I woke to the news that 9,000 peacekeepers are missing in Haiti and that the prisons had collapsed, releasing inmates. Current News brings it home with photos and video that they have been collecting.

Anderson Cooper interviewed Wyclef regarding his call to action:


How you can help:

If you want to help, you can go to the Red Cross, or you can text 'HAITI' to '90999' and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.

If you are on Twitter, You can check out the hash tag Help Haiti (just remember that the scam artists come out in times like this so use your thinking cap along with your heart).

I can't help but wonder about the mobile homes affect. How is that some of the most economically challenged locations are hardest hit by natural disasters?

Meanwhile, I'm batting for team random today and am going to leave you with this video that Dave Burdick of Big Green Boulder found. Hope my cat will sound the alarm if we're ever in a room together when the big one hits.



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Emile Hirsch, Jessica Biel, Isabel Lucas, and Lupe Fiasco joined singer, Kenna to climb to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Why prey tell? They're climbing Africa’s highest peak to raise awareness on behalf of the over one billion people who don’t have access to clean drinking water. 

Cool project.Yaay do-gooders. Seems my cynical sally is coming out to play. It may have something to do with that I just sat through a two minute promotional video that focused on the state of their bowels and knees without  once mentioning water issues (thank god they had alexandra cousteau at least give voice to the plight of the challenge).  When I go to their off the hook website, I'm so distracted by the gitzy and glam that I can''t figure out how to actually engage with the supposed purpose (I think it had something to do with water). See what I mean? I've already forgotten.



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One more to add to the "weird green film festival." As the green movement takes the consumerism world by storm (is that statement so 2008?) may the mockery commence! We need to have more good clean fun and laugh at how image oriented and ego centered identifying with the green movement can appear.

Meanwhile...it made me think of those sayings, "you know you live in San Francisco if...." I was wondering if the the creative forces and linguistic abilities of the current green community would be inspired to come up with a, "I'm so green...I____"



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Rolling Stone decided to start the year off by kicking ass and taking numbers...or rather, announcing names and pointing fingers in their article, The Climate Killers Meet the 17 polluters and deniers who are derailing efforts to curb global warming.

It's about time there was a public hit-list of people who aren't for the planet. (After all, it's very publicized technique used by several climate change deniers who will not be named). Over all  it's an informative article that examined the influence of thoughts, money, and action across sectors. The author clearly had fun creating clever nicknames for the offenders, such as the Flip Flopper (Dick Gephardt) and The Arm Twister (David Ratcliff). Unfortunately I found the tone of the piece off putting in the moments when it came dangerously close to stooping to name calling. The way I see it, we (the people who are actively in the pursuit of securing a way to live sustainably on the planet) do not have time for name calling.  Everything that is said and written needs to be impeccable and supported by facts, not just emotion and a sense of, "this is just the right thing to do." (I realize this is ironic coming from someone who spews nothing but opinions. Shoot. Now that I think about it, I wouldn't be undeserving of a t-shirt that says, "Hi. My name is pot. I call tea kettles black.")

But here's what kills me, after an article that names some of the most dangerous polluters in regard to the environment and ideas, the first comment on the article says, "global warming is a myth." I keep wondering what can we do to shift the conversation? HEEELLLOOO~ they just listed 17 people that are in the active pursuit of hurting the state of the planet and the entire conversation resorts to the broken record statement of "global warming is a myth". It feels like there is no way out of the "Yes!" "No!" shouting match about the legitimacy of if climate change will affect people's ability to survive on the planet. It is pointless to engage in a conversation about if Al Gore's plan is to take over the planet and rule the economic system.

So (gasp), what would happen if we turned in a different direction and focused on making sure we have clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, clean soil to grow our food in? What if we replace "global warming" with "healthy planet"? Would it change the conversation? Would we still get the same number of people saying, "Healthy planet is a myth!!" And if so, how would that influence the conversation? Would it refocus us on the task at hand and give our minds a break about conspiracies, lies, and motivations?

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Did you here the climate change joke about the Manatees huddling near power plant in Florida to escape the cold?

More than 200 manatees are wintering in a balmy canal outside a power plant, the latest exotic Florida animals seeking refuge from the state's frigid temperatures. You can check out the manatee webcam here. Giant eagle rays and spinner sharks joined them in the 70-degree waters Thursday as onlookers watched them frolic.

