as she has done so well on her award-winning Pacifica radio program. Goodman has long been fearless, an outspoken critic of the so-called corporate media and its repeated failure to explain why we are seeing such devastating weather events. Her reporting on Standing Rock was a stand-out and she even got arrested briefly as a result. When she turned to Jones and asked why CNN spends so little airtime discussing climate change, he replied that whenever they tried to discuss the topic, the ratings would go down, according to his bosses.

I have heard that before—from Van and a few CNN staffers—-and question how they can even track ratings based on such fleeting mentions. I also wonder when they last tested that since, as Amy said onstage, everything has changed in light of the recent hurricanes and fires, the latest evidence of “weather on steroids.” I loved what Van went on to say and with some dramatic flourish, “there are only two things we cannot recover from and we are now seeing both, runaway climate change and the prospect of nuclear war. The way we live can kill us and the way we kill can kill us all. These two existential threats should get us very focused and very calm to build the kind of movement that can win the country back over. Anything we’re doing that’s not that is a criminal waste of time.” That strong statement rang true, not only with me but with the audience that applauded loudly.

When pushed further by Goodman on whether CNN has an anti-climate stance, Jones paused briefly to consider and offered—by way of observation more than justification—that “the public is ahead of corporate media and politics which will have to catch up,” adding “the news media and political parties don’t lead anything, they’re lucky if they’re the caboose at the end of the train. What leads stuff, he concluded, is the people.”

While I definitely agree with Van’s belief that the major news networks are not trailblazers, in my view the people have spoken. In the last few years alone hundreds of thousands of Americans have marched, as well as across the world, to demand action and leadership. The People’s Climate March in 2014 was almost entirely ignored by the New York-based news networks in terms of coverage, despite 400,000 turning out in Manhattan alone. Never mind that the march went right past several of the big network headquarters. Last April two back to back science and climate marches in Washington D.C.— and around the country—did get decent coverage from the big cable and broadcast news networks, but there was still something important missing from the coverage. There were zero climate scientists, environmental experts or advocates doing in-studio commentary. Instead, CNN and MSNBC, which I monitored, had their “political analysts” on discussing climate as a political issue, framing it as a Trump vs. climate activists competition, as if there were competing teams in a sporting event. This is a recurring problem that perpetuates the status quo of avoiding serious discussion of the urgency, irreversible ecological and humanitarian consequences and economic impact of a warming world and all its manifestations. If the public doesn’t see it on the news, how serious a problem could it really be? In other words it is something they can ignore.

So while Van makes a good point, especially the news media lagging on taking climate as seriously as the threat would dictate, in my view that is no reason to excuse or let those tasked with informing the public off the hook. I can see where Van may not want to challenge his bosses but I sure wish someone would enlighten them! Since when should what is covered be determined by ratings? And perhaps viewers would be more interested if they had a better understanding of consequences that can be mitigated and opportunities inherent in the crisis.

If I seem to be harping on this it’s because I firmly believe (and have fought to change this for two decades) that until there is better coverage and connecting of causal dots, the misinformation—and paralysis—will continue. And while a failing climate, warming oceans, and collapsing ecosystems are not the only arena in which there is political gridlock and media malpractice, these are challenges that will not be easily reversed, if at all. Time is key and enough citizens have spoken up and taken to the streets that there is no legitimate reason in 2017 for the climate silence, and same for other eco threats. At the same time there is an underlying environmental literacy issue that must be addressed. I cannot think of a better use of mass media channels than this given that is at stake.

I would love to have asked some follow up questions of Van but as is usually the case, most of the speakers didn’t stick around after their presentations, which is unfortunate.

A few highlights from Sunday morning included David Orr, an author and Oberlin environmental studies professor, and Opal Tometi, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter. There was one standout presentation from someone who did not stand very tall but who loomed large in every other way. Thirteen-year-old Elijah Coles-Brown, a young orator who appears to have what it takes to be an up and coming Barack Obama, captivated the audience with his mature mannerisms and motivating message about rising above being bullied “when I was young.”

It was also unfortunate that I didn’t have time to tour Omega’s Center for Sustainable Living, touted for its LEED Platinum building certification and state-of-the-art water reclamation facility—but now I have reason to return next year for one of their many workshops on topics ranging from personal growth to social change. In addition to the usual self improvement programming fare I was impressed to see Omega offering innovative programs for Veterans including yoga and other modalities to help vets heal from the trauma of war.

I left Omega feeling recharged for the battles ahead but already just one month later, there have been two more mass shootings, a terror attack in downtown Manhattan, and a steady stream of affronts to our senses coming from occupants of the White House.

As I struggle to retain the sense of community and shared purpose that was palpable at Omega, I find myself clinging to one overarching hope; that with all the shaking up exposing an underbelly of what’s wrong with America in terms of inequity, hypocrisy, sexual predators and just plain evil, it is painfully evident that the old ways are not working and will not get us where we want and need to go in order to thrive. If indeed the time has arrived for karma calls to manifest then bring it on but we can’t get through this alone. More than 500 attended the weekend at Omega with 2,500 participating in the live stream but organizers want to share it with a much wider audience.

The way the world is going there will be challenges anew to tackle and while I do believe change begins with ourselves—and that was certainly an overarching theme to the weekend— it is also true that there are still not enough of us needed to fight all the hate, falsehoods, denial and polarization we see reflected in the news every day. This has always been the challenge but with a growing sense of urgency I feel too impatient to wait for enlightenment to spread person to person.

