Trammell S. Crow: "We Only Get One Earth" | EarthxNews Full Episode - video Dailymotion

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EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/   A look back at some of the best stories of the year. Hear from EarthX founder Trammell S. Crow, explore nuclear energy with Miss America, and fly into the eye of the storm with the Hurricane Hunters.   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:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthxmedia/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/earthxmedia  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EarthXMedia/  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@earthxmedia  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EarthXMedia  Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/earthxmedia    How to watch:    EarthX - Cable:  - Spectrum  - AT&T U-verse (1267)  - DIRECTV (267)  - Philo  - FuboTV   EarthXtra - Streaming:  - Plex  - Fire TV  - Xumo  - Sling    #EarthDay #Environment #Sustainability #EcoFriendly #Conservation #EarthX

Transcript

00:00Let's take a look back at some of the best stories of the year with a special edition of

00:07EarthX News. First up, we'll speak with our founder, Trammell S. Crow. Then, you'll hear

00:14about how war impacts not only the environment, but the people who live there. And beauty and

00:20brains, how One Miss America is looking ahead towards sustainable fuel in the future.

00:30Hello and welcome to EarthX News, where we focus on sustainability and the environment.

00:38I'm your host, Christina Thompson. And as we look forward to the new year, we first want to take

00:43a look back at 2023 and some of the stories we've covered here on EarthX News. That's right,

00:49it's a special edition episode. First, an intro into EarthX, who we are, what we do. EarthX is

00:55an international environmental nonprofit connecting a global community to create a sustainable

01:00world for all life and future generations. We take a look back at our opening intro with

01:05our founder, Trammell S. Crow. As he explains, we only get one Earth, so we need to take care

01:11of it. Well, when I was a kid, I learned to believe in the environment at an early age. And when I was

01:20a kid, one didn't think about having a career that did good as well as did well. The mentality was,

01:30when I reach the end of my days and retire, then I can start doing good. So environment was always the

01:38goal for me. I said, what the heck? Earth days in five months? Let's just have an Earth Day.

01:43And so it turned out really to be a great move because Earth days aren't held so much anymore.

01:50So we've become the biggest one. What made you fall in love with the environment even as a kid?

01:55Growing up in the 60s, we're on the cover of a Saturday evening post. There'd be a river on fire

02:01or a forest fire or some remarkable example of environmental injustice. And we had never seen

02:11it before. People had never been made aware of environmental degradation, of possible species

02:19endangerment. So I think it hit a lot of us. And suddenly EarthX grew to something much bigger.

02:25What was that like? How did that growth happen?

02:27What we have done has been more multidimensional, more inclusive, and more topics and subjects

02:34than, I believe, any other environmental event. We just don't get hung up on climate all the time.

02:41Right.

02:42Although we might all get hung up on climate someday. So EarthX was the only way we could try to

02:49make a symbol that could include it all. Fill in the blank.

02:53Something that you say that I think is great is we welcome all viewpoints. You know, that

02:57dialogue is very important. I think that a lot of us have lost even just the ability to sit across

03:03from someone and talk to someone who might have a different belief from us and be able to hold any

03:07form of a civil conversation. So how do you kind of pair the two, making sure that we reach the

03:15collective goal of sustaining our environment while still listening to people who might have a whole

03:22realm of different viewpoints?

03:24You know, different viewpoints doesn't mean for and against, and it doesn't mean necessarily

03:29denial. But to have the diversity of topic and opinion, but again, not so much for and against

03:38as how do you crack the nut? We're all heading towards the same goal.

03:43Right.

03:44We just don't know it yet.

03:45And everyone's goal should be able to continue living on a planet that it's the only one we've known.

03:50Yeah, it was only one of them.

03:51Only one of them, which also brings me to the marvel. You brought in these marvels and you gave

03:57it to us and you said, there's only one of these, take care of it. How did this become your thing?

04:03The blue marble.

04:06There's only one of them.

04:09We have it in our hand like it's something

04:11so small and insignificant and replaceable, but stop. There's only one of those.

04:19Save the world, species, ocean, soil, environment, conservation, climate is an overarching issue.

04:30Really, one of our missions is to bring people together and environmentalists and conservationists

04:38together, politicians, private property owners, NGOs. So how can you put all that into a mission

04:48statement?

04:49That must be tough to work with different leaders and nations across the globe.

04:54Well, you cannot avoid the problems. The environment knows no borders, right?

05:02And it is difficult. Getting the attention of the governments is not hard. And all the little

05:11islands spread through the South Pacific, they are painfully aware of their threat. How would you like

05:16to be on a little island looking at a horizon like this, knowing that it's rising inexorably and you're

05:26sitting there? So it doesn't matter how easy it is. It's compelling. This is the blue marble.