Speaking of webcams, I got to thinking, there has got to be some awesome animal webcams out there. And there might be. But I didn't find them. Instead I found a lot of sites that promise to list animal webcams and just suck you into a site littered with advertising.

If you are in need of an animal webcam (and let's face it folks, sometimes you need a little animal-cam to get you through the day), The Monterrey Aquarium has a penguin cam, sea otters, and show other creatures big and small that swim in the ocean at this link.

And then there is the elephant cam from the San Diego Zoo. (No elephants in view when I checked.)

And then you can always take a tour of the virtual Smithsonian Z00 (again, I had little success actually seeing anything, but the webcams are up and functioning.  I did get see some pink flamingos, so mission animal-cam accomplished).

Meanwhile, leave it to Infomania to bring us the Internet's best animal sex videos.



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Wade Davis will be in town tomorrow speaking at the Long Now lecture series on “The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World". We're going to have a chance to get your questions to Wade, so you know what to do: ask away!



Here is what TED has to say about why he is worth listening to:

Anthropologist Wade Davis is perhaps the most articulate and influential western advocate for the world's indigenous cultures. His stunning photographs and evocative stories capture the viewer's imagination. As a speaker, he parlays that sense of wonder into passionate concern over the rate at which cultures and languages are disappearing -- 50 percent of the world's 6,000 languages, he says, are no longer taught to children. He argues, in the most beautiful terms, that language isn't just a collection of vocabulary and grammatical rules. In fact, "Every language is an old-growth forest of the mind."

Davis, a Harvard-educated ethnobotanist, believes humanity's greatest legacy is the "ethnosphere," the cultural counterpart to the biosphere, and "the sum total of all thoughts and dreams, myths, ideas, inspirations, intuitions brought into being by the human imagination since the dawn of consciousness." He beautifully articulates the intellectual, emotional and moral reasons why it's in everyone's best interest to preserve the world's cultures.

To this end, Davis serves on the councils of Ecotrust and other NGOs working to protect diversity. He also co-founded Cultures on the Edge, a quarterly online magazine designed to raise awareness of threatened communities. Perhaps his best-known work is The Serpent and the Rainbow,The Clouded Leopard: A Book of Travels. an international bestseller about zombification practices in Haiti. Wes Craven adapted the book into a 1988 film, which Davis denounced as a betrayal of the book's spirit. His latest book is

Hungry for more? Check out, Keepers of the World where Davis writes, "If they protect their sacred mountain home, the Indians of northern Colombia believe they will keep the entire planet in balance. It's getting more and more difficult."

So post your questions below. We will also be live tweeting from the sold out lecture on Wednesday, 7:30pm-9pm PST.

I don't know why it's so much fun to watch news correspondents get tortured by the weather, but it is. Infomania couldn't resist putting together a montage of crazy reporters from around our nation talking about~ the weather. (The most amazing laugh out loud clip is at the end~don't miss it).



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Ok~ so a quick run down on what happened in the FIRST WEEK OF January!!

First of all: We challenged all of you freaks out there to take the 1 green thing challenge (and then we offered to help you achieve your goal):

I got a little crazy and decided to take on removing all of the garbage I am personally responsible for putting into the oceans (and am trying not to freak out that it is going to 559 pounds).

The cold weather has gotten to some climate deniers in Alaska, apparently they think if it's not warm in Fairbanks global warming is a face, and built a 2 ton green ice statue of Gore as a way to challenge him to a debate:

Oh Avatar. The war might be over on Pandora, but it's alive and well here in the Internets. A few comments about how the movie calmed the environmental activist withing turned out to be fuel for the fire.

Scientists are saying that dolphins should be treated as "non-human" persons.

The Sea Sheppard's whale-protecting Batmobile was attacked and sunk by a Japanese ship.


And in case you didn't get the good news: planet earth won this week: Victory for the Black Mesa

A few finds that are destined to bring a smile to your face:

This guy is doing interpretive dances to the natural world:



I'm not sure if you noticed or not, but it's winter. And the weather men and women are going through some hilarious trials and errors as they report on it. Why is it so funny to watch weather reporters get run over by kids on sleds? I'll ponder that one all weekend long: http://current.com/items/91855814_live-from-the-snow.htm

Wondering about the massive attack of #ces on Twitter? Well the bloggers, celebrities and of course, the techies have descended on the Las Vegas.

