Methane and Swift Climate Action, Getting Bushmeat Off the Table, Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction, and more

Living on Earth

Methane and Swift Climate Action / Senate Votes for Strong Methane Rules / Biden, LOE and Dykstra / Getting Bushmeat Off the Table / "Planet" by Poet Catherine Pierce / Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in An Age of Extinction
Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas that doesn't last long in the atmosphere, so reducing it can have almost immediate benefits for the climate. But weak Trump administration standards allowed the oil and gas industry to leak massive amounts of methane. Now the U.S. Senate has voted to return to stronger Obama-era regulation of these leaks, and Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico joins us to discuss.
Also, the forests of the Congo Basin are among the most biodiverse in the world, but its wildlife is being threatened by huge demand for bushmeat. A new campaign encourages people to cook traditional recipes with protein alternatives to wild meat.
And animals like the American Bison, bald eagle, and giant panda have come dangerously close to extinction thanks to our own species. But thanks to some visionary humans, these animals and others have been saved from that fate and are now recovering. Science writer Michelle Nijhuis shares the stories of some conservation heroes.
Thanks to our sponsors this week:
The Crazy Town podcast from the Post Carbon Institute
And Christiana Figueres' podcast Outrage + Optimism
And Democracy in Danger, a podcast from the University of Virginia

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