WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:04.639 Good evening on this Earth Day, millions of Americans and the communities which dot 2 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:09.359 this map have taken the first step to survival. But if this day of 3 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:14.759 teach ins, mock funerals, rallies, marches, speeches and songs does not 4 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:19.120 convince enough of us that the threat to our life on Earth is clear and 5 00:00:19.320 --> 00:00:39.439 present, then we may have cast a vote for death. Welcome to this 6 00:00:39.560 --> 00:00:43.880 special episode of Amusing Jews, where we celebrate Jewish contributors and contributions to American 7 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:47.119 popular culture. With Earth Day upon us, we thought it would be a 8 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:51.799 keen idea to explore the holiday with someone who is there at the beginning. 9 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:57.880 I'm Jonathan Friedman, and I'm Joey Adrielfield producer engineer Mike Tomern is working somewhere 10 00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:02.200 behind the scenes. Amusing Jews is a product to Adak Caverein Corregation for Humanistic 11 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:07.359 Judaism, the Cool Shool Jewish Cultural Community, and Athec United Studios. Our 12 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:11.280 special guest today is Nancy Pearlman, an award winning broadcaster and environmentalist who has 13 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:15.640 dedicated to her career to protecting the planet's ecosystems. She organized the first Earth 14 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:22.040 Day in southern California in nineteen seventy has hosted the Environmental Directions radio show since 15 00:01:22.120 --> 00:01:26.159 nineteen seventy seven, and has produced the Econews television program since nineteen eighty four. 16 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:33.359 She also directs the nonprofit educational Communications Nancy, Welcome to a museum, 17 00:01:33.400 --> 00:01:37.319 Jews. Thank you very much. Pleasure to be here on planet Earth. 18 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:41.680 We haven't destroyed it yet. You've been an environmentalist for over fifty years. 19 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:47.359 What initially drew you to environmentalism. I credit my parents for bringing me to 20 00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:53.879 the mountains when I was a child. Beautiful nature, and it really warms 21 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:59.840 my heart to see the wildlife while not in the cactivity in a zoo. 22 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:04.719 And then when I was in college, I traveled the world. I went 23 00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:09.080 around the world on a ship and it was incredible to see different environments, 24 00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:15.960 different cultures, different people. I majored in anthropology with an environmental study specialty, 25 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:21.520 and I saw what was going on in many different places in the world, 26 00:02:22.120 --> 00:02:27.439 and I simply had a love of nature, a love of people caring 27 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:32.280 about nature, because quite frankly, the animals and plants don't speak for themselves. 28 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:37.800 We have to go to the public hearings and testify and be sure that 29 00:02:37.879 --> 00:02:44.120 they get the protections. And I also was drawn to activism because of my 30 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:51.319 parents. They were very much social liberal people who wanted to make society better, 31 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:58.280 to give back and to help people as well as the other creatures on 32 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:01.280 the planet. And so I took the activism from them, and I took 33 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:07.840 my anti war activism from the Vietnam War. And we organized the first of 34 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:12.960 Enviomil teaching. We called it that because they were having and I wore teachings. 35 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:17.280 And Earth Day was a week long affair. It wasn't just one day, 36 00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:22.560 And of course, really it's a lifelong affair for me. And so 37 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:29.080 I have been engaged in one capacity or another, in many different organizations, 38 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:34.639 with many different groups, with many different individuals. But I truly believe it's 39 00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:38.719 important that everybody get out in nature, because the studies have shown that if 40 00:03:38.759 --> 00:03:43.360 we are just connected to the computer, which is wonderful to have, but 41 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:49.360 we need to also feel the earth and the plants and the animals. As 42 00:03:49.400 --> 00:03:53.000 mentioned, you organized the first Earth Day in southern California in nineteen seventy. 