CNN Tech describes it as:

"...geek heaven on Earth -- a Super Bowl, Disney World and New York Fashion Week all rolled into one for the techies who flock to Vegas to eyeball the newest gadgets from the world's leading manufacturers."

Wikipedia records it as:

The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is a non-public trade show held each January in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association. At the show, many previews of products are introduced, and new products are announced. The show is held at the Las Vegas Convention Center with additional venues used for some specific technologies. The CES is considered one of the major technology-related trade shows, after Comdex was cancelled.

And Evan Siegel just summed it up with his tweet:

"at CES, feeling very analog. where the coleco vision booth?"

You can get regular updates via your favorite tech blogs, and of course follow the twitter hashtag #ces. Meanwhile we'll be following one of our favorite green tech blogger Jaymi Heimbuch.

And life wouldn't be complete without Ben Hoffman's take  (and mockery) in 2009:



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When I stumbled across the Dogs Have Bigger Carbon Footprint Than SUVs? article on Current, I couldn't help but post it on my dad's  facebook page (he is after all, a veterinarian). Turns out he had a lot to say on the matter, so I asked him to write a guest post on for us.

Guest blogger Dr. Larry Lamb (aka my dad) is a practicing veterinarian who shares a passion for caring for pets and the environment. He writes the newspaper column and blog, Pets and People.

We live in a time when there is a sincere concern for the health of our family, our pets and our planet due to what is called the greenhouse affect.  The greenhouse affect is defined as a concern that the carbon dioxide we release into the atmosphere is a cause for global warming.  One of the ways of determining how much greenhouse gas we add to the environment is determined by what is called a “carbon footprint” and it is measured by the amount of carbon dioxide we add to the atmosphere.

When we heat our house and drive our cars we produce carbon dioxide (CO2).  In fact, even the food we produce, consume and throw away has an affect on our carbon footprint. When we consider the relationship between pets and people there has been some research done and opinions expressed about the affect pets have on the environment and in this article I will express my opinion about the impact pets have on the environment we live in.

If we analyze the “Carbon Paw Print”  of domestic pets, different conclusions can be ascertained. Recently, there has been a book published based on this subject titled, Time  to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living, by Robert and Brenda Vale, two researchers from Victoria University in New Zealand. They compare the ecological footprints of owning pets compared to other life style choices. Scientific studies often serve as a benefit and are important in discovering new ways to improve our health.  However, we  must be wary of studies which are sponsored by corporations or scientists who champion a point of view.

The Vale’s research was based on analyzing the common ingredients in most pets foods and then determining how much land was required to produce this food. Their conclusions were that the amount of energy and land required to produce this food created a negative impact on the environment based on carbon emissions. They then compared this to owning a SUV and other ways we contribute CO2 to our environment.

It is possible to prove a point scientifically and draw a flawed conclusion from the research and then oversimplify the findings in order to create controversy in order to sell books. There have been many examples of this and an inquirering mind will have to seek several resources before believing everything that is printed.

To understand the relationship of pets and people and sustainability, let’s briefly review the history of domestic pets. Consider that in ancient times, animals became camp followers.  They consumed the waste products of native peoples. In the case of felines, they consumed vermin as they do today.  Eventually, they became companions to human populations and people  shared their food with their pets.

As we study history we gain insight and the expression “nothing new under the sun” seems appropriate. `A research study which delineates the energy consumption of pet food does not take into account the fact that most of the ingredients in common pet foods are indeed recycled products that would have been disposed of anyway.  This would create a cost and the energy consumed to dispose of this food  could contribute to the greenhouse affect anyway.  Dog foods contain meat by-products.  Just as the native peoples fed the early domestic pets their waste products, we do the same today.  Humans will not eat most meat by-products.

Another factor we should consider is the actual reduction in the total carbon footprint of families that are childless or have fewer children because pets can be a substitute for larger families. Producing a basketball team that has to be fed, sheltered and educated has a larger impact on the environment than a golden retriever.

