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Climate goals are off track; New York sues Pepsi; Nigeria's plastic bottle homes; new tactics to curb carp; US states recycle food waste; ESG winners and losers; an eco-friendly Christmas tree farm.
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EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.
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Climate goals are off track; New York sues Pepsi; Nigeria's plastic bottle homes; new tactics to curb carp; US states recycle food waste; ESG winners and losers; an eco-friendly Christmas tree farm.
About EarthxNews:
A weekly program dedicated to covering the stories that shape the planet. Featuring the latest updates in energy, environment, tech, climate, and more.
EarthX & EarthXtra
Love Our Planet.
The Official Network of Earth Day.
About Us:
At EarthX, we believe our planet is a pretty special place. The people, landscapes, and critters are likely unique to the entire universe, so we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We are committed to protecting the environment by inspiring conservation and sustainability, and our programming along with our range of expert hosts support this mission. We’re glad you’re with us.
EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.
EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/
Follow Us:
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TVTranscript
00:00Tackling climate change. Nations around the world are taking more concrete steps to combat the issue.
00:08But will their efforts be enough to keep global temperatures at specific levels? We'll explain.
00:14Plus, some companies in Nigeria are finding a new use for plastic bottles.
00:18How it could be a game changer when it comes to protecting the environment.
00:22And invasive carp. Scientists say they wreak havoc on aquatic ecosystems.
00:26We'll take a look at how scientists are using the fish as a sort of double agent in the U.S. Great Lakes.
00:40Hello and welcome to EarthX News, where we focus on sustainability and the environment.
00:45I'm your host, Christina Thompson.
00:46Let's get into some of the biggest headlines facing our planet.
00:50Some nations are starting to get serious about climate change.
00:53But is it happening fast enough?
00:55Even though the intention is there, according to a United Nations report, the changes aren't happening fast enough to offset global climate change.
01:03Now, the allegations were made in the U.N.'s annual assessment, known as the Emissions Gap Report,
01:08which tracked the gulf between nations' plans to fight climate change and what scientists say is actually required to keep the world temperatures at levels agreed upon in the 2015 Paris agreements.
01:19That gulf has shrunk over the years, but still remains large enough to fight off catastrophe.
01:23Now, according to the New York Times, even if all 149 countries keep the promises they made in the Paris agreement, and that is a big if,
01:32Earth will still be on track to heat up roughly 2.5 to 2.9 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels by the end of the century.
01:40That means an increase in risks like deadly heatwaves, wildfires, droughts, storms, and species extinctions.
01:46And the push to end global plastic pollution hitting a snag.
01:52The latest round of negotiations to craft a treaty closed in Nairobi, Kenya, after United Nations delegates failed to come up with an agreement on how to push forward a draft.
02:01The week-long meeting was one of several that had previously failed, in which the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for Plastics was unable to fine-tune their plan to create the first international legally binding treaty on plastic pollution.
02:16It's a task the committee was mandated with.
02:18Now, the committee, they're blaming oil-producing countries, saying these nations intentionally stalled to weaken the agreement.
02:25Meanwhile, New York is hopping on the plastic eradication train.
02:30The state sued PepsiCo, accusing the beverage and snack company of polluting the environment and putting public health in danger through its single-use plastic bottles, caps, and wrappers.
02:40The lawsuit is one of the first by a U.S. state to target a major plastic producer.
02:45According to accusations by New York Attorney General Letitia James, PepsiCo is responsible for public nuisance by generating a significant amount of plastic waste found in and near the Buffalo River.
02:58In fact, she says PepsiCo is at fault for more than 17 percent of the trash they've been able to trace back to specific brands.
03:05The suit is also meant as a signal to other manufacturers to begin proactively reducing plastic pollution.
03:11Nigerians are coming up with a practical way to repurpose some of this plastic bottle waste.
03:18They're building homes with it.
03:20Some Nigerian companies are now using plastic bottles to build homes that can survive powerful earthquakes and even bullets.
