Listen Now This past March 20th the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its fourth and last sixth assessment cycle (AR6) report.  This last report integrates the main findings of the IPCC's three, sixth assessment working group reports published over the past 18 months.  The report has been informally termed the “last warning” since the IPCC 7th assessment work will likely not be published until after 2030 - at which time we’ll know whether we have succeeded or not in reducing CO2e emissions by approximately 45% in order to limit avg global warm ..read more

Late last week Dave Castro, President and CEO of i-LEAD (at: https://i-leadusa.org/), interviewed Dr. van Susteren and myself regarding these topics.  The interview was on behalf of the Alliance of Leadership Fellows.   The hour long discussion is at: https://youtu.be/9e-BFFTXXp0.  Feel free to forward any comments. Thank you.  ..read more

On April 18th, Ms. Kelly Willis, Managing Director, Malaria No More, will discuss the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC's) recent publication, the "AR6 Synthesis Report," released March 20th.  This is the last report in the IPCC's sixth assessment cycle.   The document has been termed the "final warning," because it will likely constitute the IPCC's last report this decade, or before anticipated global warming reaches an average of 1.5C.  See: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/.  On May 3rd, Center for Budget and Policy Priorit ..read more

Listen Now In June 2021 I argued in STAT News that HHS require healthcare providers to publicly disclose their GHG emissions that in turn would help enable the healthcare industry to decarbonize.  In order to do this, I argued the the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA’s) Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool be exploited.  Already well over 50% of hospitals use Energy Star to better manger their energy consumption, i.e., improve their energy efficiency.  Energy Star, an online energy benchmarking tool widely used to track commercial building energy consumption - that accounts ..read more

Listen Now The US government is frequently defined generally as an army with an insurance company.  Regarding the latter, podcast listeners are well aware federal healthcare policymakers have essentially done nothing to address the healthcare industry's annual 500 million ton carbon footprint, 9% of total annual US GHG emissions, despite the fact that at $1.5 trillion the federal government is far and away the largest purchaser of healthcare services.  What about the army?  The army, or the Department of Defense (DOD), is the single largest institutional fossil fuel user and con ..read more

Listen Now Dr. Paul Farmer unexpectedly passed away on February 21, 2022.   He was 62.  Trained as physician and medical anthropologist, Dr. Farmer was known moreover for his healthcare work in Haiti that he more formally forwarded via Partners in Health (PIH), an organization he cofounded in 1987.   Over the subsequent years Dr. Farmer and PIH expanded their work around the world in Africa, Russia, South America and in the US.  Dr. Farmer and his colleagues were also widely known for their international efforts to address multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB ..read more

Listen Now Listeners may recall two years ago this past month I interviewed Professor Jacobson regarding his text “100% Clean Renewable Energy and Storage for Everything.”  I noted in my introduction to that 2021 interview Prof. Jacobson argued since 2009 100% of the world’s energy supply could be produced via solar, wind and water power within 20 to 30 years.  The barriers to a 100% conversion to renewables are not, he continues to argue, technological or even economic but social and political.  In “No Miracles Needed,” Prof Jacobson argues we can transition to 80% wind, water ..read more

This past Wednesday, STAT published my latest article, "HHS's Environmental Justice Index Institutionalizes Climate Apartheid"  At: https://www.statnews.com/2023/03/01/hhs-environmental-justice-index-institutionalizes-climate-apartheid/.  While well-intended the index will in practice likely constitute environmental redlining and become, literally, the definition of structural racism.   ..read more

On March 6th I'll speak with Stanford Engineering Professor Mark Jacobson, concerning his recent work, "No Miracles Needed, How Today's Technology Can Save Our Planet and Clean Our Air," published by Cambridge University Press.  Listeners will recall I interviewed Prof. Jacobson in February 2021 regarding his text, "100% Clean, Renewable Energy" also published by Cambridge University. On March 13th I'll speak again with Dr. Eric Reinhart, a political anthropologist and physician, about the life of Dr. Paul Farmer.   Listeners are likely aware Dr. Farmer, the internationally reno ..read more

Listen Now Since suicides serve as a proxy measure for social isolation and loneliness (SIL), last week the CDC reported after declines in 2019 and 2020, suicides increased 7% in ‘21, particularly among those 25-44, to 48,343 returning their peak in 2018.  Over the past 2 decades suicides have increased 30%, they are now is the 12th leading cause of death.   Also in 2021, the CDC’s most recent bi-annual Youth Risk Beh Survey, published this past November,  found among other things teenage girls experienced persistent sadness at twice the rate of teen boys and three in five ..read more