05:33There's more blue. There's more blue than there is green. There's too much brown encroaching. And there's too much

05:44white melting. The world is fragile. The atmosphere is so tiny and so precious that we must preserve it.

06:00Next, let's look back on a developing story we've been following, the increase in whale deaths in the

06:09Northeast Atlantic. What's causing it? And can it be stopped? Lisa Linos with the Energy and Wildlife

06:15Coalition and Regina Asmuda-Silvia, Senior Biologist of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, discuss.

06:22To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, emissions need to be reduced by almost half by 2030

06:28and reach net zero by 2050. Regardless of the source, the energy requirements of the planet are increasing

06:35and will need to be met somehow. One of the tools providing a clean energy solution is wind turbines. But

06:43regardless of the green energy development, some environmentalists are not on board. They oppose the

06:48project because of debates over offshore wind farms impacts on whales in the region. Whale strandings in the

06:54Northeast are not new, but they are happening more and more often. The first offshore wind turbine in

06:59the Northeast began operating in 2016 when the whale death uptick started. Here with me to share her

07:06findings and hypothesis, the co-chair for the Wildlife for the Energy and Community Coalition

07:10and the founder of Save Right Whales Coalition, Lisa Linos. Lisa, thank you so much for coming on the

07:17show. Before we get into what's happening to the whales, I first wanted to ask you,

07:20do you think that wind energy has a place in our energy plans and should it be utilized in the right

07:26conditions? That's a big question. Wind energy in large respect is an ancillary source of generation

07:34simply because it's entirely reliant on the weather. So we cannot run the United States economy on wind or solar

07:41and renewables in general. So it has a place, but not as large as what the public has been led to believe.

07:49Okay. And I know that you recently worked on a documentary. It argues that wind turbines could

07:53be behind the whale deaths. Can you explain what you guys found?

07:57Yeah, absolutely. So it's not the wind turbines yet. We only have about seven operating turbines in

08:03the United States right now, but it's the pre-construction work that is happening offshore

08:08where they're conducting sonar surveys to identify the subsurface, what the land is under the water

08:15in preparation for development. And it's that process that we believe is causing the whales to

08:21die. So there's a huge debate about this right now in the media. We know the federal government,

08:25the wind farm companies, a lot of scientists, they've said that they definitively can't point

08:30to the turbines as the will killer culprit. Noah sent out a statement saying that the wind farms

08:36certainly are affecting the whales, but not killing them. I know you were just saying that it's not the

08:41wind farms yet. Why do you think that it could get potentially worse for whales?

08:46Oh, because what's happening right now is that this precursor is a small piece of what we're going

08:53to have when the projects are actually operational. The level of noise that is being produced in the

08:58water at this point is significant. And what we did in our investigations, we actually had a

09:05two-prong investigation. And we found both temporal and spatial correlation between the whale deaths

09:12and the activity within these areas, meaning that at the same time and at roughly the same place,

09:19the whales were dying when the boats were active. Then we went back further and we looked at the

09:25noise itself. We had an acoustician went out there and actually measured the noise levels.

09:29And what we found was shocking. And that we believe is what's killing the whales. The noise

09:35is enormous. It's not being mitigated properly. And the whales are getting too close to the sound.

09:42Interesting. Lisa, thank you so much for coming on, for sharing your report and your findings. We

09:46appreciate it. Thank you. Our next guest is pointing to a different culprit behind the whale deaths,

09:52climate change and shipping lanes. Regina Asmuta-Silvia, the executive director at Whale and Dolphin

09:58Conservation in North America. Regina, thank you so much for coming on, for sharing your expertise.

10:03I wanted to ask, in your opinion, what is causing these whale deaths?

10:09Based on the information that's available, based on the ability to do the necropsies and the

10:13examinations, most of the animals that have been examined have evidence of vessel strikes.

10:19We've seen a number of species that have had a change in distribution as a result of a change in

10:23climate and changing prey bases, where they're going to go look for food, where they're finding food.

10:27There's been some fishery management changes that have led to an increase in abundance of

10:32menhaden, the small schooling fish, particularly in the mid-Atlantic and the New York bite area.

10:37And we don't know how whales find their food, but they're good at it. So there have been an

10:41increase in the number of whales going into that area looking for food. There is an increase in

10:46activity. It's not a place that we would have probably had management measures previously,

10:51because that area wasn't considered to be a high use area for a lot of different whale species in

10:57the past. And so seeing more whale watching happening in that area regularly was another

11:01indication of the fact that whales are being sighted there on a more consistent basis. And

11:06more whales in an area, particularly in a place that has a lot of boat traffic, is unfortunately going

11:11to lead to issues where you're going to have vessel strikes.

11:14Obviously, a lot goes into this, but we do appreciate you coming on and sharing your

11:18expertise. Regina Aswita, Sylvia, thank you.

