Tag: #corporate-accountability — 20 segments on Living on Earth
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May 15, 2026:
China Making Green Aluminum
As China rapidly builds out renewable energy, it’s using some of that clean energy to power industrial activities like making aluminum, which is in high demand from data center and electrification projects. China produces 60% of the world’s aluminum, and smelting the metal uses massive amounts of electricity. Energy and climate journalist Alexander Kaufman joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain how Chinese aluminum is going green.
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April 24, 2026:
Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism
While electrifying transportation is essential to addressing the climate crisis, the mining of nickel, copper, and lithium required to build out these green technologies brings its own environmental and social costs. To understand these impacts, author and political scientist Thea Riofrancos traveled to the Atacama Desert in Chile, home to one of the largest lithium reserves in the world. She joins Host Paloma Beltran to discuss her book, Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism.
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March 20, 2026:
Vanguard Retreats from ESG
The investment giant Vanguard is retreating from its climate initiatives as part of a $30 million settlement deal for an anti-trust lawsuit brought by Republican state attorneys general. The lawsuit alleged that Vanguard and fellow asset managers BlackRock and State Street, which are still fighting the suit, conspired to kill the coal industry. Vanguard did not admit to wrongdoing but is now barred from participating in climate investment watchdog groups such as Ceres. General Counsel for Ceres, Michael Boudett joined Living on Earth Executive Producer Steve Curwood to explain.
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October 24, 2025:
Overseas Chinese Mining and Spills
As part of the Belt and Road Initiative, China has invested over $1 trillion in overseas infrastructure for projects that include mining in developing countries for minerals to fuel the clean energy transition. In the “copper belt” of Zambia, a Chinese-owned tailings dam collapsed, sending toxic sludge into homes and crops. Inside Climate News reporter Katie Surma speaks with Host Jenni Doering about the aftermath and “green colonialism” that appears to no longer be only at the hands of the Global North.
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September 26, 2025:
Trump Denies, China Leads on Climate
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, President Trump railed against climate science and clean energy, drawing sharp rebukes from other nations, rival politicians and business leaders. Meanwhile, China for the first time ever announced a specific target for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, by 7 to 10 percent by 2035. Hosts Aynsley O’Neill and Jenni Doering talk about the diverging rhetoric and action on climate.
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September 19, 2025:
Heat Waves Linked to Company Emissions
New research finds that since 2010 killer heat waves have become 200 times more likely, thanks to greenhouse gas emissions, and the scientists say about half of the increase in heatwaves can be attributed to big coal, big oil, big gas and cement. Dartmouth College associate professor Justin Mankin joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the severe economic and health consequences of extreme heat and efforts to make major carbon emitters pay for these skyrocketing costs.
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January 03, 2025:
Woodwell - A World to Live In
Ecologist George Woodwell has decades of research and environmental action under his belt, from documenting the dangers of DDT and climate change to founding the Woods Hole Research Center helping start other key organizations including the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the World Resources Institute. His new book, “A World To Live In,” offers a reflection on the dangers of exceeding the planet’s biophysical limits. Speaking with Living on Earth Host Steve Curwood he shared some lessons he has learned about nature and environmental policy.
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December 06, 2024:
Why Exxon is Pro-Paris
Major fossil fuel corporations including ExxonMobil are clearly stating they would prefer the U.S. remain in the Paris Climate Agreement, despite President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to take the country back out. Samantha Gross directs the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at the Brookings Institutions and explains to Host Jenni Doering how oil majors are making long-term plans for an energy transition.
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November 08, 2024:
Coke and Pepsi Face Plastic Lawsuit
The County of Los Angeles is suing beverage giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo over alleged deceptive marketing around plastics recycling. Coke and Pepsi as well as other brands they own including Mountain Dew, Sprite, Gatorade, and Smartwater are often packaged in single-use plastic bottles, which are not infinitely recyclable despite what many consumers allegedly have been led to believe.
