Green Grid Radio

Engaging and transformative reporting on the environment, energy, and sustainability


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S5E3: The Human COP

Factual clarifications: As of Earth Day 2015, Yeb Saño is no longer the Climate Commissioner of the Philippines. Additionally, our comment about the COP process emerging from the IPCC AR1 is probably a little too simplistic and overgeneralized. Fast for the Climate Coordinator, David Tong aptly noted that the COP process emerged from the Rio Earth Summit (1992). Both the Rio Earth Summit and the IPCC AR1 came from the World Climate Conferences.

Climate change in the news again… It comes up in the periphery during record droughts in California or large weather events like super-typhoon Haiyan in late 2013, as well as directly during the Obama Administration in announcements like the bilateral cooperation on climate change between the US and China. Climate change resurfaces in the mainstream media from time to time. The elephant in the room is perhaps that the international community cannot seem to agree on a unified way to address climate change.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the international body tasked with convening state leaders to discuss, negotiate, and ultimately produce binding global agreements or treaties. But why have we surpassed the 20th Conference of Parties (December 2014), and why has this been going on for over 20 years? What about the voices of those not in the UN, or those who do not negotiate in these sessions?

Interior of Warsaw National Stadium during the Conference of Parties 19, before an NGO action, photo by Adam Pearson

I attended COP19 in Warsaw in 2013 as a SustainUS delegate (and in stealth-mode Green Grid Radio Producer), and this week’s episode presents some of the stories of those in civil society who seek to enact change in the UNFCCC process through a human approach. Featured is the work of negotiator trackers in the “Adopt a Negotiator” initiative, which aims to paint a personal  face on the negotiators. And we hear the story behind “Fast for the Climate,” the narrative of solidarity (and spiritual cleansing) in response to the devastating Typhoon Haiyan.

SustainUS delegates being interviewed by Grist, photo by Adam Pearson

SustainUS delegates being interviewed by Grist, photo by Adam Pearson

Philippines negotiator Yeb Saño, who started the fast, has since become a major force in advocating for climate action, while the Fast for the Climate continues as a global movement, tying environmental justice, faith-based, and activist groups together.

Listen here:

Hosted by Adam Pearson and Mallory Smith, produced by Adam Pearson, and co-produced by Diane Wu.  Our guests this episode include Colin Rees, Lucas Burdick, Anita Raman, Ryan Madden, Lidy Nacpil (Jubilee South Asia/Pacific), and Hamzat Lawal. Further resources include:

Hamzat Lawal of the Adopt a Negotiator project, photo by Adam Pearson

Hamzat Lawal of the Adopt a Negotiator project, photo by Adam Pearson

Music in this episode (via the Free Music Archive) from: James Blackshaw, Podington Bear, The Augustus Bro Gallery Six, High Places, Keinzweiter

Make sure to subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store, if you haven’t done so already.

Green Grid Radio producer Adam Pearson in action in Warsaw, photo by Ryan Madden.

Green Grid Radio producer Adam Pearson in action in Warsaw, photo by Ryan Madden.


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S5E2: Thinking Outside the Green

We started out here at Green Grid Radio reporting on how to make our energy sources “green” — our very first episode was called “Renewable Energy at Stanford and Beyond”, followed by easy listening “Integrating Wind and Variable Resources in a Renewable Power Future”. Since 2012, we’ve broadened our focus dramatically, bringing you shows on meat, ocean privatization, the sharing economy, climate activism, and coffee.

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This shift happened for many reasons, but one personal motivation I had to produce shows beyond discussions of energy research was this talk I went to back in 2013. Ozzie Zehner, author of Green Illusions, gave a lecture about the darker side of solar energy production that is rarely discussed in the mainstream environmental discourse. I was fascinated, read his book and called him up to be interviewed on Green Grid Radio.

As you’ll hear, Ozzie suggests some tactics far outside the traditional scope of environmentalism that are refreshing, potentially high impact, and . . . fun! Listen to this episode if you’ve gotten tired of hearing the same old story about how to make the world a greener place.

Hosted by Adam Pearson and produced by Diane Wu.

Featuring audio from this talk by Chris Field, and this Swedish television show.

Music: “Night Owl” by Broke for Free.

More on converting garages for other uses in San Francisco here and a 2014 report about housing in the Bay Area authored by SPUR here. And here’s that study on TV ads and letters to Santa!


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Coming up in S5E2: An interview from the archives!

Hello listeners! This week we’re bringing you an episode featuring Ozzie Zehner, author of Green Illusions and subject of my very first Green Grid interview back in 2013.

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Ozzie Zehner. Photo from kcad.edu.

Though this piece has been sitting in our archives for a few years, don’t worry — it’s aged gracefully. The discussion of energy production versus energy reduction is still fascinating, and you’ll hear how revisiting this conversation recently helped me shake off some environmental ennui. You will also hear what Swedish children’s television sounded like in 1970.

The episode will be released this Thursday May 7 on iTunes, at Soundcloud, and right here on this very blog.


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S5E1: Coffee: Trouble Brewing?

Coffee is the second most traded global commodity after oil, employing millions of people to produce the 2 billion cups consumed around the world every day. But from production in developing countries, to global trade, to consumption in developed countries, the industry is plagued with some dirty secrets.

In this collaborative piece, Green Grid Radio and Making Contact team up to explore the lesser-known environmental and social justice costs of your morning coffee habit.

Jennifer Dunn reports from Colombia as she learns how Colombia’s small-scale coffee farmers are struggling to protect their crops and salvage their livelihoods. Mallory Smith hears from both sides of an ugly split in the fair trade movement, a movement which was first borne out of the desire to improve the lives of those who grow our coffee, but which some say has been co-opted by people with a different vision. And Laura Flynn decides to find out what happens to our little K-cups – those convenient single-cup brewing pods which seem like a miracle of modernity – once we throw them away.

Hosted by Mallory Smith and George Lavender. Contributing producers: Jennifer Dunn, Laura Flynn, Mallory Smith.

Featuring:

Coffee farmers Jairo Martinez, Mariana Cruz, Suzana Angarita

Jeff Goldman, former executive director of Fairtrade Resource Network

Jeff Chean, Principal and Chief Coffee Guy Groundwork Coffee

John Hazen, single-cup coffee machine owner

Rebecca Jewell, recycling program manager for Davis Street Transfer Station

Music:

Pensacola Twilight, Lee Rosevere

Cafetero, Christian Martinez

Grand Caravan, Blue Dot Sessions

Them Never Love No Bans, Hot Fire

La Boite a Sons – Contest Contributions, various artists

 

For more information:

Fair Trade Lite: Fair Trade USA moves away from worker co-ops

Hijacked Organic, Limited Local, Faulty Fair Trade

Roundup on Fair Trade USA/FLO Split

A Brewing Problem

Your Coffee Pods’ Dirty Secret

Kill the K-cup (video)

 


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Coming up in S5E1: Green Grid Radio Collaboration with Making Contact

Green Grid Radio will be back on air this Wednesday, March 25 for an episode about coffee, produced in collaboration with Making Contact, a social justice radio program.

