James West

Climate Desk Producer

James West is a producer for the Climate Desk. He wrote Beijing Blur (Penguin 2008), an intimate yet far-reaching account of modernizing China’s underground youth scene. After completing a masters in journalism at New York University in 2007, James returned to Australia where he worked as the executive producer of the national affairs program Hack. He has produced a variety of Australian television and radio programs, including the debate show Insight on SBS TV.

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How Do You Teach Your Kids About Climate Change?

We asked how you have the climate change chat with kids. Here's what you said.

—By James West and Tim McDonnell

| Fri Mar. 9, 2012 4:00 AM PST

Flickr / Pink Sherbet PhotographyOne of the more unsettling items from the recent leak of an internal fundraising document from the conservative Heartland Institute think tank was a plan laying out how K-12 schools could adopt "educational materials" criticizing the notion of man-made global warming. According to the document, "principals and teachers are heavily biased toward the alarmist perspective."

Here at the Climate Desk, it got us thinking: How do our readers engage with kids about climate change, not just in the classroom, but also at home? We put out a call, and here's what we heard back.

A few readers shared their thoughts with Climate Desk's Tim McDonnell via video chat:

Parents also shared insights with us via social media:

If it wasn't already hard enough to talk about climate change, parents are now fighting a battle on another front: children's books. According to a new study [PDF], America's finest illustrated books for kids are teaching less and less about the natural world. The study analyzed nearly 8,100 images from 296 kids' books awarded medals or honors in the annual Caldecott prize from 1938 through 2008. Climate Desk's James West spoke with coauthor Chris Podeschi from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania about the findings:

With pictures of trees, toads, and other flora and fauna on the decline in kids' books these days, author Lynne Cherry is taking a different approach. Cherry's 1990 book The Great Kapok Tree is widely used in schools to teach about the value of preserving rainforest. But a few years ago, she swapped out her paintbrushes for a video camera to combat what she sees as a growing sense of powerlessness among kids. Her rationale, she told Tim, was that film has the potential to reach more kids.

You can get involved in more Climate Desk conversations by following us on Twitter, and liking us on Facebook.

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Heartland's Tips For A Taut Tummy

—By James West

| Fri Feb. 24, 2012 9:36 PM PST

Sure. From time to time we're all a little distracted by that stubborn Winter padding. Too much New Year cheer. Now it's nearly March! And goodness knows we've all done some light non-work-related Googling at the office desk on an otherwise quiet Friday afternoon.

But in the middle of an all-out international PR-offensive against alleged "fraud"; and "theft"; leveled at several quarters of the "lamestream media", maybe it's best to not only minimize, but close a few browser windows? Even if it was a pop-up ad.

A string of emails released Friday afternoon by the Heartland Institute, in the form of screenshots, details how scientist Peter Gleick obtained sensitive documents by posing as a board member.But they also reveal divided attention at a crucial moment in the Institute's PR campaign. An open browser window at the bottom of many of the screengrabs is titled "42 Best Ways To Lo..."

A quick Google reveals pages and pages of referring links to 42 Best Ways To Lose Stomach Fat Fast.

The Guardian also points to other areas of carelessness in the email release:

... it does not appear, from Friday's release, that Heartland has had a security overhaul. Despite redactions, one of the emails contained a list of board recipients, including one email address.

Watch: Your Town Is Fracked

Pennsylvania Republicans just blasted away local control over oil and gas drilling—potentially jeopardizing residential neighborhoods, watersheds, and even school zones.

—By James West

| Thu Feb. 23, 2012 4:00 AM PST

Farmer Adron Dell'Osa is packing his house onto a trailer and leaving Pennsylvania. James West

Pennsylvania's fracking front lines have just been redrawn.

At first glance, the sweeping new law signed this month may seem a good deal for local communities. Over the next 15 years, the state is projected to rake in between $190,000 to $355,000 per gas well; 60 percent of that will go back to counties and municipalities, with the rest going to a state-managed fund for infrastructure projects. Proponents in the Republican-controlled Legislature insist that the law levels the playing field for industry, while rewarding counties.

But fracking can be a messy and dangerous business, and locals complain that the law takes control away from citizens who have battled hard for local decision-making.

Watch the video and you'll see a tale of two Pennsylvanias: The first one, recognizable from Josh Fox's documentary Gasland, is Susquehanna County, bordering New York state. It is dotted with wells—the result of minimal local zoning laws. The second Pennsylvania is Dallas Township, where disputes, protests, and citizen engagement have kept most fracking development at bay. For now.

How to Cook After a Catastrophe

—By James West

| Thu Feb. 9, 2012 4:00 AM PST

A weather presenter and a celebrity chef walk into a kitchen…that was the novel hook for this cooking class (and, hell, it's not often Climate Desk gets to film a cooking show).

This is about as far away from the dry, cracked soil of a Texas cattle ranch as it gets: Fifth Avenue, New York City. At a seminar that cost $225 a head, a small selection of guests learned about the impact of 2011's record number of billion dollar disasters—there were 12, including the ongoing drought in Texas—and how to cook around them using substitute ingredients. While author and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich talked about the ingredients affected by last year's weather, TV meteorologist Bonnie Schneider (you've probably seen her on CNN) explained how climate change is causing tougher farming conditions and leaving Americans with bigger food bills.

The take-out lesson? Disaster cooking is about more than simple substitution.

"Recycling food is not about reheating food," Bastianich said. "It's about making something new." After demonstrating how to create a delectable ragout, she added, "There's going to be a run on oxtails!"

Lidia Bastianich at Eataly, New York: James West

Lidia Bastianich at Eataly, New York: James West

Tell Us: How Do You Teach Your Kids About Climate Change?

—By James West

| Thu Feb. 2, 2012 9:47 AM PST

When I was in New Hampshire recently, I met Sarah Larson Dennen, a teacher at Moharimet Elementary School in Madbury. We were talking about something else entirely - the decline of New England's sugar maple - but another part of our on-carmera interview has stuck with me ever since: how Sarah teaches her young students about climate change.

"Language is really key when you're talking to kids," Sarah explained. "I don't use terms like 'global warming'. I use terms like 'climate change'. And I try to back things up by really showing them data."

"I look to see that these kids are care-takers of our whole natural world," she said.

That got me thinking: how do you teach your kids about climate change? You don't want to tell your kids the world is in uttter peril… right? But if they ask about climate change, what do you say?

Climate Desk wants to hear your stories. Leave your comments below. Or - and I encourage this! - head to our YouTube page and click "Create a video response" when you're commenting:

I will include your comments and videos in a feature we're working on right now. You can also get involved by liking us on Facebook, and following us on Twitter.