We spoke with two women that have been involved in environmental initiatives in the community and green media productions. Our guests were:

Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea who was involved in the 1980’s Environomental TV show “Earthline”. She was also on the City of Austin Council and she is leading climate action plans for Travis County.

Radio and TV producer Betsy Rosenberg. She recently published a book called “Climate Abandoned: We’re on the Endangered Species List” and is working on her next green broadcasting initiative on radio and television.

The Texas Legislature meets every two years, and it just completed its 2019 session. With our guests in the studio, we did a recap of Bills from the 2019 session that will affect the environment. We also covered Bills that did not get passed that would have help our environment and quality of life. Our guests were:

Adrian Shelley, the Texas Director of Public Citizen.

Bay Scoggin, Director fo the Texas Public Interest Group (TxPIRG).

The City of San Antonio has formed a coalition to develop a new Climate Change initiative. The initiative will be voted on and unveiled in the near future. We got a glimpse of the initiative from our guests Kaiba White and Brianna Barrera with Public Citizen.

Bike to Work Day on May 17, 2019 will feature many exciting refueling stations along the way in Austin, Texas and some stations will have live music. We spoke with Bike to Work Coordinator Shannon Kors about the events of the day and where to get information on-line. Bike Austin is the main sponsor with others helping to support cycling in Austin. We hope it inspires more cycling and bike commuting in Austin to help reduce traffic congestion and clean our air.

Our guests for the show are solar energy experts discussing the incredible growth in Texas. Also, they discuss local and state policy issues affecting solar power. And will the Texas Legislature help move the marker to create even more growth in solar?

Charlie Hemmeline is the Executive Director of the Texas Solar Power Association, a statewide industry trade association that promotes the development of solar electric generation in Texas. He discussed Bills in the Texas Legislature that might affect the solar industry and how our listeners can get involved.

Stan Pipkin is the VP Managing Director for Lighthouse Solar, an Austin solar company providing solar solutions for residential and commercial customers. He is also on the Board of Solar Austin. Stan updated us on local Austin solar issues and how the industry continues to grow.

Extinction Rebellion ATX, an organization with its roots in England, comes to Austin to help organize around climate change. Our guest in the studio was Alex Norton, a volunteer with the Austin Chapter. The advocacy group helps organize meetings, banner drops, and strives to educate our community about the dire need to stand up and fight climate change.

There is a new documentary coming soon on the history and origins of Austin’s environmental activism. It is part of the on-line interactive website called Living Springs. Our guests on Shades of Green are the forces behind the new documentary called “Origins of a Green Identity – Austin’s Conservation Pioneers”

Karen Kocher is the Creator and Director of the Living Springs Documentary and interactive web side.

Monica Flores is the Producer for the new documentary.

Climate scientist’s research and modeling indicate that the earth’s warming effect is causing firestorm catastrophic wildfires in many regions. They are particularly intensifying in California. We had a climate scientist, and firefighters that were on the ground fighting the recent wildfires in California in the KOOP studio with us. Our guests on Shades of Green were:

Bruce Melton, a professional engineer, environmental researcher, filmmaker, author, and CEO of the Climate Change Now Initiative in Austin, Texas.

Andre de la Reza, Captain and Communications/PIO/PST with the City of Austin Fire Department.

Kregg Phillips, Captain with the City of Austin Fire Department.

The 2019 Texas Legislature is targeting to defund research and incentives for continuing to grow our solar and wind portfolio. What can we do as citizens to let them know if we want more renewable energy in our state?

Shades of Green hosts and their guests discussed the Legislative agenda with Jeff Clark, President of the Advanced Power Alliance, and Adrian Shelly and Michael Coleman with Texas Public Citizen.

Shades of Green hosts featured three exciting entrepreneurs producing healthy and efficient organic foods.

Coyote Creek Farm - Organic Feed Mill and Eggs, is family owned and dedicated to sustainable, organic, and local farming and ranching practices. They have 22,000 chickens that receive humane treatment and provide many organic eggs. We had Owner Rob Cunningham, Brooke Hobby, Feed Mill General Manager, and Farm Manager Jenny Myers in the studio with us.

Snack Jack is an exciting and tasty plant-based jerky made right here in Austin, Texas. Snack Jack is not made from any meat product, rather it is made from JackFruit, a nutrient-dense superfood that is native to tropical regions of Asia, Africa central and South America. It has almost every vitamin and mineral we need, fiber and protein. We had co-founder Diana Dussan in the studio with us.

Fitppl (pronounced FitPeople) is an environmentally proactive, Austin-based company that creates healthy, transparent food and supplement products with an innovative approach to reduce and eliminate plastic waste. We had founder Patrick Schecht in the KOOP studio to discuss his new company.