This 3-segment episode follows the coffee bean from production to trade to consumption, sharing untold stories that might cast a dark shadow on your cup of dark roast.

Making Contact producer Jennifer Dunn ventures into the interior of Colombia to talk to coffee farmers about the struggles they face as vulnerable actors in an international play. I (Mallory) report on fair trade, discussing the controversial split in the movement that some say has jeopardized the very purpose of fair trade. And finally, Making Contact producer Laura Flynn explores a waste facility to find out what happens to Keurig’s plastic K-cups when we throw them away.

This episode will be played on radio stations at various times this week. Keep an eye out for the link to live stream this special collaboration, which we will post here soon! And as always, the show will be available on our iTunes podcast shortly thereafter.


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Xmas Markets in Berlin (S5 short)

Happy Festivus from Green Grid Radio!
Recently I was able to produce a short story for NPR Berlin on Xmas markets in Berlin. Exploring local traditions and describing alcoholic beverages in the central European alternative capital, it’s not typical GGR fare. We upload it here as a short bonus podcast to complement the last few episodes we are producing this production season. The version here is an alternative (longer) version to the one posted on the NPR website and originally aired on NPR Berlin.
Green Grid Radio has already entered a period of sporadic production. As the producing team has moved away from campus or on to the next stage in our unique lifelong learning experience (or maybe I should just say “lifelong experience”), we aim to tie up some of the remaining production loose ends and complete new episodes before June.

Continue reading →


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Coming Soon . . .

Hello listeners! We’ve been quiet these past few months but will be back before the end of the year. Look forward to interviews with filmmaker Jeff Orlowski on his film Chasing Ice, and with author Ozzie Zehner on his book Green Illusions.

We’ll also be at Storylab this Friday at 1 PM with the Stanford Storytelling Project — stop by if you’re in town!


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S4E8: Biome

I was born with a disease called cystic fibrosis (CF), the number one genetic killer of children in the United States. The most serious complication of the disease, which affects about 70,000 people worldwide, is the vicious cycle of chronic infection, inflammation and scarring in the lungs caused by defective chloride ion channels in the cell membrane.

Metaphorically speaking, the planet is diseased too. But while I can stand up and talk about my experience, the environment speaks to us in a language that is often incomprehensible to those who don’t study science. It speaks in a set of symptoms, signs that grow louder and clearer by the year.

In Biome, you’ll hear two stories that may not seem to have anything to do with each other. But be patient. I’ll walk you through a story of DNA and destruction, of colonization and conservation, of the body and the biome.

This piece was produced as part of The Senior Reflection in Biology.  Music used:

The Album Leaf – Blank Pages, A Day in the Life, Perro, Summer Fog, Shine

The American Dollar – Anything You Synthesize

This Will Destroy You – I Believe in Your Victory

Maneli Jamal – Us Against them

Antoine Dufour & Tommy Gauthier – Solitude

Josh Woodward – Together On Our Own

 


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S4E7: How The Tractor Ruined Farming

Green Grid Radio returns to the topic of food. This time, we go all the way back to the farm, and to the promise of the tractor. The tractor that promised to make life for farmers easier and our farms more productive.

In today’s episode, however, we meet a man who shares a story about the true impact the tractor had on farmers, and ultimately on our ability to grow food.

Hosted by Diane Wu, produced by Erik Olesund and featuring Matt Rothe.

Music used in this piece:

“TENNESEE HAYRIDE” (byJason Shaw)


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S4E6: Biofuels, or How GGR Learned about Popcorn-smelling Exhaust

A typical ethanol plant in West Burlington, Iowa (Big River Resources, LLC). Photo by Steven Vaughn/Agricultural Research Service. ID D802-2.

A typical ethanol plant in West Burlington, Iowa (Big River Resources, LLC). Photo by Steven Vaughn/Agricultural Research Service. ID D802-2.

Biofuels, mainly ethanol, now account for one-tenth of car fuel consumed in the United States and that number is set to rise. But are biofuels the silver bullet for the looming energy crisis? This week, Citlalli and Lindsay tackle that question head-on. They start their journey following the life cycle of fats, oil and grease in San Francisco and end up with a startling conclusion about the future of fuel in America. Along the way, they reveal a number of ethanol’s secrets. Like, did you know that if you convert all of the world’s main grains (corn, wheat, rice) into ethanol, you would only be able to supply half of all petrol consumption? Yup, and there’s more where that came from. Listen below for the full story.

Produced by Citlalli Sandoval and Lingzhi Jin. Guests include: Dogpatch Biofuels, San Francisco’s only biodiesel gas station; Karl Knapp, Associate Professor for Stanford’s Department of Civil Engineering; David Lobell, Associate Director of the Center for Food Security and the Environment at Stanford; and Eric McAfee, entrepreneur, VC and philanthropist in the renewables field. Music is “Tony Dubshot 04-Beta Stability” from the Free Music Archive.

 

 

 


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S4E5: Stanford’s Divestment in a Tale of Three Meetings

Stanford University made national news on mainstream media outlets last week, when the Board of Trustees announced the decision to divest the $18.7 billion endowment from coal investments. This is a story of the student activists who were called into a surprise meeting with Stanford administrators and walked out smiling and speechless.

Fossil Free Stanford, the student group behind the divestment push at Stanford since the fall of 2012, has been holding actions on the Stanford campus to raise awareness and mobilize support. (Disclosure: Diane is a volunteer for Fossil Free Stanford’s graduate student campaign). The group is part of a larger movement coordinated by 350.org to rid University campuses across the country from fossil fuel investments, due to the impacts that individual companies have on climate change. The Fossil Free Stanford story has appeared prominently in previous Green Grid Radio episodes.

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Krishna (left of speaker) at a Divest Harvard rally in April 2013. Photo from firsttheretheneverywhere.org

Krishna Dasaratha participated in the Divest Harvard movement while enrolled at Harvard through 2013, then joined Fossil Free Stanford as a graduate student this year. The Divest Harvard students have faced some hurdles on their steadfast course for divestment, including the President’s “unequivocal” statement that the school did not intend to divest in late 2013, and the recent May arrest of a Divest Harvard activist.

Dasaratha notes that the big difference between the Stanford and Harvard campaigns has been that Stanford’s Board of Trustees is held to investment responsibility, and have therefore been more receptive to discussions with the students who have been arguing that climate change causes “substantial social injury.” And in Spring 2013, The Leland Stanford Junior University Board of Trustees accelerated the time horizon of their decision to divest from coal.

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Krishna Dasaratha. Photo from Fossil Free Stanford.

Listen here:

Featuring Stanford students Krishna Dasaratha and Mikaela Osler. Hosted by Diane Wu and produced by Shara Tonn and Derek Mendez. Further resources include Krishna’s recent op-ed in the Boston Globe.

 


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S4E4: Friends Don’t Let Friends . . .

This week we have a special guest contribution from Stanford student Christina Morrisset. Christina took the Your American Life course this Winter (along with our producers Mallory, Erik, and Shara), and chose to tell a story about identity, transformation, and . . . fish.

