Podcast

Jim Motavalli, HIGH VOLTAGE & James Hoggan, CLIMATE COVER-UP

Jim Motavalli
James Hoggan

Journalist Jim Motavalli talks about the electric car revolution. His new book is HIGH VOLTAGE: The Fast Track to Plug In the Auto Industry. And WV airs a 2010 interview with James Hoggan of DeSmogBlog about his book, CLIMATE COVER-UP.

Jim Motavalli

Electric cars are poised to revolutionize the auto industry. The only thing holding them back are the batteries, which are currently expensive and have a limited range.

But on February 26, Jim Motavalli reported in the New York Times about a breakthrough in lithium ion batteries for cars, which could slash their cost in half while boosting energy threefold. And a battery that could be filled with electricity in liquid form, making a car as easy to charge as it is now to fill up with gas, has also recently been reported to be in the works.

The changes are happening fast and furious, and Motavalli gives the reader a tour of them in his book, High Voltage, covering the development of the electric car, its present and its future.

Motavalli is an environmental journalist, former editor of E Magazine and blogger for Mother Nature Network, BNET and The Daily Green. He also writes about the auto industry for the New York Times and has a syndicated column, “Wheels.”

James Hoggan

On February 14, the news broke that a trove of internal documents from the climate change denial think tank, the Heartland Institute, had been released by the watchdog website DeSmogBlog.

The strategy and funding documents obtained by DeSmogBlog show, among other things, that the Heartland Institute is planning to develop a “global warming curriculum” for elementary schoolchildren that presents climate science as “a major scientific controversy.” The effort, at the cost of $100,000 a year, will be developed by a coal-industry consultant.

In 2010, we spoke with DeSmogBlog founder, James Hoggan about his exposÁ©Â of the climate denial industry, CLIMATE COVER-UP: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming.

In light of the recent revelations about the Heartland Institute, being dubbed “Fakegate,” we thought it would be a good idea to air this interview again.

Fakegate
The “Fakegate” documents were given to DeSmogBlog by eminent climate scientist Peter Gleick. He’s been excoriated in the mainstream media for obtaining the documents by using a false name. Among the critics are environmental journalist, Andrew Revkin of the New York Times.

The question is, who is the real criminal? The scientist? Or the Heartland Institute? Take our poll.


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About Francesca Rheannon

Francesca Rheannon is an award-winning independent radio producer. In addition to hosting Writer's Voice, she's a freelance reporter for National Public Radio and its affiliates. Recipient of the prestigious Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Award for reporting on substance abuse issues for her news series, VOICES OF HIV, produced for 88.5 WFCR public radio in western Massachusetts. She is also finishing a book on Provence (PROVINCE OF THE HEART) and working on a memoir of her father, THE ARGONAUTS.

One thought on “Jim Motavalli, HIGH VOLTAGE & James Hoggan, CLIMATE COVER-UP

  1. Great program. There is no more important topic. I will check my local NPR stations from Amherst MA and Albany, NY to make sure that I never miss a Writer’s Voice program again. Also, I am going to Barnes and Noble or Amazon to buy the Climate Cover-Up book.

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