Category: Energy

The Holiday Plastic Conundrum, plus Holiday Astrology with Charlotte Ghiorse, Sexy Astrologist

There is a famous quote in the movie The Graduate which is given to Benjamin Braddock by Mr. McGuire as he approaches Benjamin at a party to give him life some advice. Here is the dialogue:

Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.

Benjamin: Yes, sir.

Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?

Benjamin: Yes, I am.

Mr. McGuire: Plastics.

Benjamin: Exactly how do you mean?

Mr. McGuire: There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?

When Walter Brooke, as Mr. McGuire, spoke those words to Dustin Hoffman in his legendary role as Benjamin Braddock in the classic film The Graduate, audiences would not have known just how enduring the future of plastics would be. Since 1976, plastics have been the most used material in the United States and will most likely continue to be used in many years to follow. While it seemed that Mr. McGuire gave good advice to Benjamin at the time, companies have made billions of dollars in the plastic industry, and we are now inundated with plastic in the water, land and air, and it is even in our bloodstream. According to Stanford University, the average US household throws out 25% more trash from Thanksgiving to New Year’s than the rest of the year. Much of this is wrapping paper, often made with plastic films or glitter that make it impossible to recycle. Then there are the gifts themselves, especially for kids. So many toys are made of plastic! For many people, this plastic exchange takes place under a plastic tree. Plastic’s carbon footprint continues to expand as raw materials are manufactured into products, shipped all over, and eventually disposed of. So what can we do to reduce our trash and our plastic use since almost everything we buy as gifts, from toys and clothes to electronics contain plastic? So as the holiday season kicks off,  we get some insight into the plastic conundrum and also get a holiday astrology update with our resident eco-activist, artist and Sexy Astrologist Charlotte Ghiorse. For more info go to houseofchoclet.com, follow Charlotte on her Facebook page Sexy Astrology. For more shows go to HudsonRiverRadio.com and MalcolmPresents.com. Follow TMSOG on Instagram and Threads @tmshadesofgreen. Subscribe to The Many Shades of Green podcast on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, iHeart and more. #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness

Whistleblowers, The Cost of Clean Air, and Misdirection of the Media with George Polisner, Founder of Civ.Works

This quote by Lionel Fisher is dedicated to my MudgeBro Phil Margo who was the ultimate Curmudgeon….“Curmudgeons speak up because they have to, because it’s become critically important for them to tell the truth as they see it. Telling the truth is as natural to them once more as it was when they were children. The fact that no one cares to listen is inconsequential. Curmudgeons speak up, raise their voices, stand for something too right to be silent about anymore, whatever the cost, despite a world that deals with what it doesn’t want to hear by crucifying the messenger. Increasingly these days, they’re being called by another name: whistleblower.”

 Let’s face it, we live in a topsy turvy world, and times are difficult. We don’t know who or what to trust, and we rely on those on the inside to speak up when something goes awry. People who stand up to report wrongdoing within government, industry and institutions are called whistleblowers. According to the Government Accountability Project a common legal definition of a whistleblower is someone, typically an employee, who discloses information, either internally (to managers, organizational hotlines, etc.) or externally (to lawmakers, regulators, the media, watchdog organizations, etc.), that he or she reasonably believes is a violation of law, rule or regulation; gross mismanagement, as well as a gross waste of funds; abuse of authority; or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety made according to the law or in protection of the public interest. Some famous Whistleblowers include Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the  Pentagon Papers to NYT, Karen Silkwood, who outed the nuclear plant Kerr-McGee for plutonium leaks and a unsafe work conditions, as well as Col. Alexander Vindman and John Schilling who both spoke up to call out the wrongs they witnessed. We should all be grateful to the whistleblowers who have the inner strength to speak out and give info that they believe must be reported to disclose wrongdoing. George Polisner, our resident political, economic, environmental and social justice expert, gives us some insight into whistleblowers and delves into the new EPA rules about reducing harmful particulate matter which is being scrutinized by the oil, gas and manufacturing industries as being too costly. We will also touch on the international misdirection of the media. For more info go to Civ.Works and whistlebloweraid.org. For past shows go to HudsonRiverRadio.com and Malcolmpresents.com. Follow TMSOG on Instagram and Threads @tmshadesofgreen, and on FaceBook. Subscribe to The Many Shades of Green on all major podcast apps. #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness

War, what is it good for? And Some Good environmental news in Portugal and more with George Polisner founder of Civ.Works

WAR by Edwin Starr 1970—War, huh, yeah…What is it good for? Absolutely nothing, uh!

