Pri: Living On Earth

In the past decade, the EPA has received over 98,000 reports of harm and over 2500 reports of pet deaths connected to the Seresto brand of pesticide-containing flea collars. But the EPA has never issued any warnings or recalls of these collars. Also, the 2022 Goldman Environmental Prize recipient for Africa is Chima Williams, an environmental lawyer who worked with two communities to hold Royal Dutch Shell accountable for disastrous oil spills in Nigeria. We talk about why Chima and his colleagues brought the case all the way to the Hague in the Netherlands to pursue justice. And in the coming weeks we’ll feature more stories of this year’s intrepid Goldman Prize winners. And after dozens of missions to Mars over nearly five decades, NASA has finally captured the first ever audio recorded on the surface of the red planet, and we listen in. -- Support for Living on Earth comes from the I Am Bio podcast, with powerful stories of biotech breakthroughs, the people they help, and the global problems they solve.  

The 6-3 conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to constrain climate action by the Environmental Protection Agency in a decision before the end of the SCOTUS term in June. Why a loss for EPA in this one case, West Virginia v. EPA, could limit climate policies across multiple agencies. Also, on Earth Day April 22, Wynn Bruce, a Buddhist and environmental activist, set himself on fire on the steps of the Supreme Court to protest inaction on climate change. A conversation about the urgent message behind this extreme action and moving beyond climate despair. And the suspect of the recent mass murder of Blacks in Buffalo is a self-proclaimed white supremacist and eco-fascist. What the environmental movement must do to delegitimize the eco-fascist movement’s use of violence and racist ideology. -- Support for Living on Earth comes from Wren, where you can calculate and offset your carbon footprint.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With record low water levels that threaten hydropower generation, the federal government has decided to retain water in Lake Powell and release less to Lake Mead and beyond. But the Colorado River basin still faces a long-term water shortage that imperils the future of cities and farms in the Southwest.  Also, the sea ice that Inuit people rely on for travel and hunting is growing dangerously thin. Now, sensors and GPS technology along with Inuit traditional knowledge are helping to measure sea ice in real time. And as civilization hurtles toward climate disaster, the world continues to rely heavily on fossil fuels and drag its heels on transitioning to clean energy. Harvard University Professor of the History of Science Naomi Oreskes joins us to note climate change science is unequivocal and why the paths to solving the climate crisis are political and social. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whistleblowers say EPA endangers public health by being too cozy with industry and approving cancer-causing and other unsafe chemicals.    Also, "No Mow May." The movement to leave our lawnmowers in the garage for the month of May and give pollinators a chance to access spring flowers.    And, in her new book, "The Hawks Way" author Sy Montgomery takes a deep dive into the world of hawks and falconry.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Electric vehicles are key to decarbonizing the transportation sector but most cars sold in the U.S. are still gas-powered. Even in Massachusetts, where a climate law requires net zero emissions by 2050, EV numbers are nowhere near where they need to be.    Also, the extraction of minerals on U.S. public lands is based on a 150-year-old law that doesn’t require royalty payments or adequate protection for the environment and local people. The antiquated law is impacting the future of renewable energy and electric vehicles as companies mine for lithium, an essential component for large battery storage.  And for years Twin Metals Minnesota has sought to mine for copper and nickel just outside the pristine Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, but the Biden administration recently canceled two federal mining leases the company needs to begin operations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our Earth Day special examines this decisive moment for the human species and our challenging relationship with our planet. We meet people who envision a future reshaped by an emerging energy system and new power structures, as we wean off of fossil fuels. Next we take a big-picture view of Earth as a complex and sustaining organism known as Gaia. Over billions of years life has interacted with the elements of this planet in cycles of constant change and adaptation. With the help of deep ecologists, children, an astronaut and more, we survey our place on this ever-evolving living planet. And while science and policy are vital in building a more sustainable world, they can't convey the values we need as we strive for ecological harmony. Indigenous stories, holy scriptures, East Asian cosmologies, papal encyclicals and divine revelation all shed light on our duties and relationship to each other and to our common home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new James Webb Space Telescope is by far the most powerful space telescope ever built, able to see up to a hundred galaxies at once and detect the light emitted from some of the universe's very first stars while also checking planets near and far for conditions compatible for life.  Also, Wildlife Services, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, killed 1.75 million animals in 2021, including bears, wolves and beavers among 400,000 native animals. USDA claims these exterminations protect agriculture and public health, but opponents say there are better ways to deal with animals that present problems for humans. And trillions of dollars of financial assets are at risk of losses related to the climate, so the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is now moving to require public companies to disclose their climate risk. The Living on Earth Book Club is back! Join us April 25th at 5:30 p.m. Eastern in Concord, New Hampshire or online from the comfort of your own home for a conversation with bes

