In this episode, Sristi Kamal, our Northwest Representative in Oregon, provides testimony in support of House Bill 2548, which proposes a study to fund building crossings and safe passage structures

In this episode, Sristi Kamal, our Northwest Representative in Oregon, provides testimony in support of House Bill 2548, which proposes a study to fund building crossings and safe passage structures for wildlife on Oregon highways. Video Transcript: Hi! My name is Sristi Kamal, and I'm the Senior Representative for Defenders of Wildlife in Oregon. Advocating for better wildlife policies does not stop even when we are working remotely. So today I will testify at the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources at the Oregon State Legislature. Chair Witt: Next - I'd like to call please upon Sristi Kamal, Dr. Kamal from Defenders of Wildlife. Sristi are you out there? Sristi: Yes I am. Thank you. Chair Witt: Welcome to our committee. Sristi: Thank you so much Chair Witt. Today I'm here to testify in support of House Bill 2548. The economic impact of wildlife collisions is the most obvious impact because the loss is undeniable, whether it is loss of life of the animal, property damage, harm and injury to humans, the mental trauma, and the cost of repairing and fixing it all. Washington, our neighboring state, estimated that on a 12.5 mile stretch of highway in their state wildlife collision costs 2.5 million dollars or $6,500 per collision annually and it's not going to be vastly different in Oregon. The other impact - though more challenging to economically quantify - is a loss of the individual animal and the ripple effect it causes on the population of a species and their ecosystem. Direct relationship between the health of a population of a species and its ability to move, to find new food sources, find mates, and find their way to keep their genetic gene pool healthy, All this is to say - that such a study is imperative to finding solutions that will prevent economic and ecological losses at such a scale. We believe such a study will show that the benefits from building passages and crossings and other structures will far outweigh the initial investment cost. Thank you for this opportunity. Chair Witt: Thank you so much for all of your contributions to - to conservation. Sristi: Thank you so much Rep. Witt. Chair Witt: You're very welcome. Sristi: Now, habitat connectivity is a big issue in wildlife conservation as wildlife need to have the ability to move, and expand in order to find better food sources, new homes and mates in order to keep their genetic pool diverse. So I'm advocating in support of this policy and I hope you remain engaged in the Oregon Legislative session and advocate for better wildlife policies as well.

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Yellowstone's supervolcano: The greatest threat to humanity? with Bryan Walsh Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ►► https://www.youtube.com/c/bigthink Up next ►► Are solar storms a threat to

Yellowstone's supervolcano: The greatest threat to humanity? with Bryan Walsh Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ►► https://www.youtube.com/c/bigthink Up next ►► Are solar storms a threat to humanity? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGYMgU7d00Q Although they might occur infrequently, supervolcanoes are by no means insignificant. When an extreme magnitude of volcanic materials are ejected into the atmosphere, sunlight can’t reach the Earth’s surface - making global starvation a very real threat. Fortunately, there are steps we can take to prepare the human race for the looming threat of supervolcanoes. This video was originally created and shared by Freethink. Read the video transcript: https://bigthink.com/videos/supervolcano/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Bryan Walsh: Bryan Walsh is the editor of Vox's Future Perfect section, overseeing coverage on policies and technologies that will make the future a better place. Previously he worked at Axios as the Future Correspondent, wrote the 2019 book "End Times: A Brief Guide to the End of the World," and worked at TIME magazine for 15 years as a foreign correspondent in Asia, a climate change writer and as the international editor. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read more of our stories on volcano eruptions: Tonga volcano eruption was a once-in-a-millennium event ►► https://bigthink.com/hard-science/tonga-volcano-eruption/ What are dormant volcanoes good for? Copper mining ►►https://bigthink.com/technology-innovation/dormant-volcanoes-copper-mining/ See remarkable NASA photos of a new volcano eruption ►► https://bigthink.com/hard-science/volcano-eruption/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Big Think | Smarter Faster™ ► Big Think The leading source of expert-driven, educational content. With thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, Big Think helps you get smarter, faster by exploring the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century. ► Big Think+ Make your business smarter, faster: https://bigthink.com/plus/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Want more Big Think? ► Daily editorial features: https://bigthink.com/popular/ ► Get the best of Big Think right to your inbox: https://bigthink.com/st/newsletter ► Facebook: https://bigth.ink/facebook ► Instagram: https://bigth.ink/Instagram ► Twitter: https://bigth.ink/twitter

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As we gear up for reintroduction of carbon-fee-and-dividend legislation in the new Congress, we heard from economist Dr. Noah Kaufman, lead author of the 2019 Columbia University assessment of the

As we gear up for reintroduction of carbon-fee-and-dividend legislation in the new Congress, we heard from economist Dr. Noah Kaufman, lead author of the 2019 Columbia University assessment of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. The study confirmed the effectiveness of the bill from both an environmental and economic perspective. Dr. Kaufman is Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia, leading research focused on climate change policies. He also teaches a course on Energy Decarbonization. During the Obama administration, he served as the Deputy Associate Director of Energy & Climate Change at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

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How concentrated solar power could fuel the future Watch the newest video from Big Think: https://bigth.ink/NewVideo Learn skills from the world's top minds at Big Think Edge:

How concentrated solar power could fuel the future Watch the newest video from Big Think: https://bigth.ink/NewVideo Learn skills from the world's top minds at Big Think Edge: https://bigth.ink/Edge ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What if we could not only harness the power of the sun, but actually use it to run the entire planet? Concentrated solar power (CSP) has the potential to do just that — using arrays of revolving mirrors called heliostats, light is reflected into a massive receiver. Thanks to recent advancements in technology, the cost to replicate these Sunlight Refineries™ is dropping. Soon solar energy will be cleaner and cheaper than using fossil fuels, which could mean adoption on a global scale. Heliogen, a company founded by Bill Gross and backed by Bill Gates, wants to eliminate all uses of fossil fuels. Using cameras, AI, and machine learning, they are working to make these CSP systems smarter and much more efficient. This episode is from Hard Reset, a Freethink original series about rebuilding the world from scratch and reimagining everything from first principles. Catch more Hard Reset episodes on their channel: https://www.freethink.com/shows/hard-reset ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRANSCRIPT: NARRATOR: This might look like a death ray, but it's not. It's actually... One enormous, very accurate magnifying glass. NARRATOR: This magnifying glass has a technical name, a sunlight refinery. To use it, find somewhere really sunny, plop down a bunch of mirrors, bounce the sunlight into a single spot and you can melt just about anything. Okay, so it is kind of death ray-ish. Why do this? Because manufacturing steel or cement requires a lot of heat and making something super hot has historically meant burning dinosaurs. STEVE SCHELL: You look at the massive carbon footprint that is associated with these industrial applications and it can't be ignored. NARRATOR: Twenty percent of global carbon emissions to be precise. And because this technology is so good, it might just change the entire energy industry. And prevent World War III in the process. This is "Hard Reset," a series about rebuilding our world from scratch. Just east of Six Flags and north of LA is a place called Lancaster, which is very flat, very hot and a perfect place to test a takeover of the world's energy supply. [dramatic music] Yeah, that sounded more Bond villain-y than I thought it would. Anyway, these are called heliostats and the reason this solar refinery works so well is that under these mirrors and shot glasses are pretty simple motors that they can control remotely. And this allows the mirrors to change angles throughout the day, depending on where the sun is. How do they know where the sun is? Interns. No, AI, of course. BILL GROSS: You need to take each of thousands of mirrors and point them very, very precisely, accurate to about 1/10 or 1/20 of a degree. NARRATOR: That's Bill Gross, genius visionary and founder of over 150 companies. Also super nice guy. GROSS: Thank you, I really appreciate it. NARRATOR: At the top of the tower, high-resolution cameras monitor the position of the mirrors below. SCHELL: You can actually see the two at the top are the easiest to pick out 'cause they're on booms above the receiver. NARRATOR: So Heliogen gets all those mirrors to reflect sunlight into that big target at the top. SCHELL: So what we've got just above us is the solar receiver. So you can see that's what we saw from ground level. That's where that concentrated sunlight is focused when the field is operating. NARRATOR: The cameras know if the mirrors are bouncing into the sun because those cameras are assessing the quality of the sky's blue. Let's break that down with Steve, who has cool tattoos. SCHELL: This is my robot battle armor and what I have here is a jungle on an alien planet with robots tending the garden. NARRATOR: And is in charge of the technology stuff here. SCHELL: What these cameras see is the reflection of the sky close to the sun. Close to the sun, the sky appears very bright from the scattered sunlight coming through it and the further away from the sun you look, the darker or less bright that patch of sky appears to be. NARRATOR: So the cameras look at the color blue and the AI uses that information to assess the distance from the sun, deduce the orientation of the mirror and therefore, where the beam is going. SCHELL: So every few seconds, we get a measurement of where that beam is going and we can command the heliostat to make small corrections to optimize its tracking. In this industry, that is a complete game changer 'cause now we don't rely on the hardware to be so precise, we have software to make it precise. So it really changes everything about how that plant... To read the full transcript, please go to https://bigthink.com/videos/concentrated-solar-power

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At the "Written in Stone - Natural History Through the Jeweler's Eye" Exhibition opening at the Natural History Institute on Friday, April 28th, we are joined by five of the nine featured artists in

At the "Written in Stone - Natural History Through the Jeweler's Eye" Exhibition opening at the Natural History Institute on Friday, April 28th, we are joined by five of the nine featured artists in a panel discussion, moderated by Edie Dillon. Panel members are: Klee Benally Neil Hunt Lesley Aine McKeown William Ford Kit Carson Join us as we learn about the inspiration and process behind these artists' work, as well as how their art relates to the natural and cultural environment. "Written in Stone: Natural History Through the Jeweler's Eye" As jewelry artists, we draw inspiration from Arizona’s fascinating geology, which has both an awe-inspiring beauty and a complex history of extractive mining practices. Our work makes use of the same elements – stone and metal – and transforms them in creative ways to reveal and share their essential beauty. We cut stone and polish it. We look for subtleties in color and use contrasts in texture. We build compositions so that each stone sings in harmony. There is a certain alchemy at work here: the same rocks and minerals once viewed simply as commodities are transformed through loving attention to detail. The goal of Written in Stone is to showcase a diversity of area jewelers whose work exhibits both a high degree of craftsmanship and a sensitivity to, and inspiration from, the natural and cultural landscape. The exhibition runs from April 28 - July 14, 2023. Learn more here: https://naturalhistoryinstitute.org/event/written-in-stone-natural-history-through-the-jewelers-eye-exhibition/

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Production of animal protein is producing vast amounts of climate-eating gases. But a new generation of companies are creating innovative food products that mimic meat and have much smaller

Production of animal protein is producing vast amounts of climate-eating gases. But a new generation of companies are creating innovative food products that mimic meat and have much smaller environmental impacts. Some of this mock meat is derived from plants with ingredients designed to replicate the taste and pleasure of chomping into a beef hamburger. Others are growing meat cells that come from a laboratory and not a cow. Bill Gates, Cargill, Tyson and other big name investors are dabbling in so-called clean meat. Emerging technologies are already offering people new food choices at restaurants and grocery stores. Will those options wean enough people from burgers and chicken wings to go mainstream? Will that transition help reduce carbon pollution that is destabilizing the climate? Production of animal protein is producing vast amounts of climate-eating gases. But a new generation of companies are creating innovative food products that mimic meat and have much smaller environmental impacts. Some of this mock meat is derived from plants with ingredients designed to replicate the taste and pleasure of chomping into a beef hamburger. Others are growing meat cells that come from a laboratory and not a cow. Bill Gates, Cargill, Tyson and other big name investors are dabbling in so-called clean meat. Emerging technologies are already offering people new food choices at restaurants and grocery stores. Will those options wean enough people from burgers and chicken wings to go mainstream? Will that transition help reduce carbon pollution that is destabilizing the climate? #letstalkclimate https://climateone.org/ https://climateone.org/events/christiana-figueres-conversation-mindfulness-and-climate Making tuna without a fish? 1:25 Why meat tastes like meat 10:25 New frontier beyond Farm To Table 14:28 The fate of the world? 23:35 Lightening Round! 24:28

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When it comes to politically addressing the climate crisis, we need politicians from both sides of the aisle to work together to create policies that bring about a more sustainable tomorrow. If we

When it comes to politically addressing the climate crisis, we need politicians from both sides of the aisle to work together to create policies that bring about a more sustainable tomorrow. If we enact policies that require companies to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions, we would see an immediate change of behavior from them, in regard to how much they contribute to climate change. There's growing agreement that the climate crisis is real among both Republicans and Democrats. The main concern, however, among those who are still critical of its significance is whether it will limit people's choices or slow the economy. Daniel C. Esty is the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and the Yale Law School. Known for his innovative policy ideas and commitment to transformative change, Dan served as head of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection from 2011 to 2014 and in several leadership roles at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1989 to 1993. He is the editor of A Better Planet: 40 Big Ideas for a Sustainable Future (Yale University Press). "A Better Planet: 40 Big Ideas for a Sustainable Future" is available here: https://amzn.to/2PpH39K New videos DAILY: https://bigth.ink/youtube Join Big Think Edge for exclusive videos: https://bigth.ink/Edge ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT BIG THINK: Smarter Faster™ Big Think is the leading source of expert-driven, actionable, educational content -- with thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, we help you get smarter, faster. S​ubscribe to learn from top minds like these daily. Get actionable lessons from the world’s greatest thinkers & doers. Our experts are either disrupting or leading their respective fields. ​We aim to help you explore the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century, so you can apply them to the questions and challenges in your own life. Other Frequent contributors include Michio Kaku & Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Michio Kaku Playlist: https://bigth.ink/kaku Bill Nye Playlist: https://bigth.ink/BillNye Neil DeGrasse Tyson Playlist: https://bigth.ink/deGrasseTyson Read more at Bigthink.com for a multitude of articles just as informative and satisfying as our videos. New articles posted daily on a range of intellectual topics. Join Big Think Edge, to gain access to an immense library of content. It features insight from many of the most celebrated and intelligent individuals in the world today. Topics on the platform are focused on: emotional intelligence, digital fluency, health and wellness, critical thinking, creativity, communication, career development, lifelong learning, management, problem solving & self-motivation. BIG THINK EDGE: https://bigth.ink/Edge If you're interested in licensing this or any other Big Think clip for commercial or private use, contact our licensing partner, Executive Interviews: https://bigth.ink/licensing ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Big Think here: 📰BigThink.com: https://bigth.ink 🧔Facebook: https://bigth.ink/facebook 🐦Twitter: https://bigth.ink/twitter 📸Instagram: https://bigth.ink/Instragram 📹YouTube: https://bigth.ink/youtube ✉ E-mail: info@bigthink.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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When a Silicon Valley entrepreneur developed a tax break intended as a way to incentivize the rich to invest in underserved communities, the idea was pushed into law with little scrutiny or