Pets contribute to the health of their owners. Many studies have concluded that pet ownership contributes to our happiness and longevity.  Stress and loneliness have a great impact on our sense of well being and happiness. Pets are key factors in good health and happiness and a reduction of stress ranks right behind diet and exercise as an important components in a healthy lifestyle.  We should also consider the carbon footprint of our health care system. Less illness equates to fewer resources being dedicated to healthcare.  We waste less in the materials, manpower and the maintenance of our healthcare facilities required to treat illness caused by the stress that is often alleviated by pet ownership.

Their are ways we can be responsible about our environment that are related to pets. We can support products that utilize eco-freindly packaging and we can educate ourselves about the viability of utilizing foods that are an excellent source of nutrition but disposed of as waste.

As a veterinarian, I see the benefit that pet ownership brings to the lives of people on a daily basis. I also care about the environment our children will inherit.

Meanwhile, you might find this piece by Max and Jason on animal rescue and a strange case of animal hoarding:

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Last year I gave myself a goal: Choose one environmental issue I am passionate about, and rather than send money to an organization, create a hands on project where I can get personally involved and see the difference I make.  Without too many deep thoughts involved, I decided to figure out how much garbage I was personally responsible for putting into the ocean, and then go remove it. I got my diver's certification, and...well..that's as far as I got!



There is a part of me that realizes this is ridiculous. It's just a drop in the bucket. At the beginning of the day I believe we ultimately need to be changing large systems so that we aren't forced to live in a way that is inherently damaging to the planet. In the middle of the day, I believe we each need to do our part both personally and politically. At the end of the day, I believe we need to address the damage that has occurred in the past and fix it.

So this New Year's Eve, I made the resolution again, but this time I opted to ask everyone in the Internets to help me, (I also posed a challenge on Current for people to join me and choose just ONE green thing to focus on, and ask us for our help. So far 13 people have taken the 1 Green Thing Challenge.)

So I announced my challenge and asked people to help with the following:

1. Find out how much garbage each American is responsible for dumping into the ocean
2. Discover organizations who are doing clean up efforts and train divers
3. Identify locations in the ocean that are most in need of clean up

I received the following information on garbage stats:

• @fakeplasticfish from Twitter offered the following info: You could contact the Algalita Marine Research Foundation and see if they’ve come up with any estimates. Keep in mind though that some of that plastic has been out there since the advent of plastic itself, and also much of it comes from the other side of the Pacific, specifically Japan. I don’t know if anyone knows the answer to that question at this point. But maybe there are rough estimates.

• derk is the all time star and delivered this slew of information and the following calculation: 14 billion pounds of garbage was being dumped into the ocean every year -  US is responsible for 1/3 (at least) -  - so 4.6 billion pounds each year Divide that by the 304,059,724 Americans on record -  and you get ... 15.1286067731... lbs.!!!!!!!! I am so committed to removing my share and more!!!!!!

As for locations I received the following advice:

• Celia Alario recommended Jaguar Island in the Caribbean

• versasrev offered the following map and advise:
  

• 
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  Is this the kind of trash in the ocean you are talking about?
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_...
  
  Because we seem to have scientists researching the most effective way to clean this up right now, without causing more environmental damage. It seems like the current plan is to think really hard about what the plan should be.
  
  This gal is out and about in the ocean right now studying it.
  
  http://theoystersgarter.com/category/north-pacific-...

OK: So according to Derk's calculation, 15.1286067731 x 37 (my age in 2010) if I am to remove the garbage that I am personally responsible for: I'll be removing  559.758422, aka 560 pounds of garbage out of the ocean.

Today's questions I would love help with:

1. What does 560 pounds of garbage look like?

2. Where should I store it?

3. I need to contact a diving association or organization that specializes in garbage removal: anyone have suggestions?

4. Of course: where should I collect the garbage?

Just stumbled across these two contests~ make the best of them!

Call for Young Eco-Hero Nominations and Applications
Deadline: February 28, 2010
Calling all Young Eco-Heroes for this annual Action For Nature juried contest. Cash prizes and other gifts are awarded to young people, 8 to 16 years of age, who have initiated and achieved outstanding environmental success, and whose efforts will inspire others. Guidelines and application form available on the Web site. Nominations encouraged.