43 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:58.560 April twenty second, nineteen seventy was the first Earth Day ever, how did 44 00:03:58.599 --> 00:04:02.520 you get involved with that. I was attending the University of California at Los 45 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:10.319 Angeles and they joined a student club and they said, oh, we should 46 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:15.279 do something. There's a birthday. Now there are people who get credit for 47 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:20.600 it. Senator did it in Congress, and there was a national organization, 48 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:25.439 but quite frankly, the national organization did nothing more than send us buttons, 49 00:04:25.480 --> 00:04:30.560 bumper stickers and posters. We did all the grassroots leveling, and back then 50 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:35.600 it wasn't commercialized. We didn't have the sponsorship of companies who were trying to 51 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:44.519 either be green or greenwash their activities. We were citizens and we put out 52 00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:48.680 the card tables and we handed out the literature and we got petitions signed to 53 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:55.639 stop the SST, the supersonic transport plane, and to stop a development in 54 00:04:55.720 --> 00:05:00.319 mineral keying that Disney wanted to make a ski resort which is in med Ole 55 00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:03.600 King in the Sierra Mountains, which is now a national park. Fortunately we 56 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:09.199 saved it. We didn't save everything. We've been fighting for decades to save 57 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:14.199 Bona Wetlands. We lost three quarters of it. Amigo State Bolsa Chica was 58 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:18.519 working to save the Bolsha Chika and the Huntington Beach Mojave Desert. We tried 59 00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:23.240 to save that and create a national park. We got a National Preserve. 60 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:27.959 We tried to expand the Joshua treat Santa Monica Mountains. We organized one thousand 61 00:05:27.959 --> 00:05:33.399 people on mulhalland Boulevard and to protest the fact that there was too much development 62 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:36.759 in the mountains and we wanted a national park. We didn't succeed, but 63 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:43.519 we did get a National Recreation Area and some areas have been saved. In 64 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:48.000 fact, one of my first Immy nominated specials PBS specials was Gum in the 65 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:51.839 Heart of the City about the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and rim of 66 00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:57.720 the Valley quarter that. Going back, I also must say it's very important 67 00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:00.759 that people read. I was attending UCLA. I took a biology class. 68 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:04.279 It was required. It wasn't my specialty. But there was a little book 69 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:12.199 called The Population Bomb by doctor Paul Airlicht, and I read that book and 70 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:17.279 that changed my whole perception. At that time, we had about two billion 71 00:06:17.319 --> 00:06:21.439 people on the planet. We have over eight billion now. We've gone beyond 72 00:06:21.560 --> 00:06:29.319 the carrying capacity. If we controlled our population on a voluntary basis, then 73 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:34.399 everybody could be fed have health care, have education, have food, have 74 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:41.839 clothing, have housing. But people didn't listen. And I read that book 75 00:06:41.879 --> 00:06:46.959 and there was one it was really in the opening chapter he talked about an 76 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:49.720 airplane. Yeah, an airplane can fly, and we know about these airplanes 77 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:58.759 fly and what's breaking up? One rivet one rivet too many and then collapse. 78 00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:03.639 And that really hit me hard that we can keep adding people, but 79 00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:08.279 at what standard of living? And what are we doing to the ecosystem. 80 00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:13.319 So I think it's really important that people read some of this information. And 81 00:07:13.399 --> 00:07:16.839 I've been privileged in the years that I've been doing my radio and TV show 82 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:24.279 to interview some of these experts, people like Jane Goodall and Carl Sagan and 83 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:29.439 Paul Erlich and the father of human ecology, doctor Derek Harden, and all 84 00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:35.079 these people who've done incredible work pointing out that we must do more, and 85 00:07:35.079 --> 00:07:41.839 they've written incredible books that I recommend everybody watch and listen and read. Enjoying 86 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:46.800 the show, click like and subscribe. I've also read that if everyone on 87 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:51.040 planet Earth were to consume at the rate and level as Americans do, we 88 00:07:51.079 --> 00:07:55.959 would need two or three more planet earths. This is a major problem. 