This Green Earth

On This Green Earth, Sara Jo Dickens, ecologist and noxious plant expert with Ecology Bridge, gives us insight on Summit County's seemingly never-ending battle with invasive plants and weeds. Are we seeing new species here in the county? She answers this question and so many more.

On This Green Earth , we welcome author Lucas Bessire. Bessire discusses his new book, Running Out - In Search of Water on the High Plains. This book covers a multi-generational story of farming in the midwest and the ongoing depletion of the aquifer that runs beneath it.

On This Green Earth , NYU Professor Colin Jerolmack comes on to talk about fracking. The U.S. is the only country where property rights commonly extend beneath the Earth’s surface, granting landowners the ability to lease land for fracking, despite any health issues or environmental damage it may cause. Jerolmack has written the book, UP TO HEAVEN AND DOWN HELL: Fracking, Freedom, and Commuity in an American Town, which recounts the time he spent living in rural Williamsport, Pennsylvania that

On This Green Earth , we hear from Nate Brooks, the Environmental Health Director for Summit County. Brooks comes on to talk about ticks; dog, deer and otherwise. For several reasons it seems the number and distribution of ticks has increased throughout the county. We discuss the reasons for this increase, the different types of ticks, what diseases they potentially carry, and what can be done to reduce your exposure to them.

On This Green Earth , Nathan Donley, with the Center for Biological Diversity, shares the details about a federal court’s rejection of the use of the pesticide Aldicarb on Florida oranges and grapefruits, after it had already been approved by the EPA. How did a pesticide already banned in 125 countries get the green light for use in the United States? Donley gives us the 411 on how this could happen and the impacts it's had on farmers and our environment.

On This Green Earth , Cathy Collentine, associate director with the Sierra Club, comes on the show to discuss TC Energy’s recent decision to cancel the construction of the remaining portion of the Keystone XL Pipeline. The highly controversial pipeline would have conveyed tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada to a distribution center in southern Nebraska. Collentine also shares that although the Keystone XL Pipeline is off the table, an even bigger pipeline is in the works.

On This Green Earth , Mary Mason, a Forest Geneticist with the US Forest Service, comes on the show. Mason discusses the issues that are facing the North American ash trees. The ash borer invasion that slipped into the US around the turn of the millennium, most likely on a container this, is now is 35 states and responsible for the deaths of hundreds of millions of trees. Mason shares what is being done to save our ash trees.

On This Green Earth : As we head into wildfire season, Chris and Nell discuss what we are facing. As of last week, all but eight of the 227 wildfires that have occurred so far this year have been human caused. Last year, Utah set a record for human-caused wildfires with 1,143. Coming on the show to discuss this with them is Kaitlynn Webb, the Statewide Prevention and Fire Communications Coordinator. Webb will talk about these numbers, their trends, and the good possibility that we will set

On This Green Earth , Nell and Chris speak with Kimberly Flores, who is launching Utah’s first mobile refill shop. This mobile shop delivers earth-friendly soaps, detergents, bath and body product refills, and other plastic-free products. Flores says, fulFILLed's mission is to simplify low-waste living by offering refillable and package-free products to those looking to lessen their impact on the environment. By making zero-waste alternatives accessible, she hopes more people will ditch single

On This Green Earth, Nell and Chris talk with author and National Geographic magazine contributor, Doug Chadwick. Chadwick's new book is titled, Four-Fifths a Grizzly - A New Perspective on Nature that Just Might Save Us All. The book takes a close look at our place in the natural world from a scientific angle, with the underlying message that humans aren't that much different from other creatures. He shows us the surprisingly close relationship between humans and grizzly bears, with whom we