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PODCAST

Living on Earth

World Media Foundation

As the planet we call home faces a climate emergency, Living on Earth is your go-to source for the latest coverage of climate change, ecology, and human health. Hosted by Steve Curwood and brought to you by PRX.

news earth sciences

All Episodes

52:29

EPA Ignores Climate Dangers, From Plastic Trash to...

Living on Earth ·

2025/06/27

This June the US Environmental Protection Agency proposed eliminating regulations that limit climate changing gases from power plants, about a quarter of US emissions. Harvard Law Professor Richard Lazarus speaks about the perils of the broader Trump administration effort to weaken federal environmental protections.Also, the ugly truth of plastic is that the world produces over 400 million metric tons each year and recycles less than ten percent of it. But artist Erik Jon Olson is transforming

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52:23

Juneteenth and Striving for Ecological Justice

Living on Earth ·

2025/06/20

Just as the enslavement of people was driven by commercial interests, today the enslavement of nature for profit violates a morality that sees value in all living things, according to the Rev. Mariama White-Hammond, pastor of New Roots AME Church in Dorchester, Massachusetts and former Chief of Environment, Energy and Open Spaces for the City of Boston. She joins us to reflect on how overcoming slavery, which is celebrated on Juneteenth, can inspire us to find ways to depend on each other so we can

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52:44

US Disrupts African Food Tech; Pumping the Earth Dry;...

Living on Earth ·

2025/06/13

One of the development initiatives affected by the Trump Administration’s shutdown of USAID is the Soybean Innovation Lab, which works to improve soybean yields and production in Africa to help boost farmers’ income. Our guest discusses her work with the Soybean Innovation Lab and why helping improve farmers’ yields is so fulfilling.Also, a recent study finds the Colorado River Basin has lost a tremendous amount of water in the last two decades, in part from thirsty farms pumping groundwater

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51:51

Hurricane Forecasting in 2025, Saving Corals Amid...

Living on Earth ·

2025/06/06

The 2025 hurricane season is underway, and the U.S. is likely to see higher than average activity. The past couple of years, extremely warm water in the Gulf of Mexico helped storms rapidly intensify to major hurricanes. But cuts to federal weather monitoring and hurricane modeling could leave the U.S. underprepared for strengthening storms.Also, record-breaking heat in the oceans has led to the most widespread coral bleaching event ever documented, ongoing since January 2023. Bleaching weakens

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52:09

CA Clean Air Tool Revoked, Cuts to Clean Energy Tax...

Living on Earth ·

2025/05/30

California’s car culture, trucking industry, and weather contribute to chronically bad air that it’s been gradually improving with its own laws and regulations and the blessing of the EPA. But now under President Trump, the EPA and Republican Congress are taking away California’s ability to clean up its air. Also, the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" that passed through the House of Representatives on party lines guts multiple provisions from the Inflation Reduction Act, terminating or reducing tax

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52:09

Public Lands Reprieve, Trump Ignores Social Cost of...

Living on Earth ·

2025/05/23

Last-minute changes in the House budget reconciliation bill included scrapping one of the more controversial amendments that would have sold off public lands in the southwest to private developers. But the overall bill isn’t a complete win for the environment, with even deeper cuts to clean energy tax credits added at the last minute. Also, a new White House memo instructs federal agencies to disregard the economic impacts of climate change in their regulations and permitting decisions. This

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52:09

Pope Leo and Creation Care, Autism and Chemicals,...

Living on Earth ·

2025/05/16

The new Pope, Leo XIV, has worked with interfaith environmental networks and there’s hope around the world that he may follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Pope Francis and bring issues of the environment and climate change to the forefront of his agenda. Also, autism spectrum disorder is now diagnosed in about 1 in 31 children in the United States, a rise of 70 percent in just four years according to the CDC. In addition to better awareness and changing diagnostic tools, growing scientific

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52:11

Trump Sues State Climate Action, Climate Wayfinding...

Living on Earth ·

2025/05/09

At the direction of President Trump the U.S. Department of Justice has sued four states -- Vermont, New York, Hawaii, and Michigan -- that are trying to recover some climate costs from major fossil fuel companies through climate superfund laws and litigation. The DOJ cases are seen by some as frivolous extensions of the other actions the Trump administration has taken to aid the fossil fuel industry. Also, a project called Climate Wayfinding aims to tend to the deepest needs of climate activists

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52:11

Air Gets Worse, NOAA Climate Science Cuts, Parrot...

Living on Earth ·

2025/05/02

The latest “State of the Air” report by the American Lung Association finds that nearly half of people living in the U.S. breathe unhealthy levels of air pollution. Soot and smog are on the rise in part because climate change is bringing more wildfires and ozone-forming conditions. Also, a key climate modeling program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA is slated for near-elimination, according to a draft White House memo. That could have consequences for weather

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52:18

Pope Francis and the Climate, Fighting PFAS, and...

