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US Losing Economic and Energy Edge to China
The ongoing efforts of the Trump Administration to walk back climate policy and clean energy development may be handing over the health of the US economy to our chief economic rival, as China outpaces US economic growth by supplying the world with clean technologies.
Wind Power Headwinds
Onshore wind in the US is hitting a cliff, even in the most wind-powered state, Iowa, which generates about 2/3 of its electricity from wind. A combination of local opposition, anti-wind rhetoric and tax credit phaseouts has led to a steep decline in new wind projects.
Daisy Rewilds
The young hero of children’s book Daisy Rewilds not only likes nature, but she also wants to become nature. Daisy refuses to take baths and reverts the manicured lawn of her family home back into the wild, all with a bit of hilarity. Weeds and worms show her family and neighbors the true beauty in nature, chaotic as it can be.
The Law and Environmental Justice
The National Academy of Sciences has found black people are exposed to 66 percent more pollution than they produce, while white people are exposed to 17 percent less pollution than they create. In honor of Black History Month Special we highlight some of the voices that stood up against environmental injustice including Civil rights activist the Rev. Dr. Ben Chavis, and Dr. Robert Bullard who’s been deemed the “Father of Environmental Justice,” And in a conversation with Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran we also look back and look forward at prospects for breaking the chains of environmental racism with long time environmental lawyer and activist Monique Harden. a trail blazer in addressing problems of people and pollution in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley”.
The Power of Black History
The burial of a nine-year-old enslaved girl on a plantation in Louisiana may halt construction of a new petrochemical plant on that land in the state’s “Cancer Alley.” Many descendants of enslaved people in the region already live with health problems from exposure to industry and are looking to their ancestors to stop further expansion. Lenora Gobert, a genealogist for the Louisiana Bucket Brigade shares how looking at ancestry can help Cancer Alley’s quest for environmental justice.
The Quest for Env. Justice in Shiloh Alabama
For black history month we bring you a cautionary tale brought to us by the Center for Climate and Environmental Justice Media or CEJM. CEJM helps people of color learn how to tell their own stories in the face of environmental injustice and the climate emergency. Melissa Williams is a storyteller for CEJM and she shares her community efforts and concerns as they seek justice from the State of Alabama after highway construction flooded their homes in Shiloh Alabama.
Hot Prospects for Geothermal Energy
As geothermal heating and cooling slowly spreads in the U.S., some communities and utilities are looking to grow small pilot projects into much larger networks of pipes and heat pumps that extract and store heat in the earth to warm and cool homes and businesses as needed. We hear about a large geothermal HVAC system that demonstrates the possibilities and benefits of scaling up.
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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Celebrating 30 years of Living on Earth!
Host Steve Curwood in the Living on Earth studio
US Losing Economic and Energy Edge to China
The ongoing efforts of the Trump Administration to walk back climate policy and clean energy development may be handing over the health of the US economy to our chief economic rival, as China outpaces US economic growth by supplying the world with clean technologies.
Wind Power Headwinds
Onshore wind in the US is hitting a cliff, even in the most wind-powered state, Iowa, which generates about 2/3 of its electricity from wind. A combination of local opposition, anti-wind rhetoric and tax credit phaseouts has led to a steep decline in new wind projects.
Daisy Rewilds
The young hero of children’s book Daisy Rewilds not only likes nature, but she also wants to become nature. Daisy refuses to take baths and reverts the manicured lawn of her family home back into the wild, all with a bit of hilarity. Weeds and worms show her family and neighbors the true beauty in nature, chaotic as it can be.
This Week’s Show
February 13, 2026
listen / download
US Losing Economic and Energy Edge to China
listen / download
The ongoing efforts of the Trump Administration to walk back climate policy and clean energy development may be handing over the health of the US economy to our chief economic rival, as China outpaces US economic growth by supplying the world with clean technologies.
Wind Power Headwinds
listen / download
Onshore wind in the US is hitting a cliff, even in the most wind-powered state, Iowa, which generates about 2/3 of its electricity from wind. A combination of local opposition, anti-wind rhetoric and tax credit phaseouts has led to a steep decline in new wind projects.
Remembering Mike McElroy
listen / download
Harvard atmospheric science Professor Michael B. McElroy, a long-time board member of the World Media Foundation (which produces Living on Earth), passed away in January 2026. We offer a brief tribute to Mike’s groundbreaking contributions to research and education.
Daisy Rewilds
listen / download
The young hero of children’s book Daisy Rewilds not only likes nature, but she also wants to become nature. Daisy refuses to take baths and reverts the manicured lawn of her family home back into the wild, all with a bit of hilarity. Weeds and worms show her family and neighbors the true beauty in nature, chaotic as it can be.
BirdNote®: Common Yellowthroat
listen / download
Common Yellowthroats, one of the most abundant warblers in North America, thrive in places that pickier warblers pass over. BirdNote®’s Ariana Remmel reports that they’re easy to find in urban areas, marshes, overgrown fields and more.
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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