EPA Our Planet, Our Stuff, Our Choice Video Competition
Deadline: February 16, 2010
The U.S. EPA is sponsoring this video competition to raise awareness of the connection between the environment and the stuff people use, consume, recycle, and throw away. Anyone 13 and older can participate with the chance to win up to $2500 for videos that will inspire community involvement, spread information, and lead to action.

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After a year of restless sleep and nightmares that involve the state of the planet, I slept with a sense of ease and comfort of an innocent child after seeing Avatar. Added bonus, and I didn't even after to pay extra.  (If you haven't seen the movie~ stop now. Open a new page on your browser and buy yourself a ticket to the next showing (in 3D of course).

I've been trying to put my finger on what shifted in my nervous system since being exposed to that story.  The journey of the wounded warrior? The vision of a world that lives in balance and in appreciation of life? The connection to land told in an authentic voice? Or the sheer thrill of watching a storyteller speak the truths of two society's at once? Because when I wake from my own dreams to find news like It's manatee vs. military in pending habitat ruling and Namibia's landmark trees dying from climate change it feels like we are in the nightmare of the Pandora's attack, no?



Was it that the good guys won against all possible odds? It wasn't all good or easy, and after all, it sucked seeing myself in both parts of the story~ as both the good and the evil doers (hats off Cameron).

I think the truth lies somewhere between 1) My friend Dara said it best with, "Isn't it kind of amazing that this is the story that is getting out to the masses?" I'm not a movie buff, so before going to see the movie, all I knew about it (and what drove me to see it) is that they developed a new technology that reinvented movie making. Cameron could have used any story and a lot of people would have bought tickets. But they used this story, and people are going back multiple times (someone on the fan site attended 5 times).  So that inspires me, that this is the story that served as the vehicle for this radical new technology. And then of course~2) I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I fully fell in love with the world Cameron created.

But there is another piece to this story which inspires and is part of the meta narrative. James Cameron's almost ridiculous story of how he got into filmmaking. I'm sure there are plenty of pieces missing from Wired's account of Cameron's plight, but at the end of the day I love the image that a truck driver saw Star Wars and knew that he could (and should) do better. It's just more of the same, the little guy rising up against the big societal systems that seem impossible to permeate and succeeding against all odds.

There has been plenty of criticism about it's lack of originality, but at the end of the day, there are just a few stories told over and over, it's all about how you tell the story. One of my favorite sayings in  writing is to show, don't tell, and Cameron and team accomplished that over and over again in the way they showed the power of connection between various species and the planet. I think that is what I found exciting~ to see this technology used in a way that wasn't just about fight scenes, but dedicated mostly to the details of what it can mean to  connect to the natural world (the irony that it is these technological advances spreading the message of connection to nature is...well, delicious).

But maybe a piece of the power of this story is that it just has good timing. For instance, I remember this time last year; I don't know about you, but that was a tough time for me: it felt like the world was going to hell in a bucket, and then came the plane that survived the goose attack in the Hudson and we were given a story about a hero who saved the lives of everyone on his plane against all odds.  I needed that story of victory, our country needed a hero (or at least I did), and to see that good things were still  happening in the world.



Perhaps part of the power in this story is it's timing. After all, it arrived on the coattails of Copenhagen, a gathering  that broke the hearts of many as it shed light on the back door deals between the powerful countries on our planet, and the negligence of the UN. But even as I write that, I realize that most of the people seeing this film probably didn't bother with Copenhagen, and are finding connection and inspiration for their own reasons.

So at the end of the day, I went to see the technological innovation, I'll go back for the story. After all, it's just thrilling to see a powerful movie about the state of the environment that isn't made or marketed for environmentalists. Perhaps that's why I can sleep at night, because the chapter of feeling like environmentalists need to sound the alarm is truly over, the message has permeated the mainstream.



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I'll begin by saying I love Alaska and Alaskan's. They still continue to live in the frontier mindset, and are some of the toughest self reliant people I have ever met. When I first started working their as a naturalist I assumed something that any young naive do-gooder might consider, that people who live so closely with the land would also feel inclined to protect it. I wish I could tell you exactly what this piece is designed to communicate aside from getting attention.