TRR

Women of Taku River Reds, Stanford Dining’s salmon supplier. Photo from http://www.takurr.net/.

We’ll let her fill in the details.

Listen here:

 

Like Christina, we also learned a bunch from the book Four Fish, and for more on fisheries and aquaculture check out S3E4: Overfished or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Cocaine Cowboy Fisheries and Love Catch Shares.

Coming up (very) soon: Stanford has divested from coal! We get an insider’s peek at the process behind the decision with an interview with Fossil Free Stanford member Krishna Dasaratha. Tune in at 6 PM tonight at KZSU 90.1 FM, stream it online catch it later this week right here.


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S4E3: Getting Around – Hackathon Edition

Greetings, listeners. It’s been a quiet (silent) few months, but we’re excited to announce that we’re back on the air waves as well as the internet waves this quarter with fresh episodes for our fourth season!

Our latest episode was a big experiment. Channeling the vibes of Silicon Valley, we held a 24 hour radio hackathon. (Channeling the vibes of real life, sleep was deemed mandatory). Mallory and I led an environmental storytelling boot camp on Saturday morning, then we broke into teams to produce a 3 minute piece on the theme: Getting Around.

Mallory leads an interviewing workshop at the d.school

Mallory leads an interviewing workshop. Photo by Diane Wu.

On Sunday, we sat in the sun together to listen to what everyone had made, and each piece was a delightful surprise. We’re sharing these quickly crafted bits with you today. We bring you stories from trains, bicycles, and butterfly-crusted Texan cars.

Working together to define what makes quality environmental storytelling.

Defining the elements of quality environmental storytelling (and putting those d.school whiteboards to use!) Photo by Mallory Smith.

Bonus points were awarded for laughter, the phrase “bicycle baron”, sound effects, and not using the word “environment”. Listen below to see if anyone was able to get all of them!

Last minute editing before the listening party!

Team C doing some last minute editing before the listening party. Photo by Diane Wu.

Listen here:

 

Hosted by Calvin Hu and Mallory Smith, and produced by the whole Stanford-based team: Shara Tonn, Lingzhi Jin, Derek Mendez, and Diane Wu. Resources mentioned include http://www.monarchwatch.org.

We’re going to be a weekly show again through June, so do tune in to KZSU 90.1 FM or stream our show Mondays at 6 PM, and subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store.

 


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S4E2: Dumpster Diver Interceptors

The first time we dove into the topic of food waste, Diane visited a compost facility, Erik spent an afternoon with the leftover food distribution initiative, the Stanford Project on Hunger, and Dana Gunders of NRDC gave us the low-down on one of her recent reports.

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Food waste reduction campaign in Saudi Arabia. Photo by Diane Wu.

40% of food that is prepared in the US is wasted, dropped in the trash, untouched. This is alarming, especially when we consider all the water, fossil fuel energy, time, and effort involved in delivering food. The Green Grid Radio team became preoccupied by this sobering reality and decided to be more proactive about reducing food waste. We decided to pull back our hair, grab some gloves, and give dumpster diving a chance.

Beyond the novelty of the experience, can dumpster diving be a strategy in a broader effort to reduce our community’s impact? Can it move the food waste needle?

Listen here:

The next GGR episode coming in January will investigate the fermented, flushed world of biofuels.

Produced and co-hosted by Diane Wu and Adam Pearson and featuring GGR staff Erik Olesund and Mallory Smith. The voices of interceptors, friends, and guests on this podcast include: Stephanie Pollack and Maxine Lym . Resources mentioned this episode include: The Dating Game, a recent NRDC report on food date labels and food waste: and Stilltasty.com, a “shelf life guide” website. The music that graced our ears came from: Kevin MacLeod, Keep Them Alive, Malt.Tabulated Sounds, nisei23, Tussle, krackatoa, and Derek Mendez.

We’re inspired by many local groups addressing food waste head-on, including: Be Healthy Tulare;  Tulare CA Food Bank; Stanford Glean; Stanford Project on Hunger . If there are people and initiatives minimizing food waste in your community, please let us know via twitter and we’ll include them in this post!


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S4E1: Tipis, Trash, Homs and Urchins

A diver monitoring kelp forest growth. Photo by David Witting / NOAA.

A diver monitoring kelp forest growth. Photo by David Witting / NOAA.

We’re excited to kick off our fourth season of environmental storytelling with an unconventional glance backwards — this first episode is a compilation of the sounds of our summers.

Adam reflects on going to camp for the first time, Citlalli learns how much harder it is to throw out a tea bag in Germany than in the United States, Diane describes visiting an ice cream shop in pre-war Syria, and Mallory goes for a dive with volunteers reclaiming a kelp forest from some prickly invaders.

Waste bins in Germany. Photo by Diane Wu.

So many waste options in Germany! Photo by Diane Wu.

Listen here:

Enjoy!! Stay tuned for upcoming episodes on turning boozy byproducts into fuel, first-hand reporting from the COP19 climate talks, and elementary school eavesdropping to hear what kids have to say about the health of the planet.

Voices include ReCharge 2013 delegates, Matthew Eastman, Dominic Coccia, Nolan Rutschilling, Jamila Tull, Richard Shelton, Michael Grubert, Tara Sulzer, Founder of Creative Facilitations Stephanie Pollack, KT Donohue, Heather Coleman, LA Waterkeeper’s Brian Meux, and Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation’s Tom Ford.  Music from Ian D. Marks, junior85, Damien Jurado, Peter Swift, Damscray, and The Jayhawks.


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Summer Break Pt 2: Snapshots of Syria

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Train Station, Damascus. September 2009. Photo by Diane Wu.

I’ve been thinking about Syria a lot this summer. In 2009, I had the chance to visit Damascus and Homs, and lately I’ve spent a lot of nostalgia time with photographs that I took on that trip. The above picture of a door inspired me to make a little radio piece.

It’s even further from the usual than Tipi Time, but I hope you enjoy it. Music by Peter Swift and Damscray.

 

More photographs of Syria before the war:

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Damascus Old City, Eid al-Fitr 2009. Photo by Diane Wu.

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Restaurant in Homs, Syria. September 2009. Photo by Diane Wu.

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Ice cream shop in Homs, Syria. September 2009. Photo by Diane Wu.


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Our Summer Vacation

Hello Green Grid Radio listeners,

This summer, the production team took some time off to explore the world, read all those books piling up in each of our respective apartments, experience new lifestyles, embrace our love of neuroscience, venture up mountains, sunbathe in low-lying valleys, and to follow our inspiration, wherever it led us. We have put together a few shorter pieces that we’ll be releasing periodically over the course of the next month. We took the task of experimenting in shorter-form storytelling, not necessarily on Green Grid Radio “topics.” The first piece we are presenting was inspired by an experience I had in August on Mount Hood, Oregon.

tipiConstruction of a tipi at the Focus The Nation ReCharge 2013 retreat.

