This Week on Living on Earth
- 1Living on Earth: May 29, 2026
May 29th: More than two-thirds of U.N. members recently voted in favor of a resolution affirming a landmark ruling by the International Court of Justice that countries have a legal obligation to limit global warming. While this advisory opinion is not enforceable, it will likely be cited in lawsuits and appeals as a fact in the fight against climate disruption. Inside Climate News reporter Bob Berwyn speaks with Host Jenni Doering about the significance of the ruling and its U.N. adoption.
This week in Living on Earth history
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Beyond the Headlines
May 27, 2022
This week, Environmental Health News Editor Peter Dykstra and Host Aynsley O'Neill discuss Australia’s election of a more climate-forward Parliament and the ousting of its former climate denying Prime Minister. They then move on to Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland's task force to replace derogatory place names on federal public lands. For history they flip the pages back to 1905 when the Salton Sea, the largest lake in California, was created after a major engineering mistake.
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Goldman Prizewinner Vanquishes Oil Terminal Project
May 24, 2019
When the Tesoro-Savage oil terminal project threatened to bring polluted air and the risk of devastating oil spills to her hometown of Vancouver, Washington, community organizer Linda Garcia got right to work – and along with her neighbors, vanquished the project. Garcia’s efforts to protect her community and stand up to fossil fuel interests have been recognized with one of the prestigious 2019 Goldman Environmental Prizes. She joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss how her community fought and won against Tesoro-Savage, and why even threats and harassment couldn’t silence her.
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Atlanta Anti-Sprawl Measure
May 28, 1999
Traffic jams in this commercial hub of the New South are reaching monumental proportions. And, as David Pollock reports, they are not the only problem this city is facing as a result of its explosive growth and sprawling development. Some of the measures the State of Georgia is proposing to contain sprawl are meeting with mixed reaction.
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Household Toxics
May 28, 1993
Steve talks about the health effects of household chemicals with Nancy Sokol-Green, author of Poisoning Our Children: Surviving in A Toxic World.
Recent Shows
May 22nd, 2026
Living near many large Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFOs appears to raise cancer risk, according to a study from Yale researchers. CAFOs pack thousands of pigs, cows, and chickens together to produce meat, dairy, and eggs. All those crowded animals can produce a lot of waste that pollutes air and water, which may explain an association between CAFOs and cancer, though the study does not prove causation. Brian Bienkowski, managing editor of The New Lede, joins Host Steve Curwood to talk about the research and how concerns transcend politics.
May 15th, 2026
Great Britain is Europe’s third largest oil and gas producer, even with a commitment to a net-zero economy by 2050. A small group of climate activists is helping the UK meet that target by winning a Supreme Court decision that’s blocking any new UK oil and gas projects that don’t assess climate impacts. Sarah Finch of Surrey, near London led the fight against proposed oil and gas drilling in the region known as the Weald, and she’s been recognized with the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize for Europe. She joins Host Steve Curwood.
May 8th, 2026
The first gathering of a new international “coalition of the willing” to transition away from fossil fuels recently took place in Colombia. It’s a separate event from the UN COP climate negotiations and was born in part out of frustration over fossil fuel friendly nations like the US, Russia, China, and Saudi Arabia stalling the COP process. Rodrigo Estrada, Senior Climate Advisor at Greenpeace International, was there and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to share the takeaways and next steps.
May 1st, 2026
The US Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments for Monsanto v. Durnell, a case about whether states can require warning labels on pesticides if the EPA does not. This stems from thousands of lawsuits against Roundup maker Monsanto, alleging that farmers and landscapers who developed cancer weren’t warned of the risks. Though the World Health organization has classified glyphosate, the key ingredient in Roundup, as “probably carcinogenic”, the EPA has not found glyphosate can cause cancer. Pat Parenteau is an emeritus professor at Vermont Law and Graduate School, discusses with Host Steve Curwood.
April 24th, 2026
On April 16 the US Senate voted to reverse a moratorium on mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota, a million acres on the US-Canada border that’s teeming with wildlife and crystal-clear waters. For years a Chilean company has proposed to extract valuable copper, nickel, and cobalt there using copper sulfide mining. Democratic Senator from Minnesota Tina Smith speaks with Host Jenni Doering about why in her view mining in the same watershed as the Boundary Waters is not worth the risk.
