It's been a long time, but Earth & Industry Radio's "Gang of Four" - Tim Hurst, Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, Maria Surma Manka, and me, David Wescott - got together for a Skype chat / podcast to discuss the political deal that everyone in DC is talking about.

Congress and the Administration finally agreed on a deal that raises the country's debt limit and significantly cuts government spending.  The Washington Post provided the best explanation I could find on the overall deal here and POLITICO gave some details on the deal's impact on energy programs here.

We wanted to focus on the deal's implications for environmental policy and then on what environmental advocates could do to ensure their priorities are met moving forward.  It's not a long podcast - about 12:25 - and we hope you enjoy.

Just as the the oil gusher at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico was being capped, Earth & Industry's "gang of four" got together to discuss the ongoing drama and what to expect in the near future.

While we're all pleased there seems to finally be some progress, we hope America doesn't lose interest in the story - as Jeff mentions, the people who live on the Gulf Coast and depend on the Gulf for their livelihoods will be living with this for years to come.

Podcast length is a quick 12:07 - enjoy (link below)

Links from podcast:

* What should we call the oil spill?

* Crawfisherman Drew Landry breaks into song at the Gulf Oil Spill Commission hearings

Maria Surma Manka is @mariaenergia on twitter and writes at Maria Energia

Jeff McIntire-Strassburg is @sustainablog on twitter and writes at Sustainablog

David Wescott is @dwescott1 on twitter and writes at It's Not a Lecture

Tim Hurst is @ecopolitologist on twitter and writes at Ecopolitology

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Photo: U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Patrick Kelley; cover image by Mike Licht at Notion's Capital

Tim Hurst, Jeff McIntire-Strasburg and I got together for our latest chat (Maria Surma Manka was unable to join us) and the topic isn't surprising: The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. We discussed the spill from our different perspectives: Jeff grew up in Southern Louisiana and knows the area quite well; Tim is well versed in the political theory and substance; and I focused on communications and information flow.

A couple of quick links referenced in the podcast: Jeff mentioned some links to sites where people who want to help address the spill can get involved. His post is here. He gave special mention to Geoff Livingston's post on Mashable here. (Geoff is a good guy.)

I also specifically mentioned the issue of censoring scientists:  I wrote about it here and I found posts about it on Huffington Post and Rachel Maddow's blog.

Podcast time is 16:45.

Forty years ago Earth Day was modeled after the "teach ins" that people used to protest the war in Vietnam.    Today it seems more like an overbearing marketing campaign.    In our latest podcast, Earth and Industry's "Gang of Four" - Tim Hurst, Maria Surma Manka, Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, and me, David Wescott - discuss how environmentalists can take Earth Day back from the pitch men.

And it's worth noting that in the less than 15 minutes it took to record this podcast, Jeff got two email pitches from marketing / PR types - and a third as we were wrapping up.   No lie.

Consider new policy alternatives.  Make the economic case for green technology.  Embrace a more positive messaging approach.  Build new partnerships.   These are some of the ideas we talked about in this week's Gang of Four podcast on Earth & Industry Radio.

Last week's podcast was a bit depressing, and we thought it made sense to point out that all isn't lost.  We went a little longer than usual this time, but only because we had lots of good stuff to say, right?  We'd love to hear your feedback on our ideas - leave a comment here, or you can find any one of the Gang of Four at their other gigs:

Maria Surma Manka is @mariaenergia on twitter and writes at Maria Energia

Jeff McIntire-Strassburg is @sustainablog on twitter and writes at Sustainablog and the Sundance Channel's SUNfiltered blog

David Wescott is @dwescott1 on twitter and writes at It's Not a Lecture

Tim Hurst is @ecopolitologist on twitter and writes at Ecopolitology

Subscribe to this podcast here or subscribe to Earth & Industry Radio on iTunes

Consider new policy alternatives.  Make the economic case for green technology.  Embrace a more positive messaging approach.  Build new partnerships.   These are some of the ideas we talked about in this week's Gang of Four podcast on Earth & Industry Radio.

Last week's podcast was a bit depressing, and we thought it made sense to point out that all isn't lost.  We went a little longer than usual this time, but only because we had lots of good stuff to say, right?  We'd love to hear your feedback on our ideas - leave a comment here, or you can find any one of the Gang of Four at their other gigs:

Maria Surma Manka is @mariaenergia (http://twitter.com/mariaenergia) on twitter and writes at Maria Energia (http://www.mariaenergia.com)

Jeff McIntire-Strassburg is @sustainablog (http://twitter.com/sustainablog) on twitter and writes at Sustainablog (http://sustainablog.org) and the Sundance Channel's SUNfiltered (http://www.sundancechannel.com/sunfiltered/author/jeffmcintirestrasburg/) blog

David Wescott is @dwescott1 (http://twitter.com/dwescott1) on twitter and writes at It's Not a Lecture (http://itsnotalecture.blogspot.com)

Tim Hurst is @ecopolitologist (http://twitter.com/ecopolitologist) on twitter and writes at Ecopolitology (http://ecopolitology.org/)

Subscribe to this podcast here (http://feeds.feedburner.com/earthandindustryradio) or subscribe to Earth & Industry Radio on iTunes (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=349762989)

What a difference a year makes.  LiveOAK Executive Editor Tim Hurst and contributors Maria Surma Manka, Jeff McIntire-Strasburg and I got together for another "Gang of Four" podcast on Earth & Industry Radio. While Jeff seems the most upbeat of all of us - he says 2010 will be the year of Green Jobs - I have to say none of us are terribly positive about what's going to happen this year in environmental policy and communications.  We're focusing on some of the serious challenges environmentalists (and the PR flacks who love them) face in a difficult political and economic climate. Hey, blame Tim - predictions were his idea.

The good news is we'll be back soon with a (hopefully) upbeat discussion about what our side can do to recapture the political and communications momentum from a few years ago.  Stay tuned for more by subscribing to this podcast.

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Earth & Industry's "Gang of Four" - Tim Hurst, Maria Surma Manka, Jeff McIntire-Strasburg and David Wescott - recorded a podcast to share their thoughts on the UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, and to discuss where we go from here.

Overall, opinions range from "skeptical but hopeful" to "just mad." (Runtime: 00:25)

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