89 00:07:56.839 --> 00:08:01.920 When I traveled, I was really stunned. I saw people dying, living, 90 00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:05.560 starving in different places in the cities on the streets. Now we have 91 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:11.959 homelessness on our streets. One of the things that is so significant is that 92 00:08:15.079 --> 00:08:22.920 we cannot carry on on the level that we have been doing because Americans use 93 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:26.279 so much more energy, so many more resources, and that means other people 94 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:35.320 and animals and plants suffer. And I did my third Immy nominated special was 95 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:41.320 overpopulation in the United States. But it was hard to show because oh, 96 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:46.200 you're showing Beverly Hills, the wealth, all the wonderful things that everybody wants 97 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:50.399 to accomplish. It doesn't look bad. Everybody wants that, but that consumption, 98 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:58.399 that consumerism is destructive. It's so much easier to show over population where 99 00:08:58.440 --> 00:09:03.320 people don't have the resources. But it is here in the United States, 100 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:07.759 and we do have to reduce our consumption and get into that triple R. 101 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:13.600 You know, the reduce, reuse, recycle, recycle is really last. 102 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:20.399 We shouldn't be using so much. How has Earthday evolved since those early years. 103 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:24.639 I'm assuming its focus has changed as the environmental crisis has accelerated and taken 104 00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:28.639 on new dimensions. When I thought about Earth Day then and coming up now, 105 00:09:30.519 --> 00:09:35.200 I always think what has changed, what hasn't. Sadly, it's gotten 106 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:43.840 worse, and one of the big differences in the seventies it was environment versus 107 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:48.360 economy. In other words, the businesses did not accept it. We couldn't 108 00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:54.639 even get into the schools because they considered us very radical. And of course 109 00:09:54.720 --> 00:10:01.039 now everybody wants to say they're doing something for the environment. I don't like 110 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:07.039 the current Earth Days from the last twenty years or so because the organizers charge 111 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:13.679 citizen groups, activist groups to have a table, to have material to distribute 112 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:22.320 to others, and the commercial operations and the commercial sponsorship is really sad because 113 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:26.000 they are promoting it for themselves that they're not giving it to the nonprofits. 114 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:33.600 We My nonprofit organization founded in nineteen fifty eight has never received a dime from 115 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:39.519 these companies. Another major change that I don't like is the fact that environmentalists 116 00:10:39.559 --> 00:10:46.000 are afraid to tackle the real essence of the problem, and that's over population. 117 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:50.279 It's become a tamboo subject. They are afraid now. We weren't afraid 118 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:54.600 back in nineteen seventy and the seventies. We spoke out about it, but 119 00:10:54.759 --> 00:11:00.360 now people are afraid to talk about it. And it has nothing to do 120 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:05.200 with your race, your religion, or any of that. It has to 121 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:11.480 do with human beings. Where Homo sapiens were all worn and over population applies 122 00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:16.039 to everybody. And yet people are afraid because they're going to be accused of 123 00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:20.879 being a racist. They're are going to be accused of not caring about people, 124 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:24.799 when we care about animals. It's the other way around. If anybody 125 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:30.360 has seen that circle of life, that you realize we're all interconnected. We 126 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:33.919 can't take out the major predators, you know, whether or not it's the 127 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:39.559 wolves. We can't take out the whales. We can't take out any of 128 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:50.559 the major predators because they keep the other animals in balance. And this concept 129 00:11:50.679 --> 00:11:56.480 is not really being explored and discussed. The other thing that's absolutely horrible is 130 00:11:56.519 --> 00:12:01.480 that we haven't solved the extinction problem. When I started speaking in nineteen seventy, 131 00:12:03.320 --> 00:12:07.039 it was five to ten species a day or becoming extinct. I would 132 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:11.600 have thought by now I wouldn't be saying we still have five to ten species 133 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:20.039 a day becoming extinct. That's not improvement. And we also have massive amount 134 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:26.639 of plastics. That plastic problem has totally gone out of reach, and it's 135 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:31.799 taking so long for the governmental agencies and the business is to make the transition 136 00:12:31.960 --> 00:12:37.480 to non plastics. We don't need plastic. One used plastic bags. There 137 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:43.720 are alternatives, but yet they're still there. And everybody now knows about the 138 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:50.159 big garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean and another oceans. I mean, even 139 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:56.720 in