03:28Here's how they do it.
03:29The bottles are filled with sand.
03:31It essentially turns them into bricks as they are stacked on top of each other to form a wall.
03:35The bottles are held together with mud to create an entirely recycled structure.
03:40It takes just under 8,000 plastic bottles to build a one-bedroom, one-bathroom home with a kitchen and living room.
03:47According to Nigeria's Development Association for Renewable Energies, plastic bottle houses cost 67 percent less than a home built from concrete and brick.
03:57Plus, thanks to the sand compactly packed in plastic bottles, the homes have 20 times the strength of bricks.
04:04Climate-sensitive diseases are also spreading like wildfire.
04:08The National Climate Assessment, a federal report put together by more than a dozen federal agencies and various academic researchers,
04:16shows that climate change is pushing ticks, mosquitoes, and other carriers of disease into new regions.
04:22Lyme disease, which has historically been prevalent in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic,
04:27is becoming endemic in the Midwest to winters in that region as they become milder.
04:32And Western black-legged ticks, which carry the disease, are even creeping into Alaska,
04:37where conditions had normally been too harsh for the creepy crawler.
04:41Mosquitoes are passing on West Nile virus and bacteria called Vibrio is thriving in places it had never been previously.
04:48The National Climate Assessment comes out once every four years.
04:51Plus, a well-known climate scientist, James Hansen, issued a warning of his own about our planet.
04:57You might know him as a scientist who warned Congress 35 years ago
05:01that humans are causing an increase in greenhouse gas emissions and changing our climate.
05:07Well, now, he says, climate change has happened even faster than we thought,
05:11and sending us dangerously close to crisis.
05:13Since the pre-industrial era, Earth has warmed around 1.2 degrees Celsius.
05:18But recently, temperatures have spiked beyond that.
05:222023 was a hot summer, and registered global temperatures 1.5 to 1.6 degrees warmer
05:28than the average during the pre-industrial era.
05:31Part of Hansen's conclusions are based on, strangely enough, cleaner air.
05:35He suggests the removal of some air pollutants, like aerosols, might actually be making Earth hotter.
05:40Humanity made a Faustian bargain by offsetting a substantial but uncertain fraction
05:48of greenhouse gas warming with aerosol cooling.
05:53Now, as we want to reduce all the chronic health effects of aerosols,
06:00our first Faustian payment is due.
06:05The payment is acceleration of global warming.
06:08Hansen went on to explain that aerosols and other particulate impurities, despite being
06:14a health hazard, actually help to cool the climate, and reducing them in the air lets
06:19in more sunlight, which then heats up the planet.
06:22However, his theory has garnered questions from the environmental science community who
06:26are calling his study into question.
06:28Noted professor of Earth science at the University of Pennsylvania, Michael Mann, offered his critique
06:33of Hansen's and his colleagues' conclusions on his website, writing,
06:37The standard is high when you're challenging scientific understanding, and I don't think
06:42they've met that standard by a long shot.
06:44Other studies have shown the impact of aerosol reduction would have had much less of an impact
06:49than Hansen is projecting.
06:50In the meantime, countries like the U.S. are proposing measures aimed at curbing air pollution
06:55in an effort to combat climate change.
06:58Artificial intelligence is booming across the world, but powering it is proving to be
07:03a difficult challenge to tackle.
07:05The sheer amount of energy needed to power artificial intelligence models, think chat GPT, is beyond
07:11what can be supported without alternative energy sources.
07:15The electricity supply is already strained due to increasing demand, and AI alone could consume
07:21up to 3.5 percent of the world's electricity by 2030.
07:25That's according to some estimates.
07:27Sustainability goals add complexity towards satisfying those energy demands, but remain a
07:32priority for many U.S. companies.
07:35Amazon.com, for example, Microsoft and Google, they were among the first to explore a plethora
07:40of non-traditional energy sources, including wind and solar, to power their data centers.
