Hudson River Radio dot com. It beats listening to nothing. Being Frank.
We're the only way to be is Frank away and welcome to Being Frank.
We're the only way to be is Frank. I'm your host, Frank Lebono,
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Being Frank brings our audience a new topical program every week. We begin
on Thursdays, but you can listen to your convenience, and remember every program
as archived, so you can listen to any Being Frank virtually any time you
want. We think it's the intelligent thing to do. And for reference,
we are recording live to tape, as they say on July thirteen, so
give you a little bit of reference. It's no longer hyperbole to say that
our planet is dying, and of course if it does, we perish with
it. In my mind, we reach that threshold a long time ago,
and if you don't do something about it, not just soon, but right
away, it may be too late to reverse the damage. In fact,
many scientists feel that we've already reached that tipping point and we must do something
about it because we have caused it. There is no longer a doubt that
our never ending pursuit of a more perfect world has produced virtually the completely opposite
result. Just recently, the area where this podcast streams from a point,
New York was devastated by torrential rains and the corresponding flooding. I lived in
this area for over forty years, and I've never seen anything like it,
Because no one has. And the record for the hottest days ever recorded on
the planet were set and broken on four consecutive days. It only promises to
get worse. Is it too late? Is there nothing that can be done?
Well, one thing is for certain. If we don't try, we'll
never know. Joining me to discuss not only the cause of this dilemma,
but possible sensible solutions as well is a man eminently qualified to do so.
He was in the USDA and the administration, an instructor in the famous Yale
School of Forestry. He is one of the foremost experts and use of open
space in the country. And a longtime friend was gonna say an old friends
both literally and euphemistically, I guess I'd say, because we're both old and
we've actually known each other for about sixty years. That's kind of scary.
He's been a guest before, and he joins us once again. Jim Lyons,
James, thank you once again for joining us here. I'm being Frank,
No, thank you, thank you very much, Frank. And you
know, hopefully with age comes wisdom. Yeah, well, we could certainly
try to sell that anyway. We'll too bark best this evening, but it
is certainly a serious topic and you're always welcome here. But again you're back
again, and we always try to talk about good news and the sudden that
involves some of your work with the use of open space and land, and
we're can talk a little bit about that in the second half of our program,
but in the meantime, we've got to talk about what really is a
dire situation and that is mostly driven by climate change, and we've seen the
terrific effects of it just recently again up here in the Rockland County area,
which I mentioned only about twenty five miles north of New York City. Some
of the damage was devastating and it's increasing in frequency. So there is no
longer any doubt that this will affect our lives, and not in the not
too distant future, but it's already affecting us now. Jim, talk a
little bit about how, you know, we see things in a broad sense,
and we tend to think of environmental issues as global and they are.
But you and I, in our discussion to come into the program, talked
a little bit about how it's really felt most severely on the local level,
and that was witnessed recently. To talk a little bit about that, sure,
well, I think it goes without saying that the effects that we've seen
in this region, the recent floods, you know, the darkned skies early
in the morning across the river in Manhattan, you know, they were effective
of the consequences of climate change. You know, extensive fires in Canada.
Fires have always been an issue, and you know, in the northern woods
of Canada. But these fires are large, consistent, and largely out of
control and will continue to burn until they burn out, and with warm weather
that could be a very long season. The same thing with the floods you
just referenced. You know, we've seen extensive flooding, flooding in places we've
not seen before, and it too has devastating consequences. So these weather extremes,
we're all predicted by people who were talking about climate change decades ago,
and now we're coming to realize their predictions have come true. And you know,
others have talked about anticipating the impacts of climate change, the need to
take action to address these issues. And I would say fortunately, and I
have worked in two democratic administrations, though I don't think I'm buysed in terms
of my observations here. But you know, for the first time, we
have an administration by administration that's worked with the Congress to take incredibly aggressive action
to commit five hundred billion dollars to begin to address the causes of climate change
and also to mitigate the damage while trying to increase opportunities for new jobs,
new technology, and to grow our economy at the same time. So I
think it's quite a feat they seek to achieve, but they're well on their
way, and you know it would be a long time before the consequences are
dealt with. But their commitment is to try to cut emissions by fifty percent
by twenty thirty that's global warming causing emissions, and to get to net zero
emissions by twenty fifty. So again a very aggressive objective, but one I
think is evidenced by the damages we're talking about. Essential if we're have some
semblance of a life we used to know, and hopefully you know that a
healthy planet in the safety that we all seek. I want to talk about
some of those things in details, and particularly who are the major culprits.