the fifties and sixties Jacques Cousteau raised attention to the ocean pollution, and 140 00:12:56.080 --> 00:13:01.320 we haven't done much about it at all. And so I think one of 141 00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:07.840 the things that has changed is on a positive level, is that people are 142 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:13.639 talking about sustainability. Finally, we have to live and be sustainable. And 143 00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:16.919 yet what does that really mean. We're not going to be pureist. We 144 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:20.879 all probably do drive a car, and even if we take mass transit, 145 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:26.679 it's using some sort of fuel. I did once ride my bicycle from Los 146 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:30.240 Angeles to sant Anna. I have fifty miles, but it took all day. 147 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:33.559 You know, you can't do this on a daily basis and work and 148 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:39.080 do that. So we have to have transit systems, we have to have 149 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:46.039 areas of sustainability. That are imbalanced, and even organic food is not necessarily 150 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:52.960 safe. It may still be grown in a non regenitive way. We haven't 151 00:13:54.000 --> 00:14:00.000 really adopted regenitive agriculture. That's a major area that we still need to dress 152 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:05.960 us. And of course, one of the things that started me on environmental 153 00:14:07.159 --> 00:14:11.799 issues was the anti war and the napalm that was being dropped in Vietnam and 154 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:18.200 the pollution. I say that war is the ultimate pollution. And we have 155 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:22.279 wars all over this planet, whether or not it's Ukraine or Gaza, or 156 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:31.519 Sudan or Mayan Mare all over and war is destroying people, plants, animals, 157 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:37.000 and the land. So we have to really connect these movements. Yeah, 158 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:39.720 you said a heck of a lot there. And one thing that I 159 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:45.360 was reflecting on when you're talking about the circle of life and the interconnectedness of 160 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:50.080 everything, it seems like the one species that really doesn't belong, that isn't 161 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:54.840 really needed is us, right, And yet we're the ones who kind of 162 00:14:54.519 --> 00:14:58.320 have this capacity to destroy at grade levels. And yet what do we add. 163 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:03.240 All we can do is reduce our harm. We can't really necessarily create 164 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:07.840 a balance. We can always sort of try to preserve balance. It's an 165 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:11.840 interesting thing. And when you're talking about there being, you know, eight 166 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:16.360 billion people in counting is very scary. I think that the planet would do 167 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:18.799 fine without human beings, but since I am one, I do want to 168 00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:24.799 survive as long as I can. And I think that human beings can survive 169 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:30.799 if we use our brain. And that's the odd part. We have intelligence 170 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:35.080 and it's not being used. And we know today in politics how many lies 171 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:39.039 you're thrown out there. And I was an elected official for sixteen years. 172 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:43.759 People were throwing lies about need that made no sense whatsoever. And you can't 173 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:50.279 compete with a million dollars of your opposition money. So we have to change 174 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:54.279 the way we govern. We have to change the way we live. We 175 00:15:54.399 --> 00:16:00.799 have to change our activism. And I hope that people will identify and get 176 00:16:00.840 --> 00:16:07.519 involved with one or two environmental organizations. Where they not it's for one animal, 177 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:10.799 where they not it's for animal rights, whether or not it's wild or 178 00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:15.320 domesticated animals. For one place, your backyard, what is being built. 179 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:19.200 I'm here right now talking in Idle wild in the Santa Centil Mountains. And 180 00:16:19.720 --> 00:16:26.639 I was too young to fight the tramway from Palm Springs up into the wilderness 181 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:30.759 in the Santa Centil Mountains that going to Santa Cento Peak. It should never 182 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:34.039 have been built. It's wonderful p people. People love it, but they 183 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:38.240 don't realize that it's technology in a wilderness, and there was supposed to be 184 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:44.840 no technology in a wilderness. That's one of those kinds of operations where we 185 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:48.440 have to look and see what do we really need, what do we not 186 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:52.519 really need, and how can we change our lifestyle. It's taken so so 187 00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:59.759 long for the building traits to adopt sustainable practices, to use reused material, 188 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:03.440 to even when they tear down a building, use what's called deconstruction, and 189 00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:08.839 not take all that waste and put it in a landfill, but to reuse 190 00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:15.680 it. The boards, the concrete, the windows, everything. These are 191 00:17:15.720 --> 00:17:19.960 not regular occurrences, and they should be. It shouldn't be the exception. 