Will The Grass Be Greener In Obama’s Second Term?

January 20, 2013 5:08 PM All Things Considered

A grizzly bear roams near Beaver Lake in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. Some environmentalists hope President Obama lives up to campaign promises regarding climate change in his second term.   Jim Urquhart/AP

http://www.npr.org/2013/01/20/169851926/will-the-grass-be-greener-in-obamas-second-term

http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/atc/2013/01/20130120_atc_02.mp3

by NPR Staff

One of the chief expectations of those who voted for President Obama is that he moves assertively to pass climate change legislation, whatever the political climate in Washington.

“We have a bipartisan common interest in moving away from fossil fuels towards clean energy,” says Michael Brune, the executive director of the Sierra Club. “The sooner that members of both parties in Congress realize that and develop solutions, the better off we’ll all be.”

Bipartisan support is an elusive national beast these days. Harvard political scientist Theda Skocpol published a report last week that says environmental groups doomed their 2009 carbon-emissions program, called “cap-and-trade,” by failing to recognize the divided reality of Washington.

Skocpol says that as late as 2009 people thought a bipartisan coalition would get the legislation through Congress because the idea had originated with conservative, market-oriented economists.

“What I argue in my report is that unbeknownst to the supporters, who were trying to put together a coalition of environmentalists and business people, was the radicalization of the Republican Party,” she tells Jacki Lyden, host of weekends on All Things Considered.

As early as 2006, Skocpol says, the party had a plan in place to discourage Republican politicians from going along with any kind of cap-and-trade compromise.

Global Climate Change http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre130
Environmental Justice http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre145
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120

In Second Inaugural, Obama Makes Climate A Priority : NPR

by Elizabeth Shogren
January 22, 2013 5:28 PM All Things Considered

“We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations,” President Obama said Monday during his second inaugural address.   John Moore/Getty Images

http://www.npr.org/2013/01/22/169989679/in-second-inaugural-obama-makes-climate-a-priority

http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/atc/2013/01/20130122_atc_12.mp3

President Obama pulled out a surprise in his inaugural address on Monday. After barely mentioning climate change in his campaign, he put it on his short list of priorities for his second term.

“We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations,” he said. Today the White House had scant detail on what the president plans to do.

But his rhetoric was music to the ears of some environmental leaders, including Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, who was listening to the president’s speech while standing behind him on the platform at Capitol.

Global Climate Change http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre130
Environmental Justice http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre145
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Clearing House for Environmental Course Material
https://environmentaljusticetv.wordpress.com/
Cyprus International Institute (CII) (Harvard School of Public Health) http://Cyprus-Institute.us
Food-Matters http://Food-Matters.TV

The Agricultural Fulcrum: Better Food, Better Climate – Diana Donlon – The Atlantic

By Diana Donlon Jan 18 2013, 11:08 AM ET

The National Climate Assessment, released this week, predicted increasingly negative impact of weather extremes on crops. But with industrialized farming as a key player in greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, the vicious cycle needs breaking.

Jacky Chen/Reuters

This past year treated us to a climate change preview in spades: crazy heat waves, prolonged drought, and epic storms like Sandy. To help us stabilize the climate, before we reach the point of no return, we must tap the immense potential of our food system.

Since becoming an agrarian society, we’ve known that growing food successfully depends on climate stability. Not enough water, crops wither and die. Too much, they rot. Beyond this, we know that crops have specific climatic requirements. Wheat, for instance, grows best in a dry, mild climate. Stone fruits like cherries need a minimum number of “chill hours” in order to blossom and later fruit. Intense heat disrupts pollination and can even shut down photosynthesis. These are basic parameters. If we continue to disregard them, food will become more scarce over time and we will go hungry. Indeed, as the National Climate Assessment, the government’s 1,146-page report released earlier this week states: “The rising incidence of weather extremes will have increasingly negative impacts on crop and livestock productivity because critical thresholds are already being exceeded.”

Agriculture, positioned as it is at the intersection of food and climate, presents a unique fulcrum. Pushed in the direction of industrial agriculture, it contributes egregiously to our climate problem: As activist Bill McKibben has noted, industrial agriculture — predominant in the U.S. — “essentially insures that your food is marinated in crude oil before you eat it.” This is because at every step, from the production of fertilizers and pesticides to the harvesting, processing, packaging, and transporting of materials, the industrial food system depends on climate-changing fossil fuels. Indeed, in a new report on climate change and food systems, the agriculture research organization CGIAR concluded that our global food system is responsible for nearly a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. …(more).

Global Climate Change http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre130
Environmental Justice http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre145
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Food-Matters http://Food-Matters.TV

Institute for Responsible Technology

http://www.youtube.com/user/GeneticRoulette/videos

About Institute for Responsible Technology

The Institute for Responsible Technology is a world leader in educating policy makers and the public about genetically modified (GM) foods and crops. We investigate and report their risks and impact on health, environment, the economy, and agriculture, as well as the problems associated with current research, regulation, corporate practices, and reporting.