The carving features an audio dub of Mr. Gore's Dec. 2009 Copenhagen speech suggesting the entire Polar Ice cap will likely disappear in the next 5 to 7 years, and urging us to upgrade our light bulbs.

As the audio is played, hot air will be emitted from the mouth of the statue, signifying the dangers to the environment of all types of man-made emissions. The source of the hot air will be the Ford F-350 flatbed truck on which the sculpture sits, with a 2” hose from the tailpipe of the vehicle, through a hole bored in the back of the head of the carving, and pumped out through the mouth of the statue. Local businessmen Craig Compeau and Rudy Gavora commissioned the frozen artwork, by world class sculptor Steve Dean.

“We invited Mr. Gore to Fairbanks last January (one of the coldest in decades) to debate his planet-melting theories."

Is anyone else scratching their head on this one? I'm stumped. I guess the thinking is that because it is still freezing in Fairbanks the rest of the world isn't changing? Or are they wishing that Gore had urged people to take more action than just changing their lightbulbs?

I'll give them points for the following though (even if it is a rip off of the contest to guess when the ice on the Tanana River breaks up).

In conjunction with the release of the new statue, Compeau has incorporated a “Local Warming” contest that will raise money to provide warm winter clothing for homeless Fairbanks residents.  The contest asks participants to estimate how many hours the Ford F-350 would have to run (at idle) to equal the carbon output of a round-trip visit from Tennessee to Copenhagen aboard a Lear jet. The winner will receive a warm Ski-doo winter jacket, long underwear, thermal socks, and an Al Gore Bobblehead doll.

Meanwhile, Vanguard's Adam Yamaguchi travels to Alaska to witness some of the dramatic effects of climate change:

Have you spotted an eco art object you think should be highlighted? Email me at llamb@current.com

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Holy Sheite seems to be the best term of the day to describe the footage of the Japanese whaling ship run-in with the Sea Shepherd's space-age-whale-protecting-batmobile (thanks progresshiv for bringing this video to Current).



You can read Sea Shepherd's account of the run-in:

In an unprovoked attack captured on film, the Japanese security ship Shonan Maru No. 2 deliberately rammed and caused catastrophic damage to the Sea Shepherd catamaran Ady Gil.

Six crew crewmembers, four from New Zealand, one from Australia, and one from the Netherlands were immediately rescued by the crew of the Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker. None of the crew Ady Gil crew were injured.

The Ady Gil is believed to be sinking and chances of salvage are very grim.

According to eyewitness Captain Chuck Swift on the Bob Barker, the attack happened while the vessels were dead in the water. The Shonan Maru No. 2 suddenly started up and deliberately rammed the Ady Gil ripping eight feet of the bow of the vessel completely off. According to Captain Swift, the vessel does not look like it will be saved.

“The Japanese whalers have now escalated this conflict very violently,” said Captain Paul Watson. “If they think that our remaining two ships will retreat from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in the face of their extremism, they will be mistaken. We now have a real whale war on our hands now and we have no intention of retreating.”

C'mon. The term "unprovoked attack" raises all kinds of questions. I'm glad there are people out there like the Sea Sheppard vehemently protecting the whales and bringing the issues at hand to the surface~ but frankly, I can't tell if this is unprovoked~ and if memory serves, the Sea Shepard's soul purpose is to attack.

It is curious and interesting that this footage was taken and released by what appears to be the Japanese whaling ship. That raises all kinds of questions.

Meanwhile~ if you are seeking a little more drama to go with your mid-day coffee, enjoy this footage of Whale Wars:



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One of my favorite jokes is to offer to do an interpretive dance for people. But Karl Cronin has  surpassed the joke and entered the realm of beauty with his project, The Somatic Natural History Archive.



Karl explains the vision for the project,

I will use my body to collect and perform the embodied histories of 10,000 US plants and animals. The goal is to highlight the incredible biodiversity of the USA, while providing the general public with practical steps they can take to reduce their impact on natural systems.

With your support, I will conduct field research with 40 threatened species and perform their unique attributes in a series of public performances. Each performance will be accompanied by a presentation from a local environmental scientist, who will discuss wildlife protection and rehabilitation initiatives in the area.