11:21Thanks for having me.

11:22Coming up, war and the environment. We will all feel the lasting impacts from conflicts

11:27overseas for years to come. So how can we mitigate those impacts?

11:32But quite honestly, this isn't a politically attractive subject for anyone after the war is over. So you

11:38don't see the UN standing up and saying, how are we all going to contribute to a global fund for war

11:44cleanup? So to your point, there is no centralized place. It's not in our psyche as a process that,

11:51oh my gosh, we've been to war. It was horrific, but we've got work to do now.

11:55War and the environment. It's a difficult topic to discuss, but one that's important as recent

12:13overseas conflicts, like those in Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Israel, will have lasting consequences

12:19for both the environment and the people who live there. Militaries consume enormous amounts of fossil

12:25fuels. Bombing directly harms wildlife and biodiversity. Pollution from war contaminants

12:31bodies of water, soil, and air. We could go on and on about the greenhouse gas emissions that

12:36warfare releases. Let's take a look back at my conversation with retired Air Force Brigadier

12:41General Blaine Holt. General Holt, thanks for coming on the show. We appreciate it. I wanted to

12:46ask you, what are the impacts of war on nature and the environment?

12:50You know, Christina, this is such an important topic. The effects are infinite. And we always

12:57look at getting to the peace place or conflict resolution, but that's when real work starts to

13:03begin because there are so many people that have died from the environmental effects after the war is

13:09long gone and done. And it can be things that are so glaring and obvious, like chemicals that have

13:15been burst into the ground or it could be depleted uranium shells that have created a radioactivity

13:23problem. But there's other effects that don't so easily get measured. If you remember the fall of

13:29the Soviet Union, half the wild boar population was gone because there was no economy, nobody could

13:35feed themselves, and they went out and just started exterminating every single wild boar that they had.

13:39If you go to Africa, we see 90 percent of the herbivores that are in the midsection of Africa

13:46depleted, depleted simply because the war factions either kill their environment or they kill them

13:53for food. It just goes on and on for trenches. And so if the world's going to get together at the UN

13:58level or a multinational level, it really ought to be what are we going to do about how we damage the

14:03environment once the war is over? How do we get at the best remediation that we possibly can?

14:10Obviously, we do want to be very clear that human life lost is the greatest tragedy of war. No means

14:15are we trying to diminish that pain and suffering of those who are truly enduring the horrors of war

14:20currently. But do you think the effects on the environment are often ignored? I mean, the earth and

14:26everyone on it, as we've been saying, will suffer for years to come as a result of these conflicts

14:32that are even thousands and thousands of miles away from home?

14:35No, that's exactly right. The ecosystem gets damaged when we have these big wars. And then,

14:41God forbid, that we would ever have a full-up nuclear exchange. We understand where that goes,

14:46and likely it goes to the ultimate bad place. But what we don't do is we never account for the true

14:54costs of war. And what I love about your show is that you're examining a significant

15:01cost imposition to humanity from having these wars. It doesn't mean we can eliminate the wars,

15:07but it does mean that we ought to calculate what is that damage going to be going forward,

15:12and how do we address it? Absolutely. Very true. Brigadier General Blaine Holt,

15:15thank you so much for coming on the show, for sharing your expertise.

15:18Great to be with you.

15:19And this next woman, she can do it all. Current Miss America, a scientist, and an advocate for

15:25promoting nuclear energy as a sustainable alternative. Please enjoy my conversation

15:30with Grace Stanky. Grace, thank you so much for taking your time today. I know that you

15:34know so much about nuclear. It is, I guess, your expertise. So I kind of want you to break down for

15:39me, is nuclear energy the future of sustainable energy?

15:43Well, thank you so much for having me, first of all. Second of all, it certainly is. One thing that I

15:49think is not included enough in the discussion as we move into this zero carbon energy world

15:54is we also need reliable energy. And there's only two things that fit the bill when it comes to

15:58reliable and zero carbon, and that's hydroelectric and nuclear. And when it comes to living in a

16:03sustainable society with energy and with the electricity that we use every single day all

16:08around us, we're going to need to make sure that it is always available. And nuclear is one of the

16:13most reliable forms of energy production that we have in today's world.

16:18So discuss some of the work that you've been involved in with nuclear energy.

16:22Yes, I have worked for the nation's largest nuclear fleet. So it's a company that owns and

16:28operates 12 different nuclear power plants across the country. But then when I stepped into the role

16:32of Miss America, I turned into this advocacy position, which I have truly, truly loved.

16:38Are there any cons to nuclear energy?