Founded in 2003 by international bestselling author and GMO expert Jeffrey Smith, IRT has worked in more than 30 countries on 6 continents, and is credited with improving government policies and influencing consumer buying habits.

Environmental Justice http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre145
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Food-Matters http://Food-Matters.TV

Bad Seed – Danger of Genetically Modified Food

UFOTVstudio

Uploaded on Oct 26, 2010

In the last thirty years global demand for food has doubled. In a race to feed the planet, scientists have discovered how to manipulate DNA, the blueprint of life, and produce what they claim are stronger, more disease-resistant crops.

However, fears that Genetically Modified Food may not be safe for humans or the environment has sparked violent protest. Are we participating in a dangerous global nutritional experiment?

This informative film helps the viewer decide if the production of genetically modified food is a panacea for world hunger or a global poison.

Environmental Justice http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre145
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Food-Matters http://Food-Matters.TV

Poison on the Platter

GeneticRoulette

Published on Aug 3, 2012

Bollywood filmmaker superstar Mahesh Bhatt launches a scathing attack on biotech multinational companies and compliant government regulators, showing how their dangerous genetically engineered foods and crops comprise one of the greatest dangers on earth. Released in February 2008, the hard-hitting Poison on the Platter is generating unprecedented fervor against genetically modified organisms (GMOs) throughout India. It is probably the most talked about film in the country.

Mahesh Bhatt says, “in their mad rush to capture the multi-billion dollar Indian agricultural and food industry, the biotech multinational companies are bulldozing warnings by scientists about the adverse impact of GM foods on health and environment, and hurtling the mankind toward a disaster, which will be far more destructive than anything the world has seen so far, simply because it will affect every single person living on this planet”.

Bhatt’s film makes a mockery of Government of India’s claim of not allowing import of any GM foods in the country as it conclusively demonstrates that supermarkets in India are flooded with harmful food stuff and biotech MNCs are cashing on the ignorance of unsuspecting consumers in India.

Trials of GM foods on lab animals across the world have repeatedly shown that they cause bleeding stomachs, and adversely affect brain, lungs, liver, kidney, pancreas and intestine. They have been even linked to higher offspring mortality and causing infertility.

“Are we ready to eat a food that has the potential to stunt our growth, impair our immune system and adversely affect all our vital organs,” asks Ajay Kanchan, director of the documentary, adding that “It’s shocking that instead of protecting the interests of farmers and consumers, regulatory bodies in India are pandering to the greed of biotech MNCs like Monsanto, whose track record is littered with lies, deceptions and notorious ability to corrupt the regulatory bodies all over the world”.

“I can say with absolute confidence that there is irrefutable and overwhelming evidence that genetically engineered foods are harmful and that they are not being evaluated properly by the governments of India, United States, the European Union, or anywhere in the world,” says Jeffrey M. Smith, Founder Director, Institute of Responsible Technology and author of two widely respected books on health impact of GM foods – Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette. He added, “this is one of the most dangerous technologies ever introduced on earth, and it’s being deployed in our food supply. It’s madness, what we need is a political willingness to say no more.”

Environmental Justice http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre145
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Food-Matters http://Food-Matters.TV

A Genetically Engineered Hijacking of American Health

Adam Abraham

Uploaded on Jun 27, 2011

Adam travels to Fairfield IA to meet and interview Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies about the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You’re Eating, and Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods.

Environmental Justice http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre145
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Food-Matters http://Food-Matters.TV

Video from the Frontlines: OSGATA et al v. Monsanto

Sow True Seed

Published on Jan 14, 2013

Citizen’s Rally for Farmers: Support True Seed & Our Right2Know

On January 10th, 2013, we joined nearly 300 family farmers and concerned citizens just steps from the White House following the hearing on the Organic Seed Grower and Trade Association (OSGATA) et al v. Monsanto court case.

Here’s a short video from the rally for farmer’s right to grow true seed and our right to eat pure food!

Environmental Justice http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre145
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Food-Matters http://Food-Matters.TV

Book TV: Hauter, “Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America”

BookTV

Published on Jan 22, 2013

Wenonah Hauter, organic farm owner and executive director of Food & Water Watch, argues that agribusinesses, such as ConAgra, Kraft, and Tyson, have hurt small farmers, marginalized the health of crops, and limited consumer choices. The author presents her thoughts on how America’s agricultural system should be reformed at Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Environmental Justice http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre145
Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Food-Matters http://Food-Matters.TV

Farm to Fork: Why What You Eat Matters

HarvardExtension

Uploaded on Nov 22, 2011

Dr. PK Newby discusses the benefits of shopping at your local farmer’s market and why vegetables are an important part of maintaining a healthy diet.

Dr. Newby co-teaches ENVR E-129 From Farm to Fork: Why What You Eat Matters at Harvard Extension School. For more info on the course, visit: http://www.extension.harvard.edu/courses/farm-fork-why-what-you-eat-matters

To follow along with Dr. Newby’s blog about healthy cooking and eating, visit: http://blog.pknewby.com/

Environment Ethics http://courses.dce.harvard.edu/~envre120
Food-Matters http://Food-Matters.TV