You can learn more about the project and how to get involved at his site on kickstarter.


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The last time I checked, there are over 6,000 blogs dedicated to the environment. But what about green Podcasts? Wellllllll, after an epic search through the Internets for the perfect podcast about green living, eco tips, interesting information, in-depth interviews, I am here to tell you that there are a lot of dead-in-the-water Podcasts created by people who meant well and felt the call to evangelize the green theme. I highly suggest many of these Podcasts that will not be named as the cure to that fiesty attack of insomnia that just won't go away.

However, there are a few good podcast that will not only keep you awake, but get you thinking. For example:

Green Talk Radio is hosted by  Sean Daily, CEO and co-founder of GreenLivingIdeas.com. "Sean entertains and educates you with smart choices on products and services in the green world through interviews with innovative and caring companies, authors and experts from around the world."

Some sample interviews include:

Fabien Cousteau: Continuing a Legacy of Ocean Adventure and Activism

Adam Shake: Green blogger series of Twilight Earth and EcoTechDaily

Jill Buck hosts an hour long show Go Green Radio. Jill wrote the Go Green Initiative, which is now the largest and fastest growing comprehensive environmental education program in the world, and  produces in-depth interviews with a range of guests and topics..here are just a few to wet your appetite:

The Nexus Between Motherhood and Mother Earth

Killing the H1N1 Virus with PURE Bioscience’s ‘Green’ Antimicrobial

Better Place Rescues the Electric Car

Planet Green has a pretty entertaining video Podcast that has a range of topics that include edible algae, green maids, and worm composting.

For a more off-the grid approach to the green theme, you might be interested in the Living Green Podcast hosted by Meredith Medland. The show is not current, but there is still some good pieces in the archive. The style is slower, with an interesting range of guest include Janine Benyus of the Biomimcry Institute, Larry Harvey, Founder of Burning Man; Tierra Delforte of DelForte Denim, and Paul Stamets of "How Mushrooms Can Save the World".

Of course we can't forget the  Discovery Channel's video Podcast (where you get to watch cool stuff happen), and  speaking of video Podcasts, current green has one too! Just go to itunes podcast section and search for "current green".

Do you have a favorite green oriented podcast? Do tell~

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The Center for Biological Diversity and Turtle Island Restoration Network announced that they intend to sue the Obama administration for illegally delaying protection of penguins under the Endangered Species Act.

"The Department of the Interior failed to meet the December 19, 2009 legal deadline to finalize the listings of seven penguin species that are threatened by climate change and industrial fisheries. Until the listings are finalized, these penguins will not receive the Endangered Species Act protections they need to recover.

“While sea ice melts away and the oceans warm, the Obama administration is frozen in inaction. Instead of protecting penguins and taking meaningful steps to address global warming,” said Shaye Wolf, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity, “our government is dragging its feet while penguins are marching toward extinction.”

“Penguins face a double whammy from the threats brought by climate change and industrial fisheries that deplete the penguins’ food supply and entangle and drown the penguins in longlines and other destructive fishing gear. They deserve protection under the Endangered Species Act,” said Todd Steiner, executive director of Turtle Island Restoration Network.

In 2006 the Center filed a petition to list 12 penguin species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. In December 2008, the Interior Department proposed listing seven penguin species as threatened or endangered — African, Humboldt, yellow-eyed, white-flippered, Fiordland crested, and erect-crested penguins and a few populations of the southern rockhopper penguin — while denying listing to emperor and northern rockhopper penguins despite scientific evidence that these penguins are threatened by climate change.

While today’s notice challenges the Interior Department’s illegal delay in finalizing the listing of seven penguin species, the Center and Turtle Island Restoration Network also intend to file suit against the Interior Department for unlawfully denying Endangered Species Act protections to emperor and rockhopper penguins.

“So far the Obama administration has done even less for penguins than Bush did,” said Wolf. “Interior Secretary Salazar seems unwilling to complete the final steps to protect some penguin species started by the Bush administration, let alone correct the Bush administration’s illegal denial of protection to the emperor penguin. Where’s the change we were promised?”
Climate change and industrial fisheries pose the primary threats to penguins, although many species of these charismatic birds also face threats from oil pollution, predators, and habitat destruction. Warming oceans and diminished sea ice have wreaked havoc on penguin food availability. For example, krill, an essential food source not just for penguins but also for whales and seals, has declined by as much as 80 percent since the 1970s over large areas of the Southern Ocean with the loss of sea ice. Less food has led to population declines in species ranging from the southern rockhopper and Humboldt penguins of the islands off South America to the African penguin in southern Africa.