192 00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:23.759 It should be big occurrences. And we're not there at all. And I 193 00:17:23.960 --> 00:17:30.759 sometimes wonder why not when everybody, the young people definitely care about the environment, 194 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:37.039 but they're not making sure that whatever career they're going into is being handled 195 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:40.799 and functioning right. I remember when I first got elected in two thousand and 196 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:48.160 one, we received a packet of one sided agenda material was like this every 197 00:17:48.279 --> 00:17:52.720 month. I said one sided, let's go, let's go double sided, 198 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:56.640 and they fought me on it. I finally want you don't give up. 199 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:02.680 You keep on fighting. And of course now it's available digitally, which saves 200 00:18:02.680 --> 00:18:07.759 some things. But even digital and we have to realize our cell phones use 201 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:14.359 rare earth elements and materials, so it's not always the safest and the best 202 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:22.799 because digital either maybe that'll pen and pencil on recycled paper or actually not even 203 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:29.960 recycled paper kN naff paper him paper, I mean dura. World War two, 204 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:36.839 they promoted hip was used for parachutes and shoe laces. Our Constitution was 205 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:40.559 written on it, you know, and then it stopped. I mean it 206 00:18:40.599 --> 00:18:45.400 should be legal. Everybody should be rolling yamp and using him for there are 207 00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:48.400 two hundred kinds of products that can be made out of it. Why are 208 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:55.480 those options available? Yes, speaking of smoking the constitution? Is it true 209 00:18:55.559 --> 00:19:02.799 that capitalism is at the root of not only the American experience, but I 210 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:08.240 would say the destruction of the planet as well. I wouldn't say capitalism alone. 211 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:15.720 Every form of economic system right now is destructive. Every form of political 212 00:19:17.240 --> 00:19:22.559 system isn't working to our benefit. When I say our, the Earth's benefit. 213 00:19:22.279 --> 00:19:29.720 And I recall in the late eighties traveling to the Soviet Union because I 214 00:19:29.799 --> 00:19:34.599 was curious what communism was about when you had a central government that could do 215 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:41.720 things, and I was shocked to see the pollution, the pollution of the 216 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:45.680 oil fields in the Caspian Sea. They had the power to do it cleanly, 217 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:49.400 and they didn't. I went later to like by Call, one of 218 00:19:49.400 --> 00:19:56.680 the freshwater deepest lakes on the planet, and the pollution was horrible. And 219 00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:06.839 I've been to Asia, South America, North America, you name it. 220 00:20:06.839 --> 00:20:14.920 It doesn't matter. We have to have an environmental, green economy, whatever 221 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:19.319 you want to call it, and no country in the world has that. 222 00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:25.960 Now some countries are doing better. Scandinavian countries, when I traveled there was 223 00:20:26.200 --> 00:20:32.200 very good about protecting their environment, but they were perfectly either. You've edited 224 00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:37.480 the Compendium news letter since nineteen seventy two. It's published six times a year 225 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:42.279 and covers ecological and humanitarian issues and projects. You've also hosted the radio program 226 00:20:42.359 --> 00:20:48.759 Environmental Direction since nineteen seventy seven. It's the longest running environmental radio show in 227 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:52.440 the country. Could you tell us a little bit about these projects and the 228 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:59.039 larger goals. I'm pleased to because I found that as an activist it's important 229 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:03.039 to communicate to the public the issues. And I found that writing the newsletter 230 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:08.599 which I started when I founded the Ecology Center of Southern California through the nonprofit 231 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:15.799 group Educational Communications, it focused me. I was putting the information down so 232 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:19.319 that I had a better understanding of what was going on and encourage people to 233 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:23.799 write letters on this issue or that issue. And then I found that I 234 00:21:23.880 --> 00:21:26.880 was guested on programs and that was fine, but I said, oh, 235 00:21:26.920 --> 00:21:33.160 I could control more if I hosted a program. And I was fortunate to 236 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:37.640 be taken up by one of the commercial stations in the country. They didn't 237 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:42.079 peck me. It's a volunteer effort, but they gave me airtime, technological 238 00:21:42.119 --> 00:21:47.279 support in the radio station. And in fact, for seventeen years I was 239 00:21:47.319 --> 00:21:51.759 on the number one commercial radio station in the country out of nine thousand stations. 