16:40Well, right now, I would say the biggest con is it's expensive to build right now. And that is

16:44because of a lot of different sort of political climate things at the moment. It is a major,

16:50major investment for people to build new nuclear at this time. But the thing is, is we live in

16:56America, right? So people tend to look at a short term investment. But nuclear is a long term

17:02investment. You build one of these nuclear power plants, we're seeing power plants that were built in

17:06the 70s. They're going for their 80 year extension, meaning they've been providing clean electricity

17:11and reliable electricity to Americans for 80 years. There aren't many types of other power that

17:17can say that they've been doing that for 80 years with just one nuclear power plant, right? And that's

17:24something that is really, really incredible. So nuclear is worth that long term investment,

17:28because we need to take that long term investment to keep this planet livable.

17:31All right, Grace Stanky, current Miss America, nuclear expert. Thank you so much for coming on

17:36the show. Thank you so much. Dr. Mike Brennan. He will give us a firsthand look at some of the

17:42technology aimed at improving predictions and the brave storm chasers who risk their safety

17:47to save yours during massive storms. Stay right here. EarthX News will be right back.

18:01Hurricanes are a scary force for anyone living near a coast. And in recent years, scientists have begun

18:09to notice patterns of them getting more powerful and more unpredictable. So how can we improve

18:15severe weather predictions in a climate altered world? Hurricane Hunter and NOAA scientist Dr. Mike

18:20Brennan tells us. Dr. Brennan, thank you so much for coming on today for the show. We really appreciate it.

18:26I wanted to talk to you about something that NOAA is doing that's really incredible. It's cutting

18:30edge in the world of hurricane tracking. You are literally flying headfirst into storms to collect

18:36data. How do you do this? Well, we have great partners from the NOAA hurricane hunters. They fly

18:44aircraft directly into the eye of the storm and they give us direct information here at the National

18:49Hurricane Center about where the storm is located, how strong the storm is in terms of its peak winds

18:54and how big the storm is. And our forecasters here use all that information to help analyze the storm

19:00and improve our forecast of where the storm is going to go, how big it's going to be,

19:03what the hazards are going to be like in terms of storm surge, wind and heavy rainfall. So

19:07it's a really vital thing that they do. And they're really the only direct measurements we can get

19:11of some of those parameters of the storm. So what exactly is a hurricane hunting aircraft?

19:18Well, there are a variety. Right now, NOAA has two P3 Orion hurricane hunters that you're looking at

19:23now. They're propeller aircraft. And they fly sort of low altitude missions into a hurricane flying

19:28about 8,000 to 10,000 feet to collect data on the structure of the storm. They have a tail Doppler

19:34radar on board that can measure the precipitation and the wind information around the storm. NOAA also

19:40has a high altitude Gulf Stream 4 jet that flies out up at 45,000, 50,000 feet near and around the storm

19:47and drops dropsondes that measure temperature and wind and moisture through the depth of the atmosphere all the

19:51way down to the ocean surface. And that data gets used by the numerical models that help our

19:56forecasters make the forecast and issue the watches and warnings for hurricanes here.

20:00Yeah. I wanted to ask, how is that data then used to be able to help lives, to save lives?

20:06I believe this is some fairly new technology that you guys are working with, right?

20:10Well, the data has always been used for many, many years by forecasters here at the National

20:14Hurricane Center for their own analysis to understand what's going on in the storm. But what's changed in

20:18the last five to 10 years, especially, is all the data coming from all the Hurricane Hunter aircraft

20:23are going into the numerical weather forecast models that we use to make track and intensity

20:27and size forecasts. And they tend to improve the track and intensity forecast by about 10 to 20%.

20:32So that can mean the difference between evacuating a community and not evacuating a community or better

20:37understanding the threat from storm surge, wind and heavy rainfall to help people better prepare

20:41for a storm. Are there any tangible benefits, any exact moments in time where there was a storm that

20:46may be hit, where you guys have been able to do something in real time to save people that you

20:50can look back on and say, that's because of our missions, that's because of our efforts?

20:55Well, I think, you know, anytime a storm is rapidly intensifying, I think that's the situation where

21:00having the aircraft in there is one of the most beneficial times to have that because the storm's

21:05changing very rapidly. And we can see that happening on satellite imagery, but that only gives us an

21:10estimate of how strong the storm is. So when a storm's really changing quickly, having the aircraft

21:15directly measuring the data in the aircraft can allow us to make changes to the types of watches

21:20and warnings we have out, can update the forecast for storm surge, which is the potential hazard that

21:24has the potential to kill the most people in tropical storms and hurricanes in this country

21:28and get that information out to people very quickly. I mean, this is so important, especially

21:32now. I know this past summer, we had some of the strongest storms, strongest hurricanes we've ever

21:35seen. You guys are saving lives. So we really appreciate all that you're doing for the planet.

21:40Thank you. That's it for this edition of EarthX News. Please join us again

21:44next week. I'm Christina Thompson.

Trammell S. Crow: "We Only Get One Earth" | EarthxNews Full Episode

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