Oprah At Home in the Eco-Shed

The new issue of Oprah at Home magazine devotes three pages to the Eco-Shed, and includes a jaunty 700-word piece by yours truly, adapted from ALMOST GREEN. Here’s a scan of the opener… and speaking of Media Mega-Divas, I’ve guesting on Martha Stewart Radio next week, Sirius XM Radio 112, Tuesday Sept 16 10AM Eastern. Give it a listen!

A Red-State Reco

Padre, my republican father-in-law, is a big Fox News fan. Many of you might know the network, which finds a receptive audience amongst American conservatives. At times its hosts can really go for the jugular. Which is why it was such a pleasant surprise to have a great conversation last week with Spencer Hughes of Fox News Radio. Right off the top of the hour, Hughes called ALMOST GREEN “very humorous, very telling, and very insightful.”

My host kicked off the 20-minute interview by questioning whether climate change is caused by human activity. My response:

“I start my approach from the baseline that this is science, and it’s correct, and that there is just no point in endlessly going around and around about this. We are wasting time, and we are missing an opportunity. And the opportunity is for America to completely reinvent how it does business, how it powers itself, and moving into a completely whole new era, and the opportunity there is tremendous.”

From there the conversation shifted to China and India’s carbon emissions.

You can say ‘We won’t do this if nobody else will,’ and go around and around. Look, this is a nation that was born to lead. And if America says, ‘Listen, we are going to do this,’ well you are going to see the entire rest of the world line up behind you. This is what is so exciting to me, you can create a happier and brighter future starting today, instead of just arguing about, ‘Is it clean coal or dirty coal?’

I was pumped to get out there in front of such a large nationwide audience, and with such a receptive host, who called the book “a good read, no matter where you fall on the global warming debate.” Here’s the MP3. Have a listen.

Spencer Hughes Interview, Fox News Radio, Sept 2, 2008.

The CBC Session

On July 17, I was a guest on CBC Radio One’s “Sounds Like Canada,” a national program. It was a great interview; host Rick Cluff and I had lots of fun. Give it a listen.

Sounds Like Canada, Streaming MP3 file, [14.7 MB, 16 minutes].

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Happy Canada Day. I’m celebrating more than just my nation’s birthday today: The Eco-Shed is finished. There are towels on the shelves. There’s a pound of fresh-ground island-roasted coffee in a jar on the counter. It’s been almost two years, but my studio and guest house is pretty much ready for guests (and by the way, if you’d like to come spend a green weekend on spectacular Bowen Island, the relevant details are at Eco-Shed.ca).

Here in Canada, the book is printed and working its way to warehouses and the like in advance of its official August 22 launch. I have a copy in my hands, and the matte Naomi MacDougall cover is fantastic; it has a great tone, feels fun and intriguing. I’ll be reading in front of my first live audience at the opening night of the Write on Bowen festival here on the island, July 11.

Patience, my American friends; the U.S. edition is following close behind.

I have coverage of the book and the project cued up with Oprah at Home magazine—which shot the place last month—plus Outside, This Old House, and a slew of others. To keep the momentum rolling, later this week, my buddy Cam and I will begin shooting a series of YouTube trailers. We’re going to have some jolly good fun.

Finally, today’s the day British Columbians start paying a new Carbon Tax. Personal income taxes will be reduced across the board while gasoline, diesel, propane, and all other fossil fuels will cost a few cents more. It’s a bold step in the right direction.

PW on Almost Green: “Yay”

Publisher’s Weekly —the book industry’s most influential magazine—gives Almost Green a very positive review (see fourth item down). Key adjectives are "compelling," "as irreverent as is it deeply informative," "endearing," and "caustically comic." The 200-word ditty concludes that the book holds "real universal appeal." I’m psyched on this. The major audience for PW is the bookseller who wants a more critical judgement than is provided by catalogue copy, in time for him to place pre-publication orders. Cool stuff. Will add the link when it comes available.