I had never been to summer camp before. No, not until this summer. “Tipi Time” is my story of ReCharge, a gathering of rising clean energy leaders with different skillsets and passions. This was my first summer camp experience, in a way, but also much more. Voices include ReCharge 2013 delegates, Matthew Eastman, Dominic Coccia, Nolan Rutschilling, Jamila Tull, Richard Shelton, Michael Grubert, Tara Sulzer, and Founder of Creative Facilitations Stephanie Pollack. Featured music from Ian D. Marks, junior85, and Damien Jurado.

And for those of you eager for brand new, full-length episodes, we can announce now that the production is underway for our new season to premiere in Spring 2014. We won’t be quiet in between now and then. We have a lot of exciting announcements coming up, so stay tuned for Green Grid Radio on new formats, in new places, and with new stories.

Adam


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S3E8: One Nation Under Meat: The American Dream Strikes Back

This week we returned to the topic of meat production and food systems, exploring political and economic barriers to change in the U.S. and abroad, ways to move toward a less environmentally and socially destructive food system, and our own thoughts and perspectives on these critical issues. Like last week, we followed the wisdom of one of our guests, Dan Blumstein, and experimented with talking about food over food; Green Grid Radio team members Mallory, Adam, Erik and Diane discussed politics, education, climate change and energy, the world food economy, interconnections in the food system, local food, diversification, American eating habits and social norms, top-down versus bottom-up change, and more!

S3E8: One Nation, Under Meat: The American Dream Strikes Back

Image attributed to Meriwether, American Meat (2013)

Guests include: Stanford undergraduate student Caroline Hodge; Matt Rothe, Fellow at the Institute of Design at Stanford; Environmental Earth System Science Professor Rosamond Naylor, of the Center on Food Security and the Environment; Graham Meriwether, Director of the documentary American Meat; Eli Zigas, Food Systems and Urban Agriculture Program Manager at San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association; UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Professor Dan Blumstein, author of Eating Our Way to Civility; Professor Christopher Gardner of the Stanford School of Medicine; Vasile Stanescu, Stanford PhD candidate in the Program of Modern Thought and Literature; and Debra Dunn, co-founder of FEED Collaborative and Professor at the Institute of Design at Stanford.

Hosted by Mallory Smith and Erik Olesund.

Resources mentioned in this podcast: the American “Farm Bill“; “Quinoa’s Global Success Creates Quandary at Home,” from the New York Times (2011); “High-yield agriculture slows pace of global warming, say Stanford researchers,” from Stanford News (2010); Carnegie Mellon study comparing carbon emission reductions of eating local versus reducing meat consumption (2008); American Meat documentary.

Music featured by James Pants, Candlegravity, Dexter Britain, Sycamore Drive, Podington Bear, and Gable.


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Coming up in S3E8: One Nation, Under Meat: The American Dream Strikes Back

This Thursday, we’ll dive back in right where we left off last week in our discussion of meat production and food systems.  While the first hour of this two-part series diagnosed some of the symptoms of our failing meat industry, the next hour will explore food on a broader level: How did we get here? What are the barriers that prevent meaningful reform? Does the world food economy suffer from the same flaws that plague us here in the U.S.? What can each of us do to provoke change?

S3E8: We Meat Again: A Tragic Love Story of the American Appetite

Image attributed to Kevin Uhrmacher/NPR , “A Nation of Meat Eaters” (2012)

Make sure to tune in to KZSU 90.1FM on Thursday, 6-7PM PST, or stream the show live on kzsulive.stanford.edu. As always, the show will also be available shortly after on this site and our iTunes podcast.


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S3E7: One Nation, Under Meat: A Tragic Love Story Of the American Appetite

The Green Grid Radio team sliced into a meaty topic this week: the broken American food production system, specifically focusing on meat. Today turkeys cannot naturally reproduce and must be artificially inseminated, 60 billion farm animals are annually killed for human consumption worldwide, and we consume eight times as much chicken as our grandparents did eighty years ago. What else is going on in meat production?

dinnerpartyThe Green Grid Radio team talking about meat at our dinner party.

Guests include: Stanford undergraduate student Caroline Hodge; Matt Rothe, Fellow at the Institute of Design at Stanford; Environmental Earth System Science Professor Rosamond Naylor, of the Center on Food Security and the Environment; Graham Meriwether, Director of the documentary American Meat; Eli Zigas, Food Systems and Urban Agriculture Program Manager at San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association; UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Professor Dan Blumstein, author of Eating Our Way to Civility; Professor Christopher Gardner of the Stanford School of Medicine; and Vasile Stanescu, Stanford PhD candidate in the Program of Modern Thought and Literature.

Hosted by Mallory Smith and Adam Pearson.

Resources mentioned in this podcast: “Give Thanks for Meat,” an essay by Jay Bost; FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) report “Livestock’s Long Shadow” (2006); Peter Singer’s book, Animal Liberation; the American “Farm Bill“; the American Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (1958); “Unnatural Turkeys” Freakanomics podcast (2011).

Audio featured, in chronological order, by Keshco, My Imaginary Loves, Chris Forsyth, Shake That Foot, Dan Warren, Gable, MUTE, and Personal and the Pizzas.


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Coming Up in S3E7: One Nation, Under Meat: A Tragic Love Story Of the American Appetite

A very wise person at Stanford once explained that changing food habits is a powerful way for an individual to reduce his or her environmental impact, because every single day, three times a day, we sit down to eat. So are there choices you can make every single day, that will make a difference? We sat down with people– a lot of people– students, scholars, and animal rights activists, folks at non-profits, nutritionists and professors from more than one institution, seeking insight into the food system (especially the meat industry) today. We present the results of our roller-coaster ride through the world of meat on Thursday.

turkey

Make sure to listen live at 90.1FM if you’re in the Bay Area or online at kzsulive.stanford.edu from 6-7PM PST. Shortly thereafter, we will post the podcast to this site and make it available via our iTunes podcast.


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Founder Adam Pearson featured on “Green Is Good”

Want to know more about how the producers approach Green Grid Radio? Founder Adam Pearson was recently featured on the satellite XM radio program Green Is Good. The program aired on Sirius XM channel 244 on June 3rd.
AP

Take a listen to the interview here, and read more about Adam’s discussion with host John Shegerian here.


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S3E6: Is the Sustainability Movement an Activist Movement?

The Green Grid Radio team thought about how American culture has changed since the 1960s in the most recent episode of Season 3. In looking at the sustainability movements on campus, we draw out (or try to draw out) some of the societal forces that have changed the way students tackle environmental problems. Stanford Sociology Professor Doug McAdam joined us to weigh in on social movements, noting “divesting from politics is the wrong impulse.”

fossilfreeThe Stanford Fossil-Free team making a stand against Keystone XL (Image attributed to Fossil Free Stanford , 2013).

Guests on this week’s show include Stanford students Nicholas Reale and Jorge Masero of the Civil & Environmental Engineering department; Gregory Hall and Ian Girard of the Stanford Solar Car project; and Naomi Cornman, Co-President of the Green Living Council; Stanford Sociology Professor and Director Emeritus of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Doug McAdam;  Julie Muir, Community Relations Manager at Peninsula Sanitary Service, Inc; Dana Gunders, Project Scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council; and Jacob Woodruff, Senior Scientist at SunPower Corp.