07:45But those might not be enough.
07:47Now, those same companies are looking at an even wider range of sources
07:51including geothermal, nuclear, and flared gas, a byproduct of oil production.
07:57Researchers estimate training one AI model, like OpenAI's GPT-3, can use the equivalent
08:02to the amount of electricity 1,000 U.S. homes use in a year.
08:07Wildlife officials in the Great Lakes are trying to stop the spread of an invasive carp species.
08:13Over the last few years, wildlife services in the area have tried to encourage the public
08:18to find and kill these fish, but now they're trying a new tactic.
08:22They're catching, tagging, and then releasing them.
08:25Carp typically swim in schools, so environmental agency workers wait for them to travel back in the spring and fall.
08:32They take out whole schools of them while they migrate using the one that was tagged.
08:37Now, it's ridding ecosystems of these carp, help to keep the waters and the native species healthy.
08:43And when you think of waters off the coast of Texas, in the Gulf of Mexico, you might think oil.
08:49You probably don't think coral.
08:51Now, despite misperceptions, the waters off the coast of Texas, about 100 miles out,
08:55are filled with some of the healthiest coral reefs on the planet.
08:58The location is incredibly beneficial to the coral, helping it to grow and thrive.
09:03It's sheltered in a deep, cool habitat in the Valley of Undersea Mountains
09:07within the Flower Garden Bank's National Marine Sanctuary.
09:10However, scientists say even this coral won't be protected for long.
09:14It's still fragile, and its location can only protect it from climate change and warming waters for so long.
09:20In fact, the sanctuary did have some moderate bleaching this year,
09:24but nothing like the devastation that hit other reefs.
09:27For example, Florida's coral reef, the world's third largest,
09:31saw unprecedented and maybe even deadly levels of bleaching over the summer.
09:35Have you ever wondered what happens to all of that leftover food
09:38that doesn't sell by the end of the day at your local grocery store or lunch spot?
09:43Well, up until recently, it often would get thrown out and wind up in a landfill,
09:47contributing to the carbon footprint.
09:49But now, that's changing.
09:51Here's some food for thought.
09:52The world wastes about 2.5 billion tons of food every year.
09:57With the United States throwing away more than any other country in the world.
10:01Which means leftovers on the shelves are a nightmare for the environment.
10:05Or at least, they used to be.
10:07Two years ago, New York became one of 10 states to put policies in place aimed at reducing food waste.
10:13All 50 states now have legislation shielding organizations from criminal and civil liability linked to donated food.
10:20And as of late October, New York's program has redistributed 5 million pounds of food.
10:26Food that can now end up on tables this holiday season, which helps save the environment and your wallet.
10:32So this applesauce here is actually missing one of the cups.
10:35So this can't be sold to a customer, but this can still feed a family.
10:38Food like this is sold at a discount and comes from retail recovery programs at grocery stores like the one Sean Rafferty manages.
10:45When Rafferty started in the grocery business 40 years ago, anything that wasn't sold was tossed out.
10:51Years ago, everything went in the garbage.
10:53Everything went to the landfills, the compactors, wherever it was.
10:58Now, over the years, so many programs have developed where we're able to donate all this food.
11:03As a result, at Feeding Westchester's Food Bank, the retail recovery programs now make up a quarter of the food they give out.
11:12It's definitely an education process.
11:14That's where I come in.
11:15I go into the retail stores.
11:17I train them on safe food donation practices and let them know there are a lot of benefits to the retail recovery program for them and for their community.
11:25For EarthX News, I'm Mike Carter.
11:29Just ahead, ESG investing.
11:31It's been the hottest financial phrase of 2023.
11:34There are definitely winners to the ESG craze and definitely losers.
11:39We'll discuss coming up.
12:01Welcome back to EarthX News.
12:06Environmental, social, and governance investing.
12:09That is right.
12:10We are talking all things ESG.
12:12ESG investing took over financial headlines this year.
12:15And while many of these companies thrived and made millions, plenty of others flopped.
