Economist Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary, explores how the intersection of politics and economics led to Donald Trump's rise. He also addresses concerns, shared by some Republicans, that Trump's governance is harming American institutions.

Reich delivered this rousing talk as the featured speaker at UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy’s Board of Advisors Dinner in March 2017. For more, visit: UCTV.

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Civil rights icons Bill Moyers and Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) reunited to share experiences and revelations from the historic March on Washington, which they both attended 50 years prior.

At just 23, Lewis, then leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, was the youngest and most defiant of the featured speakers at the momentous event.

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Imagine living beside the world's largest freshwater body, yet being unable to afford its use. This is the reality for Highland Park, Michigan residents, who face soaring water costs and demand accountability for these rising expenses.

This critical situation highlights issues of water access, community rights, sustainability, and civil rights, with particular relevance to women's rights, government responsibility, and local activism in Michigan. The topic is explored in a film by Liz Miller.

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Environmental protection agencies, created to regulate polluting industries, have been compromised. These bodies, meant to safeguard our environment, have been "hijacked" by the very industries they were designed to oversee.

Legal scholar Mary Christina Wood tells Bill Moyers that our judicial system, along with future generations, may ultimately be our best hope. She suggests they will save us from ourselves.

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Civil society, particularly NGOs, initiates change. Through their activism, speed, and collaborative methods, they effectively influence both UN processes and private sector entities.

Key

Civil society, particularly NGOs, initiates change. Through their activism, speed, and collaborative methods, they effectively influence both UN processes and private sector entities.

Key speakers include Jonathon Porritt, Vandana Shiva, Nitin Desai, Lester Brown, Bill Ford, Kris Gopalakrishnan, Yolanda Kakabadse, and Gro Harlem Brundtland.

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New videos DAILY: https://bigth.ink/youtube Join Big Think Edge for exclusive videos:

New videos DAILY: https://bigth.ink/youtube Join Big Think Edge for exclusive videos: https://bigth.ink/Edge ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Transcript: So genomics, the idea that we can intervene with the genome of not just humans but any species in a way that might harden that species, improve it’s resilience to threats like climate change or make it more amenable to various medical approaches so as to ensure there’s a reduction of harm. And it can also be used in plants, for example, to speed up the growth pace and otherwise to provide ways to help harden the species or improve a species contribution to the response to climate change. So many aspects of society have been transformed by technology breakthroughs in the last couple of decades. And I would argue that the environmental arena broadly and climate change in particular had seen very little of that brought to bear despite an urgent need. And I do think suddenly that’s changing. We now have a number of people that are looking at various aspects of the technology world and saying how might this help us achieve a sustainable future. And that is very much a focus of the Better Planet book with a number of authors putting forward both technologies and frames of thinking that might move us towards a climate change answer. One of the most important aspects of this in my mind is the concept of genomics, of thinking about how we do genetic modification as a strategy for improving sustainability. And the chapter in our Better Planet book that lays this out offers examples both in terms of human exposure to public health threats broadly and to climate change in particular and understanding how we might well be able to address individual exposures that differ from the general public with genomic intervention in the future sparing people pain and suffering they might otherwise face. And perhaps even more interesting there are very significant ways that we might see genomic progress in addressing the plant and animal world. I’m thinking in particular of forests which could be a critical sink for carbon dioxide and I do think there are ways that we can make forests grow faster and perhaps serve more successfully as a sink for those greenhouse gases ensuring a better response to the problem and getting us to think about both mitigation, reducing emissions, but also the ability to set up nature as part of the solution absorbing those carbon emissions.

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Senator Whitehouse contends that the failure to address climate change stems from a misunderstanding of "the truly manipulative and evil effects of money in politics."

He argues that these

Senator Whitehouse contends that the failure to address climate change stems from a misunderstanding of "the truly manipulative and evil effects of money in politics."

He argues that these effects are currently at play, stating, "You undo Citizens United and we will have a bill in a month."

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One-third of House Democrats have cosponsored H.R. 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. Here are some of those cosponsors explaining why they are prioritizing climate change and why

One-third of House Democrats have cosponsored H.R. 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. Here are some of those cosponsors explaining why they are prioritizing climate change and why they support this legislation. #PriceOnPollution Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=129260501749051

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John Hofmeister describes the industry backing that went into 2010's failed cap-and-trade bill, also known as Waxman-Markey, and describes why a price on carbon is critical order for industry to

John Hofmeister describes the industry backing that went into 2010's failed cap-and-trade bill, also known as Waxman-Markey, and describes why a price on carbon is critical order for industry to invest in carbon removal technologies.

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