Tag Archives: Pollution
Scholars' Circle – Regulatory challenges for EPA after West Virginia v. EPA Decision of 2022 – July 17, 2022
The Supreme Court has weakened executive agencies and their ability to regulate and make policy. No agency has been more affected than the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). What is next for environmental protection? [ dur: 58mins. ]
Traditionally, the US Supreme Court has given executive branch agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency quite a bit of latitude at enforcing Congressional legislation. This principle is called Chevron deference. But in this term, the Supreme Court weakened this principle significantly, in particular in the area of environmental protection. In West Virginia v EPA, the Court signaled that the EPA can only enforce on areas specifically outlined by Congress. Specifically, it weakened the agency's ability to take regulatory steps to combat climate change. We will discuss what this means for the EPA, for public policy, and for the US's ability to make international commitments on the environment.
Joel A. Mintz is Professor Emeritus of Law and C. William Trout Senior Fellow in Public Interest Law at Nova Southeastern University Law Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is the author of Enforcement at the EPA: High Stakes and Hard Choices and "Thinking Beyond Gridlock: Towards A Consistent Statutory Approach To Federal Environmental Enforcement".
Richard N. L. (Pete) Andrews is a Faculty Fellow of the Institute for the Environment and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Public Policy at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is the author of Managing the Environment, Managing Ourselves: A History of American Environmental Policy.
Pamela Chasek is Professor and Chair of the Political Science Department at Manhattan College. She is the author of Global Environmental Politics.
This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Mihika Chechi, Melissa Chiprin, and Sudd Dongre.
Climate ChangeCongressCourtsEnvironmentEnvironmental ActivismGovernance / LawPolitics and ActivismPollution
Scholars' Circle – Consequence of Oil Spill on the Southern California Coast – October 31, 2021
Earlier this month, an oil spill devastated parts of the ecosystems off the coast of Southern California. We explore how to limit the destruction arising from oil production and spills during the transition away from fossil fuels. [ dur: 58mins. ]
Deborah Gordon is Senior Principal in the Climate Intelligence Program at Rocky Mountain Institute where she leads RMI's Oil and Gas Solutions Initiative. She is also a senior fellow at the Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs at Brown University and the principal investigator for the Oil Climate Project. She is the author of No Standard Oil: Managing Abundant Petroleum in a Warming World.
Ron Tjeerdema is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Environmental Toxicology and the Donald G. Crosby Endowed Chair in Environmental Chemistry in the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences at University of California, Davis. He is the co-author of A Tale of Two Spills: Novel Science and Policy Implications of an Emerging New Oil Spill Model, Environmental variations and toxicological responses and Effects of dispersed and un-dispersed oil on developing topsmelt embryos.
Jill Sohm is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Director of the Program at the University of Southern California. She is the co-author of Microbial mats of the Dry Valleys: oases of activity in the cold desert and The distribution and relative ecological roles of autotrophic and heterotrophic diazotrophs in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica.
David Ginsberg is Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Southern California. He is the co-author of Effects of depth-cycling on nutrient uptake and biomass production in the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera and Methane Reduction Potential of Two Pacific Coast Macroalgae During in vitro Ruminant Fermentation.
This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.
Biodiversity / ExtinctionEcosystemsEnvironmentPollutionWater Pollution
Scholars' Circle – Portrait of Daniel Patrick Moynihan -/- What to do about Climate effects due to rising temps – November 3 , 2019
November 3, 2019 host
First, we speak with Steven Weisman, editor of the book "Daniel Patrick Moynihan: A Portrait in Letters of an American Visionary" which weaves compelling read of carefully selected from a 10,000 page collection of Senator Moynahan's correspondence, housed at the Library of Congress. [ dur: 18 mins. ]
Steven Weisman is a vice president for publications and communications at Peterson Institute for International Economics and formerly served as chief international economics correspondent of the New York Times. He is the editor of the book Daniel Patrick Moynihan: A Portrait in Letters of an American Visionary.
As California burns, oceans rise, storms intensify, and Greenland's glacier's melts, we explore solutions to the climate change problem with Stanford Professor Mark Jacobson. He is the author of the just released study The health and climate impacts of carbon capture and direct air capture.
