Insider Podcast - Environmental Defense Fund

Featuring: Nathaniel Keohane, Vice President, International Climate Michael Oppenheimer, Ph.D., Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School and the Department of Geosciences at Princeton University A recent Economist article pointed to a scientific puzzle: Global warming may not have advanced in the last decade as much as current models predicted. What's going on? Join Nathaniel Keohane and Michael Oppenheimer, a coordinating lead author of the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report, as they interpret these findings. Download mp3 | Subscribe in iTunes

Featuring: Steven Hamburg, Ph.D., Chief Scientist Michael Oppenheimer, Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School and the Department of Geosciences at Princeton University Hurricane Sandy put climate change back in the national spotlight, after a year of record drought, wildfires and high temperatures. In fact, 2012 is likely to be the hottest year since accurate record-keeping began. And as Sandy’s $50 billion estimated price tag demonstrates, the cost of doing nothing is far greater than the cost of taking action. What does Sandy mean for the future of our planet? Please join noted scientists Steven Hamburg and Michael Oppenheimer to discuss what the science is telling us and what we can do today to rein in climate change and prepare for extreme weather in our communities. Download mp3 | Subscribe in iTunes

Featuring: David Gergen, Senior Political Analyst, CNN Fred Krupp, President, EDF Elizabeth Thompson, President, EDAF No matter the outcome of November 6, EDF & EDAF stands ready to find a bipartisan path for advancing environmental solutions. Please join CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen and EDF & EDAF leadership for a conversation about the outcomes of the key races and what this means for an EDF & EDAF environmental strategy. Download mp3 | Subscribe in iTunes

Featuring: Diane Regas, Senior Vice President, Programs, EDF Amanda Leland, Vice President, Oceans, EDF Martha Piper, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Growth, Rare One billion people depend on fish as their primary source of protein, and half the world’s fish is caught in small fisheries, primarily in the developing world. Overfishing is hurtling these areas toward catastrophe: Almost all of the world’s fish stocks are fully exploited or over-exploited. If these fisheries crash, the human toll and ecosystem repercussions will be enormous. Please join Amanda Leland of EDF and Martha Piper of Rare to learn about our new “Fish Forever” campaign aimed at restoring our oceans to abundance through innovative approaches in partnership with communities in Asia and South America. The effort supports our bold new goal with the World Bank to achieve sustainable management of half the world’s fisheries in the next ten years. Download mp3 | Subscribe in iTunes

Featuring: Eric Pooley, Sr. Vice President - Strategy and Communications Steven Hamburg, Ph.D., Chief Scientist 2011 was a year of extreme weather with record-breaking heat and droughts, unprecedented flooding and snowstorms, and ferocious hurricanes. In a recent report, some of the world's top researchers provided the strongest evidence yet that climate change is bringing us wilder and more dangerous weather — and that it's likely to get worse over the next century. Please join EDF’s Steven Hamburg and Eric Pooley for a discussion of the report's findings, what the extreme weather trend means for your community, and what we can do. Download mp3 | Subscribe in iTunes

Featuring: Fred Krupp, President Mark Brownstein, Chief Counsel, Energy Program Natural gas production is at a crossroads. Abundant, newly accessible reserves make natural gas an affordable, low-carbon alternative to coal. Yet current production practices are under fire for compromising our water, air, and land. Environmental Defense Fund is looking for common-sense solutions that protect public health and the environment. EDF president Fred Krupp — who recently helped shape natural gas policy recommendations as a member of The Department of Energy’s Natural Gas Subcommittee — and EDF chief counsel Mark Brownstein discuss the future of this controversial resource. Download mp3 | Subscribe in iTunes

Featuring: Dan Grossman, Regional Director, EDF Rocky Mountain Office Diane Regas, Vice President, EDF Oceans Program Pam Baker, Director, Gulf of Mexico Strategic Conservation Initiatives Dr. Robert H. Hueter, Director, Center for Shark Research, Mote Marine Laboratory Sharks are essential to healthy marine ecosystems and coastal economies in the U.S., Cuba, and Mexico, yet their numbers are dwindling to dangerously low levels. Listen to EDF experts Diane Regas and Pam Baker, and Dr. Robert H. Hueter from Mote Marine Laboratory, as they discuss the new tri-national alliance to restore these highly migratory animals using catch shares, EDF’s proven approach that provides incentives for fishermen to work toward conservation. Download mp3 | Subscribe in iTunes

