The Trump administration announced plans to roll back multiple environmental regulations, cut EPA spending and push back environmental justice programs. We cover how recent federal actions impact environmental policy as well as the role our guest Christine Todd Whitman played as the former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency during the Bush administration.

Also, plastics can contain thousands of chemicals like phthalates and PFAS which are harmful to human and animal health. A new study published in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, found that higher exposure to disposable takeout containers, was linked to a higher risk of congestive heart failure in both humans and animals. We discuss this study, and others related to plastics and health.

And From abolitionist Harriet Tubman to novelist Louisa May Alcott, some of the country’s most important women trailblazers shared a connection with the natural world in their girlhood. Tiya Miles shares their stories in her book Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation.

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To help cover the rising costs of climate impacts like extreme floods and sea level rise, New York State has enacted a climate superfund law that asks major fossil fuel companies to pay up, based on their historic sales of coal, gas and oil. We discuss how the revenues would fund climate adaptation and resilience. 

Also, the Trump Administration barred government scientists from attending a key UN climate science meeting in February 2025. What’s more, it seems the customary US task force including officials from the State, Energy, Commerce and Transportation departments has not attended any meetings for the underlying UN climate treaty since the beginning of the Trump Administration.

And a new study shows that crevasses or cracks on the Greenland Ice Sheet are widening more rapidly than expected due to climate change, which may accelerate ice loss and global sea level rise.

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The thousands of homes that burned in Los Angeles this January included the home of Marketplace Morning Report Host David Brancaccio. He shares what he’s learning about the challenges of rebuilding with a limited supply and huge demand for contractors. David says there’s an opportunity to rebuild a more wildfire-resistant Altadena, and to heal the community itself. 

Also, sea otters were hunted out from Oregon and Northern California more than a century ago amid the fur trade, but the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians and conservation partners are now working to bring them back. How reintroducing sea otters can help revive the kelp ecosystem and restore a vital cultural connection for Native people.

And major fossil fuel projects like LNG terminals could become harder to oppose on environmental grounds because of a Trump executive order that tries to weaken agency compliance with NEPA, the National Environmental Policy Act. Environmental concerns may take a backseat under the new project review process.

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The Trump EPA is trying to cancel $20 billion dollars of funding in what’s known as the “Green Bank”, which provides loans for local clean energy, energy efficiency upgrades and more. Without providing evidence, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin accused the program of being rife with fraud and waste.

Also, as costly climate disasters multiply around the planet, some financial experts are raising alarms that proceeding with business as usual without sharply reducing emissions could cut global GDP in half as soon as 2070. How human civilization can steer towards a more stable future.

And for Black History Month, civil rights leader Rev. Benjamin Chavis connects the dots between the civil rights and environmental justice movements. He reflects on the first EJ battle, how he coined the term “environmental racism,” and the path forward for the EJ movement during a Trump administration that refuses to acknowledge environmental injustice.

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The Trump administration’s attempt to freeze all foreign assistance and bid to lay off nearly all USAID staffers are bringing disastrous consequences for millions of acutely hungry people, including those in war-torn Sudan. A Sudanese climate activist describes the desperate situation and sends a warning to the US about the perils of isolationism.

Also, global warming is increasing the frequency and severity of “climate whiplash” events, which are rapid transitions between very wet and very dry conditions. One such event set the stage for the devastating L.A. wildfires in January 2025. How climate whiplash works and what societies need to do to prepare.

And a new bipartisan law aims to help people of all abilities explore the outdoors. The founder of the nonprofit Disabled Hikers shares insights about the challenges people with disabilities face visiting America’s public lands and how the new law could help.

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Black, Brown and low-income communities pushing back against industrial pollution have always had an uphill battle. But now those environmental justice fights may get even harder, as the Trump administration shutters federal EJ programs.

Also, one of the many Biden Administration rules the Trump EPA has nixed is one that would have limited the amount of toxic PFAS that petrochemical and other plants can release into waterways. We explain this setback for regulating “forever chemicals” that cause cancer, immune deficiencies and other harms. 

And finding the last remaining old growth in the vast forests of Maine is like finding a needle in a haystack, but LiDAR technology is helping pinpoint these biodiversity hotspots so they can be protected. How it works and why it’s bringing the timber industry and conservationists together.

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So far avian flu hasn’t been seen spreading from human to human, but recent mutations indicate some variants are becoming better adapted to infecting humans.

Also, around a thousand of the firefighters who battled blazes around southern California in January 2025 were incarcerated. A formerly incarcerated firefighter shares what it was like and how the experience helped him forge a new life after prison as a professional firefighter.

And as the water supply in Athens, Greece dwindles and demand surges from residents and tourists alike, the city is looking to antiquity for solutions. One that’s attracting attention is an ancient aqueduct that runs beneath Athens.

Plus: in his last days in office President Biden designated a new national monument in the southern California desert called Chuckwalla. A Native tale of how Coyote gave the “painted canyon” in Chuckwalla its name, this week on Living on Earth.

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Back in power, President Trump immediately took aim at climate and environmental protection with a flurry of executive orders such as blocking the Paris Climate Accord and boosting fossil fuel sales. The President may have over-reached but could still do lasting damage to the climate and environment.

Also, one of President Trump’s Day One executive orders commands a reversal of the Biden Administration’s goal for half of vehicles sold in America by 2030 to be electric. Getting rid of the $7,500 EV tax credit and federal funding for charging stations may take acts of Congress, but already this effort to shift EVs into reverse is making for uncertainty in the US auto industry.

And not all conventionally grown fruits and vegetables are loaded with high levels of harmful pesticides. Consulting the “Dirty Dozen” and the “Clean Fifteen” lists can help consumers make efficient choices in the produce aisle.

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Facing huge costs for climate adaptation and disaster recovery, some states and localities are suing fossil fuel companies for damages. The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined an attempt to block these lawsuits, and we explain the significance of some of them proceeding to trial.

Also, nearly all the tall coast redwoods in California’s Big Basin Redwoods State Park burned in a 2020 wildfire. But within a few months the charred trunks had grown a fuzz of healthy green shoots. A paper documents how the trees were able to regenerate using energy reserves stored for many decades.

 And the many millions of miles of roads that crisscross our planet block everything from bears to beetles from safely moving through habitats. How new wildlife crossings like overpasses and underpasses are helping reconnect animals with the landscape.

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Wildfires like those hitting southern California take an enormous social and psychological toll on victims and observers alike. We hear how people and communities can heal from the “climate trauma” brought by wildfires and other disasters linked to the climate crisis.

Also, President-elect Trump’s stated plans to again remove the U.S. from the Paris Accord would be just the latest whiplash in a decades-long trend of U.S. inconsistency on the climate. What’s ahead for global and domestic climate policy over the next four years.

And the Carter Presidency left a legacy of environmental action, ranging from major habitat protection to trying to address the then largely unrecognized threat of fossil fuels to climate stability. Gus Speth chaired the White House Council on Environmental Quality under Jimmy Carter and joins us to recall pivotal moments and ponder what might have been if the solar-panel-loving President had won a second term.

This episode of Living on Earth is sponsored in part by AirDoctor – the air purifier that is designed to filter out 99.99 percent of dangerous contaminants so your lungs don’t have to – including allergens, pollen, pet dander, dust mites, mold spores – even bacteria and viruses – To get your AirDoctor, go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code EARTH 

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