The U.S. solar installation business has been frozen suddenly in its tracks by a U.S. Department of Commerce investigation into whether China is evading tariffs on solar cells and panels. So at a time when there is more demand than ever for solar power, the solar industry is now experiencing project delays, layoffs, and uncertainty.   Also, as climate related disasters worsen, the people who help rebuild cities afterwards are more vital than ever. But advocates say these “resilience workers” are underpaid, overworked and lack the resources they need to be safe in hazardous working conditions. A new bill aims to change that.   And for poetry month, a look at a collection of poems that peer deep into the past at species long gone to grapple with the extinctions unfolding today. The author of “Dear Specimen” on the role of poetry in revealing and consoling our anxieties about the climate and extinction crises.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Higher levels of BPA plastic exposure while in the womb is associated with increased risk of asthma and wheezing in school aged girls, a new study has found. It’s the latest danger sign regarding the estrogen-mimicking chemical, which has also been linked to numerous health problems including heart disease and Type II diabetes.   Also, fossil fuel markets are often volatile, especially around wars, while renewable energy resources tend to be more isolated from conflict. As oil prices surge the world stands on the precipice of a choice between even more climate-killing drilling and a transformational shift towards clean energy that could change the geopolitical landscape.   And communities of color along the Gulf Coast are disproportionately impacted by climate change and industrial pollution. How President Biden's Justice 40 initiative aims to tackle environmental racism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

European nations are taking a fresh look at nuclear power as a more secure and carbon-free source of energy than fossil fuels, compared to Russian oil and gas.  Also, during the March equinox in Antarctica, the eastern portion of the continent recorded temperatures around 70 degrees Fahrenheit higher than typical. At the same time, the Arctic also boasted higher-than-average temperatures.  And while President Biden campaigned on a pledge to not build another foot of the wall along the US-Mexico border, construction has recently resumed to the dismay of some ecologists.  Support comes from the I am BIO podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Europe has vowed to quickly wean itself off Russian gas. Electric heat pumps could help and activists say invoking the Defense Production Act, to rapidly manufacture heat pumps for Europe, can weaken Putin’s fossil fueled war machine.  Also in light of Ukrainian refugees fleeing their homes, experts note that climate change is expected to displace as many as 200 million people, many of them people of color who often face xenophobia.  And the population of Western Monarch butterflies has increased by more than 100-fold this year after reaching an all-time low last year of just 2,000 individuals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At a recent UN meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, delegates from over 170 countries committed to come up with an ambitious cradle-to-grave, legally binding agreement to tackle the global plastic pollution crisis. Also, northern California native tribes are now the permanent guardians of more than 500 acres of coast redwood forest in one of the latest examples of “landback.” And the book Miseducation: How Climate Change Is Taught in America reveals the access fossil fuel companies have to American children and how that differs across red and blue states. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A more conservative Supreme Court has taken up a case that could significantly limit the tools EPA can use to curb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, even though those rules don’t even exist. Why West Virginia v. EPA poses big risks to environmental regulation writ large.  Also, the latest UN climate report is an “atlas of human suffering” that warns of great peril for ecosystems and human civilization.  And winter can be cold and dark, but the bright light reflected from frozen lakes, ponds, and streams can be cheery and warm. And that’s the secret of ice fishing. We’ll hear about the joys of ice fishing on a frozen river as the tides come in and out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Congo Basin is home to one of the largest peatlands in the world and a massive repository of carbon dioxide. Locals have been sustainably hunting and fishing in the area for generations, but the threat of new development has scientists concerned.   