Podcasts

On our special author profiling show we spoke with two local environmental and social justice authors writing about Austin, Texas.

Professor Andrew Busch recently published “City in a Garden: Environmental Transformations and Racial Justice in Twentieth-Century Austin, Texas”

In his book he presents the history of Austin as a natural beauty, which has always been central to the city’s identity. Then, as Austin modernized and attracted an educated and skilled labor force, the demand to preserve its natural spaces was used to justify economic and racial segregation. By demonstrating how the city’s midcentury modernization and progressive movement sustained racial oppression, restriction, and uneven development in the decades that followed, he reveals the darker ramifications of Austin’s green growth.

Professor Busch will be giving a lecture about his book on April 25 at the Austin History Center.

Professor Javier Auyero, has published “Invisible in Austin: Life and Labor in an American City”

Austin, Texas, is renowned as a high-tech, fast-growing city for the young and creative, a cool place to live, and the scene of internationally famous events such as SXSW and Formula 1. But as in many American cities, poverty and penury are booming along with wealth and material abundance in contemporary Austin. Rich and poor residents lead increasingly separate lives as growing socioeconomic inequality underscores residential, class, racial, and ethnic segregation. In Invisible in Austin, the award-winning sociologist Javier Auyero and a team of graduate students explore the lives of those working at the bottom of the social order: house cleaners, office-machine repairers, cab drivers, restaurant cooks and dishwashers, exotic dancers, musicians, and roofers, among others.

In preparation for the 2019 Texas Legislature we had two high profile environmental activists on Shades of Green. We had in the studio:

Andrew Dobbs, Program Director at Texas Campaign for the Environment (TCE). He is an organizer, strategist, and skilled communicator intent on building power for working Texans. His writing has appeared in the Daily Beast, the New York Observer, War is Boring and the Huffington Post.

Juli Berwald, Author and a volunteer with the Citizen Climate Lobby, a non-profit, nonpartisan, grassroots advocacy organization focused on national policies to address climate change. Juli is the author of “Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a backbone.”

Trump’s proposed southern US border ‘Wall’ is immoral and it will have devastating negative impacts on the environment in the region. It will affect wildlife habitat and migrations, plant life, and will create flood conditions that will affect Mexico and the United States. We spoke with Reggie James, Executive Director for the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club about the environmental issues associated with the ‘Wall’.

In the second half of the show we discussed a new documentary about the Wall called “The River and the Wall”. It will be released soon and will be featured at Austin’s SXSW film festival in March. We spoke with the Director, Ben Master’s about the film which presents the beauty surrounding the Rio Grande and the devastating effects that would result from the border ‘Wall’.

The City of Austin, Texas Office of Sustainability has received a $2.5 million national climate change challenge award from Bloomberg Philanthropies. The award was in recognition of Austin’s aggressive environmental goals, which include making municipal operations carbon neutral by 2020. The award means Austin will be part of a two-year accelerator program that will provide the city with technical assistance and support valued at $2.5 million. We had Zach Baumer, Climate Program Manager with the Austin Office of Sustainability, and Amy Atchley, Senior Project Lead, Austin Energy Electric Vehicles and Emerging Technologies in the studio.

We also discussed the City of Austin's recently approved 100 year water plan called "Water Forward". We had David Foster, the Executive Director of Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund in the KOOP studio with us.

Shades of Green environmental and energy resolutions for 2019. Hosts John Hoffner, Amy Stansbury, and Reed Sternberg share their resolutions for 2019 to reduce their carbon footprint in their personal and working lives. We also had listeners call-in and share their resolutions for 2019.

The annual Shades of Green Hoffner family Christmas episode of poems, music and good humor for the environment. John Hoffner, Jill Hoffner, James Hoffner, Kate Hoffner, Kelly and Colby Malek share their favorite music. And, also Winn, Elliott, and Jimmy Malek.

Bruce Elfant is your Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar. He was first elected to the position in 2012 after spending 20 years as the Travis County Precinct 5 Constable.

The county tax office collects property taxes and Justice of the Peace and county court costs, fines and fees, processes motor vehicle titles and registration, and registers voters and trains Volunteer Deputy Registrars.

We discussed a broad array of topics including: Why is voter turnout so low for run-off elections? Will we ever be able to register and vote on-line? Is voter fraud really a problem? And, what about the history of voter suppression in Texas?

Shades of Green “2018 Year in Review” and the Green Holiday Party

In preparation for our Green Holiday Party, we invited several of the leaders of the hosting environmental organizations to share their successes for 2018. This year the Green Holiday Party will be on December 13, at the Barr Mansion. Our guests were:

Luke Metzger, Director at Environment Texas

Adrian Shelley, Director at Public Citizen Texas

Janis Bookout, Directora at Earth Day ATX

Scott Gerhardt, Board Chair of USGBC Texas Chapter

The Solar Business Festival is a two-day opportunity to network with representatives in industry, government, and energy companies. It will be on November 27 and 28 at the Sheraton Hotel.

Our guest were:

Jordan Jarrett, Organizing Committee for Solar Business Festival

Jim Kimo Storke, Manager Partner, KAS Consulting Group

Rachel Stone, with Solar Austin

DJ Rosebaugh, with Native Solar

The Solar Business Festival is a two-day opportunity to network with representatives in industry, government, and energy companies. It will be on November 27 and 28 at the Sheraton Hotel.

Our guest were:

Jordan Jarrett, Organizing Committee for Solar Business Festival

Jim Kimo Storke, Manager Partner, KAS Consulting Group

Rachel Stone, with Solar Austin

DJ Rosebaugh, with Native Solar