Living on Earth ·

2025/04/25

As the world remembers the legacy of Pope Francis we return to his groundbreaking writings on climate and environment that called for a fundamental shift in our economic system, and a rethinking of our relationship with God's creation: the natural world. Also, a 2025 Goldman Environmental Prize recipient was repeatedly told there was nothing to worry about when it came to PFAS “forever chemicals” linked to illnesses in her community. But she did not back down, and her persistence paid off. And

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52:12

Earth Day Celebration, The Health Toll of L.A. Oil...

Living on Earth ·

2025/04/18

Living on Earth is celebrating 55 years of Earth Day with a solution-based broadcast. Grammy nominated singer and Earth Day ambassador Antonique Smith uses the art of storytelling and music to promote environmental justice and climate action in communities of faith and color.Nalleli Cobo is a young activist who was awarded the 2022 Goldman Prize for North America after fighting an oil company whose wells were making her community sick. Also, how shallow geothermal energy networks are presenting

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52:10

Trump Attacks State Climate Laws, Eco Rollbacks Under...

Living on Earth ·

2025/04/11

President Trump has issued an executive order that directs the U.S. attorney general to identify and block state laws that deal with climate change, environmental justice, and carbon emissions.A study from Johns Hopkins researchers found that residents near or on the fence line of polluting enterprises are at higher risk for multiple health problems because of the toxic mix of air they breathe. The lead researcher explains the study. In terms of physics, global warming comes down to an energy

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52:10

Tornadoes in a Hotter World, Science and the US...

Living on Earth ·

2025/04/04

Experts are still trying to piece together how tornado patterns have changed in the last century and are likely to keep changing as the world gets hotter. A meteorologist explains the eastward shift of tornadoes in the US and how newly vulnerable populations can stay safe.Also, the Trump administration is slashing personnel and research grants at two dozen federal agencies, including those conducting critical science. Science has long played a key role in the federal government, and government

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52:10

Greenpeace SLAPPed for $600 Million?, EV Charging...

Living on Earth ·

2025/03/28

A North Dakota jury found in favor of pipeline company Energy Transfer and ordered Greenpeace to pay more than $600 million in damages over its role in helping protest the Dakota Access Pipeline. Some legal experts call the case a classic SLAPP or Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation suit and a threat to free speech.Also, a program funded by the 2021 bipartisan Infrastructure Law sought to install many more electric vehicle chargers. But now the Trump administration has stalled this

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52:11

GOP and Clean Energy Tax Credits, EPA Drops Major...

Living on Earth ·

2025/03/21

As President Trump and the Republican-led Congress aim to shrink the federal government and renew major tax cuts, hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy tax credits could be on the chopping board. Twenty-one House Republicans whose districts are benefiting from the tax credits are petitioning GOP leadership to keep them intact.Also, under President Biden the Department of Justice and EPA sued petrochemical manufacturer Denka, alleging that its Reserve, Louisiana plant posed unacceptable

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52:10

EPA Under Attack, Plastic Containers Linked to Heart...

Living on Earth ·

2025/03/14

The Trump administration announced plans to roll back multiple environmental regulations, cut EPA spending and push back environmental justice programs. We cover how recent federal actions impact environmental policy as well as the role our guest Christine Todd Whitman played as the former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency during the Bush administration.Also, plastics can contain thousands of chemicals like phthalates and PFAS which are harmful to human and animal health. A new

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52:11

NY Climate Superfund, US Ducks Intl Climate Meetings,...

Living on Earth ·

2025/03/07

To help cover the rising costs of climate impacts like extreme floods and sea level rise, New York State has enacted a climate superfund law that asks major fossil fuel companies to pay up, based on their historic sales of coal, gas and oil. We discuss how the revenues would fund climate adaptation and resilience. Also, the Trump Administration barred government scientists from attending a key UN climate science meeting in February 2025. What’s more, it seems the customary US task force including

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52:10

David Brancaccio on Fire Recovery, Bringing Sea...

Living on Earth ·

2025/02/28

The thousands of homes that burned in Los Angeles this January included the home of Marketplace Morning Report Host David Brancaccio. He shares what he’s learning about the challenges of rebuilding with a limited supply and huge demand for contractors. David says there’s an opportunity to rebuild a more wildfire-resistant Altadena, and to heal the community itself. Also, sea otters were hunted out from Oregon and Northern California more than a century ago amid the fur trade, but the Confederated

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52:11

EPA Freezes “Green Bank”, Climate Disruption to Lose...

Living on Earth ·

2025/02/21

The Trump EPA is trying to cancel $20 billion dollars of funding in what’s known as the “Green Bank”, which provides loans for local clean energy, energy efficiency upgrades and more. Without providing evidence, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin accused the program of being rife with fraud and waste.Also, as costly climate disasters multiply around the planet, some financial experts are raising alarms that proceeding with business as usual without sharply reducing emissions could cut global GDP in half

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52:10

No Help From America, “Climate Whiplash” Between...

Living on Earth ·

2025/02/14

The Trump administration’s attempt to freeze all foreign assistance and bid to lay off nearly all USAID staffers are bringing disastrous consequences for millions of acutely hungry people, including those in war-torn Sudan. A Sudanese climate activist describes the desperate situation and sends a warning to the US about the perils of isolationism.Also, global warming is increasing the frequency and severity of “climate whiplash” events, which are rapid transitions between very wet and very dry

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