The sixties and seventies were filled with protest songs like WAR, as battles raged in Vietnam and Cambodia, killing thousands of young men and Vietcong, as well as the collateral damage of innocent lives. There was a draft, and young men did not want to fight what they thought was a senseless war. A song written in the 50’s by Pete Seeger, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, has the lyric “When will we ever learn”? And the Rodgers and Hammerstein song from South Pacific, “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught” has lyrics which delve into racism and hate, placed within a beautiful ballad: Here are some of the lyrics: 

You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear. You’ve got to be taught from year to year, it’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear—You’ve got to be carefully taught!

You’ve got to be taught to be afraid of people whose eyes are oddly made, and people whose skin is a different shade—You’ve got to be carefully taught.

You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late, before you are six or seven or eight, to hate all the people your relatives hate—You’ve got to be carefully taught! You’ve got to be carefully taught!

Fast forward to October 2023, and the question stays the same, WAR what is it good for, absolutely nothin’!!! There are no words for the atrocities which are being unleashed in Israel and Gaza. Mankind has once again plummeted into yet another war. So what is the answer? Does one avenge and take revenge? How does one cope with the humanitarian and moral dilemma? I truly have no words to express my feelings and outrage. How long will this hate and destruction go on? So the tune “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” keeps popping into my mind, and the refrain written by Pete Seeger in 1955, “when will they ever learn when will they ever learn” is now a constant ear worm in my head. There is much to discuss, and on this episode of TMSOG George Polisner our resident political, economic, environmental, social justice expert and founder of Civ.works gives us some insight into the Israeli conflict with Hamas, the insanity of US Politics and some positive energy solutions from Portugal. For more info check out Civ.Works and for past podcasts go to HudsonRiverRadio.com and Malcolmpresents.com. Please subscribe to The Many Shades of Green on all major podcast apps. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Threads @tmshadesofgreen #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness

Oil Spills, Art Shows (Cowboy Towne and American Garbage VI) and August Astrology with Charlotte Ghiorse

“Whoever controls oil controls much more than oil. Oil is a lousy investment because it isn’t an investment. It’s just a bet–and it’s a bet with a ticking time bomb attached to it.” Unknown

“The Gulf Stream waters of Woody Guthrie’s famous song were strung with columns of oil that were several miles long.” ― James Lee Burke, Creole Belle

According to the NOAA, Oil spills can happen any place where oil is being extracted, transported, or stored. The magnitude of harm from a spill is determined by many factors, including the amount and type of oil, location, season, weather, and actions taken to clean up the spill. The most catastrophic spill occurred on April 20,2010,  when the oil drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, operating in the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded and sank resulting in the death of 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon and the largest spill of oil in the history of marine oil drilling operations. Multiple parties, including BP, Halliburton and Transocean, were involved. On this episode of TMSOG we delve into oil spills with our resident Eco-activist, Artist and Astrologer Charlotte Ghiorse. We also talk about her new art show Cowboy Towne and American Garbage VI: the realestate of the heart. Charlotte gives us August Astrology, and we take a peak at some Leos. For more info go to HouseofChoCLeT.com and check out Sexy Astrology on FB and YouTube. For past shows go to HudsonRiverRadio.com and MalcolmPresents.com. Please subscribe to The Many Shades of Green podcast on all major podcast apps and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @tmshadesofgreen. #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness

Fires, Goats and Indictments with our monthly commentator on civics, politics, the environment and more… George Polisner

The world is burning literally and figuratively. But in the literal definition, people around the globe are struggling and fighting to put out wildfires on a daily basis. The burning fires are creating high levels of pollution, causing destruction and damage to flora and fauna. The East coast of the US recently got a dose of what it’s like to live on the West coast, as the apocalyptic orange skies and smoke filled air obliterated the skylines of NYC and other cities in the Mid-Atlantic states. Wildfires are getting bigger and more destructive. One of the main forces driving this trend is climate change, which has intensified summertime droughts thus reducing the mountaintop snowpack, making fire seasons longer. There is an increase in lightening strikes that can trigger big fires in tinder-dry forests. Fire seasons are longer and since the 1980s, researchers say, climate change has roughly doubled the area of wildfires in the west. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Biden discussed the need to “work together to address the devastating impacts of climate change.” Chuck Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor that “the climate crisis is real and it is here to stay. We must take action against the climate crisis, both short-term and long-term.” But what are our elected officials really doing about it? What is the politics of wild fires, and how can we work to reduce these fires? On a different note we will also touch on the latest indictment of a former president, which is a first in US history. We are lucky to have George Polisner our resident political expert on this episode to give us some insight into issues of climate change, fires, and politics.  George is the founder of Civ.works, who works to bring civic engagement, activism, citizen participation and political communication to the forefront. For more info go to Civ.Works, check out past shows on malcolmpresents.com, HudsonRiverRadio.com. Subscribe to TMSOG podcast on all major podcast apps. #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: Burning Forests, Food Waste, June Astrology and more with Charlotte Ghiorse