But before we get to that, you mentioned something this is not necessarily new,
And again in our preamble before the show, we mentioned that we were
in high school together in nineteen seventy six of the first our Earth Day,
and we might have even been the same class. I kind of kind of
vaguely remember the celebrations, etc. But my point being that awareness of the
environment this is not necessarily new, especially in a social sense where it's it's
they have in books Silent Spring for example, many years ago we brought environmental
issues to our attention, but it really it's really started to coalesce. It
seems in the seventies and those of our our listeners of our age will probably
remember, I'm going to play with something. It was kind of a fun
commercial, and it's meant to be taken as fun. But the point that
I'm trying to make is that environmental awareness and the potential danger if we don't
listen to Mother Nature and already gave some of it away, there will be
consequences. So Neil, if you're ready for that, it's a little thirty
second commercial. Let's listen to that Mother Nature. I didn't know you were
so fine on the vine. Well, there's a lot you don't know.
I'll bet you don't know about this. Oh come on, that's a stick
of my sweet creamy butter. Right, Chiffon stick, Margarine, Chiffon stick,
Margarine, right, Chiffon, fool you. It's not nice to fool
Mother Nature, but it's not. It's Chiffon. Now. I don't even
know if they make Chiffon butter anymore. And this is by no means an
endorsement of margarine or butter. Of any kind. But the point that I
was trying to make is that and that's that's a why do you look at
it? But environmental causes have been around a long time? But how did
it get so out of control? Jim? What what with with with that
kind of impetus and movement? And we were moving in the right direction and
then we seem to have kind of fallen. Well, first of all,
I got to correct your frank. We didn't graduate seventy six. We're graduating
seventy three. Well that's right, So that's wrong, thank you. And
so yeah, you're in our fiftieth anniversary of our graduation is this fall.
So I expect to see you there, although we'll all look very different from
what we did back then. UM, well, you know back then,
just to use that as a benchmark. UM, you know, I had
an interest in kind of conservation environmental issues, and UM ended up going to
college at Rutgers. UM there weren't programs focused on the environment. The nearest
I could come to was forestry, but there are other courses that kind of
I was able to sew together to begin to build a foundation for you know
what I'm doing today. I remember a course that was taught by a professor
who was also a lawyer, and under the Knicks administration, some laws were
put in place, a framework was created, EPA was established. You know,
that really provided a you know, the kind of the beginnings of starting
to look at the environment you know, as a as a national concern.
What was interesting was there was really no major textbook available. So this professor
at Rutgers had sewn together different articles and from magazines and newspapers speeches he had
heard, and that was the textbook that we worked with. I mean,
now there's thousands of textbooks unsure, but so fifty years is not a long
time. But you know, we can see the conselts of our failure to
act quickly, and now we're trying to catch up as fast as we can.
And I think that's that's the challenge. You know, sometimes people in
general, I think, can be hurricanes in particular. You know, um,
they have to see it to believe it. Well, now we're seeing
it, and now people are much more serious about it. And you know,
fortunately again, you know, I think we've an administration that has put
together an excellent team of people who understand these excused you know, from agriculture
and forestry, to renewable energy production, to the impacts it has on human
health, on disadvantaged communities. And they've put together a pretty robust package that
they were able to pass five hundred billion dollars focused on some of the critical
issues we need to research that we need to address and investments we need to
make to have a strong economy, safe communities, um but a healthier environment.
And you know, that's that's what it's going to take. I mean,
view and has had identified this as a significant issue a number of years
ago and made that clear. I would also make note that they recognize the
loss of biodiversity as a threat to global health. Those two are linked because
changes in habitat, changes in water resources and the like also have consequences for
fish and wildlife, and so we're seeing those consequences as well. But I
think, you know, the problem is convincing others that the impacts were feeling
are really driven by human caused carbon emissions, and we need to tackle those
emissions. We need to come up with alternative mechanisms to mitigate the impacts,
to reduce our emissions, and ultimately, you know, to develop what people
refer to as a clean economy, and it's going to take a while to
get there, but we can't waste any time, which is the reason for
the aggressive action by the Biden administration and the work that's occurring around the globe
and universities here in the United States. That comes with both feeling the impacts
and I think growing recognition among a wide portune of the American public that this
is for real and now they're gonna look to their government, and they should
also look to the private sector, corporations and community organizations to help lead the
effort to try to mitigate the damage and hopefully reverse the consequences of Quanta patres.
You know, Jim, I wrote down three words that I think are
perfect to mention here at this point of the program. Renewable, sustainable,
and the third one that we don't often group with the other two profitable.
And I know that you feel that there are ways to accomplish all three,
and I think most Americans have in their had the idea that any kind of
environmental regulation or change it's going to be painful, it's going to be costly,
it's going to ruin my business, it's going to drive up the cost
of food prices, and that doesn't necessarily have to be the case. I
know that if things are well managed, and I know you're very much into
that, where things can be as I said, renewable and not only and
then therefore sustainable. And if we have those two things, why can't we
make them profitable? Why is that image so difficult to sell when you attach
it to the word of environmental Well, I think it's because certain sectors of
our population and certain industries saw addressing easycotes as a threat, you know,
a threat to their well being, a threat to their profitability and U and
you know, in many respects they fought back. I mean a great example
as your own guess industry. You know, it's it's obvious and I think
you know, most people understand now that you know, emissions, whether it's
hailpipe emissions or emissions from power plants, full fire power plants which which are
um in steady declient almost non existent. Now, um, that's the kind
of emissions that that feeds global warming and the consequences we see. Um.
You know, but there were alternatives, um to addressing these issues that can
produce you know, a clean economy, you know, just a couple of
examples, you know, in the in the Inflation Reduction Act, which included
this five hundred billion dollar commitment. UM. There's a commitment to produce electric
vehicles UM, which citizens could buy UM with a tax credit that would come
with that UM, which would be seventy five hundred dollars per vehicle UM.
And the goal is to reduce uh fifty percent of m fifty percent of the
automobile seals be electric vehicles by twenty thirty. Now that's ambitious, but UM,
that means new investments. And you see this and Ford in general motors,
you know, all introducing you know, new electric vehicles, and how
there are there are ev trucks and there's even an evy Mustang put out by
Ford, UM that is as powerful uh and no. So so you know,
Americans, I think the ingenuity and the creativity of Americans are what we're
going to help us get out of this morass, UM, once we come
to recognize the threat it is to our society or well being and our incomes.
You know, I think, uh, you know, examples of other
opportunities. There's sixty billion dollars UM in the legislation I referenced earlier for clean
energy manufacturing, producing solar panels and turbines, batteries. UM. You know
that it's all money UM that will help subsidize the development of these industries and
hopefully ensure their their profitability. You know, for the first time UM legislation,
and the legislation includes UM attacks on methane production, which is going to
force some energy producers who are generating methane to look at alternative methods so that
they can reduce their costs. So, you know, they are both incentives,
and there are just incentives that are built into this legislation to address these
issues. You know, the biggest producers of emissions right now remain the oil
and gas industry, and they continue to fight against some of the constraints that
have been UM included in the bill. And you know that's understood. But
the reality is that if we're to save the planet, not to be too
grandiose about this, but if we're to save the planet, we all need
to work together. And some industries have come along, I think others are
coming along slowly, and the changes can be dramatic, you know, And
I'll offer as an analogy, my parents smoked your parents smoked, everybody smoked,
nobody believed smoke and cause cancers. And then lo and behold. Years
later, the science made clearer and the evidence indicated that millions of Americans were
dying a lung cancer as a result of this, and some laws changed,
and certainly you know that created a distancentive for people to smoke or to produce
um, you know, the cigarettes anymore, the same strategy as being used
here. One is the incentives to do the right thing with subsidies that are
you know, produced by tax revenue, but to help industries grow that are
going to help us address climate change, grow employment opportunities, produce new factories,
and produce the materials that are necessary to generate energy, but but non
in a non polluting way. Um. And then there are there are distancentives
in the oil and gas industry. You know it is going to face limits
on emissions. Um. They certainly don't like it, but I think UM,
they also recognizing that there's a need to to a transition, particularly to
reduce for example, the release of methane associated with oil and gas production.
