During his first presidential campaign - then Senator Barack Obama said that people would look back on his time in office and say that that was the "moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal" But has he really lived up to his own high standard on climate policy? I'll ask Dr. Michael Dorsey in tonight's Conversations with Great Minds. Dr. Michael Dorsey is currently the Interim Director of the Energy and Environment Program at the Joint Center for Political and Economic studies - where he works to combine the study of climate policy with the study of social justice issues. Before taking this position - Dr. Dorsey taught environmental studies at Wesleyan University and Darthmouth University. He was also a member of Barack Obama's energy and environment campaign team in 2008 and is on the Environmental Protection Agency's national advisory committee.

Could encouraging more private investments in solar power and other forms of clean energy help make renewable forms of energy more popular in America - and lead to the downfall of dirty fossil fuels? That and more in our Conversations with Great Minds with Billy Parish. Billy is the co-founder and president of Mosaic - a solar power investment platform. In 2002 - Billy dropped out of Yale University to help found the Energy Action Coalition - which quickly grew into the largest youth advocacy organization in the world working on the climate change crisis. He's been honored by Rolling Stone magazine as a "Climate Hero," and by the Utne Reader as one of the "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World." Billy is also the co-author of the book, "Making Good: Finding Meaning, Money and Community in a Changing World."

Global warming is real - and possibly even worse than we've been told. Could it lead to the destruction of human civilization within just a few decades? For tonight's Conversations With Great Minds - I'm joined by Guy McPherson -Professor Emeritus of Natural Resources - Ecology - and Evolutionary Biology at the University Arizona. Guy is one of America's most influential experts on global warming - and writes about a variety of climate change-related issues for the Arctic News and his own website - Nature Bats Last. In the field of climate science - Guy is best known for his assertion that runaway global warming is already on a path to cause the extinction of the human race - an idea he has written about in his book - "Going Dark."

Eating organic is all the rage these days - but could it actually help save the planet from climate devastation? As the reality of global climate change continues to sink in - scientists - activists - and lawmakers all across the world are working to find new ways to fight back against greenhouse gas emissions before it's too late. Thom's guest for tonight's Conversations With Great Minds - Tom Newmark - is one such person. A former corporate attorney turned organic farmer - Tom is now at the forefront of the movement to use agriculture to fight global warming. He is the co-founder of the new non-profit the Carbon Underground as well as the co-owner of Finca Luena Nueva - an organic farm in Costa Rica. Tom is also the co-founder of Sacred Seeds - a trustee of the American Botanical Council.

Marianne Engelman Lado, Earthjustice & Alexis Baden Mayer, Organic Consumers Association & David Murphy, Food Democracy Now
This past week - two counties in Oregon passed laws banning GMO's - much to the dismay of genetically modified food companies like Monsanto. Where does the fight to ban GMOs stand today - and how can Americans fight back against mountains of corporate cash from the GM industry?

Kim Gandy, National Network to End Domestic Violence & Eleanor Smeal, Feminist Majority Foundation & Jodi Jacobson, RH Reality Check all join Thom Hartmann.

For tonight's Conversations with Great Minds - I speak with two radio industry leaders - Norm Pattiz and Michael Harrison. Last week I was in New York for the annual Talker's Convention - and I had the pleasure to sit down with Norm Pattiz. Norm is a broadcasting entrepreneur - a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame - and Founder of Courtside Entertainment Group. He's also the founder and former chairman of radio giant Westwood One and founder of Podcast One. Norm was appointed by both President Clinton and President George W. Bush to sit on the board of the Broadcasting Board of Governors - which oversees all U.S non-military broadcasting services - including The Voice of America - Radio Free Europe - Radio Liberty - Middle East Broadcasting and others. And - he's the chairman of Lawrence Livermore National Security, which runs Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. For our conversation - I started by asking him about how media has changed over the years and what the "story" of the media is today