Do we ever think how far our food has traveled to be on our plate, and what it took to grow? Our mom’s used to yell at us “ don’t waste your food and clean your plate, there are kids who go hungry!” Mom of course, was right, and today, hunger is more widespread than ever, and more food is wasted which could be used to feed those in need. Food waste already accounts for roughly 8 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases. According to a UCLA study, 26% percent of the United States’ total greenhouse gas emissions comes from food production and consumption. Therefore, the choices we make when deciding what to eat really can have an impact. If all of the 80% of Americans who eat the standard American diet shifted their habits to eat fewer animal products, even if just a few times a week, the difference could be significant. On this episode our resident artist, filmmaker, astrologist, mother of three awesome kiddos, and Earth activist Charlotte Ghiorse joins us to discuss the problems and solutions of food waste, forests burning in Canada causing hazardous air quality, as well as how the astrological connections of the planets in June affect us.  For more info go to https://www.houseofchoclet.com/ You can find Sexy Astrology on YouTube and Facebook. Subscribe to TMSOG on all major podcast apps, on Instagram @tmshadesofgren and on HudsonRiverRadio.com and MalcolmPresents.com. #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness SaveButtonhookForest.org

Gulf Coast Love Story with Dayna Reggero, Founder of The Climate Listening Project

“While oil & gas executives are planning massive expansions, we’re gathering to share stories of environmental injustice & continued hope.” Dayna Reggero

According to Earth Justice, pipeline spills can cause irreversible environmental destruction. Since 2001, there have been almost 700 reported incidents of serious pipeline failures. Over 2.6 million miles of oil and gas pipelines crisscross the country. Pipelines run through lakes, rivers, aquifers, and waterways, endangering the ecosystems and communities in their paths and fueling the climate crisis. Communities have the right to clean air, safe drinking water, and unspoiled lands, and they are being denied those rights by the harmful excesses of the fossil fuel industry. Our guest on this episode is Dayna Reggero who is an environmentalist, award winning documentarian, art activist and a guardian of Mother Earth. Her latest film project is called Gulf Coast Love Story, a collaborative Climate Listening Project which takes place in the Gulf Coast (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida). Dayna has collaborated with artist activist Roishetta Ozane, photographer Rev. Michael Malcom, poet Ebony Stewart, and many Gulf Coast artists to produce a collaborative artistic endeavor visioning a better future grounded in the Gulf Coast Love. Artists involved with GulfCoastMurals.com take part in the project. It is a movement comprised of artists taking action to stop LNG exports, who envision a better future for the Gulf Coast. For more info go to DaynaReggero.com, https://gulfcoastlovestory.com/ For past shows on TMSOG go to HudsonRiverRadio.com and MalcolmPresents.com. Subscribe to our podcast on all major podcast apps.

What is Pluralistic Ignorance and why we need recognize it as a problem? More Civic Engagement can help and Civics Activism Expert George Polisner tells us why.

The world is facing a climate crisis, and we still are not paying enough attention, especially here in America. It is hard to understand why a large share of the populace in the US doesn’t seem to believe that climate change is a serious problem. A study published by nature.com  dated August 23, 2022, entitled: Americans Experience a False Social Reality by Underestimating Popular Climate Policy Support by Nearly Half, states that a collective action problem like climate change requires individuals to recognize the problem as a threat, and should engage in coordinated actions that result in raising environmental consciousness and social change.  Pluralistic ignorance is a shared misperception of how others think or behave, and poses a challenge to collective action, especially with a problem like climate change, which requires individuals to engage in coordinated actions that result in the development of solutions, behavioral adaptation and resilience. Collective action problems pose a difficult challenge as individuals are less likely to act when others standby and do nothing—and this outcome is only more common when the problem at hand is not clearly perceived to be a threat. Pluralistic ignorance is described as a false social reality: a near universal perception of public opinion that is the opposite of true public sentiment. Supporters of climate policies outnumber opponents two to one, while Americans falsely perceive nearly the opposite to be true. Further, Americans in every state and every assessed demographic underestimate support across all polices tested.  We need to shed light on this conundrum and my monthly civics and political analyst, George Polisner helps me delve into this and other topics that affect how we act, how we vote, and what is needed to push the needle to create positive change. George is the founder of Civ.works, who works to bring civic engagement, activism, citizen participation and political communication to the forefront. For more information go to Civ.Works

You can subscribe to all TMSOG podcasts on your favorite podcast apps, and listen to this and past shows on HudsonRiverRadio.com and Malcolmpresents.com. Follow The Many Shades of Green on Facebook and Instagram @tmshdesofgreen. #RaiseYourEcoConsciousness

Sustainable Westchester: The Grid Rewards Program and more with Lauren Brois and Dan Welsh

Local environmental organizations play a key role in creating programs to build sustainable communities, and they truly make a difference in helping to create a cleaner, greener planet Earth. Sustainable Westchester is an organization which works to integrate policies, environmental campaigns and outreach to educate the citizens of Westchester County about issues of sustainability, and how they can take action to be adaptive and resilient, in order to reduce their carbon footprint. Some of Sustainable Westchester campaigns include: GRID Rewards, Solar and Geothermal incentives and deductions, Westchester Power and more. Lauren Brois and Dan Welsh work to help activate people to reduce their carbon footprint, and are dedicated to creating a more sustainable planet through local programs in Westchester County and beyond. For more information go to sustainablewestchester.org, check out the Grid Rewards Program via your smartphone app or on your computer at gridrewards.com.