Uh. And methane is the most significant polluter, if you will, in
terms of air pollutants that accelerate um UM the creation of UH emissions that cause
climate change. You know, you mentioned the oil and gas industries and as
the culture UH and we've talked about it before. I had done some freelance
work as a photographer and and and went to some of the corporate meetings,
and a common theme that you hear is that you're just shifting if you will,
how can I put it properly? You're you're just shifting the burden from
one area to another. For example, electricity has to be generated. So
their argument often is, by the time you've generated the electricity used to power
cars, etc. You've used more oil or gas or whatever natural element to
produce that UH then you would have if you would have done it in the
old traditional methods. There was one, and I think we might have even
discussed it before, a farmer who was saying, oh, with electric tractors,
what am I going to do? I run my tractors twenty four hours
a day. There's no batteries that can last that long. And even if
I do charge the batteries, there's power that's needed to complete the charging process.
So in other words, we're just kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul.
That's their argument. How would you address that? Well, I think
what I would say is um ingenuity. UM is probably one of the strongest
words I think of when I think about Americans, an American industry. UM.
You know it it has affected tremendous change, UM and UM, and
we lead the world in so many different ways that others try to mimic our
production, sometimes try to steal our technology, but UM, you know it
makes a big difference. So you know, UM, we see the changes
already occurring. You know, let's take agriculture for example. First of all,
you know, there's ten billion dollars in UM you know, in the
Climate Bill UM to help farmers transition to less impactful um UM methods for growing
the crops and changing uh, you know, the kinds of inputs they have
that might be cocluding, and you know, transitioning to more sustainable agricultural approach
to doing business. So that's clearly in that positive But you know, I
mean, look at what you see around communities in this area today. You
see houses with solar panels on them, and there's a whole industry that has
developed around selling solar panels, not just the individuals to reduce their to reduce
their use of fossil fuels UM. You know, oftentimes they get a credit
for adopting these and now you see entire communities that are now becoming clean energy
focused. See the same with wind energy mentioned farming. If you drive across
the United States today, UM you know, Iowa, Minnesota, the Dakotas,
UM you see wind turbines everywhere. And so those farmers, yes,
they're producing you know, wheat and corn and UH and livestock to sustain us,
they're also producing energy and that energy is both helping them reduce their cross
on the farm, but they're also selling their energy UM to companies that might
have produced energy with coal in the past but are now looking at renewable energies.
At the next step, I think another you know, critical part of
this is um UM you know, offshore wind and UH. And while there's
some controversy about offshore wind, particularly in the Northeast, concerns about that,
I think, you know, commitments have been made to develop more offshore wind
and to do it in a way that's not going to adversely impact marine life
UM and and do it in ways actually that ensures that those turbines aren't actually
visible. We were just down in Asbury Park a couple of weeks ago,
great music scene and uh, you know, and the talk down there was
of the governor's initiative to accelerate the development of offshore wind and to sure that
um, you know, it produces what the energy that we need, but
you know it does not adversely impact you know, the tour and the views
you see. Um, there has been some controversy about wheels being found dead
off Pete May in that area, but so far, at least there's no
evidence that it is caused by by the softore one production. So you know,
again American ingenuity boosted by you know, a taxpayer investment. Included in
this legislation is allowing you know, companies, entrepreneurs in individual homeowners, um,
you know, to move forward in ways that are going to help us
all by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Well, I want to talk about that.
There's there's a bigger picture of the global that we've talked about, and
you can bring it down to the local. And I saw a story recently
and I thought it was just terrific. It was a small municipality. It
might have been in New Jersey, but it doesn't matter. It could have
been anywhere. And they had something called no Mow May where they encouraged people
not to mow their lawns a reduce some of the pollution of lawn mowers,
which we don't think of. They often now there are electric ones and we're
changing, but they often belt fumes. But also the idea that it was
good for pollinators, so which is overall again good for the environment. So
kind of a small fun thing. And they didn't say you could cut your
lawn. I want to make that clear. They didn't sindn't say you couldn't,
but they encouraged people at least for the month of May, and there
would be no fines obviously associated with the growing of the lawn, but with
the point being a kind of a community local grassroots pun intended grassroots movement where
something small like that and no Mow May it's a signal or assigned for something
much larger where every little bit helps. What do you know of any other
little success stories like that? People doing? You know, who are some
of the good guys that are doing some of the more innovative things. I
know there were a couple of surfers who are now innovative through cleaning the oceans.