Also, in honor of Black History Month, we bring agronomist and humanitarian George Washington Carver back from the past to talk about his famous peanut recipes as well as the intersections between race and agricultural development in the United States. And the United Nations Environment Assembly meets in Nairobi, Kenya to begin drafting a treaty addressing the global crisis of plastic pollution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Black History month: Black Americans rose up from sugarcane slavery and built thriving communities along the lower Mississippi River, only to have the petrochemical industry move in and pollute the air, land, and water in what’s been dubbed Cancer Alley. An environmental justice champion shares her memories of what her home of St. James Parish was like before industry turned it toxic and talks about the ongoing struggle to protect its residents. Also, nearly 1 million environmentalists voted in the 2020 presidential election but didn’t show for the 2018 midterms. Why these so-called environmental drop-off voters could be decisive in the 2022 midterms if they show up at the polls. And amid the restrictions and stresses of COVID, throngs of visitors seeking the solace of nature at many of our national parks threaten to overwhelm the chronically underfunded and understaffed park system. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The blocked Build Back Better budget bill contains half a trillion dollars of renewable energy and climate resiliency investments. So House Democrats now aim to include them in a revised budget reconciliation bill that can get all Senate Democrats on board. Also, when someone takes a bite of a hamburger or tofu or has a cup of coffee or hot cocoa, it’s hard to know if those foods added to the destruction of tropical forests that are so key for biodiversity and climate stability. So as part of the European Union’s Green New Deal the EU is moving to ban the importation of six key agricultural products from any newly deforested areas. And beavers are moving north in search of new habitat as the Arctic rapidly warms. These big rodents known as “ecosystem engineers” are bringing big changes to the Arctic landscape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A federal Judge revokes the largest offshore oil and gas lease sale in U.S. history by the Biden Administration, citing environmental concerns. What the legal battle says about how seriously the White House is taking its promises to phase out fossil fuels. Also, China and the International Olympic Committee say there are many sustainable aspects of the Winter Olympics in Beijing. But critics point to the environmental degradation caused by the creation of an alpine ski resort in an arid region, on the site of a nature reserve. And as Earth warms due to climate change, suitable places to host winter sports are disappearing around the globe. Thanks to our sponsor this week: INKL: curated, ad-free news from the world’s best sources. Visit Inkl.com/earth for 25% off your first year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wildfires have been raging in South America’s Patagonia, where until recently fires were rare. But invasive species and heat, drought, and dry thunderstorms connected to climate change are altering the natural fire regime. Also, children and adolescents are facing increasing health risks from extreme heat, and a new study looked at heat and pediatric emergency department visits and found that black and brown children are especially impacted. And the hit Netflix movie “Don’t Look Up” uses humor and the metaphor of an impending, Earth-obliterating comet to satirize climate denial, the political obstacles to climate action and the false promises of future technological fixes. Thanks to our sponsor this week: INKL: curated, ad-free news from the world’s best sources. Visit Inkl.com/earth for 25% off your first year.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When President Biden took office a year ago, he laid out bold goals to halt federal oil and gas drilling, reach carbon neutrality by 2050, and rectify environmental injustices. We’ll look at where progress has been made on these initiatives and where it’s lacking. Also, the world’s largest financial institutions have formed an alliance to tackle climate change as pressure mounts to steer capital away from fossil fuels and towards ventures that can put the world on a path to net zero carbon emissions by 2050.  And climate change in the form of things like wildfires, floods, and droughts can have devastating effects on mental health, and therapists are taking note. They are finding creative ways to tackle climate anxiety, often through community action and healing. Thanks to our sponsor this week: INKL: curated, ad-free news from the world’s best sources. Visit Inkl.com/earth for 25% off your first year.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A conversation about how the Zen Buddhist practice of mindfulness can help us break out of a destructive cycle of consumption and live in harmony with the planet. Also, lead contamination in drinking water can have serious impacts on growing brains and even contribute to mental illnesses years down the road. And millions of Americans are breathing carcinogenic air pollution emitted from refineries and chemical plants, but EPA has failed to account for the cumulative cancer risk for people who live near several industrial facilities. Thanks to our sponsors this week: INKL: curated, ad-free news from the world’s best sources. Visit https://inkl.com/earth for 25% off your first year. And Climate Talks, a new podcast from Meta. Learn more: https://sustainability.fb.com/blog/2021/10/29/introducing-climate-talks/     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices