Earth and Industry

Oil Leak Capped and Framing Battle Rages On [Gang of Four Podcast]

David Wescott — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 07:39:53 +0000

Just as the the oil gusher at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico was being capped, Earth & Industry's "gang of four" got together to discuss the ongoing drama and what to expect in the near future.

While we're all pleased there seems to finally be some progress, we hope America doesn't lose interest in the story - as Jeff mentions, the people who live on the Gulf Coast and depend on the Gulf for their livelihoods will be living with this for years to come.

Podcast length is a quick 12:07 - enjoy (link below)

Links from podcast:

Maria Surma Manka is @mariaenergia on twitter and writes at Maria Energia
Jeff McIntire-Strassburg is @sustainablog on twitter and writes at Sustainablog
David Wescott is @dwescott1 on twitter and writes at It's Not a Lecture
Tim Hurst is @ecopolitologist on twitter and writes at Ecopolitology

Subscribe to this podcast here or subscribe to Earth & Industry Radio on iTunes

Photo: U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Patrick Kelley; cover image by Mike Licht at Notion's Capital

Gang of Four Takes on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (Podcast)

David Wescott — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:40:31 +0000

Tim Hurst, Jeff McIntire-Strasburg and I got together for our latest chat (Maria Surma Manka was unable to join us) and the topic isn't surprising: The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. We discussed the spill from our different perspectives: Jeff grew up in Southern Louisiana and knows the area quite well; Tim is well versed in the political theory and substance; and I focused on communications and information flow.

A couple of quick links referenced in the podcast: Jeff mentioned some links to sites where people who want to help address the spill can get involved. His post is here. He gave special mention to Geoff Livingston's post on Mashable here. (Geoff is a good guy.)

I also specifically mentioned the issue of censoring scientists: I wrote about it here and I found posts about it on Huffington Post and Rachel Maddow's blog.

Podcast time is 16:45.

Taking Earth Day Back (Podcast)

David Wescott — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 14:01:56 +0000

Forty years ago Earth Day was modeled after the "teach ins" that people used to protest the war in Vietnam. Today it seems more like an overbearing marketing campaign. In our latest podcast, Earth and Industry's "Gang of Four" - Tim Hurst, Maria Surma Manka, Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, and me, David Wescott - discuss how environmentalists can take Earth Day back from the pitch men.

And it's worth noting that in the less than 15 minutes it took to record this podcast, Jeff got two email pitches from marketing / PR types - and a third as we were wrapping up. No lie.

How to Regain Momentum [Gang of Four Podcast]

David Wescott — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:01:02 +0000

Consider new policy alternatives. Make the economic case for green technology. Embrace a more positive messaging approach. Build new partnerships. These are some of the ideas we talked about in this week's Gang of Four podcast on Earth & Industry Radio.

Last week's podcast was a bit depressing, and we thought it made sense to point out that all isn't lost. We went a little longer than usual this time, but only because we had lots of good stuff to say, right? We'd love to hear your feedback on our ideas - leave a comment here, or you can find any one of the Gang of Four at their other gigs:

Maria Surma Manka is @mariaenergia on twitter and writes at Maria Energia
Jeff McIntire-Strassburg is @sustainablog on twitter and writes at Sustainablog and the Sundance Channel's SUNfiltered blog
David Wescott is @dwescott1 on twitter and writes at It's Not a Lecture
Tim Hurst is @ecopolitologist on twitter and writes at Ecopolitology

Subscribe to this podcast here or subscribe to Earth & Industry Radio on iTunes

Is the Sky Falling in 2010? Environmental Politics Predictions From the Gang of Four [Podcast]

David Wescott — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:19:57 +0000

What a difference a year makes. LiveOAK Executive Editor Tim Hurst and contributors Maria Surma Manka, Jeff McIntire-Strasburg and I got together for another "Gang of Four" podcast on Earth & Industry Radio. While Jeff seems the most upbeat of all of us - he says 2010 will be the year of Green Jobs - I have to say none of us are terribly positive about what's going to happen this year in environmental policy and communications. We're focusing on some of the serious challenges environmentalists (and the PR flacks who love them) face in a difficult political and economic climate. Hey, blame Tim - predictions were his idea.

The good news is we'll be back soon with a (hopefully) upbeat discussion about what our side can do to recapture the political and communications momentum from a few years ago. Stay tuned for more by subscribing to this podcast.

Subscribe to Earth & Industry Radio on iTunes

Earth & Industry Reactions to Copenhagen Climate Summit (Podcast)

David Wescott — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:05:31 +0000

COP15

Earth & Industry's "Gang of Four" - Tim Hurst, Maria Surma Manka, Jeff McIntire-Strasburg and David Wescott - recorded a podcast to share their thoughts on the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, and to discuss where we go from here.

Overall, opinions range from "skeptical but hopeful" to "just mad." (Runtime: 00:25)

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Grading Obama’s Address to UN on Energy and Climate

David Wescott — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:09:22 +0000

President Obama addresses UN Climate Change Summit. UN Photo/Marco Castro

Tim Hurst, Maria Surma Manka, Jeff McIntire-Strasburg and I - we've taken to calling ourselves the "Gang of Four" - checked out President Obama's speech to the United Nations Climate Change Summit and gave our immediate reactions in another podcast. We talked about the noteworthy items in the speech, as well as some of the things we noticed were not in the speech. Since Jeff is a college professor, we thought it would be fun to give the President a grade on the speech. We're planning to compare this speech with the results of the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh later this week.

Here is the full text of President Obama's speech to the UN on climate and the video of the address is below.

This podcast is 14:11 and Tim's audio quality is a little better this time.

Earth & Industry Reactions to Copenhagen Climate Summit (Podcast)

Wind vs. Solar: If I Had A Million Dollars…

David Wescott — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:28:26 +0000

Tim Hurst, Maria Surma Manka, Jeff McIntire-Strasburg and I got together for the first of what we hope will be a series of podcasts. In each edition we try to answer a single question about issues facing green business.

Today's question: If you were forced to invest a million dollars in the wind industry OR the solar industry, which would you choose and why?

It's an overly-simplistic question, but it's only intended to be a discussion starter and we offered more nuance in the podcast. As we mentioned in the podcast, you shouldn't take this discussion as investment advice. (In fact, if you did take it as investment advice, we'd say you need to have your head examined, but then you'd probably take that as medical advice and we're not doctors either.)

The audio is 15 minutes and 37 seconds long. Enjoy. [Note: We are still ironing out a few audio wrinkles with these podcasts—particularly mine—and promise to have everything up to par for the next installment. -TH]

Disclosure: Tim has a position in Ascent Solar (ASTI), First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green ETF (QCLN), Broadwind (BWEN), Green Street Energy (GSTY), Nacelle Energy (NCEN), GE (GE), Beacon Power (BCON). Maria has invested in Vestas and Woodward Governor. Jeff and I don't have any direct investments in energy companies.