Episodes

  • Trump's Anti-Green Rollback Team, Biden Climate Money in Jeopardy, Robin Wall Kimmerer on The Serviceberry, and more.

    Trump's Anti-Green Rollback Team, Biden Climate Money in Jeopardy, Robin Wall Kimmerer on The Serviceberry, and more.
    Nov 22 2024
    President-elect Trump’s choices to run three of the federal departments critical for climate and environmental protection are drawing concern and criticism from climate and eco-activists. We discuss the mandates for regulatory rollbacks for the nominees, former US Rep. Lee Zeldin for EPA, Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright for Energy and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum for Interior. Also, given President-elect Trump’s vow to dismantle the Inflation Reduction Act, communities are concerned about their applications for climate and environmental justice funding. What’s on the line and why bipartisan support for the IRA may help preserve some federal support. And Braiding Sweetgrass author Robin Wall Kimmerer is back with a new book, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World. How gift economies can offer an alternative to overconsumption. -- Join us on December 5 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern online or at the New England Aquarium for a conversation between Host Steve Curwood and Susan Casey about exploring the deep sea, home to otherworldly marine life, soaring mountains, and smoldering volcanoes. Find out more and register at loe.org/events. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    52 mins
  • 29th UN Climate Talks Kick Off, Earth’s Fever, A win for Indigenous Groups Protecting the Planet, Puerto Rico’s Solar Power Problem and more.

    29th UN Climate Talks Kick Off, Earth’s Fever, A win for Indigenous Groups Protecting the Planet, Puerto Rico’s Solar Power Problem and more.
    Nov 15 2024
    Delegates from nearly 200 countries are meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 29th Conference of the Parties. Alden Meyer of the climate think tank E3G is a longtime observer of these meetings, and he shares his first impressions as these talks kick off. Although the global average temperature has been steadily increasing for decades, in 2023 there was a sudden jump of 0.2 degrees Celsius. Dr. Jennifer Francis, Senior Scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, joins us to discuss the temperature spike and its implications for the climate crisis. After Hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Rico’s power grid in 2017, much of the island was left without electricity for up to a year, leaving vulnerable populations in the lurch. Many Puerto Ricans are pushing for a reliable, sustainable electricity system, but a proposed utility-scale solar project has sparked concerns, explains environmental attorney Ruth Santiago. -- Interested in gaining hands-on experience with producing a radio show and podcast? Apply to be a Living on Earth intern this spring! The deadline is November 20th. To learn more go to loe.org and click on the About Us tab at the top of the page. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    54 mins
  • Climate and Trump’s Re-election, Biodiversity Talks Unfinished, Slippery Beast: A True Crime Natural History, with Eels and more.

    Climate and Trump’s Re-election, Biodiversity Talks Unfinished, Slippery Beast: A True Crime Natural History, with Eels and more.
    Nov 8 2024
    The re-election of Donald Trump casts US climate action into doubt. President-elect Trump has vowed he will again pull the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement, cancel President Biden’s climate policies and unleash American fossil fuels. Our colleagues at Inside Climate News join us for a roundtable discussion about what’s next for the climate, environmental policy and journalism. Also, the latest summit for the UN’s biodiversity treaty to attempt to avert mass extinctions was recessed when it ran out of time to make major decisions. Vox journalist Benji Jones was at the meeting in Cali, Colombia and joins us to talk about what it did achieve and what is still unresolved. And eels play an important ecological role in many rivers and streams, but they’re so eel-usive that even eel scientists have been challenged to observe them mating in the wild. Ellen Ruppel Shell is author of the 2024 book Slippery Beast: A True Crime Natural History, with Eels, and she sheds light on the eel’s murky ecology and path through the seafood industry. -- Interested in gaining hands-on experience with producing a radio show and podcast? Apply to be a Living on Earth intern this spring! The deadline is November 20th. To learn more go to loe.org and click on the About Us tab at the top of the page. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    54 mins
  • Climate Goal in Trouble, EV Chargers Good for Business, Sy Montgomery on the Brains Behind the Cluck and more.

    Climate Goal in Trouble, EV Chargers Good for Business, Sy Montgomery on the Brains Behind the Cluck and more.
    Nov 1 2024
    The current plans of nations to reduce emissions would result in a destructive three degrees Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels, far higher than the 1.5 C goal set by the Paris Climate Agreement. We discuss the widening gap between these plans and the ambition that’s needed to prevent catastrophic climate impacts. Also, research shows that public EV charging stations bring additional customers and income to nearby businesses. How businesses can take advantage of these benefits when installing EV charging. And author and naturalist Sy Montgomery has trekked across the world to write about pink dolphins in the Amazon and tigers in Asia. But for her latest book, What the Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation for the World’s Most Familiar Bird, she stayed right in her own New Hampshire backyard. Sy joins us to talk about the social intelligence of chickens, how to handle a feisty rooster and much more. -- Interested in gaining hands-on experience with producing a radio show and podcast? Apply to be a Living on Earth intern this spring! The deadline is November 20th. To learn more go to loe.org and click on the About Us tab at the top of the page. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    54 mins
  • Huge Untapped Earth Energy, ‘Ecocide’ of Ukrainian River, The Greening of Antarctica and more.

