KPFA - Terra Verde

In California — a state whose progressive environmental policies have been the special focus of Trump’s ire — policymakers and environmentalists are bracing for the impacts of a second Trump administration where Republicans have full control of both houses. Lawmakers are gearing up to use state and local government powers to safeguard the environment and communities from imminent destructive federal policies. And on the ground, community groups and activists are preparing to organize. To give us a sense of the efforts underway in the state to “Trump Proof” California, Earth Island Journal editor-in-chief and Terra Verde cohost Maureen Nandini Mitra talks with Ken Alex, director of Project Climate and former senior policy advisor on climate, environment, and energy to Governor Jerry Brown. The post California vs. Trump 2.0 appeared first on KPFA.

A weekly public affairs show that delivers news and views about the most important environmental issues in California and globally. The post Terra Verde – November 8, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.

A weekly public affairs show that delivers news and views about the most important environmental issues in California and globally. The post Terra Verde – November 1, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.

In September, Western Rivers Conservancy conveyed the 466-acre Dillon Beach Ranch to the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria for permanent conservation and stewardship. With this historic land-back conservation deal, the Tribe (comprised of Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo Indians) regains ownership and stewardship of lands within their aboriginal territory, spanning across Sonoma and Marin Counties. The property includes 1.5 miles of the Estero de San Antonio, home to critical habitat for a vast array of plants and wildlife, including the federally listed northern tidewater goby. Western Rivers Conservancy’s (WRC) Conservation Director, Josh Kling, joins host and producer Hannah Wilton on this week’s Terra Verde episode to discuss this historic land-back ownership transfer and other riverland conservation initiatives in the West. Among them, Blue Creek Salmon Sanctuary and Yurok Tribal Community Forest in collaboration with the Yurok Tribe, and an ongoing partnership with the Esselen Tribe in Big Sur to protect and repatriate a mile of the Little Sur River. The post Making History in Riverland Conservation appeared first on KPFA.

Clockwise from top: Amelia Southern-Uribe, Austin Picinich, and Asa Miller. Photos courtesy of BYA. Three young activists from across the US — Asa Miller, Amelia Southern-Uribe, and Austin Picinich, who received the 2024 Brower Youth Awards at a ceremony in Berkeley last week talk with Earth Island Journal editor-in-chief and Terra Verde cohost Maureen Nandini Mitra about their outstanding efforts to promote ecological sustainability and environmental justice, what inspires them, the challenges they have had to overcome, and more. The post Young Climate Activists Inspire Hope appeared first on KPFA.

Photo of plastic pollution in Bali by Lawrence Hislop / GRID-Arendal. Plastics are pretty much inescapable these days, and that’s no mistake. The plastics industry has flooded our lives with countless single-use product, from bags, to food packaging, to drink bottles. This plastic now fills our landfills, litters our coastlines, and permeates our bodies. And still, the plastics industry creates more, pointing to plastics recyclability as the solution to our mounting plastic pollution crisis. Of course, recycling isn’t the solution they claim it is. Only 9 percent of the plastic that has been pumped into the world since 1950 has been recycled. And here in the US, only about 5 percent of the single-use plastic products we use today are recycled. As the scale of the crisis grows, environmental advocates have started taking plastic producers and distributors to court for their role in deceiving the the public and driving the crisis we now find ourselves in. Sumona Majumdar, Chief Executive Officer of Earth Island Institute, and Dianna Cohen, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Plastic Pollution Coalition, join Terra Verde Host and Earth Island Journal Managing Editor Zoe Loftus-Farren to talk about these efforts The post Taking Big Plastic to Court appeared first on KPFA.

A weekly public affairs show that delivers news and views about the most important environmental issues in California and globally. The post Terra Verde – October 4, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.

Please donate online at kpfa.org or by calling 1800-439-5732 The post Special Fund Drive Programming – September 27, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.

A weekly public affairs show that delivers news and views about the most important environmental issues in California and globally. The post Terra Verde – September 20, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.

Today’s episode of Terre Verde is preempted by a 2024 fall fund drive special: Professor Richard Wolff (from Economic Update) discusses the true impact of tariffs. The post Special Fall Fund Drive Programming: Richard Wolff appeared first on KPFA.

On this week’s Terra Verde episode, host and producer Hannah Wilton interviews author Manjula Martin about her recently-published memoir, The Last Fire Season; A Personal and Pyronatural History, out now from Pantheon Books. Set during the catastrophic 2020 wildfire season and the compounding crises of the pandemic and political upheaval, Martin tells the story of evacuating from her home in West Sonoma County and her journey of healing from a personal health crisis. Tracing the contours of hope, healing, and despair, The Last Fire Season explores what it means to live on a dynamic, changing planet and how we might shift our relationship to the keystone process of fire. Manjula Martin is coauthor, with her father, Orin Martin, of Fruit Trees for Every Garden, which won the 2020 American Horticultural Society Book Award. Her nonfiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Cut, Pacific Standard, Modern Farmer, and Hazlitt. She edited the anthology Scratch: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living; was managing editor of Francis Ford Coppola’s literary magazine, Zoetrope: All-Story; and has worked in varied editorial capacities in the nonprofit and publishing sectors. She lives in West Sonoma County, California. The post A Personal Chronicle of California’s Wildfire Crisis appeared first on KPFA.

