Ted Smith of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition and author of Challenging the Chip comments on his recent trips to China and India to see firsthand the underbelly of, basically, a world of people like me typing on this computer and you reading on yours: E-waste, the fastest growing waste stream in the world, and toxic poison for some of the world’s poorest. Ted says that at this point "we’re losing the battle," and that the US needs "to join the international community at the treaty level," by ratifying the Basel Convention. That we contribute so much to the problem but are not among the 166 signatories of this humane global treaty is shameful, and needs immediate attention from our elected officials.
PART ONE (11 min) PART TWO (7 min)
Author Archives: William Craven
Challenging The Chip
- Monday, 12 March 2007 19:41
- Written by William Craven
- 0 Comments
Bank of America invests Green in Green
- Monday, 12 March 2007 19:31
- Written by William Craven
- 0 Comments
Bank of America’s Director of Public Policy James Mahoney joins Betsy to break down the finer points of their just announced $20 billion investment in environmental sustainability. Among them are a green credit card, less paper used on a daily basis, green home loans, green business loans, credits for employees who buy hybrids, and increasing the percentage of green clients in their investment portfolios. Greener homes, greener businesses, more hybrids, and more green investment are exactly the type of things that corporations the size of Bank of America can put into motion. Some might question the inherent sustainability of such large corporations, but this might be a matter of going green with the businesses you have, and not the ones you’d like to have. LISTEN (10 min)
Jeff Cleary & Blue Water Laundry
- Monday, 12 March 2007 17:59
- Written by William Craven
- 0 Comments
Jeff Cleary of Blue Water Laundry tells Betsy about the dirty business of dry cleaning, particularly the practice of using perchloroethylene (perc, for short), and the three alternative methods (GreenEarth, CO2, and Wet Cleaning) that do the job without harming groundwater, air, or your body. Ask your dry cleaner for one of these options, and if they respond with a quizzical look, send them our way. If they give you stubborn disdain, let them know what the market demands, and that you’ll take your dollar to where you can find the supply. LISTEN (10 min)
Sports Illustrated: Time to Pay Attention
- Friday, 09 March 2007 20:38
- Written by William Craven
- 0 Comments
So your friendly EcoTalk producer here was brushing up on his college basketball to faithfully observe the March Madness holidays. I reached for a trusty issue of Sports Illustrated and…..my job was on the cover. In the latest example of the connections that people are drawing between climate change and, well, most aspects of their lives, SI asks a fair question: are baseball in South Florida, the ash bat favored by Major Leaguers, and the Winter Olympics all equally at risk? Cover story co-writer and fact-checker David Epstein tells us about the wide-ranging, thoughtful, and scientifically solid report that SI has delivered. Betsy rolls her eyes at a climate change/swimsuit issue tie-in, but if you ask me, anything to get the word out! LISTEN (11 min)
PS: Looking at the top of the magazine, you gotta wonder: Can we at least have some Organic Athletes?
Deadly Sonar: The U.S. Navy’s Assault on Whales and Science
- Friday, 09 March 2007 20:35
- Written by William Craven
- 0 Comments
NRDC’s flagship magazine OnEarth features an article by Peter Canby on the Navy’s use of Sonar (widely accepted to be harmful and/or fatal to whales), and the Navy’s efforts to silence its (often authoritative, science-based) critics. Daniel Hinerfeld follows up on the article with NRDC Senior Policy Analyst Michael Jasny. LISTEN (7 min)
Picture: Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale Research