When a Silicon Valley entrepreneur developed a tax break intended as a way to incentivize the rich to invest in underserved communities, the idea was pushed into law with little scrutiny or fine-tuning and few safeguards against abuse. With an unbeatable pair of high-profile sponsors and deft political marketing, the Opportunity Zone became an unnoticed part of the 2017 Trump tax bill. In his new book Only the Rich Can Play: How Washington Works in the New Gilded Age, bestselling author David Wessel follows the money—starting from this Opportunity Zone initiative—to see who profited from the plan that was supposed to spur development of blighted areas and help people out of poverty. His findings? The Las Vegas Strip, the Portland (Oregon) Ritz-Carlton, and the Mall of America. In other words, lucrative areas where the wealthy can place their money profitably and avoid capital gains taxes. Wessel provides vivid portraits of the proselytizers, political influencers, consultants, real estate dealmakers and individual money-seekers looking to take advantage of this opportunity. He looks at the cities in which the Opportunity Zone initiatives have failed, as well as a few where they have succeeded, and offers a lesson on how a better-designed program might have helped more left-behind places. Join us as David Wessel, offers an in-depth analysis of the bill he faults with keeping the rich richer—revealing the gritty reality of a system tilted in favor of a few while leaving many out in the cold. NOTES Photo by Jay Mallin. OCTOBER 19, 2021 SPEAKERS David Wessel Senior Fellow and Director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, Brookings Institution; Author, Only the Rich Can Play: How Washington Works in the New Gilded Age; Twitter @davidmwessel In Conversation with Lenny Mendonca Former Chief Economic and Business Advisor, State of California; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors 💯SUBSCRIBE for more VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/user/commonwealthclub 📆 UPCOMING EVENTS: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events 🎉 BECOME a MEMBER: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/membership 💰 DONATE NOW: https://support.commonwealthclub.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=298 📺➕📻 Watch & Listen https://www.commonwealthclub.org/watch-listen CWC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecommonwealthclub/ CWC Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cwclub/ CWC Twitter https://twitter.com/cwclub The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum 📣, bringing together its 20,000 members for more than 400 annual events on topics ranging across politics, culture, society and the economy. Founded in 1903 in San Francisco California 🌉, The Commonwealth Club has played host to a diverse and distinctive array of speakers, from Teddy Roosevelt in 1911 to Hillary Clinton in 2010. Along the way, Martin Luther King, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton have all given landmark speeches at the Club.

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Can this “frozen zoo” resurrect the Northern White Rhino?, with Dr. Barbara Durrant Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ►► https://www.youtube.com/c/bigthink Up next ►► Michio Kaku: 99.99%

Can this “frozen zoo” resurrect the Northern White Rhino?, with Dr. Barbara Durrant Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ►► https://www.youtube.com/c/bigthink Up next ►► Michio Kaku: 99.99% of species go extinct. What is humanity’s future? https://youtu.be/JAK6KrIuRbI Due to poaching, the Northern White Rhinoceros is functionally extinct. There are only two members of the species left. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park has a unique biotech facility called the "frozen zoo" that could reverse the extinction. Using in vitro fertilization, scientists hope to implant a Northern White Rhino embryo inside a Southern White Rhino, a closely related species. If successful, this procedure could help rescue critically endangered species or even resurrect extinct ones. This video was originally created and shared by Freethink. Read the video transcript: https://bigthink.com/videos/white-rhino-extinction ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read more of our stories on animal extinction: Cause of worst mass extinction ever found ►► https://bigthink.com/hard-science/cause-of-worst-mass-extinction-ever-found/ The platypus is headed for extinction, warn Australian scientists ►► https://bigthink.com/life/platypus-extinction/ Extinction is a natural process, but it’s happening at 1,000 times the normal speed ►►https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/extinction-is-a-natural-process-but-its-happening-at-1000-times-the-normal-speed/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Big Think | Smarter Faster™ ► Big Think The leading source of expert-driven, educational content. With thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, Big Think helps you get smarter, faster by exploring the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century. ► Big Think+ Make your business smarter, faster: https://bigthink.com/plus/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Want more Big Think? ► Daily editorial features: https://bigthink.com/popular/ ► Get the best of Big Think right to your inbox: https://bigthink.com/st/newsletter ► Facebook: https://bigth.ink/facebook ► Instagram: https://bigth.ink/Instagram ► Twitter: https://bigth.ink/twitter

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