Ocean acidification, resulting from the ocean’s absorption of human-produced carbon dioxide, is expected to produce lethal conditions for key marine organisms at the base of the Southern Ocean food web as early as 2030, which will have cascading effects on penguins. Industrial fisheries that deplete the penguins’ food supply and entangle and drown the penguins in fishing gear also pose a significant threat to these unique animals.

Listing under the Endangered Species Act would provide broad protection to penguins from a variety of threats, raise awareness of their urgent plight, and increase research funding. Federal approval of fishing permits for U.S.-flagged vessels operating on the high seas would require analysis and minimization of impacts on the listed penguins. The Act also has an important role to play in reducing greenhouse gas pollution by compelling federal agencies to look at the impact of the emissions generated by their activities on listed penguins and to adopt solutions to reduce emissions.

Protecting penguins will require national and international action to slow climate change. Leading climate scientists have concluded that the atmospheric CO2 level must be reduced to less than 350 parts per million to prevent dangerous climate change and protect vulnerable species like penguins. Doing so will require the United States to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to 45 percent or more below 1990 levels by 2020. However, President Obama pledged an insufficient 3-percent reduction in the Copenhagen Accord.

For more information on penguins and a link to the federal petition, please see: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/birds/penguins/index.html

For information on how penguins are harmed by climate change and on the importance of reducing atmospheric CO2 to less than 350 parts per million, see our “350 Reasons to Get to 350” Web page: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/350_reasons/index.html"

Meanwhile, life wouldn't be complete if we didn't leave you with a few dancing and rapping penguins we met during our live call in to Copenhagen:

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The first week of January~ and I still have the energy to go after those new years resolutions.

I don't know about you, but I'm always trying to figure out how to save more money, and spend it in a way that is alligned with my ethics and values, so I was appreciative when my little brother just IMed me about the Resolution for a New Decade: Sustainability and Investing article on GreenBiz.com.

Ok~ I nearly went cross eyes when they started talking about disciplined and responsible investing, but my interested piqued when I read the following:

"...the aggregate most sustainable companies presented and discussed, formed a portfolio that has outperformed the mainstream in 2009 by a wide margin. The idea was to select companies that are well run, innovating, and risk averse, as a learning exercise. Clearly, we were on to something.

The aggregate portfolio looks as follows (as of the morning of December 31):

Ticker	Company	2009 Returns
US Equity
AMZN	Amazon.com	+166%
AXP	American Express	+121%
AAPL	Apple	+149%
AMAT	Applied Materials	+39%
KO	CocaCola	+29%
FSLR	First Solar	–3%
GPS	Gap Inc.	+58%
GE	General Electric	–7%
IBM	Intl Business Machines	+59%
ITRI	Itron Inc	+7%
JCI	Johnson Controls	+53%
PLL	Pall Corp	+29%
TTEK	Tetra Tech	+15%
WMT	Walmart	–4%
Non-US Equity
0494	Li & Fung (HK)	+129%
RHAYY	Rhodia ADR (France)	+181%

These 16 companies returned +63% as an aggregate portfolio in 2009 versus the S&P 500’s +25%, for an out performance of a whopping 252%

Although portfolios were down across the board in 2008 (traditional and SRI)...2009 was an up year for everyone...a more apt way to describe the phenomenon I think you are articulating could be:

Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) portfolios are outperforming" is in comparison to SRI portfolios to traditional indexes such as the S&P 500.  All performance is relative in investing as compared to the appropriate (traditional) benchmarks indexes. If you were shocked to see some of those companies on this list, you are not alone. (I never would have guessed CocaCola would have been in sustainable portfolio.) Apparently any "sustainable" portfolio trying to maintain competitive returns will have companies like this on their list....it's considered a best of class approach (aka known as using the bell curve to determine who is best in the class; you work with what you've got).

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