When it comes to clothing, we live in a system that tends to prioritizes quantity over quality; that favors items that can be worn a few times and discarded above those that are cared for and mended over time. This system disconnects us from the materials our clothes are made from, the people who make them, and places they are made. And it contributes to significant environmental and social harm. But it doesn’t have to be this way. In California, a network of fiber activists and producers are modeling a different textile future. One that emphasizes quality, natural fibers, and local production. That helps build community and regional economies. That has a lighter touch on the Earth. Rebecca Burgess, founder and director of the Point Reyes-based nonprofit Fibershed, and Alisha Bright, creator and owner of the Petaluma-based workshop and yarn shop Fiber Circle Studio, join Terra Verde host and Earth Island Journal managing editor Zoe Loftus-Farren to discuss what this future might look like. The post Envisioning an Alternative Fiber Future appeared first on KPFA.

Today’s show is preempted by the second hour of a special 2-hour Democracy Now, broadcasting from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Audio for the first hour of Democracy Now can be found here. Information about the topics covered on today’s Democracy Now plus the audio for the entire second hour can be found here. The post Special Event Programming: Democracy Now at the DNC (hour 2 of 2-hour special) appeared first on KPFA.

August 16 Terra Verde The post August 16 Terra Verde appeared first on KPFA.

This week’s Terra Verde episode lifts the hood on America’s disaster recovery and climate resilience workforce. While these workers are the ones rebuilding our homes after hurricanes or harvesting food during extreme wildfires, they often face inordinate exploitation in these unstable and invisibilized sectors. Pressure to change industry standards is growing with support from organizations like North Bay Jobs with Justice and Resilience Force that are advocating for family-sustaining wages and safe working conditions. Host and producer Hannah Wilton speaks with Max Alper, the Executive Director at North Bay Jobs with Justice (NBJwJ), a growing, grassroots coalition of more than 30 labor and community organizations in Sonoma, Napa, and Marin Counties. Just recently, NBJwJ linked arms with hundreds of farmworks and other allies in a march over Healdsburg Memorial Bridge to demand higher wages and disaster pay. Also joining is Josh Cox who runs Resilience Works, a for-profit national labor brokerage focused on climate change adaptation. That company is owned by Resilience Force, a national nonprofit working to strengthen America’s resilience workforce – the millions of people across the country who help communities prepare for, respond to, and rebuild after disasters. We discuss the importance of training and support for workers to transition into sustainable “green” jobs and the road ahead to building an equitable economy that honors the dignity and expertise of those who are essential to our recovery efforts. The post The Frontlines of Climate Adaptation and Disaster Recovery appeared first on KPFA.

PFAS are a class of about 15,000 chemicals known as “forever chemicals” (because they don’t naturally break down). Exposure to these harmful chemicals — which are often found in clothing and textiles, cosmetics, food packaging, and even menstrual products — has been linked to a range of critical health problems. While cleaning up environmental PFAS pollution has been a priority of the Biden administration, there has not been a significant federal strategy to regulate the chemicals’ use in consumer goods. Meanwhile, the body of research about the chemicals used in menstrual hygiene products — and the impact they have on reproductive health — remains limited. On this episode of Terra Verde, host Fiona McLeod is joined by Alexa Friedman, PhD, and Kaley Beins, MPH, to discuss the health impacts of toxic chemicals found in menstrual products, and the need for increased awareness and regulation of PFAS and other harmful substances in consumer goods. Learn more: – Multiple metals detected in tampons, new study finds – New research: PFAS detected in some menstrual and incontinence products – EWG Tap Water Database – EWG Skin Deep Database – EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning The post Understanding the Forever Chemicals Found in Menstrual Products appeared first on KPFA.

Photo by AFGE/Wikimedia. Forty years ago, the Supreme Court established what would become a bedrock principle in administrative law. Known as Chevron deference, the principle required that courts defer to the expertise of federal agencies when interpreting any ambiguities in the laws they were tasked with implementing. In late June, six of the nine supreme court justices joined the majority opinion in a case overturning Chevron deference. Under the decision issued in Loper Bright Enterprises, the Court says it should be judges, not agency experts at, say, the Environmental Protection Agency, who should make the call when interpreting statutory ambiguities. It may seem mundane, but the decision represents a sea change for the United States regulatory system. And it could have far-reaching implications for everything from environmental protection, to food safety, to disability rights. David Doniger, Senior Advisor to the NRDC Action Fund, joins Terra Verde host and Earth Island Journal Managing Editor Zoe Loftus-Farren to discuss the new legal landscape and what it means for efforts to protect the environment. The post Environmental Protection in a Post-Chevron World appeared first on KPFA.

Today’s show is preempted by the second hour of Democracy Now, broadcasting from the RNC in Milwaukee. The first hour can be found here. The post Special Event Programming: Democracy Now at the RNC appeared first on KPFA.

A weekly public affairs show that delivers news and views about the most important environmental issues in California and globally. The post Terra Verde – July 12, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.

A weekly public affairs show that delivers news and views about the most important environmental issues in California and globally. The post Terra Verde – July 5, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.