The reality of climate change | David Puttnam

TEDx Talks

Published on Dec 1, 2014

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. David Puttnam looks at Climate Change through different lenses, all of which reveal the unsustainable ways in which we are living. Climate Change is real, but throughout history humans have failed to set political and economic concerns aside for our greater good. Will we ignore this latest warning?

Lord David Puttnam produced award-winning films including Chariots of Fire, Bugsy Malone, and The Mission. He now works at the intersection between education, media, and policy. In 2007 he was appointed Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Draft Climate Change Bill.

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

I’ve Read Obama’s Secret Trade Deal. Elizabeth Warren Is Right to Be Con cerned. – Michael Wessel

“You need to tell me what’s wrong with this trade agreement, not one that was passed 25 years ago,” a frustrated President Barack Obama recently complained about criticisms of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). He’s right. The public criticisms of the TPP have been vague. That’s by design—anyone who has read the text of the agreement could be jailed for disclosing its contents. I’ve actually read the TPP text provided to the government’s own advisors, and I’ve given the president an earful about how this trade deal will damage this nation. But I can’t share my criticisms with you.

I can tell you that Elizabeth Warren is right about her criticism of the trade deal. We should be very concerned about what’s hidden in this trade deal—and particularly how the Obama administration is keeping information secret even from those of us who are supposed to provide advice.

So-called “cleared advisors” like me are prohibited from sharing publicly the criticisms we’ve lodged about specific proposals and approaches. The government has created a perfect Catch 22: The law prohibits us from talking about the specifics of what we’ve seen, allowing the president to criticize us for not being specific. Instead of simply admitting that he disagrees with me—and with many other cleared advisors—about the merits of the TPP, the president instead pretends that our specific, pointed criticisms don’t exist.

…(read more).

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

Crowd-sourced timelapse images capture Vegas strip, Vatican

PBS NewsHour

Published on May 21, 2015

In our NewsHour Shares video of the day, researchers from the University of Washington and Google sifted through 86 million photos posted on public photo sharing websites to create a new kind of time-lapse photography of sites like a Norwegian glacier, a New York skyscraper and Mount St. Helens.

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

Fracking Kern County, California

350.org

Published on May 22, 2014

Video by Bunkey Seyfort of Project Survival Media: http://projectsurvivalmedia.org

Kern County is the most-fracked county in California by a wide margin. This region also has the worst air quality in the nation, as well as highly elevated rates of cancer and respiratory illness. For the people that live here, fracking means more oil extraction, more crippling climate impacts, and more impacts on their health.

But residents of Kern County are fighting back. They’ve invited California Governor Jerry Brown to come see the impacts of fracking for himself. Join them and sign the petition to Governor Brown here: http://act.350.org/sign/KernCounty/

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

Eyewitness footage of Santa Barbara Oil Spill

350.org

Published on May 21, 2015

Madeline Stano of the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment went by the scene of the oil spill in Santa Barbara. The oil spill happened Tuesday May 19th when a pipe owned by Plains All American Pipeline ruptured — pouring around 105,000 gallons into the Pacific Ocean.

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

State of emergency in California as oil spill snares wildlife

RT America

Published on May 21, 2015

California Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency following a pipeline rupture that may have dumped up to 105,000 gallons of oil. Officials believe upwards of 20,000 gallons have leaked into the Pacific Ocean, creating an environmental calamity that is already ensnaring wildlife. RT’s Lindsay France takes a look at the disaster.

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

How to Stop TPP in the House: Primaries…

thomhartmann

Published on May 21, 2015

Thom Hartmann says the threat of a primary challenge will be enough to force members in the House of Representatives to vote no on Fast Track and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice
Food-Matters

Monsanto connections motivate Iowans to drop support for Hillary Clinton

RT America

Published on May 21, 2015

Some Democrats in Iowa are reportedly withdrawing their support for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton over her support for GMO crops and agri-giant Monsanto. Clinton’s non-profit foundation works closely with the corporation on a variety of issues, and the candidate herself has voiced support for its work, making many farmers uneasy. RT’s Anya Parampil takes a look.

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice
Food-Matters

Obama Recasts Climate Change as a Peril With Far-Reaching Effects – NYTimes.com

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVISMAY 20, 2015

NEW LONDON, Conn. — President Obama used a commencement address on Wednesday at the Coast Guard Academy to cast his push for urgent action to combat climate change as a national security imperative, saying that the warming of the planet poses an “immediate risk” to the United States.

The speech was part of an effort by Mr. Obama to make a multipronged case for his ambitious climate-change agenda, which he has identified as a top priority for the remainder of his time in office and as a central element of his legacy. Instead of promoting his plan strictly in environmental terms, he has pitched it as beneficial for the economy, necessary to protect public health and vital to the nation’s security.

…(read more).

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice

Thomas Piketty, Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz: The Genius of Economics

pera jadani

Published on Mar 25, 2015

Subscribe for more videos like this: Piketty, arguably the world’s leading expert on income and wealth inequality, does more than.

On Friday March 6 at Harvard Law School, renowned economist Thomas Piketty, professor of Economics, EHESS and at the Paris School of Economics, visited the law school to debate his bestselling.

Thomas Piketty is the author of the best-selling Capital in the Twenty-First Century (Harvard University Press, 2014). Piketty delivered the keynote address at the annual conference of TASC.

Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice