newspOp

Check out Reef Check

After our wild night of LA shmoozing (ok it wasn't that wild but it did end with Whit doing magic tricks at the 101 Coffee Shop on Franklin), we decided we needed to balance out the superficiality of Hollywood with a stop in Malibu to the offices of Reef Check, an amazing organization dedicated to saving coral reefs around the world. As an avid scuba diver, I am really interested in reef preservation. The thing is reefs just aren't sexy as they say in ol' LA, they aren't cuddly and they are hard to personalize so it's really a challenge to rally people to the cause.  But one man, Gregor Hodgson, the Executive Director of Reef Check, is up for the challenge.

Greg explains many ways to help reefs in the interivew below. One way is to sign the "Declaration of Reef Rights" which I've done of course. Or to support Reef Check with donations which you can do by attending their upcoming fundraiser in LA Reef Rescue 2008.

p.s. please excuse the choppy video. we weren't getting a great connection there for some reason....

Re:3pm PT Saving Coral Reefs on NOW!

We deliver!

Wanna give a shout out to Rodale Publishing and Renee Loux for getting Renee's book, "Easy Green Living" to Seesmic member and NewspOp fan, Anika, so incredibly fast!

"Easy Green Living" Book Winner!

And for your Friday viewing pleasure.....our conversation with Renee Loux, faboo queen of green...oh, is that a hint who won the book, um, maybe...watch and see!

Oil!

Is my favorite book by Upton Sinclair and it's also the blood running through our energy dependent veins.

Polar Bear Recap

Another show with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), this one about polar bears. People, i just can't tell you how this concerns me. Yes, the Bush Administration has granted the polar bear threatened species status but without honoring the protections that usually go along with that status. They want to keep the door open for drilling for oil. With gas prices soaring, they'll be at it again in no time....pushing to drill off Alaska. It's so important to support the efforts of the NRDC and Greenpeace in this cause.

Queen of Green

I'm not sure if you know this but NewspOp is organic. The words and ideas that come out of my head are totally biodegradable, possibly just degradable. Anyway, we're doing a give-a-way! I've invited my friend Renee Loux (Alice Cooper calls her the queen of green!) to come on NewspOp and share some green tips from her new book "Easy Green Living."  She's donating a copy of the book to a Seesmic user!

Gas Prices Recap

Oooohh, look! We have a snazzy new show open for NewspOp! Thank you Whit!

Global Warming Sucks!

for everyone but especially polar bears right now. In case you somehow missed the 8 million movies, TV shows, Vanity Fair covers and Youtube videos about the poor polar bears and how the melting sea ice is making it impossible for them to hunt and are therefore dying, then please get a clue. Guess what, you can get one from watching NewpOp! The NRDC is back, this time Craig Noble is talking with us about the polar bear's new listing as a threatened species. NRDC, Greenpeace and Center for Biological Diversity worked very hard to make this happen but of course BAD (Bush Administration Dummies) has already enacted a "special rule" to waive many of the protections. Oy! But have no fear, well have some fear as always when it come to BAD, but the NRDC is seeking full protection for the bears and will continue to do so.

Gas Prices Suck!

We can't seem to get enough of talking about gas prices. I guess because they suck. It's a weird deal. There's this nostalgia when it comes to the prices of things...."I remember when gas was 89 cents a gallon..."  That's me remembering by the way, not some 'ol geezer. But I say that with some sense of pride, like I lived in a time when gas was cheap and life was good and mix tapes meant something. But wait....was that good? The environmentalist in me thinks that low gas prices were bad and high gas prices must be a good thing because it's forcing us to conserve. People are actually driving less and downsizing to smaller cars for the first time in years. But what do I know, I went to a public college....go gators...so I've invited Roland Hwang from the NRDC to discuss energy and conservation with us. He is their Vehicles Policy Director and he has a master's degree in mechanical engineering. Check out the whole conversation here:

 

Oh, some folks have asked me...."What is the NRDC?"
"What planet are you on?" is my thought but hey now, that's not the right attitude!  So, the NRDC is the Natural Resources Defense Council and they are awesome. That doesn't cut it? Ok, the official blurb: NRDC is the nation's most effective environmental action group, combining the grassroots power of 1.2 million members and online activists with the courtroom clout and expertise of more than 350 lawyers, scientists and other professionals.  I interviewed Elizabeth Wiatt (Board of Trustees and Founder of the Leadership Council) last year for a show called "It's Easy Being Green" for HGTV.  We toured their oh-so-amazing offices in Santa Monica, CA which has a Platinum LEED rating and also features an interactive Environmental Action Center in the Lobby. Check it out it you're in the area.

www.nrdc.org

Roland's Blog:
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/rhwang