12:20There's no doubt that investing in ESG is the future.
12:23So how can we navigate which companies to put our confidence in?
12:27Joining us now to discuss the biggest ESG winners and losers of 2023 is market analyst Bob Sellers.
12:34Bob, welcome on.
12:37Hi, Christina.
12:38How are you?
12:39Yeah, you know, ESG, I'm going to give you the good and the bad of this because ESG in and of itself, it's become a little controversial.
12:49But let's start with this.
12:51If you were going to invest in ESG, you'd want to know what companies had good programs.
12:57Well, Investors Business Daily actually went in and assessed some of the most profitable companies that were involved with ESG, environmental, social, governmental, governance, just to remind you what ESG is.
13:13And a lot of us think about it as sustainability as something healthy for the world, if you will, and hopefully healthy for the bottom line, especially for investors.
13:25So they went through and took kind of the top 100.
13:28And let's look at the top 10.
13:30And some very familiar names you're going to see right here, including Microsoft, Applied Materials, which makes chips, computer chips, Woodward, which is an aerospace company, Verisk, MasterCard, we all know about them.
13:46Yeah, you think a ESG can apply to all of that because we're also talking about governance.
13:50Is there diversity at the top?
13:52That sort of thing is part of ESG as well.
13:56Caterpillar, which is, you know, they make all the tractors and that sort of thing.
14:03Caterpillar typically is the kind of stock where you think the economy is good because they're digging holes.
14:08That's always a good sign.
14:10Marathon Petroleum, NVIDIA, again, another semiconductor chips company.
14:16Dova, Motorola Solutions, again, making chips.
14:19So, Christina, these are some of the winners.
14:23Now, some of the losers have been Siemens Energy, Orsted.
14:27I'm not going to give a whole long list of those.
14:31I think I need to point out, though, some of the things that are going on in ESG.
14:37And that is this.
14:39ESG was a real hot investment topic over the past couple of years.
14:44ESG has reached the point, folks, where it was being used to put in the title of investment funds to attract money to it.
14:54And the SEC, the Securities and Exchange Commission, is even looking into a lot of these funds to ask the question,
15:01are you just using this to get people to put money with you?
15:06So, this year, toward the end of the year now is what we're talking about, you actually see investment funds taking ESG out of their title for a couple of reasons.
15:19Number one, because they don't want to mislead people.
15:22Number two, there are a lot of investors that want you to focus on the bottom line and making money.
15:27They don't necessarily want you to worry about the environment and social policy and governance, those kinds of things.
15:35If you want to make that part of your plan going forward, they're fine with that, but make money.
15:41Do you have any tips for our viewers on if they wanted to maybe break into investing or specifically ESG investing, how they could do so safely?
15:48I know you said that a lot of companies were just putting ESG in their title, but they might not actually be a full-fledged ESG company.
15:55How can viewers navigate that?
15:57Well, I'm not a financial advisor anymore.
16:03Used to be, but I would look, me personally, I would say if you're looking for good, solid companies, I think you're going to find that they will incorporate ESG in some fashion.
16:17Now, if ESG is really important for you, you can find them.
16:21As I mentioned, Investors Business Daily, it's making a list, as we showed you, the top 10.
16:25But I think more and more investors are looking at what kind of return am I going to get?
16:32You know, the hot topic right now is AI.
16:34For good or bad, artificial intelligence is driving a lot of investment.
16:38So if you're looking for something that just because it's attached to ESG, it's going to zoom, probably not going to happen.
16:45So I'd be very careful about that.
16:47And especially if this is retirement money, because that's what a lot of people are doing, investing broadly with retirement.
16:55If you're going to be very specific, you have to be careful because you can lose that money.
17:00What are your projections for ESG in 2024?
17:04I think it's going to become just a part and parcel of companies that want to be responsible but don't want to be defined just as ESG.
17:18It has to be part of a company that actually has a strong business.