Featuring: Dan Grossman Regional Director, EDF Rocky Mountain Office Stephan Schwartzman, Director, EDF Tropical Forest Policy Derek Walker, Director, EDF California Climate Initiative Osvaldo Stella, Director of climate change, the Amazon Institute for Environmental Research (IPAM) The destruction of tropical forests causes up to 20% of the world's annual global warming emissions, and creates economic hardship for the indigenous people who depend on those forests to survive. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) is an approach championed by EDF that can establish economic incentives for tropical forest conservation. Discover how REDD is not only safeguarding the environment and the livelihood of people in Brazil and Indonesia, but why it's good news for the economy of California and other places closer to home. Download mp3 | Subscribe in iTunes

Featuring: Dan Grossman Regional Director, EDF Rocky Mountain Office David Festa Vice President – Land, Water, Wildlife Suzy Friedman Deputy Director, Center for Conservation Incentives – Land, Water, Wildlife Tracy Blackmer, Director of Research, Iowa Soybean Association Denny Friest, Iowa Farmer The invention of synthetic fertilizer in the early 20th century transformed the way the world feeds itself. But this life-giving revolution in agricultural productivity has become too much of a good thing. Excess fertilizer not absorbed by crops runs off farm fields and pollutes our rivers, contaminates our drinking water and creates oxygen-deprived "dead zones" in oceans and bays. EDF is working with farmers and the Iowa Soybean Association to slash pollution in key waterways. What are EDF's science-based strategies for cleaning our waters, boosting farmers' income and maintaining agricultural yield? Find out directly from a farmer why he and thousands of other farmers, normally wary of environmental groups, are embracing this work with open arms. Download mp3 | Subscribe in iTunes

Featuring: Dan Grossman Regional Director, EDF Rocky Mountain Office Steve Cochran Vice President, EDF Climate & Air Vickie Patton EDF General Counsel It's been a year of dramatic ups and downs. The U.S. Senate's failure to pass climate and energy legislation was a serious setback. But Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and our coalition partners successfully defended California's landmark climate law against Big Oil's ballot initiative attack this fall. Another bright spot to celebrate is the 40th anniversary of the Clean Air Act, a bipartisan triumph that continues to deliver cleaner, healthier air. We're gearing up to protect and toughen the Clean Air Act with new regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollution. What are the biggest opportunities to make progress on climate at the state, national and international levels? Listen to the discussion to find out. Download mp3 | Subscribe in iTunes

Featuring: Dan Grossman, Regional Director, EDF Rocky Mountain Office Diane Regas, Vice President, EDF Oceans Program Bill (Bubba) Cochrane, Fisherman Decades of overfishing have emptied the ocean of fish — jeopardizing seafood supplies and the livelihoods of local fishing communities, and fundamentally altering the health of ocean ecosystems.  EDF has done pioneering work on an innovative market-based approach to managing fisheries called catch shares, which is yielding dramatic increases in fish populations, reductions in wasted fish, and more stable fishing jobs. Join EDF’s vice president for oceans and one of the many fishermen we work with as they discuss the transformative change we’re accomplishing in U.S. waters — and how we’re beginning to spread the benefits of catch shares to Latin America and the Caribbean. Listen to this discussion: Download mp3 | Subscribe in iTunes

Featuring: Fred Krupp, President Steve Cochran, Director, National Climate Campaign Wade Crowfoot, Political Director, West Coast In the largest referendum on climate and clean energy this country has seen, California voters sent a loud and clear message to elected leaders across the country that the public supports action on climate change. California voters said yes to the clean energy economy this month when they defeated Proposition 23 by a wide margin.  Supporters of the ballot measure, financed primarily by two Texas oil companies,  tried to suspend California’s historic clean energy and air pollution standards by claiming that they would harm the economy — but Californians didn’t buy it.  They know that we can have a healthy environment and a healthy economy at the same time. Listen to this discussion: Download mp3 | Subscribe in iTunes

Featuring: Elgie Holstein, Oil Disaster Response Coordinator Paul Harrison, Coastal Louisiana Program Leader Diane Regas, Vice President, Oceans Program Environmental Defense Fund has worked in the Gulf Coast region for decades—restoring critical wetlands, pioneering sustainable fishing, and developing productive partnerships with conservationists, businesses and state and local governments. What can be done to prevent similar tragedies in the future? What is EDF fighting for in the Gulf and in Washington? Listen to this discussion: Download mp3 | Subscribe in iTunes

Featuring: David Festa, Vice President, West Coast and Land, Water, Wildlife Gwen Ruta, Vice President – Corporate Partnerships Andrew Hutson, Project Manager – Corporate Partnerships Energy efficiency is often called the lowest-hanging fruit of climate change solutions: it can be achieved now, save consumers and companies money, and yield big environmental gains: an estimated 23% greenhouse gas reduction in the next ten years. Listen to this discussion: Download mp3 | Subscribe in iTunes