Coal Ash Cleanup Allegedly Deadly for Tennessee Workers
In 2008, the wall of a pond holding a billion gallons of toxic coal ash slurry from a huge TVA coal power plant in Kingston, Tennessee suddenly collapsed. The spill contaminated 300 acres of land and required a massive cleanup project. Dozens of cleanup workers involved in have died, and hundreds more have fallen ill. Men’s Journal Senior Editor J.R. Sullivan explains the spill’s devastating impacts and the fight for justice in the courts by workers and families.
Andrew Yang’s Climate Plan
Democratic Presidential candidate Andrew Yang is calling for a universal basic income, which he calls a Freedom Dividend. He wants the federal government to send a thousand dollars each month to every US citizen over the age of 18. The 44-year old entrepreneur discusses how the plan relates to his five-pronged proposal to address the climate emergency, which envisions the U.S. economy achieving net-zero emissions by 2049.
Underland: A Deep Time Journey
For nearly a decade, British author Robert Macfarlane has been venturing into ice caves, exploring underwater rivers, and crawling through catacombs to discover what he calls the “underland” – the world beneath our feet, in the dark and hidden places below the Earth’s surface, which he captures these travels in his latest book, Underland: A Deep Time Journey. Robert Macfarlane explains what drives him to explore the “deep time” down below.
Saltwater Beavers Bring Life Back to Estuaries
Until recently, biologists assumed that beavers were a freshwater-only animal. Scientists only recently began to study the impact beavers have in brackish water. Journalist Ben Goldfarb speaks with Bobby Bascomb about how saltwater beavers help provide crucial habitat for salmon, waterfowl, and many other species.
Everglades National Park, a “River of Grass”
Established as a national park in 1934, and then as an endangered UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979, the 1.5 million acres of Everglades National Park are much more than a mere swamp.
Drilling in the Everglades
The unprotected parts of the Everglades region are open to development, including oil drilling. Samantha Gross explains how the Kanter Real Estate group recently won approval to drill an exploratory well in the Everglades ecosystem.
Tibetan Monks Saving Snow Leopards
Snow Leopards are among the most endangered of the world’s big cats, but now Tibetan monks are giving the leopard hope. (Camera trap photo of a snow leopard on the Tibetan plateau (photo: Panthera))
Hummingbirds in the Canyon
Watching hummingbirds in Arizona's Madera Canyon gave Mark Seth Lender an up close view of their interactions, and a chance to take spectacular photos.
Nuclear Storage Crisis
The meltdown at Fukushima in Japan may be grabbing all the headlines, but with the Yucca Mountain project in perpetual limbo the United States has a nuclear storage problem on its hands as well.
Coal Ash Cleanup Allegedly Deadly for Tennessee Workers
In 2008, the wall of a pond holding a billion gallons of toxic coal ash slurry from a huge TVA coal power plant in Kingston, Tennessee suddenly collapsed. The spill contaminated 300 acres of land and required a massive cleanup project. Dozens of cleanup workers involved in have died, and hundreds more have fallen ill. Men’s Journal Senior Editor J.R. Sullivan explains the spill’s devastating impacts and the fight for justice in the courts by workers and families.
Andrew Yang’s Climate Plan
Democratic Presidential candidate Andrew Yang is calling for a universal basic income, which he calls a Freedom Dividend. He wants the federal government to send a thousand dollars each month to every US citizen over the age of 18. The 44-year old entrepreneur discusses how the plan relates to his five-pronged proposal to address the climate emergency, which envisions the U.S. economy achieving net-zero emissions by 2049.
How the Border Wall Could Harm Wildlife
Amid outcries about its immigration policy, the US government is moving forward with an expansion of the border wall with Mexico. Biologists are raising the alarm that the wall can be a dead-end for migrating animals, including some bird species. Bobby Bascomb reports from the border on how construction of the wall can disturb nesting birds and damage sensitive habitat.
This Week’s Show
September 13, 2019
listen / download
Coal Ash Cleanup Allegedly Deadly for Tennessee Workers
listen / download
In 2008, the wall of a pond holding a billion gallons of toxic coal ash slurry from a huge TVA coal power plant in Kingston, Tennessee suddenly collapsed. The spill contaminated 300 acres of land and required a massive cleanup project. Dozens of cleanup workers involved in have died, and hundreds more have fallen ill. Men’s Journal Senior Editor J.R. Sullivan explains the spill’s devastating impacts and the fight for justice in the courts by workers and families.
Andrew Yang’s Climate Plan
listen / download
Democratic Presidential candidate Andrew Yang is calling for a universal basic income, which he calls a Freedom Dividend. He wants the federal government to send a thousand dollars each month to every US citizen over the age of 18. The 44-year old entrepreneur discusses how the plan relates to his five-pronged proposal to address the climate emergency, which envisions the U.S. economy achieving net-zero emissions by 2049.
Beyond the Headlines
listen / download
In this week’s Beyond the Headlines, Peter Dykstra joins Bobby Bascomb to take a look at how toxic algal blooms have turned tourist beaches on the Gulf Coast into ghost towns, discuss a ‘happy hour’ at a Finnish grocery store to reduce food waste, and travel back to 1900, when the United States’ ban of Cuban weather bulletins had deadly consequences.
Pronghorn Antelope
listen / download
Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender has seen pronghorn antelopes many times, and at his approach they usually turn tail and run. But when a less timid pronghorn antelope stands his ground, an opportunity arises for a closer encounter.
How the Border Wall Could Harm Wildlife
listen / download
Amid outcries about its immigration policy, the US government is moving forward with an expansion of the border wall with Mexico. Biologists are raising the alarm that the wall can be a dead-end for migrating animals, including some bird species. Bobby Bascomb reports from the border on how construction of the wall can disturb nesting birds and damage sensitive habitat.
Special Features
Field Note: Pronghorn Antelope
Living on Earth's Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender remarks on the ramifications of relative size when it comes to staying warm in cold climes -- and staying cool in the presence of an intimidating animal.
Blog Series: Mark Seth Lender Field Notes
Free Event: We Are The Weather - Jonathan Safran Foer in Conversation with LOE
The inaugural "Good Reads on Earth" event brings you a conversation with Jonathan Safran Foer about his new book "We Are The Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast". Join the best-selling author of Everything is Illuminated, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, and Eating Animals and Living on Earth's Steve Curwood to explore a surprising, personal, and urgent account of how collective action may be the only way to save our home.
Blog Series: LOE Updates
The LOE Newsletter
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...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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