17:23And if they incorporate that into the way they do business, that's fine.
17:28But if you had to ask me about 2024, I would say find good, solid investments.
17:33And ESG really, to be honest, would be down the list as far as what I would find important.
17:39Interesting.
17:39All right.
17:40Bob Sellers, thank you so much for coming on.
17:42You bet.
17:43Coming up, the holiday season is upon us and a Christmas tree farm in Scotland is getting some serious attention over its efforts to protect the environment.
17:51Stay tuned.
17:52That story is just ahead.
18:04A family-run Christmas tree farm in Scotland has some eco-friendly practices that aim to increase biodiversity
18:11and promote sustainability.
18:13And their efforts might even settle the debate over whether you should get a fake tree or a real one this Christmas.
18:19And which one is better for the environment?
18:21Alex Salvey has more.
18:23It's starting to look a lot like Christmas, with trees going up in cities across the world.
18:29London, Madrid, the Vatican, and Washington, D.C.
18:32Christmas trees travel far distances to get to their final destinations, with the White House's Fraser Fir, standing just over 18 feet tall,
18:42being grown in North Carolina and transported via flatbed truck to the nation's capital.
18:47The white spruce at the Vatican, towering 82 feet tall over St. Peter's Square, arrived from a forest in the Piedmont region near France,
18:56installed with the help of two cranks.
18:57The 40-foot Sitka spruce in front of London's Houses of Parliament was one selected from among 150 million trees
19:06and traveled around 350 miles to take pride of place in front of the iconic Big Ben for the festive period.
19:13But no matter where they come from, or how big they may be, every tree has a beginning,
19:18each one from national capitals to family living rooms, equally important to those who buy them.
19:24The average 6-foot tree takes between 6 and 10 years to grow.
19:29The process of getting started is a complex one, with many businesses first getting their trees from a reputable nursery,
19:35then pruning them to increase their density and shape, then of course, coming the harvest.
19:41Many growers plant more trees than they cut each year to practice sustainability,
19:45which also helps with sales down the line,
19:47a process that usually takes input from the environmental community into account.
19:51That's the process for the family-run Showlock Business in Scotland,
19:54which is preparing 20,000 trees for the seasonal festivities.
19:58They sell everything from young saplings planted this year to 18-foot giants planted back in the 1990s,
20:05all prepared for this year's rush.
20:07Free!
20:08Sometimes getting into the Christmas season is easier said than done,
20:12as is often the case in Los Angeles,
20:14voted the second grinchiest city in the United States after New York,
20:18according to money website Finance Buzz.
20:20But still, for those looking to celebrate,
20:24they certainly do what they can to make it feel like Christmas,
20:27with the renowned retail district, The Grove, showcasing its 22nd annual festival.
20:31The area is temporarily turned into a winter wonderland,
20:34with a visit from Santa, live music, and fake snow falling through the air.
20:40But the 100-foot white fur is very much so real,
20:44proving no matter where you are in the world,
20:45the Christmas tree is an irreplaceable staple of the season.
20:50For EarthX, I'm Alex Salvi.
20:54Alex Salvi, thank you.
20:56And before we leave you, ecologists are taking steps to help an endangered species thrive in Australia.
21:03Staffers at the Australian Wildlife Conservancy released nearly a dozen quals into the wild
21:08at the Mount Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary earlier this month.
21:11The latest group to be released joined 30 other Western quals that were already returned to the wild
21:17at the refuge in April and June.
21:19Officials at the AWC say since their reintroduction earlier this year,
21:24the possum-like animals have adapted to the environment and even started breeding.
21:28The marsupials grow to be about the size of a domestic cat.
21:32Conservation officials say the fuzzy animals are critical native predators,
21:37as they play a key role in controlling populations of small invertebrates,
21:42including certain reptiles and birds.
21:45That's it for this edition of EarthX News.
21:47Please join us again next week.
21:48I'm Christina Thompson.
21:49I'm Christina Thompson.
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