Mark Jacobson is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of Atmosphere/Energy Program at Stanford University. He's also the Co-Founder of The Solutions Project, 100.org, and the 100% Clean, Renewable Energy Movement. He is the author of A path to sustainable energy by 2030 (Scientific American, 2009); 100% clean and renewable wind, water, sunlight (WWS) all-sector energy roadmaps for the 50 United States (Energy & Environmental Sciences, 2015; 100% clean and renewable wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) all-sector energy roadmaps for 139 countries of the world (Joule, 2017); and 100% clean, and renewable wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) all-sector energy roadmaps for 53 towns and cities in North America (Sustainable Cities and Society, 2018)
Climate ChangeEarth SciencesEnvironmentPollutionRenewable Energy
Scholars' Circle – Plastics choking Oceans eco-system -/- The Anti-Govenment movement and US Constitution – Aug. 19th, 2018
August 18, 2018 host
First, tons of discarded plastic are choking off the ocean, killing wildlife, and building islands of garbage. How bad has it become and what can be done about it? [ dur: 19 mins. ]
Captain Charles Moore is founder of the ALGALITA Marine Research & Education Institute.
Then, how is the anti-government movement a type of constitutional coup? How does civil service provide a check on presidential power? [ dur: 39 mins. ]
Jon Michaels is a Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law. He is the author of Constitutional Coup: Privatization's Threat to the American Republic.
This program is produced with contributions from the following volunteers: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.
EnvironmentGovernance / LawPolitics and ActivismPollutionWater Pollution
Scholars' Circle-Plastic-Pollution-in-Oceans-/-Refugee-Crisis-September 27th, 2015
First, tons of discarded plastic are choking off the ocean, killing wildlife, and building islands of garbage. How bad has it become and what can be done? [ dur: 19 mins. ]
Capt. Charles Moore is founder of the ALGALITA Marine Research & Education Institute.
Then, on the Scholars' Circle panel, we look at the worse refugee crisis in the history. More than 59 million people have been forcibly displaced mostly from wars and persecution, according the the United Nations Refugee Agency. And the crisis appear to be worsening. What can be done to alleviate the mass suffering? Our guests argue that only a global response will do. [ dur: 39 mins. ]
Phil Orchard is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland and Research Director for the Asia-Pacific Center for the Responsibility to Protect. He is the author of "A Right to Flee: Refugees, States and the Construction of International Cooperation".
Jay Marlowe is Senior Lecturer and Associate Dean at the University of Auckland. He has published widely on the issue of refugees.
David Kyle is Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Davis. He is the author of "Transnational Peasants: Migrations, Networks and Ethnicity in Andean Ecuador", and the co-editor of "Global Human Smuggling: Comparative Perspectives".
Find book/publication authored by our guest scholars Book Shelf .
EnvironmentEnvironmental ActivismGovernment and LawHuman RightsPolitical SciencePolitics and ActivismPollutionWater Pollution
Scholars' Circle – plastics-in-ocean-/-democracy-in-Hong Kong-/-Ban Ki-Moon-speech- Sept. 7th, 2014
Captain Charles Moore is an environmental researcher, an internationally recognized pollution expert and activist, and founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. He is the co-author of, Plastic Ocean: How a Sea Captain's Chance Discovery Launched a Determined Quest to Save the Oceans.
Then, occupy central a group of pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong, have vowed to shut down Hong Kong's financial district should China change its freedom to nominate candidates democratically. What does this mean for democratization in Hong Kong and for the region? [ dur: 21 min. ]
Jeffrey Wasserstrom is the Chancellor's Professor of the History department at University California Irvine. He is the author of, China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know, Global Shanghai, 1850-2010, and China's Brave New World–And Other Tales for Global Times.
Stephen Noakes is a Lecturer in the Department of Politics & International Relations and Chinese Politics at the University of Auckland. He is the author of, Intellectuals and Authoritarian Resilience: The Role of Political Science in China.
Finally, highlights from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's speech, delivered at the University of Auckland last week. [ dur: 15 mins. ]
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations. His priorities have been to mobilize world leaders around a set of new global challenges, from climate change and economic upheaval to pandemics and increasing pressures involving food, energy and water. He has sought to be a bridge-builder, to give voice to the world's poorest and most vulnerable people, and to strengthen the Organization itself.
Visit our Store [ Amazon Book Store with links to books authored by our guests on Scholars' Circle. ]
ChinaEnvironmentGovernment and LawPolitical SciencePolitics and ActivismPollutionWater Pollution
The Scholars' Circle & Insighters Radio- July 7th, 2013
July 8, 2013 host
First, we revisit the American Revolution through the story of the loyalists – those loyal to Great Britain. [ dur: 18 mins. ]
Maya Jasanoff, Professor of History , Harvard University. Author of Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists and the Revolutionary War.
Then, we talk about America at a political, cultural and economic crossroads with [ dur: 27 mins. ]
Bill Greider author of, Come Home America: The Rise and Fall and the Redeeming Promise of Our Country.
Finally, we interview Heather Rogers, author of Green Gone Wrong: How Our Economy is Undermining the Environmental Revolution. [ dur: 13 mins. ]
CorporationsEnvironmentGovernment and LawOrganic FarmingPolitical SciencePolitics and ActivismPollutionSociety and CultureUnited States
Insighters & Scholars' Circle July 29th, 2012
With unprecedented melting of the ice sheets and worst drought in 55 years, we spend the hour understanding climate change AND the solution, including how to power the entire planet with renewables–with top scientists.
Part 1: Interview with Joseph Romm, senior fellow, American Progress – Author of Hell and High Water. Editor in Chief : climateprogress.org [ dur. 28 mins. ]
Part 2: The Scholars' Circle.
Prof. William Moomaw, Tuft Univ.
Prof. Mark Jacobson, Stanford
Prof. Ravi Rajan, UC Santa Cruz – Author of Modernizing Nature – Forestry and Eco-imperialism 1800 to 1950.
Visit our store [ lists books written by each on the panel ]
Alternative EnergyEarth SciencesEnvironmentEnvironmental ActivismGlobal ClimateGovernment and LawPolitics and ActivismPollutionScience in Society
Insighters & Scholars' Circle July 1st, 2012
First Segment, Untangling the science and politics of climate change with renowned climate scientist, James Hansen, author – Storms of my Grandchildren. ( dur: 27mins. ]
On Scholars' Circle. Politics of Emotions. How do emotions drive political outcomes like violence, war and genocide? [ dur. 25 mins. ]
Roger Peterson, MIT: author of: Understanding Ethnic Conflict.
David Altheide, AZ State Univ.: author of: Terror Post 9-11 and the Media
Jeff Berkenstein, St. Martin's Univ.: author of: Re-framing 9-11
EnvironmentEnvironmental ActivismGlobal ClimateGovernment and LawPolitical SciencePolitics and ActivismPollutionWar and WarfareWater Pollution
Insighters & Scholars' Circle – April 29th, 2012 @ LA Times Book Festival
May 1, 2012 host
All interviews were recorded live at the LA Times Book Festival on April 20th.
1. What is the collective cost to our wastefulness? And what are the economic and environmental harms of wastefulness? Edward Humes is author of, Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash.
2. Franklin D. Roosevelt's efforts to restore the US economy were met by a set of dark forces that sought to destroy him and all of his policies. What were those forces and how might they still resonate today? Sally Denton is author of, The Plots Against the President: FDR, A Nation in Crisis and the Rise of the American Right.
3. Army scientist Bruce Ivins mailed cultivated anthrax spores to U.S. Senators and media outlets, or did he? Who was Bruce Ivins? How did the press contribute to misleading America? Why did some of our highest government officials disregard scientific data while spinning the letter attacks into a basis for war? David Willman is author of, Mirage Man: Bruce Ivins, the Anthrax Attacks and America's Rush to War.
Visit our store [ lists books written by each in the panel ]
EnvironmentEnvironmental ActivismGovernment and LawPolitical SciencePolitics and ActivismPollutionUnited States