So and you mentioned innovation, and some of it is great and big,
but some of it starts on a smaller, much more grass roofs level.
Well. I actually think a lot of organizations, a lot of conservation
organizations I know that have taken these initiatives. For example, for example,
the UM there's a lot of concern about the loss of monarch butterflies, which
continues UM about the National Wildline Federation and other organizations banded together UM to encourage
people to plant milkweed, which is important, I heard so and monarch butterflies,
you know, basically congregate in a very small location in north western Mexico
and then you know, UM then migrates to the north UM. You know,
I see industries like this popping up, you know, in many,
many places. And the great news is oftentimes it's communities that hear about these
things, and individuals who then bring the community together, you know, to
you know, to try to do these take these inditiatives and do things that
are going to not only help their community but help the environment. You know.
It's UM. I think that's what makes America great. Honestly, Um,
it's that people are willing to take the initiatives, they are willing to
work as a community. And you know, despite some of the political rhetoric
these days, um, the government plays an important role in facilitating that,
in financing that, and and in helping people understand the difference they can make
as individuals, as families, as communities, you know, to improve their
community and collectively improve in our environment. That should never get lost. It
gets brought up in political rhetoric, I'm afraid, but um, I think
or you and I know from growing up, and yeah, we came from
you know, families of policemen you know who you know, gave a lot
um you know, of their lives to benefit the community. And uh,
you know, I think that attitude I've seen in volunteer firemen in this you
know, particularly in this community where we have volunteers. But I see it
among conservation organizations. I see it among workers in factories who are willing to
try new things and take initiatives to improve their own health and safety, but
also to improve the environment. Um it, you know, in some respects.
I'm thinking of the Oppenheimer movie that is very popular this week. It
rolls out. Yeah. But you know, I think back to World War
Two when we all saw the threats U felt the effective you know, the
attack on uh, you know on Hawaii and D Day, Uh, you
know, in response, but you know, communities stepped up and UM.
You know, people men and women went to work in the factories and you
know, built communitions, built the ships, UM, and helped support you
know, an effort to fight you know what what them was. You know,
we're two common enemies. Yeah, UM, to some degree, you
know, UM, this is not a war, but some degree, that
kind of initiative, that kind of innovation, that kind of commitment, UM
is needed to tackle climate change. It is the biggest threat we face today
on a global scale. And UM, and they are very simple things that
people can do to make a difference. And uh and I see it now
every day. And you know, again prison Biden's UM, you know,
five hundred billion dollar investment is geared towards providing the seed money and the resources
to help. I mean I didn't mention this earlier, but you know there's
sixty billion dollars in UM in that program that serves grants to communities that have
been impacted by pollution and to start clean energy many of those disadvantaged communities where
they don't have the resources to make these investments. And in the ag sector,
which I'm sure we'll talk a little bit more about twenty billion to reduce
emissions, you know, from from using fertilizers to generate emissions and converting to
other mechanisms to fertilize their crops to improve soil conservation and enhance the environment.
So, you know, a small investment given the ingenuity, and I think
the enthusiasm of people, Americans in particular, can make a big difference.
And I think that's that's going to be the key to our success. We
all have to pitch in and figure out ways to address these issues. But
the science is there, the technologies there, and to seed money in in
many cases, you know, additional resources there to help industries, to help
communities and help individuals tackle this existential threat. You know, you mentioned new
technologies and innovations, and on a previous program we've speaking a little bit about
AI artificial intelligence, you know, on the upside, how it's being used
and particularly in the agricultural field to improve water use. As you mentioned,
your proper use of fertilizing, timing, etc. So it is being applied.
You also mentioned agriculture and open space. I know you're working on an
exciting project. You've been at it for a while here in the Hudson Valley.
I wanted to discuss that in some detail. And I also want to
talk a little bit about the so called farm Bill and the importance of it
and what means particularly to the people here in the Hudson Valley, but also
all over all over the country. So we'll do that right after the break.
