Because 40% “of greenhouse gas emissions come from the built environment,…one has to take an integrated look at the built environment to look at how people live, work, and play. But also integration in the sense of understanding how transportation systems fit into that, how urban design affects the efficiency of how people live, how… Continue reading The New Built Environment – Shirley Ann Jackson, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
“Greenland and Antarctica have been holding vast amounts of water as frozen ice and helping us to maintain very steady sea levels around our coast. And that’s allowed us to build infrastructure, build mega cities, right on the coast where many of our world’s mega cities sit. Now….we’re raising our air temperatures …and that’s adding… Continue reading Why Glaciers Matter – Twila Moon, Ph.D., Glacier Scientist, Univ of Colorado at Boulder – COP26
This Labor Day when the world is swirling in a kaleidoscope of massive challenges, it looks like maybe a few of those challenges can be tackled at once by transitioning to be an economy that runs on renewable energy, versus primarily on fossil fuels. The massive and unexpectedly devastating damage from Hurricane Ida this past… Continue reading Help Wanted—Women In Renewable Energy. Saves The Planet And The Economy, Study Found
“Really use the information…We hope that it helps you develop opinions… (that help you) vote, contact your representatives…We really hope that this report among others will empower…people and as voters to, to use the data, to hold their government accountable.” Olivia Martin, USAFacts on Electric Ladies Podcast What is the Earth saying this year? We… Continue reading Earth’s Data Speaks – Olivia Martin, USAFacts.org
USAFacts.org is a nonprofit founded by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to collect and analyze data from all government sources across local, state and federal levels on various topics from race to immigration to covid and healthcare more broadly, to the economy, and on the environment. Sometimes they have to get very granular to do… Continue reading Hold Government Accountable With Climate Data From Nonpartisan Data-Collecting Nonprofit
“Any concrete new mixture, whether it’s embodied carbon or flyash or any other innovation in making concrete more sustainable one way or the other in terms of the material itself, those are all tested through a rigorous standardized process.” Elizabeth Thompson, USGBC As our hearts go out to the people in Surfside, Florida coping with… Continue reading Are ‘Green’ Buildings Safe? – Elizabeth Thompson, USGBC
“A.I has enabled us to get very precise measures and give the plants precisely what the plans need…(So) The yields in our greenhouses are about 30x the traditional farm.” What if we could grow to produce in a way that was not at the mercy of weather swings or events? A new massive indoor farm… Continue reading Massive Indoor Farming – Jackie Roberts, Appharvest
“The part in this that is so important is the relationship building component, and that part takes time… (it) is the glue that brings cohesion across the issues and it enables a different form of listening and a different openness, in my view, that includes openness to hearing the science….. Science is the strongest tool… Continue reading Talking Science to Policy Makers – Michelle Wyman, National Council For Science and the Environment
“100% of the materials used in our back to school (mask-making) kits were …from deadstock (discarded) materials…to provide a sustainable mask alternative for kids in need to that they ….can keep their communities safe.” Jennifer Lee on Green Connections Radio. As we all adapt to the temporary normal of having to wear a mask to protect ourselves and others from the Covid-19 pandemic, Jennifer Lee came up with a creative eco-friendly way to make mask-wearing fun for kids and give masks to people of all ages in need. Building this nonprofit is Jennifer’s side hustle; her day job is as a global technology manager in cosmetic giant L’Oréal’s incubator. Listen to Jennifer describe to Green Connections Radio host Joan Michelson how she came up with the idea for United We Mask, who else is on board (including Fabscrap, a previous guest on this show), and how L’Oréal is responding.
Many voices are talking about how we need to rebuild the post-pandemic economy to also make us more resilient to the ravages of climate change. Ramping up adoption of electric vehicles is always in those conversations, especially battery-powered ones. But not there are hydrogen fuel cell EVs too. Listen to Jackie Birdsall, Senior Engineer of these vehicles at Toyota explain how they work and much more, with Green Connections Radio host Joan Michelson.
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