Parts Per Billion

This week, we're sharing an episode of the newest weekly podcast from Bloomberg Industry Group, Downballot Counts. It's a podcast about the 2020 U.S. House and Senate elections and the fight to control Congress. The series is hosted by Bloomberg Government Senior Elections Reporter Greg Giroux and Elections Team Leader Kyle Trygstad. Subscribe to Downballot Counts wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a particular chemical gas that the medical device industry uses to sterilize its instruments and, unfortunately, that gas happens to be extremely toxic. On this episode of Parts Per Billion, reporters Amena H. Saiyid and Ayanna Alexander explain how the FDA and the EPA are at a loss for how to deal with this gas and they lay out the stakes of new environmental regulations for the healthcare industry. Host: David Schultz. Editors: Jessica Coomes and Anna Yukhananov. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are dozens upon dozens of lawsuits out there over the potentially toxic substances known as “Forever Chemicals.” On this episode of Parts Per Billion, we bring in Bloomberg Environment’s best PFAS reporters and have a roundtable discussion about the suits that could have the biggest impact on the legal landscape in 2020. Host: David Schultz. Editors: Jessica Coomes and Anna Yukhananov. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An ongoing environmental issue may make it harder to acquire your annual holiday conifer. On this episode of Parts Per Billion, agriculture reporter Adam Allington tells us about how the move to ban a powerful pesticide may make life harder for Christmas Tree farmers. Host: David Schultz. Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the most senior judges in the U.S. says a federal agency's pipeline approval process is a bureaucratic nightmare straight out of a Kafka novel. Bloomberg Environment's Ellen Gilmer joins Parts Per Billion, to talk about this process and about how a lawsuit challenging it could make it much easier for environmental groups to block the construction of these interstate pipelines. Host: David Schultz. Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a fight going on right now over saving the rainforest, but it might not be the rainforest you're thinking of. On this episode of Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg Environment's Bobby Magill talks about the Tongass National Forest in southeastern Alaska and how its future could affect the environment not just locally but literally across the entire planet. Host: David Schultz. Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reporter David Schultz sits down with lawyer Rob Bilott, who is portrayed by Mark Ruffalo in the new film, “Dark Waters,” to talk about his crusade to hold DuPont Co. accountable for chemical contamination that a West Virginia farmer believed was killing his cattle. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg Environment's Pat Rizzuto tells us about what happens when people discover their land has been polluted with PFAS chemicals and why there are strong incentives for them to stay quiet. Host: David Schultz. Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Parts Per Billion, we do a super-deep dive into a case that the Supreme Court will be hearing in its upcoming term. The case questions how far big businesses must go to clean up their pollution, and we hear from residents of the tiny Montana town where the lawsuit originated.  Host: David Schultz.  Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Waging war—and keeping the peace—can be a dirty business. On this episode of Parts Per Billion, we speak with Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), the congressman in charge of the Pentagon's environmental cleanup, about how the military is doing on this difficult issue and about negotiations over what could be a landmark bill to address PFAS contamination.  Host: David Schultz.  Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Congress is back in town and, just this month, it will be facing several bills that all carry the unofficial designation of "must pass." Bloomberg Environment's Capitol Hill reporter Dean Scott joins Parts Per Billion to talk about what this "must pass" tag means and whether any environmental bills will hitch a ride on these quick-moving pieces of legislation.  Host: David Schultz.  Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The new acting head of the Bureau of Land Management, Bill Pendley, has some strong views about how federal lands should be managed: he'd like to see them all sold off On this episode of Parts Per Billion, Bloomberg Environment's Bobby Magill talks about how Pendley's appointment indicates the Trump administration is taking an uncompromising approach to long-simmering tensions over land use in the West.  Host: David Schultz.  Editors: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alaska is sweltering through a record heat wave that many are attributing to climate change, but climate scientists at the state's largest university may see their funding cut in the near future. Bloomberg Environment's Maya Goldman talks about why Alaska's governor is cutting this funding and about the tough fiscal choices climate change is forcing lawmakers to make.  Host: David Schultz.  Editors: Marissa Horn & Jessica Coomes. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

California doesn't usually find itself in the underdog role, but that's exactly where it is in its ongoing legal battles with the Trump Administration over the rollback of environmental protections. Emily Dooley, Bloomberg Environment's California correspondent, joins Parts Per Billion, to discuss how the Golden State's political leaders are struggling to stay aggressive in the courtroom against their much larger and more powerful foes. Host: David Schultz Editors: Marissa Horn & Jessica Coomes Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Big oil and gas companies like Chevron and Exxon Mobil are facing off more frequently with activist shareholders who want to force these companies to address climate change. Kevin Crowley, an energy reporter with Bloomberg News, joins Parts Per Billion to talk about what these activists are trying to do and how they may be losing some battles, but winning the overall war. Host: David Schultz.  Producers: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The eyes of many in the legal world are glued to a lawsuit from a group of children who are suing the federal government over climate change. But as climate reporter Abby Smith tells us, these kids have a long way to go before they get their day in court. Host: David Schultz.  Producers: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bees are a symbol of industriousness, but they've also been the cause of no small amount of panic in recent years amid reports that the flying honey makers may be going extinct. We took a deep dive into these issues with our new special podcast series, Business of Bees, and its producers join Parts Per Billion to talk about what they’ve learned.  Host: David Schultz.  Producers: Marissa Horn and Jessica Coomes.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The House passed its first major climate change bill in a decade last week, but few environmentalists are cheering. Bloomberg Environment's Tiffany Stecker joins Parts Per Billion to talk about where Congress is at on climate change and where it may be heading in the months and years to come. Host: David Schultz. Editors: Jessica Coomes, Marissa Horn. Listen and subscribe to Parts Per Billion from your mobile device: Via Apple Podcasts | Via Overcast | Via Stitcher | Via Spotify  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scientists have developed ways to suck greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere. So climate change is solved then, right? Bloomberg Environment's Abby Smith tells us why this technology isn't yet ready for widespread use and why the government's policies toward what some call "carbon capture" aren't totally coherent right now. Host: David Schultz Editors: Jessica Coomes, Marissa Horn Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.