Please subscribe to The Many Shades of Green podcast on all major podcast apps. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @tmshadesofgreen. For more shows go to hudsonriverradio.com and malcolmpresents.com

Cornell Cooperative Regional Clean Energy Hub in the Hudson Valley

We all have to care, we all have to do our part to protect Mother Earth. With the recent IPCC report from the UN, which stated that we will pierce the 2 degree threshold for global warming within a decade, it is more important than ever that we take actions now on both local and global levels to reduce the impact of climate change and carbon emissions. Our local and state officials must lead the way to create programs that help communities, especially in underserved areas, to be proactive in reducing green house gas emissions and more. This includes making renewable energy more available and affordable, creating green jobs and educating the public on what must be done to get people involved in working to curtail the use of fossil fuels while encouraging the use of clean energy. On December 9, 2022 Governor Hochul announced $52 Million Dollars in Awards for Regional Clean Energy Hubs to Connect New York Communities with Clean Energy Resources. 12 Regional Clean Energy Hubs were created to serve as centers of outreach, awareness, and education in regions across New York State to help foster residents’ participation, especially those in underserved or otherwise disadvantaged communities, with respect to New York’s clean energy transition. The announcement supports the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act which is in place to deliver at least 35-40 percent of the benefits from clean energy investments to disadvantaged communities, and help advance an equitable clean energy transition for all New Yorkers.  My guests on this episode are Frankie Lede and Amanda Catale who are working to put these important sustainability  programs into effect and are both stewards of Mother Earth.  Frankie and Amanda are Energy Resource Educators/Advisors with Cornell Cooperative Extension, who are working with the Energy Hub located in the Mid-Hudson Valley. For more info go to: https://midhudsonenergychoices.org/ SustainableWestchester: https://sustainablewestchester.org/energysmarthomes/Mid-Hudson Regional Energy Hub Workforce Development – New Yorkers for Clean Power: https://nyforcleanpower.org/

Are we all EcoSexuals? Guests Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens give us insight into the field of Ecosexolgy

In this episode, we will explore the Ecosexuality movement, a relatively new sexual identity which connects environmental activism based around nature, and promotes the idea of the earth as a lover. It invites people to treat the earth with love rather than see it as an infinite resource to exploit. It was founded by our guests, Elizabeth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle, who describe themselves as “two ecosexual artists-in-love”, whose manifesto is to make environmental activism “more sexy, fun, and diverse”. Their new book, is titled, Assuming the Ecosexual Position: The Earth as Lover. Annie and Beth give us insight about how they came together to collaborate on this latest work, how they took a stand against homophobia, xenophobia, and how this union led to the miraculous conception of the Love Art Laboratory.

Check out their new book Assuming the Ecosexual Position:The Earth As Lover
https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/collections/arts-humanities-2021  and go to sprinklestephens.org to get more about the EcoSexual movement and films Water Makes Us Wet and Goodbye Gauley Mountain. For past shows go to hudsonriverradio.com and malcolmpresents.com. Follow us on FaceBook and Instagram, tweet us @tmshadesofgreen. A shout out to my Green Diva Sistas at thegreendivas.com

Listen to “Annie Sprinkle & Beth Stephens and The Eco Sexual Movement” on Spreaker.

TMSOG welcomes Don Raskopf, we talk about the Clearwater organization, Pete Seeger, and what it was like to be a poll worker in the 2020 election

Our guest Don Raskopf is a long time member of the organization Clearwater, which was co-founded in 1966 by legendary singer and activist Pete Seeger. Don talks about the work that Clearwater is doing to help clean up the Hudson River, via the Clearwater sloop, and his relationship with Pete Seeger. We talk about how Clearwater has helped educate thousands of children on environmental issues and why it is so important to promote youth education and outreach. Don is also a member of the Beacon Sloop Club, which fits in with his experience as a carpenter and boat builder. He is active in Beacon4BlackLives, and was a first time poll worker in the last election. We discussed his experience with first time voters, and he had a wonderful story about the passion of those voters. For more information go to clearwater.org. Check out malcolmpresents.com for more shows, and go to thegreendivas.com for info on all things “green”.