240 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:53.880 So I was very proud of that. So I'm still on radio, 241 00:21:53.960 --> 00:21:59.079 but now we started our YouTube channel. You have to get into the internet 242 00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:03.079 system. But in doing that, I gave people who are doing good activist 243 00:22:03.160 --> 00:22:07.759 work a form to express themselves, to tell people what was going on, 244 00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:11.720 and that was critical. So I've done two five hundred radio shows, a 245 00:22:11.799 --> 00:22:15.480 new show every week, and I've never missed an air deadline. And then 246 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:19.079 in the eighties, I had a friend who was in TV and he says, 247 00:22:19.079 --> 00:22:22.359 Oh, let's start a TV show based on your radio show. Well, 248 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:26.079 you can't do a TV show like that without money every week. So 249 00:22:26.119 --> 00:22:30.480 I've only done six hundred TV shows since then, and then on about two 250 00:22:30.519 --> 00:22:37.799 hundred cable stations except for the three specials that were on the PBS Systems and 251 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:42.799 Discovery Channel. My second Emmy nominator special that I didn't mention was Wind Energy 252 00:22:42.839 --> 00:22:48.559 for the Nineties and Beyond. We were the first to promote wind energy back 253 00:22:48.599 --> 00:22:52.799 in the nineties. It's an alternative energy source and we need to do it. 254 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:57.680 And so what I found with using the media to our advantage just says 255 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:03.599 you all are doing. Get out the message is so important because we can 256 00:23:03.640 --> 00:23:06.680 reach so many more people and let them know what is going on. And 257 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:12.359 it's been a real pleasure. My biggest pleasure is meeting and talking to these 258 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:19.319 experts who are really doing the work in the field, and sometimes some of 259 00:23:19.319 --> 00:23:26.440 the scientists who will spend weeks and months in the field, their names may 260 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:30.960 not be so famous, but what they discover and what they tell us and 261 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:37.640 how they're trying to save the different animals is remarkable. I've totally enjoyed it. 262 00:23:37.559 --> 00:23:45.039 I started all my environmental work through the nonprofit which was founded in nineteen 263 00:23:45.079 --> 00:23:49.559 fifty eight, where a group of men and women wanted to do a film 264 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:53.519 about an artist between World War One and World War Two, and it actually 265 00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:59.559 won an Oscar nomination, so it's available there too. But in ninety three 266 00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:06.359 so started really promoting and helped create the term ecotourism. And I've been promoting 267 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:11.319 ecotourism because if you don't help the local people, you can't save the wildlife. 268 00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:15.200 If you tell the local people don't shoot the lion, don't shoot the 269 00:24:15.240 --> 00:24:17.960 elephant, don't shoot the rhino, well what do they get out of it? 270 00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:22.000 Well, you have to support their school, their orphanage, their health 271 00:24:22.039 --> 00:24:25.319 clinic. And that's what we're doing. We have too that we support in 272 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:30.039 Kenya and Tanzania. We said donated supplies over and a container every year, 273 00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:36.519 and that's important so those people can care about their own local environment and get 274 00:24:36.559 --> 00:24:40.839 something back, and so that's really important. And so we created that project, 275 00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:45.519 and it just seems like there's always another project to create with regards to 276 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:48.799 eco news. What are some specific programs that you would recommend us and our 277 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:52.599 viewers getting into watching and how would we find them? You can find them 278 00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:59.160 on different cable stations. But we are now making a YouTube channel, Eco 279 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:04.000 Neews with Nancy Kerlman, and the programs vary. We've had to take off 280 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:07.079 about five hundred and seventy five of the shows because they were done in the 281 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:12.200 old format, the old TV format, our video and they don't work so 282 00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:18.640 well. So now we can only put up the digital ones that are