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Climatechangecorp.com published a summary of biofuel standards, including the positively received “Version Zero” published by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels, as well as less successful standards promulgated by feedstock groups such as Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil, the Basel Criteria for Responsible Soy Production and the Better Sugarcane Initiative. 

The International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labeling Alliance, which assesses voluntary standards, has welcomed the Roundtable into its membership, prompting positive reaction from the World Wildlife Fund, and industrials such as Shell and Petrobras. Version One of the RSB standard will be released in April 2009 following stakeholder comment. 

Interview

Over the past weeks, a number of readers have written in about one program on television they are following with great interest. It’s the Weather Channel’s Forecast Earth, which airs Saturdays and Sunday at 5 PM, 7 PM, 1 AM and 3 AM (Eastern). It focuses on climate change, green businesses and inventions, and the environment. It’s terrific.

When the decision was made in January to increase the program’s length to one hour, the producers added a new face: anchorwoman Natalie Allen, formerly of CNN and MSNBC. Allen, along with scientists Dr. Heidi Cullen and Dr. Marcus Eriksen, and zoologist Jarod Miller, cover fuels, feedstocks, “green gizmos”, plus portraits and profiles of both the enviromental issues and the people driving the response to climate change.

It’s a program that’s well worth the investment of time by viewers, and I was delighted to spend some time this week with Natalie, who shared some insights about the program, the stories, and the viewers. More information about Forecast Earth can be obtained at the extensive and informative website. Natalie’s blog can be accessed here.

BD: Hi Natalie, tell us a little about about Forecast Earth.

NA: We cover the big picture - the climatologists and scientists; the medium picture - new stories and profiles from me; and the small picture - such as green gizmos. We’re watched by Moms who are thinking about their children. By green businesspeople who are trying to make a difference. And people who really focus on climate change.

BD: How did you come to join the program?

NA: I was asking myself what could I do next in TV that could be important. From 1992 to 2001 I was at CNN, anchoring mostly during daytime, then I was at at MSNBC. Last year I was freelancing at NBC when the phone rang. The producers at the Weather Channel said they were expanding their climate initiatives, that Forecast Earth had fantastic scientists and they wanted a news person to front the show as it expanded to an hour.

I felt when I joined that this would be the news story of our time, and look how much it has changed.

BD: What’s different about Forecast Earth, from work you had done at other news networks?

NA: I remember research that there less than 3 minutes on climate and the environment on news channels each day. 3 minutes! And as you can imagine, at CNN and MSNBC you get 3-4 minutes, max, to tell a story. Here we do one thing, and we give it time.

BD: You’re a news person in a sea of scientists, how do you see your role?

NA: To the scientists here, and I’m the one without the PhD, I’m like the everyperson, always trying to think of the questions that the viewers would ask.

BD: How do you approach story selection?

NA: You know, I think it was the lady who does my hair that said it first: “Don’t continually show me the polar bear floating on the melting ice; tell me what I can do.”

BD: How has the program changed you personally, the way you approach daily life?

NA: Well, I was already recycling, using cotton bags at the Publix, that sort of thing. But now, I basically freak out if I can’t recycle.

BD: Tell us about a favorite segment, perhaps a story about someone who is making a difference.

NA: Ray Anderson runs a carpet business in Georgia, and is very successful. A few years ago a client asked him “what’s your environmental plan?” and he replied “What do you mean? We don’t have one.” He looked into it, and now he’s turned his company around, and his carpet business — and let’s face it, carpet can last in landfills for a long time — will be carbon zero by 2013. “What matters,” he said, “is not your stock price but what you leave behind.” He proudly said he was the first in Georgia to own a Prius, beat Ted Turner to it.

BD: Of the stories you’ve done, tell us about one that has touched you the most personally?

NA: Robert Swan, who was the first to walk to both the North and South Pole and who has seen the melting icecaps and the ozone hole; he was one of those who talked about climate change for years when nobody would listen.

BD: If you could send a message to your viewers what would it be?

NA: Thank you, each one of you, for caring about climate change.

Biofuels Stocks

The Biofuels Digest Index™ (BDI), a basket of public biofuels stocks, fell 2.53 percent to an all-time low of 68.59 as the Dow Industrials fell 3 percent on the day. Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) plunged 7.79 percent to $222.97, plumbing depths not seen since early 2005, while BioFuel Energy (BIOF) fell 4.69 percent to $1.22. Among small caps, Pure Biofuels (PBOF.OB) fell 7.14 percent to $0.26. Overall, declines led advances 4 to 1.

Columnists

Jim Lane. Get behind the headlines with the editor of Biofuels Digest.

Sean O’Hanlon. Straight talk and perspective from the founder and Executive Director of the American Biofuels Council.

Will Thurmond. Market trends and insights on algae, jatropha, bio-crude and more from the author of Biodiesel 2020.