You're watching Being Frank. We're the only way to be is Frank my
guest tonight as environment to lists Jim Lyons, I'm your host. Frank Labono
will be more. Be back with more intelligent conversation right after these brief commercial
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whenever you listen to your favorite podcast. This evening where Saving the Planet.
My guest and I Jim Lyons. He's one of the country's foremost environmentalists and
specialists in use of open space. So and a longtime friend and a frequent
contributor here at being Frank So Jim, we wanted to talk a little bit
about some of the work that you're doing an open space. But before we
get to that, let's talk a little about the farm Bill. What is
it exactly and why is it important for people who are not phone The farm
bill is more than a Farm Bill. The Farm Bill does address issues associated
with federal farm programs, and there are farm programs that help farmers grow their
crops, market their crops, inspect their crops. There are incentives for conservation,
for soil conservation, for protecting water and watersheds, for protecting wildlife.
There's a long history of farm bills. I worked on my first farm bill
when I was on the House Agriculture Committee staff in nineteen ninety. At that
time, there was a conservation title, but there wasn't There was not a
forestry title. So I actually wrote the first farestry title and then worked on
some of the things that I think at the time, renovative program to protect
wetlands, which again, you know, back then, were suddenly of interest
and concern to people, the loss of wetlands. People call them swamps back
then, but we've come to realize that they're an important part of um,
you know, a landscape, important environment. We we developed programs to help
increase pre planning and tree maintenance in cities. We called it the Urban Forestry
Program, and that now has has ballooned into a huge program. Most cities
have foresters, or at least have urban forestry programs. That's true in New
Jersey's. New York has a huge program, and you know, trees are
planted not only for esthetics, but to reduce the impact of heat in certain
communities, to attract wildlife, and for other purposes. But the you know,
the Farm Bill is really kind of a catalog of programs of resources,
both in terms of financial assistance to certain farmers as well as technical assistance.
It sets the requirements for food safety and inspection, and an important part of
it is it is also where authorization can be found for food stamps, which
was originally intended as a program to take surplus commodities, you know, leftover
fruits and vegetables and other things and share them with disadvantaged communities, in largely
in schools through what's known as the school Lunch program. But that expanded in
scope considerably, and now you know, with so many Americans living in food
deserts or in need of nutritious food, the food stamp program becomes a critical
part of the bill. In fact, in many respects it has been in
the past under the largest part of the bill in terms of federal funds that
go into it. So the very broad bill, it's done every five years,
and there's a lot of excitement about it this year because of the interest
in addressing climate change, because of the interest in regenerative agriculture, in improving
cropping practices and how we manage our forests, which is also part of the
Farm Bill, and a whole host of other things that are critical to dealing
with the issues we face today. But continue to improve upon our basic food
safety and food production programs, which goes back to decades. Great, now
you're also working on something as you have been for a while now in terms
of preserving open space, important open space with a couple of farms, I
believe here in the Hudson Valley. Tell us a little bit more about it
in the current status. Where are you with that project? Well, let
me let me set the stage by saying that there are a lot of organizations,
conservation organizations in the Hudson Valley that are very much involved in in trying
to advance conservation to just climate change improved, the protection of scenic landscapes,
provide for wildlife, etc. Et cetera. I mean, you know Scena
Cutson for example, of Open Space Institute, Orange County Land Trust. Those
are just a few I could name any more, but those are three that
I've worked with quite a bit. Scena Cutson is leading an effort with a
number of other organizations as well as with Cornell Extension to put together recommendations for
this upcoming farm bill, you know, and and it just so happens that
there are a number of members from the New York Delegation and the Pennsylvania Delegation
who are on the Agriculture Committee, and we hope we'll have an interest in
advancing some of the ideas and concepts that have been developed by these organizations.
I can't name all the organizations involved, but you know, those are just
a few, and they do an outstanding job. I mean, these are
these organizations that depend on contributions from citizens by and large, but they put
together some very talented staff and are working not just in the New York metropolitan
area for the Udson Valley, but also working with colleagues throughout New England.
Put together a program that reflects the unique nature of agriculture in the East and
the Northeast, in particular some of our unique needs, but also recognizes important
opportunities for improvements in these programs in terms of what I'm doing. You know,
I've had a long history of working in land conservation. Back when I
was under Secretary of Agriculture at USDA, we expanded our land conservation programs.