I guess I should meditate on that but in the meantime please spread the word that what happened in Rhinebeck doesn’t have to stay in Rhinebeck. For another month, until December 14th, you can access all the presentations I’ve written about, and many others I couldn’t cover, for a mere $5 fee that helps to offset the costs of bringing the conference to a worldwide audience. You can find the link at https://www.eomega.org/online-workshops/being-fearless-on-demand

I encourage you to check it out for your own well being, all of our sakes, and mostly for our children who deserve to have a future they can look forward to and not dread.

My takeaways are that it’s necessary to shore up for the long haul while being prepared for short term setbacks. Barring nuclear attack or climate meltdown, we’ll be around for the foreseeable future. While there is plenty to be upset about we only have one precious life so we ought not let anyone, or anything, ruin it. In the end Donald Trump isn’t worth it. Just don’t stop caring because we need all of us to get through these dark but dynamic days.

Al Gore’s pivotal film, An Inconvenient Truth (AIT), put climate change on the world map, and got many Americans thinking, and talking, about this worsening existential threat. There has been real progress with much of it coming in late 2015, including President Obama’s executive actions, Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si and the pivotal Paris Agreement. Last week’s tributes to Gore and the film’s producers were welcome and deserved. Some of us who had been concerned, and communicating about global warming for years prior, thought AIT would change everything. It didn’t.

A decade later there remain glaring gaps that are key to wider public acceptance and much needed mass action. What’s still missing comprises a long list, but at the top I put a lack of credible information and inspiration, programming aimed at the general public coming from mainstream news outlets, both broadcast and cable, and on the television and radio networks. There’s a sustainability revolution underway but you’d never know it if you just get your news from the networks only. It’s far bigger than the information or tech revolution for this one will determine our collective fate.

While world leaders, government agencies, insurance companies and corporate America have begun to take the threat(s) seriously, national news outlets are still (with a few exceptions) ignoring the biggest story of our time—what’s happening to nature, our life support system—at our own hands. Inexplicably, none of the news networks are offering any programming to educate the public, nor providing a national forum for discussing solutions about what citizens and communities can do to have a positive impact. News executives do not see this as their responsibility and assume few care enough to tune in. They also don’t know what they don’t know.

I believe they are wrong on both counts but trying to convince program executives of that, let alone get a meeting, has been a frustrating focus of mine, going back even before Gore’s film came out. In fact his was among the networks we pitched when he and Joel Hyatt owned Current TV! Gore was on my radio show when An Inconvenient Truth debuted and I’ve been trained by him, as part of his Climate Reality Project, so he knows that I’m qualified. Gore turning down a ready-to-go show on climate change while lambasting mainstream media for ignoring the issue was a little more than inconvenient – I have filed that one under “Inexplicable”.

In an anniversary interview last month Gore repeated his still apt line about how weather reports are starting to sound like The Book of Revelations. And it’s only getting worse. Last week southeastern Texas experienced its second “1 in 500 year flood” with nine lives lost. At last report fires were still burning in Canada’s tar sands territory and India melted a new high temperature record of 124 degrees Fahrenheit. Parts of Sri Lanka were under 8 feet of water and nearly 25-million Americans were in the path of severe storms carrying Wizard of Oz-like “monster tornados” touching down in Kansas and Nebraska. Weather conditions in Minneapolis were so severe that crowds at Beyonce’s concert had to evacuate the stadium. As Dorothy might say if she dropped in today, “Tornados, fires, and floods, Oh My”!

News anchors, reporters and weather people are, for the most part neglecting to connect the dots, even if only tentatively. So the public remains indifferent and the beat goes on. As well as the heat. As I write this hundreds of residents in the north of L.A. community of Calabasas are being evacuated as a 200 acre fire spreads in near 100 degree weather

Also missing in action is any meaningful discussion about the climate crisis during yet another presidential cycle. In the primary debate season moderators failed to ask substantive questions about the candidates’ plans to tackle climate change. When they did throw in a fleeting mention, there was no grilling of dismissive Republicans who dare still call it “a hoax,” including the apparent nominee, Donald Trump, who is by his own accounts “not a great believer.” That, while Trump petitions to build a seawall to protect his latest acquisition, a golf course in Ireland. Thanks to Bernie Sanders—who has long been a climate champion in the Senate—the topic has at least been raised, prompting Hillary Clinton to mention her clean energy plans more often on the campaign trail and to come out against the Keystone XL project. Continuing the climate silence giving short shrift to a phenomenon that is already altering life on earth, as we’ve known it, for yet another election cycle, is truly inexcusable.

As another climate champion in the Senate, Sheldon Whitehouse, said in a recent Time to Wake Up Senate speech, “We are sleepwalking through history as carbon piles up in the atmosphere…sitting on our hands acting helpless.” I would add that we are acting like clueless zombies and our culture is complicit in making that okay.

The persistent sad fact is that there is no government or media entity offering citizens and communities advice on how to reduce emissions and help reverse other troubling eco-trends. Of course there is plenty of information on the worldwide web and available through membership in environmental organizations like the Sierra Club and NRDC. But that requires becoming a member or actively seeking out material, which primarily is done by the already eco-aware. Why not make the best thinking on the part of experts more widely available and easily accessible? Given the scope and urgency of these multiple and overlapping crises, it is inexplicable that we are not seeing more mainstream programming focused on exploring the issues, discussing options for what’s needed to scale up. What are we waiting for, all of Greenland to melt? Until it IS too late to stop runaway climate destruction? Or until—perish the thought—we have a climate “disbeliever” in the White House, someone who likely has the heaviest per capita eco-footprint in the world with all of his buildings, boats, golf courses and planes? Not to mention hot air.