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PFAS Polluters Pay Up
New Jersey officials are calling its $2 billion settlement with major manufacturers of PFAS “forever chemicals” the largest environmental settlement ever won by a state. We discuss the legacy of industrial contamination in New Jersey and how the settlement is expected to pay for cleanup as well as restoration of degraded ecosystems.
Nickel Mining's Toll
Nickel is a key mineral for the clean energy transition, but can come at a cost to local communities because of how polluting nickel mining operations can be. In Indonesia leaked company documents reveal that Harita Nickel, one of the world’s largest nickel mining companies, knowingly polluted fresh water sources.
Tylenol Upcycled From Plastic
Scientists in the UK were able to use genetically modified bacteria to turn plastic bottles into the common pain reliever acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol and Tylenol. The lead researcher speaks with us about the potential applications of this biotech breakthrough.
Roadless Rule Under Fire
With an unusually short period for public comments the Trump administration is moving to repeal the “Roadless Rule,” which currently protects over 45 million pristine acres of national forests from access roads for logging. A public lands advocate explains the potential consequences for critical habitat, watersheds, carbon storage and recreation if the Roadless Rule is repealed.
Oyster Trash to Treasure
Oysters on the half shell are big business on Nantucket Island, and a local program recycles oyster shells from restaurant waste into habitat for young oysters. These recycled oyster shell reefs are helping to protect the coastline from worsening storms and rising seas.
The Outlaw Ocean
Seventy percent of our planet is covered by the oceans, but the high seas are among the least-explored frontiers on Earth. And lawlessness is rampant in this vast wilderness, with crimes ranging from illegal fishing to slavery at sea. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ian Urbina wrote The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier to tell the harrowing stories of high crimes on the high seas.
Protecting Tenerife's Marine Marvels
One of the recipients of this year’s Goldman Environmental Prize is helping to protect an especially biodiverse part of the oceans around the Canary Islands. Carlos Mallo Molina was previously a civil engineer who also loved scuba diving. When he found out about plans to build a massive port on the island of Tenerife that could have devastated the local marine life, he decided to leave construction and dedicate his career to protecting the oceans.
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Celebrating 30 years of Living on Earth!
Host Steve Curwood in the Living on Earth studio
PFAS Polluters Pay Up
New Jersey officials are calling its $2 billion settlement with major manufacturers of PFAS “forever chemicals” the largest environmental settlement ever won by a state. We discuss the legacy of industrial contamination in New Jersey and how the settlement is expected to pay for cleanup as well as restoration of degraded ecosystems.
Tylenol Upcycled From Plastic
Scientists in the UK were able to use genetically modified bacteria to turn plastic bottles into the common pain reliever acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol and Tylenol. The lead researcher speaks with us about the potential applications of this biotech breakthrough.
Roadless Rule Under Fire
With an unusually short period for public comments the Trump administration is moving to repeal the “Roadless Rule,” which currently protects over 45 million pristine acres of national forests from access roads for logging. A public lands advocate explains the potential consequences for critical habitat, watersheds, carbon storage and recreation if the Roadless Rule is repealed.
This Week’s Show
September 5, 2025
listen / download
PFAS Polluters Pay Up
listen / download
New Jersey officials are calling its $2 billion settlement with major manufacturers of PFAS “forever chemicals” the largest environmental settlement ever won by a state. We discuss the legacy of industrial contamination in New Jersey and how the settlement is expected to pay for cleanup as well as restoration of degraded ecosystems.
Nickel Mining's Toll
listen / download
Nickel is a key mineral for the clean energy transition, but can come at a cost to local communities because of how polluting nickel mining operations can be. In Indonesia leaked company documents reveal that Harita Nickel, one of the world’s largest nickel mining companies, knowingly polluted fresh water sources.
Tylenol Upcycled From Plastic
listen / download
Scientists in the UK were able to use genetically modified bacteria to turn plastic bottles into the common pain reliever acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol and Tylenol. The lead researcher speaks with us about the potential applications of this biotech breakthrough.
Birdnote®: Poisonous Birds
listen / download
Nature has been tinkering with biology and chemistry for as long as life has existed on this planet. And as BirdNote®’s Michael Stein reports, some species have evolved to make use of special chemical weapons – a.k.a., poison.
Roadless Rule Under Fire
listen / download
With an unusually short period for public comments the Trump administration is moving to repeal the “Roadless Rule,” which currently protects over 45 million pristine acres of national forests from access roads for logging. A public lands advocate explains the potential consequences for critical habitat, watersheds, carbon storage and recreation if the Roadless Rule is repealed.
Special Features
Field Note: "After the Storm"
Living on Earth's Explorer-in-Residence, Mark Seth Lender, ruminates on the storm as it meets the shore.
Blog Series: Mark Seth Lender Field Notes
Field Note: "Countermeasures"
Living on Earth's Explorer-in-Residence, Mark Seth Lender, shares observations about shorebirds in flight.
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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