When I worked in Interior under President Obama, I worked a lot on public
lands in the West and conserving lands for wildlife, as water cheds and other
things. But UM, and you know in my part of the world,
uh, in northern New Jersey and kind of the southern tier of New York
State, a lot of land has been conserved by these conservation groups. UM.
There are there's some other parcels we're hoping we can conserve and UM and
use as demonstration projects for UM for UM practices that are going to improve soil
health, UM demonstrate our ability to farm in a manner that does not adversely
impact the climate UH called climates more agriculture, regenerative agriculture UM. And UH
you know, ideally to use that you know, only an hour from New
York City as a mechanism to bring people out to let them see what UM,
you know, climate friendly agriculture and conservation looks like. And UH and
maybe you also use it as a as a mechanism to UM. Help you
know, the the powerful people who loan millions and millions of dollars, billions
of dollars to organizations both in the United States and around the world. Let
them come out and see what, um what Regenerative agriculture with a new approach
to agriculture and forest we could mean both in terms of our ability to you
know, feed our population, but also to improve climate resilience and reducing adverse
impacts on wildlife and and u and natural resources. Even your mind is,
is there time? Can can we reverse the trend? Or you know,
I don't want to sound overly fatalistic, but some scientists do. Say you
know, where within a breath a hair, if you will, of of
of the tipping point, which means the point of no return. Well,
I I guess I would answer it this way. UM, there's always hope.
And as it's difficult to define you know when um, when it's too
late. Um. And no one I think is seriously said you know that
can happen, But there is an urgency. That's why, as I said,
you know, the Biden legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, you know,
would reduce emissions by fifty percent by twenty thirty. That's a significant game,
a challenging one. And then you know, the goal of reaching net
zero by twenty fifty is consistent with international goals UM. You know, but
again you know something that's very challenging to achieve UM in many respects. I
hate to use this analogy, you know, but you know, kind of
like wildfire, these concepts have caught hold in many places. I talked to
colleagues across the United States who are exploring regendative agriculture. My wife, Jennifer
Almrie UM much better know than than i. U is on the board of
an organization called Women and Redenting, And these are women who are focused on
m ranching practices, mainly in the West, but you know, seeking to
improve ranching to address climate related issues UM. And you know, demonstrate that
one can make a living off the land without without damaging the land and natural
resources. So there are lots and lots of organizations like that that are out
there trying to make a difference. And I think, you know, that
kind of ingenuity, that kind of commitment, and you know, the resources
coming from UM, the Biden legislation, from the private sector. Many foundations
are making significant investments as well as individuals. Um those resources I think can
be the seeds of change if you will um in, and I think moving
us in a much more sustainable direction and away from, you know, the
threat that climate change presents. Renewable, sustainable, profitable I think I like
that anyway. That's being Frank, right, James, Jim, thank you
for being Frank and your intelligence conversation always, my friends, always a pleasure
to have you join us with truly intelligent conversation. It's great to see your
Frank and look forward to you joining us for the first and upcoming Rutgers football
game. Yes, better season this year, man. We certainly, we
certainly hope. We always hope for the best, don't we, James?
Anyway, Yes, thanks to Neil Richter, our engineer. He's always driving
at bus for us, getting us to our final destination. And of course
we offer special thanks to our listeners who take the time to give us a
voice in their lives. Remember, we offer a fresh topic every week and
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Like us and leave us a comment. Please. We also ask that you
consider sharing being frank with your family and friends. Of course, I leave
you with two last little nuggets a quote. This one is from Neil to
Grassie Tyson, and he said, if every day we're Earth Day, we
wouldn't be in the mess. Wherein simple and to the point. You've also
got some great music for you. Another one of my friends, a man
I'm proud to call friends, Scott Staton, with a song called Perfect Geometry.
It's a rock and tune. I think you'll like it, and he
and his band the Unit, will be at Casa del Sol Lanaiak this Saturday
the fifteenth. If you're around, check them out. Always a lot of
fun. I'd like to thank you for joining us and being frank with us,
and we'll see you next week. A French curvel wicked back in sat
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Hudson River Radio dot Com