Hosted by Adam Pearson, Erik Olesund, Diane Wu, Mallory Smith, Sophia Vo.

Audio featured in this episode: ROTC sit-in at Old Union*, Stephen Schneider Memorial Lecture 2013, John F Kennedy Inaugural Address, data clip (and other sound effects from freesound.org), excerpts from a Claremont Colleges 3/4/13 Divestment event, Blue Ducks, Podington Bear, Broke For Free, Innocent Bandits, King Felix, Johnny Ripper, Aoiroooasamusi, and Dustin Wong.

*Stanford University, Office of Vice President and General Counsel, Records (SC0178). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.


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Fo(u)r more on fish . . .

After we aired our ocean privatization episode a few weeks ago, I picked up “Four Fish” by Paul Greenberg. If you want to learn more about fisheries management, the development of aquaculture (so much fascinating science and history), read this book! Greenberg takes us from his childhood fishing haunts to an Alaskan fishing village, from deep off the coast of Hawaii to the Sinai peninsula. We zip back in time to when the Greeks named sea bass, take a peek at the peak and demise of the whaling industry, and get a thoughtful glimpse at different paths for the future of fish.

Image attributed to Greenberg/Penguin Books, (2011)

Perfect for reading on the beach this summer.


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Coming Up in S3E6: Is the Sustainability Movement an Activist Movement?

The next episode of Green Grid Radio formed out of the observation that many people in northern California are aware of energy and planetary challenges, as well as some solutions. But many young people simply do not fight for the social/environmental issues like college-aged Americans did once upon a time. We will debut the episode, “Is the Sustainability Movement an Activist Movement?” this Thursday evening, which dives into Stanford perspectives on sustainability and how to go about achieving social change in today’s world.

psuA group of Penn State students demonstrate in the 1960s (Attributed to Penn State University Libraries, “Years of Crises: The 1960s,” 2013).

As usual, you can listen live  on 90.1FM in the Bay Area or online at kzsulive.stanford.edu from 6-7PM PST Thursday. We will make the episode available for download from this site or from our iTunes podcast.


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Green Grid Radio Featured on Satellite Radio

On Saturday June 1st, the satellite XM radio program Green Is Good will spotlight Green Grid Radio. The program will air at 5pm EST on Sirius XM channel 244 (“America’s Talk Channel”). Green Grid Radio Founder, Adam Pearson, had a chance to speak with “Green is Good” host, John Shegerian, about how Green Grid Radio started, and some of the program’s educational goals.

Attributed to Sirius XM/Green is Good, 2013.

Tune in if you have XM radio. If you missed the episode, you can listen here.


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S3E5: The Lowest Hanging Fruit is The One in the Landfill

In this week’s episode, we’re covering food waste!! Listen below for some myth busting on expiration dates and the real story of what’s happening to those compostable forks.

P1040603A picture from our tour of the Newby Island Resource Recovery Park’s compost facility. This is a compost windrow before it gets filtered. Photograph by Diane Wu.

Guests include Stanford student Nicole Gaetjens; Julie Muir, Community Relations Manager at Peninsula Sanitary Service, Inc; Dana Gunders, Project Scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council; and Elena Stamatakos and Mahta Baghoolizadeh, volunteers with the Stanford Project on Hunger.

Hosted by Diane Wu and Mallory Smith.

Resources mentioned in this podcast include stilltasty.com (Is your leftover pizza still good?), American Wasteland (Want to read a whole book about this?), and this NRDC report  (here are the highlights). Here’s more on the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act.

Music featured, in chronological order, by Bad Bats, Abe Sada, Cranston, The LibraryAnns, Mark Neil, Krackatoa.


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Coming up in S3E5: The Lowest Hanging Fruit is The One in the Landfill

This week on Green Grid Radio we’re bringing you an hour dedicated to the back of your fridge and the bottom of your trash can. Americans eat only sixty percent of the food that we produce each year – the remainder gets tossed somewhere along the path from the field to your table. Food waste is the largest single contributor to our landfills – but it doesn’t have to be. There are so many other options for the food we do not eat.

IMGP6780Plum. Photograph by Diane Wu.

We’ll bring you ideas from our guests Nicole Gaetjens (Stanford student and all around waste warrior), Julie Muir (Community Relations Manager at Peninsula Sanitary Service, Inc and waste industry insider), Dana Gunders (Project Scientist at NRDC and author of this report on food waste), Elena Stamatakos and Mahta Baghoolizadeh (Stanford students and volunteers with the Stanford Project on Hunger).

In our show we’ll visit the kitchen of the Faculty Club and the commercial compost facility where Stanford recycles some of its food waste into compost. Join us on Thursday from 6-7 PM at 90.1 FM or online at kzsulive.stanford.edu to listen live. We’ll also have our episode available online right here shortly afterwards, or you can find it in our iTunes podcast.


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S3E4: Overfished or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Cocaine Cowboy Fisheries and Love Catch Shares

Global consumption of fish is on the rise, and so we critically need to effectively manage how we catch fish and how much of it we catch. On “Overfished,” the Green Grid Radio team begin dives into this topic and understand what strategies may address the problems we see today in the open waters. We take perspectives from an economist, consumers, and even a fisherman.

A vessel with a trawling net, courtesy of EDF.

Image courtesy of EDF, EDFish blog (2013).

Featured voices are Professor John Lynham of the University of Hawaii, Stanford PhD candidate Dane Klinger, fisherman Hans Haveman of H&H Fresh Fish, salmon aficionado Elena Lawson, and Stanford undergraduate students Emma Budiansky and Tiffany Li. Hosted by Adam Pearson and Diane Wu.

(In case you’re interested, the FAO report mentioned in the episode is available here, while the study on fishermen opposing catch shares  can be found here. Music featured this episode includes: Love Cult, Johnny Ripper, Tristeza, Las Ardillas, The Curious Mystery, & Balmorhea).


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Coming Up in S3E4: Overfished or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Cocaine Cowboy Fisheries and Love Catch Shares

Hans Haveman of H&H Fresh Fish. Image attributed to Cuesa.org, “Catch of the Day: H&H Fresh Fish,” 2012.

Hello out there. We’ve taken a few weeks off to better prepare for our exciting, upcoming episodes. This Thursday will be the premiere of “Overfished or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Cocaine Cowboy Fisheries and Love Catch Shares.” Perhaps more succinctly, we’ll be honing in on the state of fish in our oceans, how things got to where they are, and what kind of management strategies may address the problems. Indeed with this episode, like with our episode on the Sharing Economy, we have jettisoned all obvious links to energy topics, as we continue to broaden our thematic scope for Green Grid Radio.

This week’s program will include many different voices, including folks who study this topic, fishermen, and even average fish consumers. Professor John Lynham of the University of Hawaii gives us the rundown on economics behind the overfishing phenomenon, aquaculture expert Dane Klinger joins us for his perspective, and we even spoke with Hans Haveman of H&H Fresh Fish about being a fisherman in Santa Cruz.

So tune into on Thursday May9th, 2013, from 6-7PM PST at KZSU Stanford 90.1FM or online at kzsulive.stanford.edu. The episode will also be available shortly thereafter on our site or in our iTunes podcast.