    Huge Untapped Earth Energy, ‘Ecocide’ of Ukrainian River, The Greening of Antarctica and more.
    Oct 25 2024
    The heat within Earth’s crust could become a major source of always-on, carbon-free, renewable geothermal electricity thanks to a technology developed for fracking that allows for much deeper drilling into hot zones. How a partnership between the oil and gas and geothermal industries could bring transformational change to the electric power sector worldwide. Also, an explosion that spilled chemical waste into a river near the Russia-Ukraine border this August led to an ecological disaster with mass fish die-offs. Kyiv blames the Kremlin for a deliberate act of ‘ecocide’ amid the war that started with Russia’s 2022 invasion. And in addition to the retreat and collapse of huge ice shelves, climate change is associated with rapid greening in Antarctica as plants thrive in warmer temperatures. A recent study found that plants have increased more than tenfold on the Antarctic Peninsula in the last few decades, with potential ecological consequences. -- Interested in gaining hands-on experience with producing a radio show and podcast? Apply to be a Living on Earth intern this spring! The deadline is November 20th. To learn more go to loe.org and click on the About Us tab at the top of the page. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    53 mins
  • Climate and the PA Senate race, Environmental Racism Case Appealed, Journey to a Melting Glacier in Antarctica and more.

    Climate and the PA Senate race, Environmental Racism Case Appealed, Journey to a Melting Glacier in Antarctica and more.
    Oct 18 2024
    As control of the US Senate hangs in the balance, the Pennsylvania race between Democratic incumbent Senator Bob Casey and his Republican challenger Dave McCormick is heating up. We explain the climate and environment dimensions of Pennsylvania’s Senate race. Also, in the lower Mississippi River region commonly known as Cancer Alley, communities of color live among industrial pollution while white neighborhoods have been mostly spared from heavy industry. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is now considering whether to allow a landmark environmental racism lawsuit brought against the local government to go to trial. And Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica holds enough ice that its melting could raise sea levels worldwide by 2 feet, but it’s so remote that until recently no one had ever approached where it meets the sea. Elizabeth Rush was a writer-in-residence on board the first research icebreaker to visit Thwaites and she chronicles the journey and witnessing the glacier’s unraveling in her book The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth. -- What issues are you most interested in having Living on Earth cover in the 2024 election season? Let us know by sending us a written or audio message at comments@loe.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    54 mins
  • Hurricanes’ Huge Hidden Toll, Hiking on Wheels, and Conversations with Dogs.

    Hurricanes’ Huge Hidden Toll, Hiking on Wheels, and Conversations with Dogs.
    Oct 11 2024
    New research suggests that initial death tolls only account for a tiny fraction of the mortality that can be linked to hurricanes. On average, each tropical storm or hurricane contributes to 7,000 to 11,000 excess deaths as long as 15 years afterwards. Also, physical disabilities can make getting outside more challenging, but adaptive devices and accessible trails can transform lives. Producers Jenni Doering and El Wilson, who has cerebral palsy, test out an offroad wheelchair and meet a woman who has been able to reclaim the joy and freedom of hiking since becoming disabled. And recent research into word comprehension in dogs suggests that with training and special equipment, man’s best friend can in fact understand specific words and reply. And motivation appears to be one of the most important factors driving this ability for dogs to correctly converse in human speech. -- What issues are you most interested in having Living on Earth cover in the 2024 election season? Let us know by sending us a written or audio message at comments@loe.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    52 mins
  • Disastrous Climate Wake Up, Jill Stein for the Greens, Sudan's Climate and War Misery and more.

    Disastrous Climate Wake Up, Jill Stein for the Greens, Sudan's Climate and War Misery and more.
    Oct 4 2024
    Hurricane Helene brought devastating storm surge and winds to the Gulf Coast and deadly floods to the inland mountains of North Carolina. We discuss the societal toll of repeated climate-fueled disasters and whether this latest super cyclone might prove a tipping point for greater climate awareness and action. Also, physician Jill Stein, the 2024 Green Party nominee for US President, urges a much quicker phaseout of fossil fuels than either of her Republican or Democratic opponents appear willing to consider. She lays out her vision for what she calls a “real” Green New Deal and pushes back against claims by Democrats that voting for her in a swing state could hand victory to Donald Trump. And millions of Sudanese people have fled armed conflict in recent months, only to face famine as well as floods and extreme heat worsened by climate change. A young climate activist from Sudan describes the harrowing conditions for Sudanese refugees and what gives her hope. -- What issues are you most interested in having Living on Earth cover in the 2024 election season? Let us know by sending us a written or audio message at comments@loe.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    52 mins