being 283 00:25:18.680 --> 00:25:25.240 done. But the important thing to tell is well, we can't compete with 284 00:25:26.279 --> 00:25:30.759 BBC and Nature and Nova and National Geographic and all those programs because they have 285 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:36.160 money and those camera people sit out there. Forever. We volunteer our time. 286 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:41.000 We volunteer our time to go and talk to these experts and show these 287 00:25:41.079 --> 00:25:45.359 places, and we have volunteers who edit the shows. We have volunteers who 288 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:52.039 are on the shows. Nobody gets paid. The stations have never paid us, 289 00:25:52.559 --> 00:26:00.480 but they air the programs and the programs range from ecotourism, where we 290 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:07.079 went to Malaysia and documented the greenest hotel in Malaysia two hundred ways. They 291 00:26:07.079 --> 00:26:11.440 took an old hotel and made a green and they had there. We went 292 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:17.759 to the greenest hotel, I think resort on the planet, Jean Michel Cousteau's 293 00:26:17.799 --> 00:26:22.440 resort in Fiji, and it should have gotten a five star rating, but 294 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:26.920 it didn't because they refused to put TVs in the rooms, and that's required 295 00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:33.240 by five stars. But these places, the food that you eat at their 296 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:40.359 restaurants are grown in their own organ in garden. And in Fiji, part 297 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:47.839 of your dollars go to re establishing the mangrove force that had been destroyed, 298 00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:55.359 and you can actually help plant a mangrove tree, and some of your dollars 299 00:26:55.400 --> 00:27:02.119 go to the local schools and communities. And we covered the greenest hotel in 300 00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:07.839 the Czech Republic in Frague, and they took they took us down to their 301 00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:15.599 basement where you could see all the machinery recycling their own waste water into clean 302 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:21.039 water right there on site, and of course naturally solar panels and so forth. 303 00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:30.240 And then we went and documented so many different kinds of places, whether 304 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:37.039 or not it's from from Ireland to Osba Jehan, to Turkey to Costa Rica 305 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:42.079 to Kenya and Ethiopia as gorgeous. I wish Ethiopia didn't have a civil war 306 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:48.079 going on because I think everybody should go and see the wonderful, wonderful, 307 00:27:48.119 --> 00:27:52.839 beautiful environment. You go to the national parks and all these places. And 308 00:27:52.799 --> 00:28:00.640 then one of the shows that was in the old digital fashion can't see. 309 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:04.880 But I forgot to mention that our organization also started the Earth Cultures Project, 310 00:28:04.920 --> 00:28:11.200 which is an ethnic dance where we provide ethnic dance programs to schools, retirement 311 00:28:11.240 --> 00:28:18.720 homes, groups, whatever. And I danced with eight thousand dancers in Estonia 312 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:23.400 doing the same traditional folk dance. It was an incredible experience. So we 313 00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:32.240 documented that and then my current videographer in twenty twelve thirteen, because it was 314 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:37.559 New Year, we climbed the highest peak in Africa, nineteen three hundred and 315 00:28:37.599 --> 00:28:44.799 thirty six feet Mount Kilimajaro, which is also the highest mountain peak not connected 316 00:28:44.839 --> 00:28:52.359 to any other mountain range. And that was an incredible experience to show that 317 00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:56.960 eco adventurers can do it. And I did that when I was sixty five, 318 00:28:56.039 --> 00:29:00.000 so I was very happy and proud that I could show that women and 319 00:29:00.359 --> 00:29:06.799 older people can still get out and make an effort and get to the ice 320 00:29:06.920 --> 00:29:10.599 peak in Africa. I'm not trying to do every highest peak in the world. 321 00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:17.279 Too snowy. In some of those places, we did see the glaciers. 322 00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:22.079 The last two hours on Kilimajaro, you have to hike the glaciers. 323 00:29:22.359 --> 00:29:26.680 But what was interesting is I had done an eco news show in the nineties 324 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:30.359 in the mid nineties, didn't climb kill ma Ajar, but we stopped on 325 00:29:30.359 --> 00:29:38.839 the road typical photoshop photo stop and took a picture of malt Kilimajaro. When 326 00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:47.319 I went back fifteen years later, we stopped at the same spot and took 327 00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:52.759 a picture of the mountain peak and half the glaciers are gone. So within 328 00:29:52.880 --> 00:30:00.400 that fifteen year time frame, I actually have documentation of the glaciers disappearing due 329 00:30:00.440 --> 00:30:06.319 to our destruction of the climate. And when we went to Switzerland, they 330 00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:10.880 actually have in one of the villages where you can hike into the Alps, 331 00:30:10.920 --> 00:30:15.359 a trail where they have pictures showing you where the huts were one hundred years 332 00:30:15.400 --> 00:30:21.519 ago and where they are now. Because the glaciers have recided, receded. 