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Clinton Global Initiative Commitment – How We’re Doing

Green Grid Radio made a commitment to tackle environmental and energy education in November, 2012 for the Clinton Global Initiative University. This page will describe not only the commitment that was made initially, but will track the progress of how we’ve done.

CGI_U_2013_commitment-maker_seal

1. Summary of your CGI U Commitment to Action. The Green Grid Radio Initiative seeks to provide thought-provoking, educational, timely content about sustainable energy systems to listeners on a weekly basis. The goal is to catalyze citizens to vote in an informed manner, develop their own grassroots movements, seek out additional educational opportunities on energy and environmental subjects that pique their interests. By discussing real problems in candid interviews with academics, policymakers, and industry representatives, the Green Grid Radio Initiative effectively addresses the education and environmental/climate change focus areas of the Clinton Global Initiative.

2. CGI U students work to address specific global challenges. What is the problem or issue you are working to address? Our Initiative tackles problems in the focus areas of education and environment/climate change. There is a severe problem with the dissemination of scientific and factual information to the public, especially in these fields… We serve to communicate truthful and technical information about these technologies in an engaging manner to an information-inundated public (and serve educational/environmental GCI areas).

3. What activities will you/your group (and, if appropriate, your partners) undertake to address this issue? I have assembled a Green Grid Radio volunteer staff of like-minded, passionate environmentalists and activists. We produce a quality program week in and week out , yet there is tremendous room for growth and improvement. I would love to see our organization recruit a larger army of volunteers who are excited about the Initiative, so that I can spend more time teaching teammates how to produce a high-level program… We will ramp up this effort during the month of January.

4. How is this different from what you have done before? The program is already novel and new because there exists a significant lack of energy/environmental discussion in traditional radio media. Our local audience covers the majority of the San Francisco Bay Area, perhaps a highly educated group. But as the 2012 presidential election debates demonstrated, these topics often fall through the cracks in regular discourse, possibly due to the long-term nature of the climate change problem. But we cannot only think about our local listeners. One of the benefits of podcasting the show is that we can reach an international audience through the benefits of the free, transparent, accessible Internet. We can therefore imagine our educational reach has significant potential.

5. How will you know you are successful? Our specific, tangible goal is to reach 1000 subscribers to our podcast by September of 2013. We believe that if our program is relevant to 1000 people, we will be engaging with a sizeable international audience to think about and strongly consider the advantages of renewable energy systems as a means to combating climate change. It will not be easy—we will need to expand our volunteer staff expectations significantly—but the benefits of greater awareness will be a reward in itself.

So how are we doing?

We’ve put together some graphs, based on some tracking of our podcast and online presence over the last 6 months.

dailysubscribers

Figure 1. Daily subscribers, or how many times the feed has been requested on average in a 24-hr period.

rawhits

Figure 2. Daily “raw hits” plotted over time, by google feedburner highlighting website traffic growth (a “raw hit” is when someone loads a page that can access a download).

twitter

Figure 3. Weekly twitter “follower” counts plotted over time, highlighting growth.

Unfortunately we don’t have subscriber data right now (we are working on migrating our audio to one centralized source, so we can monitor this more accurately– right now we have our audio at different sites and it is hard to track). More info soon, but we certainly have a long way to go. Please help us reach our commitment by sharing or getting involved!


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S3E3: Stanford Energy Week – Live from White Plaza!

S3E3: Stanford Energy Week - Live from White Plaza!GGR Producers Adam Pearson, Erik Olesund and guests Debra Dunn, Sarah Triolo (photograph by Diane Wu).

As Earth Day approaches on the Stanford campus, Green Grid Radio and other environmentally-minded affiliates on campus are reaching out to the broader Stanford community for engagement. Wednesday in White Plaza featured Green Grid Radio broadcasting live during the Stanford Energy Club’s Energy Showcase event. With technical assistance from producer Diane Wu and KZSU engineer Mark Lawrence, Green Grid Radio brought a solar-powered (literally– see our photo below!) episode with an appropriate lunch-time focus on food systems.

S3E3: Stanford Energy Week - Live from White Plaza!Solar-powered radio (photograph by Diane Wu).

We had a great, lengthy discussion with our guests this week, Ms. Debra Dunn and Sarah Triolo. Sarah recommended this supplemental reading from the New York Times on some of the “nasty things happening in our food system” today. Thanks to all the audience input and for the support out in White Plaza. Take a listen below, and see you next week!


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Coming up in S3E3: Stanford Energy Week – Live from White Plaza!

This week we’ll have a very special broadcast of Green Grid Radio on Wednesday, April 17th from 12-1pm. Green Grid Radio will be broadcasting live from the Energy Showcase, which is the Stanford Energy Week kick-off event in White Plaza on the Stanford campus.

energy-week-banner-EDITAttributed to Stanford Energy Club (2013).

Not only will we broadcast live, but our booth will be solar powered. We are utterly thrilled to bring our show to the middle of the action, and to demonstrate our environmental commitment at the same time.

Our guest this week is Ms. Debra Dunn of the Stanford d.school. We’ll be talking about sustainability, food, and energy broadly in our discussion. Student Sarah Triolo will also join us for the panel conversation. Green Grid Radio will air an encore edition of this special episode during the regular Thursday, April 18th from 6-7pm PST timeslot on KZSU.


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S3E2: A Breezy Introduction to the Basics: Wind Energy 101

SWEPThe SWEP team working on installing a wind anemometer at the Berkeley Marina (Image attributed to SWEP, 2013)

This past Thursday, the Green Grid Radio team spoke with Dr. Jeff Mirocha, a scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. We were also joined by guest panelist Aaron Burdick, a graduate student in Stanford’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. We’ve explored a lot of issues related to wind energy technology on the show in previous episodes, but this time we went back to the basics to gain an understanding of some oft overlooked fundamentals. What are the mechanics of making electricity from wind? How efficient is wind energy? What kinds of engineering challenges are wind engineers currently working to overcome?

Aaron provided many insights about the topics discussed with Dr. Mirocha, and shared his experience working with the Stanford Solar and Wind Energy Project (SWEP).

Note: During the show, we mentioned that wind energy delivered about 6% of America’s electricity in 2012. After the show aired, we found that as of 2012, wind energy comprised 6% of American electricity generation capacity, but only delivered about 3% of American electricity that year. We apologize for the error!

Listen here:


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Green Grid Radio Nominated for a Radio Star Award

This Spring, Green Grid Radio has been nominated for a Radio Star Award through the website Radioflag. Radioflag is a social radio site that aggregates and promotes independent, community, and college radio stations across the country and their content.

radio-star-award2Attributed to Radioflag, 2013.

Radioflag expects,  “that the broadcast industry’s “Best Read Newspaper” Radio World, will once again report the RadioStar Award winners. The paper is Published bi-weekly, and is the definitive source for information on technology, industry news, management techniques, applications-oriented engineering and production articles and new product information.”

Judging for the contest is taking place right now and will end on April 22nd, with the winners announced shortly thereafter. If you are inclined, check out Radioflag and support Green Grid Radio.


