Next week on Focus, we'll talk with one of the pioneers in the reserach of happiness about how he got the pscyhological science community to take him seriously, how computers could soon change the way we talk about prescription side effects and how environmental groups came together to work with energy companies to write state regualtions for hyrdraulic fracturing.
There are a number of clean coal projects underway in Illinois, but what does “clean coal” really mean? Is there such a thing? This hour on Focus, we’ll talk with Evan Tracey of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity about clean coal technology, how it works and what’s in the future for the clean coal power in Illinois. We’ll also talk with Chris Hamby, a reporter at the Center for Public Integrity and Tomasz Wiltowski, the Director of the Coal Research Center at Southern Illinois University, who is working to improve the methods we use to extract coal.
Ed Kieser, Meteorologist
Kelly Formoso, Volunteer and Youth Coordinator, American Red Cross, Champaign IL
Jim Angel, Illinois State Climatologist
Host: Craig Cohen
“Super storm” Sandy continues to wreak havoc over the eastern seaboard and mid-Atlantic states. New York’s subways are flooded. The stock exchange closed for two days – the first time that’s happened for a weather emergency since 1888. A blizzard has blanketed portions of West Virginia and nearby states. The death toll continues to rise as a result of the storm, millions are without power, and the cost of damage to homes and businesses from the storm, its high winds, and subsequent flooding, is projected to be in the billions.
While the impact on the Midwest is significantly less, we are feeling Sandy’s effects. Loved ones are stranded, workers and volunteers from the two state region are headed to, or in the states affected.
While we all continue to monitor the damage caused by Sandy, we thought you might like an opportunity to understand, a bit deeper, exactly what happened to cause this “super storm.” So, our old friend, meteorologist Ed Kieser will join us. He’s been monitoring the storm from the moment it developed, and he’ll take your questions about Sandy, how it compares to other storms, and what conditions are necessary to create it. We’ll also be joined by Illinois’ State Climatologist, Jim Angel, to talk about the climate conditions necessary for such a storm, and whether we can characterize Sandy, amid more violent weather conditions of recent years, as a collective demonstration of our changing climate. We will also talk with Kelly Formoso, Volunteer and Youth Coordinator of the American Red Cross in Champaign about local relief efforts and ways to get news about friends and loved ones in the affected areas.
Growing numbers of people are trying to be conscious of the environmental impact of the way they live, but on college campuses, sustainability has been important for decades. All across the country students and administrators are looking at the carbon footprints of their institutions and making commitments on everything from campus gardens to green buildings. We’ll look at some of the sustainability efforts of two schools very close to us as we talk with Pradeep Khanna, associate chancellor at the University of Illinois, and Seamus Reilly, vice president for Institutional Advancement at Parkland College.
With L. Hunter Lovins, J.D. (Co-Founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute; Founder and President of Natural Capitalism Solutions; and Chief Insurgent of the Madrone Project)
With Stephen P. Long, Ph.D., D.Sc. (the Gutgsell University Endowed Professor in Plant Biology and Crop Sciences; and Resident Scientist for the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois)
With Paul R. Epstein, M.D., M.P.H. (Physician; Instructor in Medicine; Associate Director, Center for Health and Global Environment, Harvard Medical School), and , and Dan Ferber, Ph.D. (Contributing Correspondent, Science magazine; Award-Winning Science Journalist)
With Jeff Biggers (Award-Winning Journalist)
With Chris Goodall (Businessman, Author, and Climate Change Expert)
With John Briscoe, Ph.D. (The Gordon McKay Professor of the Practice of Environmental Health, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; Professor of the Practice of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University; serves on the Water Science and Technology Board of the National Academy of Sciences), and , and Asma Faiz (Doctoral Student in the Department of Political Science, University of Illinois, and Fulbright Fellow)
