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Supreme Court Strips Away Wetlands Protections
In a decision reversing five decades of legal precedent, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively stripped environmental protections from nearly half of the wetlands in the nation.
Curbside Capture of Desert Rain
Thirty years ago, a neighborhood group in Tucson started harvesting local rainwater by directing runoff into street-side basins filled with native, food-bearing plants. How “planting the rain” improves neighborhoods, builds climate resilience, and helps the desert bloom.
ExxonMobil Sued in Guyana
Guyana has one of the fastest growing economies on the planet as an offshore oil boom gets underway. But a potential spill could wipe out its fishing and ecotourism economy. So, a trial judge recently ruled that a major ExxonMobil crude oil project needs to provide an “unlimited guarantee” to cover the costs of such a spill.
Less Water for the Dry West
The states that rely on the Colorado River for water are facing a supply crisis as climate change reduces the river’s flow. Now, after months of tense debates and delay, California, Arizona, and Nevada have finally agreed to substantially reduce their Colorado River water use, at least for now. In return, they’ll receive some federal help to ease some of the economic pain of cutting water use.
The Great Displacement
Climate change is already making some places across the country unlivable and seems likely to uproot millions of Americans in the coming decades. The author of “The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration” collected the stories of people across the U.S. who have been driven out by fires, floods, droughts, and extreme heat.
The Life of a Dead Whale Fall
When a whale dies, it eventually sinks to the ocean floor. And although that whale’s life is over, that’s when a whole new circle of life kicks off, with thousands of organisms including hagfish, zombie worms, and octopuses feeding off this “whale fall” for 50 or more years.
Environmental Justice for All of Government
The new White House Office of Environmental Justice will oversee EJ efforts in every federal agency. The Biden administration also wants new power plant rules that call for carbon capture and storage technology, which has yet to be proven at scale and could have environmental justice impacts.
Celebrating 30 years of Living on Earth!
Host Steve Curwood in the Living on Earth studio
Join the Living on Earth Book Club on October 13th!
Bestselling science journalist Ed Yong joins us to talk about his new book. Click here to learn more and register!
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Supreme Court Strips Away Wetlands Protections
In a decision reversing five decades of legal precedent, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively stripped environmental protections from nearly half of the wetlands in the nation.
Taking Stock of Climate Progress
Delegates gather starting June 5 in Bonn, Germany to discuss loss and damage for vulnerable countries and progress under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, key issues leading up to COP28 in Dubai later this fall. We preview the agenda at Bonn and the controversy over the incoming COP28 President, an oil executive.
Environmental Justice for All of Government
The new White House Office of Environmental Justice will coordinate EJ efforts across all federal agencies. EPA Region 4 Administrator Daniel Blackman discusses how the office can help address the disproportionate pollution and climate-related damages that environmental justice communities in the Southeast U.S. often suffer.
This Week’s Show
June 2, 2023
listen / download
Supreme Court Strips Away Wetlands Protections
listen / download
In a decision reversing five decades of legal precedent, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively stripped environmental protections from nearly half of the wetlands in the nation.
Taking Stock of Climate Progress
listen / download
Delegates gather starting June 5 in Bonn, Germany to discuss loss and damage for vulnerable countries and progress under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, key issues leading up to COP28 in Dubai later this fall. We preview the agenda at Bonn and the controversy over the incoming COP28 President, an oil executive.
Environmental Justice for All of Government
listen / download
The new White House Office of Environmental Justice will coordinate EJ efforts across all federal agencies. EPA Region 4 Administrator Daniel Blackman discusses how the office can help address the disproportionate pollution and climate-related damages that environmental justice communities in the Southeast U.S. often suffer.
Beyond the Headlines
listen / download
This week, we share news of Uruguay’s salty tap water as a severe drought has forced managers to use estuary water to boost supply. Also, new research links plastic waste clogging up storm drains to a deadly flood in Mumbai in 2005. And in history, we wish Bryce Canyon National Park a very happy 100th birthday.
Curbside Capture of Desert Rain
listen / download
Thirty years ago, a neighborhood group in Tucson started harvesting local rainwater by directing runoff into street-side basins filled with native, food-bearing plants. How “planting the rain” improves neighborhoods, builds climate resilience, and helps the desert bloom.
Special Features
Field Note: Cliff Hanger
Explorer-in-Residence Mark Seth Lender expands on his essay about cormorants and explains how the remnants of war can create refuges for wildlife where no humans will venture.
Blog Series: Mark Seth Lender Field Notes
Field Note: I’ll Take Menhaden
Menhaden fish once gathered in schools several miles long and were a common food for predators like sharks, sea birds, and bass. But after humans turned them into everything from supplements to fertilizer their numbers plummeted by roughly 90 percent. In Long Island Sound they’re finally bouncing back and Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender, witnesses their return.
Blog Series: Mark Seth Lender Field Notes
...Ultimately, if we are going prevent large parts of this Earth from becoming not only inhospitable but uninhabitable in our lifetimes, we are going to have to keep some fossil fuels in the ground rather than burn them...
-- President Barack Obama, November 6, 2015 on why he declined to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline.
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