It is not easy to remain upbeat when my Golden State is a raging inferno, knowing that the leaders at the G-8 Summit are full-on gluttons eating 10 course meals of lamb, cavier,etc... while nearly a billion people are staving on the planet & today's news (no big surprise) that Dick Cheney thwarted efforts to to cut U.S. efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, basially silencing the EPA's warning on Global Warming. But what does he care? He's an oil man & can just escape to his bunker underground. We need to put the PROTECTION BACK in the EPA!

I just got back from working behind the scenes at
the very 1st Rothbury Sustainability Festival in Michigan. There is little to none

environmental consciousness in this part of the country. Mostly

farmland & big box chain stores so I hope this massive 4 day rock

concert has the power to change Michiganders' mind-set.

In my short time there, I had the pleasure of meeting some

SOLUTIONARIES.

I was most impressed with International Aid who is helping Third World Countries

with clean water with one simple filter. The HydrAidTM BioSand Water Filter.

By removing parasites, bacteria and viruses from contaminated drinking water, it's actually helping to save lives. Black Rock Solar, a non-profit

who installed solar panels at a school in Michigan as part of

Rothbury's Sustainable Mission. Plus, Eton (Reinventing Radio)

They make mini radios that have AM/FM, plus 7 weather channels. Eton Radio runs on solar power or crank & is a flashlight, cellphone charger/radio all in one.

Until next time....

~Mo

Passage of this resolution sends a strong message to the Administration that the American people want whales protected.
The resolution further urges the United States to take steps to end the killing of whales under the guise of lethal scientific research and to prevent the sale of whale meat from these hunts. The passage of this resolution comes at a critical time. Next week, representatives from 80 countries will discuss the plight of whales worldwide.

Photo credit: Erin Lubin for 350.org

6/10/08

DO THE MATH

Last Saturday here in SF,

members and supporters of 350.org formed the number 350 with their bodies outside of Senator Barbara Boxer's office. The #350 represents the maximum safe level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere--350 parts per million--over which NASA scientist,James Hansen and others now say huge and irreversible damage to the climate will occur. The level today stands at 387 ppm, the highest in 650,000 years; it is headed over 500 ppm unless humans reduce our emissions 80% by 2050. Bill McKibben of 350.org and the head of Greenpeace USA, John Passacantando, released a letter to Senator Boxer encouraging her to show strong leadership, and promise to galvanize the climate movement across the United States around a bill that meets that challenge.

5/19/08

PEAK FOOD BITES

Raj Patel

There is a brand new book out called

"Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System" by the dynamic & brilliant author & activist, Raj Patel. The book is flying off the shelves & Mr. Patel is in demand for

interviews but PlanetCheck has made

contact so we should be blessed to speak with him one-on-one in the

next few weeks. Patel attributes the crisis to several factors:

"Biofuels are a problem. Oil is high.

There's an increased demand for meat.

Climate change and bad harvests have

something to do with it." Chow down at www.stuffedandstarved.com.

www.greengorilla.com.

Now if we could just get all the sports stadiums to recycle all their waste.

until next time...

~Mo

The Climate Talks in Bangkok will go for a week with a gathering of 163 countries
beginning a 21 month process designed to conclude with a new climate
change agreement by Dec. 21st, 2009 to rein in Co2, the culprit for the rise
in global temperatures.

Until next time,

~Mo

STUFF....Did you know that the United States comprises only 5% of global
population yet we use 30% of the world's resources?
Recently, I had the honor of interviewing Annie Leonard (former Greenpeace activist for 10 years) Leonard's extensive research culminates in "Story of Stuff"

2/18/08
Washington, DC.

College Campuses Pledge to Take Back the Tap Bottled water could quickly become a thing of the past on college campuses, as students are gearing up across the country to cutexisting contracts with bottled water corporations and rid their campuses of bottled water.

The Take Back the Tap campaign, launched by national advocacy group Food & Water Watch, is dedicated to encouraging policies that promote and protect tap water. Schools including Vassar College, Chico StateUniversity, and American University will be kicking off their campaigns this month. "The next generation of water activists are on college campuses today," said Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter. "College students can see through the glossy bottled water ads and are making the healthy choice for the planet and their future by taking back
the tap. "Food & Water Watch released a "Take Back the Tap" report last year thatoutlines how tap water is the best choice for consumers' health, their pocketbooks, and the environment.

According to the report, Americans spent $8.8 billion for almost 7.2 billion gallons of non-sparkling bottled water - a surprising figure considering that nearly 40 percent of bottled water is simply filtered or treated tap water.Despite these figures, bottled water companies have built a steadfast niche in the beverage market, often targeting the young adult demographic. Food &Water Watch and students involved with the campaign anticipate this will soon change.

They are asking their campuses to stop purchasing bottled water and make refilling stations and public water fountains more accessible."Water fountains are kind of a dying breed on campus and in cities, so this project is exciting- it will make it easier for
people to get back intohabit of drinking tap," explained Corie Lopez, a senior at Chico State.Lopez has worked with professors, fellow students, and the recycling center to organize multiple Take Back the Tap events. "The long-term solutions to our world water problems won't come fromoverpriced plastic bottles.

They come from investing in well-managed,affordable public systems," said Lori Beail-Farkas, American Universitysenior. "If our campus can make water a priority, then cities can do it, and Congress can, too."Lopez continued, "I'm concerned about the waste reduction and all theplastic going into landfills. But beyond that, it's also about who hascontrol over your water. I think safe, affordable tap water should beaccessible to everyone."

1/31/07

San Francisco, CA

I'd like to dedicate this post to the memory of Jeremy Paster, a tireless environmental activist, forest campaigner for Greenpeace, humanitarian in Burma, doc filmmaker & so much more. Prostate cancer took Jeremy at 36 years old.

Over the years, I've had the privelege to interview so many heroes & she-roes of the planet who are doing amazing work to save (what's left!) of our precious natural world. Jeremy was one of them, he exemplified the modern day activist.

I'm deeply saddened to hear of his

passing but I am moved & inspired by the difference he made in such a short

time. How ironic that I found this old PlanetCheck report with Jeremy on the Tongass Rainforest in Alaska in my archives. It is still topical in light of the recent news of Bush's plan to

open up roadless areas in

this pristine forest. We'll miss you Jeremy. LISTEN


Jeremy Paster

10/14/07
San Francisco, CA.

THANKS, AL !

After 30 years of Gore's tireless work on the climate change issue, it's rewarding to see him & the IPCC get this well deserved recognition.

First time I saw Al Gore in person, he was giving his slide show presentation at World Environment Day in 2005 here in SF. I was touched, moved & inspired by this man.Then again in 2006, I had the honor of seeing him speak at CGI--Clinton Global Initiative in New York. Here's a clip of Al Gore from CGI talking about solutions.

9/28/07
San Francisco, CA.

There's a new book out called

"Breakthrough: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility" by Ted Nordhaus & Michael Shellenberger. According to Adam Werbach, CEO of Act Now Productions...

"It is an unrelenting positive manifesto for breakthrough solutions that will protect our planet and the people on it. Break Through articulates a new politics for a new century, one focused on aspirations, not complaints, human possibility, not limits, and critical honesty, not self-deception. Like them or hate them, Michael and Ted are two of our most important public intellectuals, and everyone will be talking about this book.

9/14/07
San Francisco, CA.

H2o

Water is the most precious resource on the planet that no one can live without. The crisis is enormous right now. We have a limited supply of this natural resource.  In California alone, 80% of the water goes to Agriculture.

According to the United Nations, 1 billion, yes that's with a B, 1 billion people do NOT have access to clean water.  2 Billion do not even have sanitization.
Will corporations or citizens own the water? That's the raison d'etre for the book, "Thirst-Fighting the Corporate
Theft of our Water"  By Alan Snitow & Deborah Kaufan with Michael Fox.
The book focuses on local tap water issues as well as the greenwashing of the bottled water market.

Get this, 40 million plastic water bottles in the US are discarded every day. So many folks get sucked into the lie that if they pay for their water in some pretty, fancy bottle that it must be healthy & safe. Au contraire!  This swill is less regulated, less tested. For example, Fiji Water was found to have unacceptable levels of arsenic. In India, bottled water costs more than milk! We have an aging
infrastructure in the US that according to the book "Thirst" will take $20 billion
to upgrade. Gee, maybe all the billions we're spending in Iraq could be put to use on that instead? We need new water laws since a lot of them are arcane since the old ones came before modern science & before our relationship to eco-systems. 86% of all Americans support Federal Trust fund for water.

07/20/07

San Francisco

Every day now, it seems there is an environmental catastrophe around the globe. Here's just a few of the recent headlines for today:
More Than 50 People Killed in Sudanese Flooding, Drought Threatens to Halve Hungary's Maize Crop, Weeks of Heavy Rain Show No Let-Up in China.

This post is dedicated to my dear friend, Joel who shares my concern about the looming post-petroleum age (Peak Oil) Why this is not front page news is beyond me since oil is the backbone of the industrialized world. Energy looks certain to be a major issue in the 2008 presidential election.
Pretty scary to think that most food travels 1500 miles to get to your plate. What happens when there is no gas to fuel those trucks transporting your food?
That's why local & organic is the way to go (Farmer's
Market)
but even better is to start growing your own food NOW. Joel lives in a SF apartment & has converted the front of his sunny office into a small garden. Every time I visit him, he is like a proud Papa, so excited to show me how many new tomatoes have sprouted on the vine or green beans. Are you prepared if an environmental disaster occurred? Would you have enough food & water to survive? Think I best go fetch me some dirt & seeds & follow Joel's lead. Thanks brother nature for the inspiration, Plant ON!
For those of you who asked, video footage of Live Earth will be posted next week.

~Mo

07/07/07

Manhattan, NY

Post Live Earth-New Jersey. Wow, don't know where to start......I'm tres tired but wanted to post a few photos I captured of today's historic concert before my weary head hits the pillow. Highlights were interviewing the honorable Doctor Jane Goodall on video. I have much gratitude since her time was limited & many other journalists did not get to speak to her one on one. I asked her to perform her chimpanzee audio sound bite which was amazing as well as her 1st recollection of her connection to nature. She said when she was one & half years old, she had a handful of earthworms she went to sleep with and her parents told her she needed to take care of them, their life was literally in her hands.
She also spoke of her TACARE "Take Care" Programs which seeks to address the rapid degradation of natural resources in the area around Gombe National Park by focusing on community socio-economic development & offering training & education in sustainable natural resource management. Plus her Roots & Shoots--Global Environmental & humanitarian education program for youth. Props to John Mayer for being one of the more refreshing rock stars to speak to the press. One woman had the temerity to ask him the vacuous, insipid question about Jessica Simpson (like that has anything to do with Live Earth, puhleease!) John Mayer without missing a beat, fired back at her saying something to the effect of "I'm reducing my bullshit footprint with conserving that conservation." He is really passionate and hopeful and would not tolerate any cynicism. I have mucho audio to track yet but it was one of my highlights. KT Tunstall had the most clever outfit and expressed she was not into preaching to her fans but currently was renovating her flat by installing solar panels.
More tomorrow on Live Earth experience. SUSTAINABILITY IS PEACE!

~Mo

7/6/07

Manhattan, NY

Pretty wild to think for the last 4 years, it has always been my dream to see a rock concert in honor of Mother Earth and voila, it's here...finally! I write to you from the 38th floor overlooking the Hudson River with a cool summer breeze blowing through my window.
Thanks to the ever helpful Craig's List, I found a cool apt. to share with a wonderful woman who just happens to work in TV, she is blessed to be doing a Live Earth photo shoot & interviews tonight at an undisclosed location. How cosmic is that of all the places I could have stayed, eh? I can't wait to talk to her tonight.
I got in late last night to JFK airport and as soon as I walked off the plane, there was a TV in the waiting area with lo & behold, Al Gore on Larry King Live! Several folks were gathered around the tube listening intently. The vision made me smile and I walked over & stood under the TV cheerfully listening and thinking, "It's about TIME we had some leadership, God bless Al!"
After waiting an eternity for my bags, I took the subway into Tribeca neighborhood. My temp roomie, was waiting for me in the lobby and was shocked that I had the guts to take the train let alone, walk with all my gear blocks and blocks to her high-rise apt.
It's just all part of the adventure.

Today was busy day, I picked up Media Passes in Uptown, then met with PlanetCheck's video guru, Matthew in Soho late this afternoon to go over details for shoot. Get this, there will be 1000 press people. (MOOOO! that's what it will feel like, a herd of cattle, ha!) We're just a 2 person crew so I will take turns holding the boom mic for interviews as well as a hand held mic for woman on the street interviews. It appears that they will only let press in the press area and won't be allowed to venture around the concert. Fortunately, I have 4 tix to see the concert as well :)

I have to figure out how to take subway & bus over to Giants Stadium in New Jersey, plus pack all my gear so better sign off.

Cheers,
~Mo

6/20/07 SF, CA.

CITY BY THE BAY SAYS NO WAY TO
PLASTIC BOTTLES.

First, Mayor Newsom bans plastic bags and his most recent green victory,
those nasty ubiquitous plastic water bottles
which make me cringe! Mayor McDreamy -(that's a Stephanie Miller line) Gav
just signed an order banning the use of City funds purchase single-serving
bottled water.Newsom took a stand saying:
"The transportation and distribution, developing the plastic for the water
bottles, the cost of the water, has a huge environmental and economic
impact....the difference between bottled water and Diet Coke is that you
can't get Diet Coke from the tap. It's not like any other bottled liquids.
These people are making huge amounts of money selling God's natural
resources. Sorry, we're not going to be part of it. Our water in San
Francisco comes from the Hetch Hetchy [reservoir] and is some of the most
pristine water on the planet. Our water is arguably cleaner than a vast
majority of the bottled water sold as pure."

MUSIC =POWERFUL HEALING TOOL

PlanetCheck was granted press passes to cover LIVE EARTH, rock ON!
Funny because they keep
saying NY but it's at Giants Stadium in
Jersey, for real. The green guru
and mac daddy himself, Al Gore
will be there along with Dave Matthews
Band, Melissa Etheridge, Smashing Pumpkins, the Police and possibly
(gulp!!) 80,000 people. I can't wait, lots
to do. This is just the beginning of
a major political movement for
all global citizens to rise up and demand
concret actions to combat climate
change. Like Al Gore says, "if your child
was sick, you'd take them to a doctor.
Well, Mother Earth has a fever and
we must take care of her." This will be
a historical event, LIVE EARTH is
on every continent. This is EPIC
and I'm ever grateful to be a part of it.
I most look forward to seeing
the massive recycling bins/compost
organic food, interviewing attendees
and hearing about real environmental
policies put in place, ACTION. Stay tuned!

6/14/07 SF, CA.

 LIVE EARTH looming....

I'm a big believer in focusing on what you want, putting it out to the universe

so here's hoping that we get the green light to cover Live Earth. It's happening

on July 7th at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Just filled out the

media cred app today and faxing it in. The form asked for specific talent requests.

In a perfect world, it would be sweet to be granted interviews with:
The Police, John Mayer, Dave Matthews, Smashing Pumpkins and Melissa Etheridge

who won the Oscar for writing theme song for Al Gore's doc, "Inconvenient Truth."

Sure it will be a phenom live  music extravaganza but more important to me will

be reporting on Live Earth's message and ACTION. There's an old proverb that says...