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Coming up in S3E2: A Breezy Introduction to the Basics: Wind Energy 101

Wind energy is a relatively mature renewable energy technology that is at the forefront in challenging conventional methods of power generation.  The image of a wind turbine is ubiquitous in representing clean tech (see the header of this very website), but have you ever wondered exactly how those great big turbines actually make electricity? Been curious about how efficient they are? Pondered what might happen when a bunch of bugs get stuck to these turbines?

We have! And so we sat down with Lawrence Livermore National Lab scientist Jeff Mirocha to ask him some questions about the fundamentals of wind energy production. He graciously explained the basics to us, and we’ll be sharing the interview with you on Thursday from 6-7 PM on 90.1 FM and at kzsu.stanford.edu. Aaron Burdick, a student in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department, will join us for a panel discussion afterwards.

Tweet us your questions about Wind Energy Basics @greengridradio or leave them in the comments section on this post and we’ll try to answer them during the show!

S3E1 TurbinesImage attributed to Energy Quest/California Energy Commission, 2013.


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S3E1: The Rise of the Sharing Economy

S3E1: The Rise of the Sharing Economy

The sharing economy is a movement that is gaining more and more momentum both here in the U.S. and around the world. In this episode we dig into what the environmental, social and economic benefits are of sharing compared to the current way of meeting our needs through consumption.

Featured voices are Andy Ruben, co-founder of yerdle, Neal Gorenflo, founder of Shareable and Stanford students Katie Brigham (from the Stanford Free Store), Maayan Dembo and Adam Pearson. Hosted by Erik Olesund and Diane Wu.


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High Ground Organics Supports Green Grid Radio

In case you missed the news on Thursday, we’re excited to report that High Ground Organics has supported Green Grid Radio for our third season.

HGO-header

High Ground Organics are a Watsonville-based, organic family farm that offers a CSA program from Monterey to Palo Alto. We’re excited to be working with High Ground Organics and very thankful for their interest and critical contribution to GGR’s operations.

If you also are interested in supporting Green Grid Radio, please send an email to adam [at] greengridradio [dot] org. We hope to have more information about these opportunities on our website soon!


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Green Grid Radio Honored by Clinton Global Initiative

Green Grid Radio is en route to St. Louis!

CGIU_slider_StLouis2

Earlier this year, the Clinton Global Initiative honored Green Grid Radio by inviting me to the Clinton Global Initiative University meeting in St. Louis from April 5-7th. As Founder of Green Grid Radio, I proposed an aggressive commitment to climate, energy, and sustainability education through Green Grid Radio. The mission of Green Grid Radio has always been to engage the public in these topics, and season 3’s adjusted format will achieve that better than ever before. We’ll be adding some more information about our Clinton Global Initiative commitment on the Green Grid Radio website soon.

And if you’re wondering what a “commitment” is: The Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) brings together college students to address global challenges with practical, innovative solutions. A CGI U Commitment to Action is a new, specific, and measurable plan that addresses a challenge on campus, in the local community, or around the world. Commitments can be small or large, global or local. No matter the size or scope, commitments help CGI U participants translate practical goals into meaningful and measurable results.

I look forward to a productive weekend of working with and learning from our world’s next leaders. Thank you for the support!
Adam


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Coming up in S3E1: The Rise of the Sharing Economy

Neal Gorenflo sharing a ride at SXSW 2011.

Welcome back to a new season of Green Grid Radio. Our first episode of season three will focus on The Rise of the Sharing Economy. The sharing economy is a movement that is gaining more and more momentum both here in the U.S. and around the world. In this episode we dig into what the environmental, social and economic benefits are of sharing compared to the current way of meeting our needs through consumption.

The episode features interviews with users of various services in the sharing economy realm: Couchsurfing and the Stanford Free store. You’ll also hear Neal Gorenflo, founder of Shareable and Andy Ruben, co-founder of yerdle talk about their experiences with the sharing economy and why they’re currently dedicating their careers to promoting it.

Tune into KZSU Stanford 90.1FM on Thursday April 4th, 2013, 6-7PM PST or catch the episode in our iTunes podcast.


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S2E10: Recap Roundtable with Returning Panelists

In our last episode from season two, we were joined by Stanford student leaders and former panelists Rob Best (Stanford Solar Decathlon), Tim Burke (Engineers for a Sustainable World), and Andrew Ponec (Stanford Grid Alternatives). We discussed several themes and ideas from the season, including the culture of sacrifice that can be intertwined with sustainability, “bright greens” vs “dark greens”, and the potential implications of President Obama’s new cabinet choices. Some fresh ideas from our panelists included the role that data might play in boosting the energy efficiency industry, and how rallying our nation around a concrete, tangible goal might accelerate the transition to a clean energy future.

S2E10: Recap Roundtable with Returning Panelists

Sunset over transmission lines in Dubai. Photograph by Diane Wu.

We’ll be off this week for spring break, but check back the week of April 1 for the debut of Season Three!


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Coming up in S2E10: Recap Roundtable with Returning Panelists

As the weather warms up, the vegetation turns green, and the days lengthen, we have reached the start of spring, and therefore, the end of winter. With the end of winter, also comes the end of Green Grid Radio’s second season.

This Thursday, we’ll wrap up the season with interview and panel highlights from throughout the second season. Joining us in the studio will be returning panelists, Andrew Ponec of Stanford GRID Alternatives, Rob Best of the Stanford Solar Decathlon team, Tim Burke of Engineers for a Sustainable World, and Megan Tsai of the Materials Science and Engineering Department. The roundtable recap in Season 1 was one of our best episodes, so make sure to tune in Thursday from 6-7 PM at 90.1FM or kzsulive.stanford.edu for a show filled with goodies!


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S2E9: Energy Efficiency Local Rebates and Policies

This week, Bill Brittan of  The Green Pro Network and Jasmine Wei, a Stanford student and intern with Green Pro Network joined us to speak about how we might demonstrate the benefits of investing in energy efficiency for homeowners. There exists a wealth of resources and rebates out there, and Green Pro Network encourages folks to claim these rebates. We also discussed how poor planning of outfitting and locating buildings lead to poor energy efficiency and how California’s system of decoupling the electricity providers incentivizes them to promote energy efficiency, which is not the case in all states.

We rounded up the episode with Hannah Rich and Hanni Hanson from Students for a Sustainable Stanford, who spoke about their organization’s projects, upcoming events and how to get involved.

S2E9: Energy Efficiency Local Rebates and Policies

Staffers at Green Pro Network. Image credit: Green Pro Network

Listen below:


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Coming up in S2E9: Energy Efficiency Local Rebates and Policies

As Green Grid Radio approaches the end of its second season, we will return to one of the big topics of the second season, energy efficiency. This week, Bill Brittan of  The Green Pro Network joins us to speak about how we might demonstrate the benefits of investing in energy efficiency for homeowners. There exists a wealth of resources and rebates out there, and Green Pro Network encourages folks to claim these rebates. We will also speak a little bit about energy efficiency policies and even indoor air quality. And while energy efficiency isn’t the primary goal of Students for a Sustainable Stanford, we will be joined by Hannah Rich and Hanni Hanson who will speak about varied projects directed toward a greener campus.