333 00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:27.119 Because the glaciers have receded, they had to move the huts and the town 334 00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:34.000 below because the glaciers are melting. They've had to move the people at the 335 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:40.799 base because they would be flooded. So it's really interesting when you go back 336 00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:44.839 to some of these places and you can see what's going on. There's no 337 00:30:45.039 --> 00:30:49.920 question that we are destroy the planet with the climate change. So eco News 338 00:30:51.039 --> 00:30:56.519 we have a whole range of stories from cultural and natural history, and it's 339 00:30:56.759 --> 00:31:02.759 really exciting to go to these places and to see these places. If you 340 00:31:02.839 --> 00:31:07.160 can't travel there, watch the shows. So Nancy, what do you see 341 00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:12.400 as the future of earth Day and environmentalism? I see the future of earth 342 00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:22.920 Day as a continuing awareness of the public to our ecological crisis. I would 343 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:30.720 hope that the commercialization might be minimized and that people would be willing to speak 344 00:31:30.839 --> 00:31:36.599 up for the real issues that need to be addressed, the real actions that 345 00:31:36.680 --> 00:31:41.920 need to be taken, the real protests that need to be done. The 346 00:31:41.960 --> 00:31:48.880 first Earth Day, I organized a thousand bicyclists on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles 347 00:31:49.319 --> 00:31:56.960 without a parade permit because bicycles are considered transportation and vehicles and as long as 348 00:31:57.000 --> 00:32:01.599 you follow the vehicle laws rules. We stopped at the stop lights, we 349 00:32:01.640 --> 00:32:09.559 stopped at the stop signs, but we traveled on Wielshirt to bring attention to 350 00:32:09.880 --> 00:32:19.799 the problem of automobiles is way too polluting. Other places in the Earth day 351 00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:23.680 would bury a car we did the bicycle ride. You won't recognize me in 352 00:32:23.720 --> 00:32:28.799 the picture on the front of La Times, which I was because I was 353 00:32:28.839 --> 00:32:35.160 wearing that old fashioned World War two small basket. Maybe I should have taken 354 00:32:35.200 --> 00:32:37.519 it off for the picture, but I didn't know they were taking the picture. 355 00:32:37.240 --> 00:32:43.720 We have the Internet, we have social media. The focus is going 356 00:32:43.759 --> 00:32:49.759 to be more difficult because we have so many people claiming that they understand the 357 00:32:49.759 --> 00:32:54.920 ecological issues and they're promoting the wrong thing. So we have to be aware. 358 00:32:54.960 --> 00:32:59.799 We have to keep our guard app We have to do more research, 359 00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:02.200 we have to do more protests, we have to do more cleanup, we 360 00:33:02.279 --> 00:33:07.359 have to do more testifying. I mean, they're still ready to round up 361 00:33:07.720 --> 00:33:12.480 the wild horses. We thought we saved them when we got the Wild Horse 362 00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:16.640 and Burrow Act passed. Our wild horses on our public land would not be 363 00:33:17.079 --> 00:33:23.480 killed and yet they are doing it right now as we speak. So some 364 00:33:23.559 --> 00:33:30.839 of the issues we were successful. I recall when I first got involved before 365 00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:37.319 Earth Day, I actually joined an organization to save the tulielk. This is 366 00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:40.559 the smallest elk species in the world, found originally in the Owens Valley. 367 00:33:42.359 --> 00:33:45.559 And as we all know, most of the Owens Valley was taken and bought 368 00:33:45.640 --> 00:33:50.000 by the city of Los Angeles to take the water, and so there went 369 00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:54.240 the Tulis, There went the tuliel There were about twenty two species left, 370 00:33:54.400 --> 00:34:00.200 and my ex mother in law actually saved them by going into yifying at Congress 371 00:34:00.640 --> 00:34:07.079 and getting a National Wildlife Refuge established in Theones Valley. So the population with 372 00:34:07.240 --> 00:34:09.519 over two thousand, and now they're up in point race. So it shows 373 00:34:09.559 --> 00:34:15.320 what one individual can do organizing other individuals. And I could tell you story 374 00:34:15.400 --> 00:34:21.599 after story like that of gifferent people that I've worked with over the years to 375 00:34:22.280 --> 00:34:27.719 save this animal or that species or that ecosystem. We don't have the time 376 00:34:27.800 --> 00:34:31.000 I wish, but it's ongoing. And so what do I see as the 377 00:34:31.000 --> 00:34:37.519 future. I see that environmentalism is not going to disappear, the ecological crisis 378 00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:40.719 is not going to go away. We have to continue to do this, 379 00:34:42.159 --> 00:34:46.159 and I thank you so very much for giving me the opportunity to share some 380 00:34:46.280 --> 00:34:51.800 of my experiences. And we'll just have to do this each your birthday and 381 00:34:51.960 --> 00:34:54.519 in between the birthdays. Thank you so much, Nancy for joining us. 382 00:34:55.039 --> 00:34:59.800 Thank you very much for having me and to our audience. Now back to 383 00:34:59.800 --> 00:35:05.480 you your regularly scheduled lives. Amusing Jews is here to amuse you. If 384 00:35:05.519 --> 00:35:17.079 you like being amused, go ahead and click like and subscribe. Enjoining the 385 00:35:17.119 --> 00:35:19.880 show, click like and subscribe