"Don't confuse motion with progress." My heart goes out to the agency responsible

for greening this event, making sure all garbage is either composted or recycled. I remember several years back at Julia Butterfly Hill's event WE THE PLANET in Golden Gate Park. Julia's nonprofit, Circle of Life forbid any plastic water bottles. Plus at the very end of the day, the entire lawn was spotless, concert goers left no trace. It was Madama Buttefly who pioneered how to put on a rockshindig in the most sustainable fashion. I'd like to send out blessings to Benjamin, PlanetCheck's camera man who has been kind enough to cover his own way AND hook us up with a free place to stay with friends in Jersey. Benjamin, you rock brother nature :)

FARM-AID

Another big concert to benefit Mama Nature on the East Coast will be Farm-Aid

on September 9th. This year it will be held at Randall's Island, NYC. The founders,

Willie Nelson, Neil Young will be there along with FarmAid board members, John

Mellancamp and Dave Matthews. They have yet to announce the full line-up. Tix

go on sale June 16th but if you're a FarmAid Member, you're privy to buy

tix 1 day befoer on JUne 15th. I love FarmAid and have covered it for the last few

years, I just hope they practice what they preach. In 2005 in Illinois, I was

utterly disgusted to see them dishing out plastic water bottles to press and there

was ZERO recycling or composting on the premise but I'm sure by now, they've got their act together, let's hope so! It was Gandhi who said "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Hey, I am NOT Mother Theresa of the Planet, but I have never claimed to be. I'm just a rock radio chick who realized back in 2001, that we were not sustainable and that's why I'm on my current path with PlanetCheck. We all have an impact on the earth but I truly believe that even the little things can add up,  it's like adding beads to a necklace, one by one. I'm glad to see green go so mainstream but Lordy, this new Congress hadbetter step up. It frightens me, here we are in 2007 and individuals and states are forging ahead to mitigate Co2 emissions and yet we have to battle the federal government siding with automakers and the coal industry. Just because "Green is the new Black" does not mean we're out of the woods.

6/2/07/San Francisco, CA.

To Bee or Not to Bee

My reply: "Where have YOU been?!"

She responded: "Here at the theatre."

Anyhoo...they ran with my idea which made me smile. Here's the synopsis....

A group of bee keepers, led by Kevin (Andy) go on a mission to discover why all the bees are mysteriously disappearing. Along the way Kevin meets Patricia (Tara as puppet Petal), a young aspiring bee keeping student, and they fall in love. But when Kevin finds out Patricia is really an alien being sent to collect all the bees to return to their home world, what will he choose? To bee or not to bee?

The real term is Colony Collapse Disorder. Experts are saying it could be a number

of causes including  parasistes and lack of genetic diversity. Some articles have

even mentioned the possibility of cellphones but this is  inconclusive.

Bees pollinate more than a 1/3 of everything we eat! All fruits, nuts and vegetables.

West Coast has lost 6O % of Bee Population while East Coast has lost 70 %.

Einstein said:

"If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have 4 years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals,

no more man." 

With the Farm Bill looming in September, there is talk about  extra research money & a possible emergency appropriation for Colony Collapse Disorder.

5/19/07 | San Francisco, CA.

Plastics create a wave of trouble in our oceans...

A recent poll said that 70% of Americans have no clue that plastic comes from petroleum. It takes 6 gallons of water to heat the plastic to make that water bottle. Here’s a scary thought: every piece of petroleum based plastic ever produced STILL EXISTS. Plastics do NOT bio-degrade and this is wreaking havoc in our oceans. Marine life mistakes the plastic for plankton and ends up dying because they feed and feed yet receive no nutrition and die. Over 1 million seabirds and 100, 000 marine mammals die globally each year due to ingestion of or entanglement in plastics. Be part of the solution and fill up your water from the tap with a filter and use a re-useable bottle. I love my glass mason jar with the handle, it works well for water and hot drinks.

~Mo