So join us on Thursday if you are in the Bay Area by tuning in to 90.1FM  from 6-7 PM (PST). If you want to listen online, you can at kzsulive.stanford.edu. Thanks for listening!


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S2E8: Reason for Hope: Fitting Biodiversity Conservation into Solar Development Plans

This past Thursday on Green Grid Radio, we turned to a subject few consider when thinking about the viability of different types of renewable energy: impacts on birds and other wildlife. Garry George, Renewable Energy Project Director at Audubon California, joined us to discuss how solar and wind energy development projects impact biodiversity, as well as how Audubon works with renewable energy developers to reduce this impact as much as possible. We learned about some exciting partnerships and developments, such as the Working Lands Program, the Department of Energy and Interior’s final plan for solar development in the west, and ways to move forward in the transition to renewable energy without threatening endangered wildlife. We were also joined by panelist Chase Mendenhall, a Ph.D candidate in Stanford’s Center for Conservation Biology. Chase shared his perspective on the efforts to conserve wildlife in human-dominated areas, his environmental philosophy, and some interesting implications of his research in countryside biogeography. If you missed it live, please enjoy this week’s episode below!

S2E8: Reason for Hope: Fitting Biodiversity Conservation into Solar Development Plans

Garry George, Audubon. Photo credit: AT&T

Listen here:


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Coming up in S2E8: Reason for Hope: Fitting Biodiversity Conservation into Solar Development Plans

The eighth episode of Green Grid Radio’s second season will be “Reason for Hope: Fitting Biodiversity Conservation into Solar Development Plans,” and will feature Garry George, Renewable Energy Project Director at Audubon California. Garry reviews renewable energy development projects and acts as a voice for wildlife in order to mitigate the harm bird populations suffer as a result of the creation of wind and solar farms in desert lands. Garry will speak with us about solar energy technologies impacting birds, Audubon’s perspective on the Departments of Energy and Interior‘s 2012 plan for solar development on public lands in the west, and how we can create a future in which we don’t have to choose between biodiversity protection and a healthy climate. With the urgent need to transition to renewable energy sources, making sure that we move forward in a way that doesn’t step on the wings of endangered birds in the process is critical. You don’t want to miss this episode!c

Make sure to tune in Thursday to 90.1FM (in the Bay Area) from 6-7 PM (PST) or online at kzsulive.stanford.edu. Thanks for listening!


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S2E7: A Day in the Life of a Bay Area Environmental Think Tank

Green Grid Radio returned to a local focus this past Thursday. “A Day in the Life of a Bay Area Environmental Think Tank” featured Dr. Tanja Srebotnjak of the Ecologic Institute, who joined us to speak a bit about some of the San Mateo office’s recent work in the Bay Area. This included discussion of the Sustainable San Mateo 2012 Indicators Report and a recent project on Senior Health in San Mateo. As we think about communities and large populations aging in the future, how might we improve resource efficiency? Do seniors need to have to have their Oldsmobile in their driveway for weekly trips to the store, or can we introduce interventions like car-sharing or taxi services to reduce the hassle of vehicle ownership, encourage the sharing economy, and improve the social lives of folks? This was merely one topic we discussed this week. Matt Chalmers of UC Davis Law School, panelist extraordinaire, also joined us to hammer home the importance of many sectors (government, nonprofits like Ecologic and academia, and industry) working together to solve our sustainability challenges.

S2E7: A Day in the Life of a Bay Area Environmental Think Tank

Ecologic has written up an even more comprehensive description of the episode. Thanks for the support and promotion!

Listen here:


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Coming up in S2E7: A Day in the Life of a Bay Area Environmental Think Tank

It’s easy to get caught up thinking about national energy and environmental policies and programs as the ultimate mechanisms for initiating change. We hyper-analyze every word in Obama’s State of the Union and different groups cry foul, while others proclaim victory. In this media-saturated world we live in, we sometimes forget about many of the promising local changes that are taking place. Volunteers, city governments, and local non-profits are out there making a difference, especially here in the Bay Area. On today’s show, we focus on effective sustainability initiatives  with Dr. Tanja Srebotnjak of the Ecologic Institute, and the episode is titled, “A Day in the Life of a Bay Area Environmental Think Tank”. We’ll also be joined by frequent contributor and panelist, Matt Chalmers.

2012-indicators-cover-231x300Make sure to listen from 6-7 PM (PST) on Thursday! Our regular reminder: we’re on 90.1FM in the Bay Area, or online at kzsulive.stanford.edu. Thanks for listening!


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S2E6: Ecovillages: Sustainable, Cooperative Lifestyles that Really Work

Last Thursday, the Green Grid Radio team approached the topic of ecovillages and cooperative living. In “Ecovillages: Sustainable, Cooperative Lifestyles that Really Work,” Tony Sirna spoke with us about the inception and operation of Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, an intentional community in northeast Missouri. Sirna, an alum of Stanford who lived in Synergy (a cooperative house on campus), wanted to create social change after graduating and implement the cooperative living model in the real world. We spoke with Tony about why he decided to start Dancing Rabbit; how the community works socially, politically, economically, and environmentally; and how he hopes to use Dancing Rabbit as a model for the rest of the U.S. of how to live in harmony with your family, your neighbors, and the planet. Student guests Hannah Rich and Aliza Gazek, current residents in Columbae (another cooperative house on campus), joined us as well to talk about their experiences living cooperatively. Sirna, Rich and Gazek all expressed hope and excitement at the idea of using larger-scale intentional communities to educate the public and live sustainably beyond college.

S2E6: Ecovillages: Sustainable, Cooperative Lifestyles that Really Work S2E6: Ecovillages: Sustainable, Cooperative Lifestyles that Really Work

Alongside coops, other groups on campus initiate low-budget, high-impact projects to benefit the larger community. Tying in with that notion, this episode also featured the next “Energy on the Farm” segment with Sasha Brownsberger of the Green Living Council. We checked in with GLC on their activities this year. You can listen to this week’s fascinating episode below:

Listen here:



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Coming up in S2E6: Ecovillages: Sustainable, Cooperative Lifestyles That Really Work

The sixth episode of Green Grid Radio’s second season will be, “Ecovillages: Sustainable, Cooperative Lifestyles that Really Work,” and will feature Stanford University alum Tony Sirna. Tony lived in Synergy, a co-op house at Stanford, as an undergrad, and after graduating decided to take the principles of community living and implement them in the real world by founding Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in northeastern Missouri. Dancing Rabbit, now a thriving intentional community of about 70 people, allows members to live ecologically sound lives and provides an example of an alternative way of living as a community. We will also welcome current Stanford students and co-op residents Hannah Rich and Aliza Gazek as panelists on the show, to discuss our interview with Tony and to comment on how cooperative living has impacted their views on sustainability and community.

courtyard

So tune on in Thursday from 6-7 PM (PST) to 90.1FM in the Bay Area, or online at kzsulive.stanford.edu. Thanks for listening!