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August 09, 2024:
Methane Tracking From Space
A new satellite recently blasted off into Earth orbit with the important mission of tracking methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure across the globe. Dr. Stephen Conley is an atmospheric scientist and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain why free public access to the data from MethaneSAT is a game-changer for holding oil and gas companies accountable for climate pollution.
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March 15, 2024:
Methane Tracking From Space
A new satellite recently blasted off into Earth orbit with the important mission of tracking methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure across the globe. Dr. Stephen Conley is an atmospheric scientist and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain why free public access to the data from MethaneSAT is a game-changer for holding oil and gas companies accountable for climate pollution.
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February 16, 2024:
Exxon Sues Climate Investors
ExxonMobil recently sued activist investors in federal court in Texas for a repeated effort to bring a climate resolution to a vote at the company’s annual shareholder meeting. The giant oil company has persisted even though the activists have withdrawn the petition. Pat Parenteau of Vermont Law and Graduate School joins Host Paloma Beltran to explain the backstory and chilling effect Exxon’s actions could have on investor engagement.
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January 26, 2024:
Climate Deception
When scientists began to warn in the later half of the twentieth century that burning oil, gas, and coal could bring severe consequences for our planet, they touched a nerve in the powerful fossil fuel industry. In this second installment of our series on climate change disinformation, historian of science Naomi Oreskes and Host Steve Curwood dive into how the fossil fuel industry infiltrated the political sphere and scientific community to block climate action.
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January 19, 2024:
Climate Deception
When scientists began to warn in the later half of the twentieth century that burning oil, gas, and coal could bring severe consequences for our planet, they touched a nerve in the powerful fossil fuel industry. In this second installment of our series on climate change disinformation, historian of science Naomi Oreskes and Host Steve Curwood dive into how the fossil fuel industry infiltrated the political sphere and scientific community to block climate action.
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December 01, 2023:
Corporate Coopting of COP28?
Leaked documents from the team leading the COP28 climate talks now underway in Dubai point to corporate coopting of the UN climate negotiations. COP President Sultan Al Jaber is also CEO of the UAE national oil company Adnoc, which according to the internal documents has used the COP process to try to cut oil and gas deals with companies and countries. Ben Stockton of the Centre for Climate Reporting, which partnered with the BBC to verify and review these leaked documents, joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss.
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November 10, 2023:
Greenwashing an Oil CEO
The man leading the upcoming COP28 UN climate talks in Dubai heads the United Arab Emirates’ state oil company. Sultan Al Jaber is the climate envoy for the UAE and has led the state renewable energy company, but some critics question the substance of his green credentials. Journalist Ben Stockton of the Centre for Climate Reporting wrote about this for The Intercept and joins Host Jenni Doering to describe the long-term public relations campaign to green Al Jaber’s image and install an oil CEO at the heart of the UN climate process.
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September 29, 2023:
California Leads with Climate Disclosure Bills
California is poised to enact two laws that would require companies to disclose how climate change affects their business, and how their operations impact the climate. Dave Jones directs the Climate Risk Initiative at Berkeley Law and joins Host Jenni Doering to explain how this transparency can help investors, consumers, and regulators make better decisions related to climate change and business.
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July 21, 2023:
Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss the threatened UPS driver strike and how extreme heat is making conditions inside UPS trucks unbearable. They also cover the “greenhushing” some companies are engaging in. And in history, they look back to when a patent was granted for center-pivot agriculture, making the desert bloom with huge green circles of crops.
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July 21, 2023:
California Targets Bogus Climate Offsets
The California legislature is considering measures that would require large businesses to publicly disclose carbon emissions and verify claimed offsets. Aaron Cantu is a reporter for Capital and Main and joined Living on Earth’s Jenni Doering to give an overview of the bills and how advocates say they could help California meet its ambitious climate goals.
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March 17, 2023:
Broken Promise for the Arctic
A massive new oil drilling project in the Arctic just got the green light from President Biden despite his promises for no new drilling on federal lands. Environmental law expert Pat Parenteau joins Host Steve Curwood to explain the climate contradictions within the White House and what could happen next.
