Floating Border Wall, Climate Coverage Dropoff, “Night Owl” – Poems, and more.

·52 min·5 clips

Border towns protest a federal plan to install 500 miles of buoy barriers in the Rio Grande, severing communities and threatening wildlife.

The episode opens with hosts Jenny Doering and Paloma Beltran introducing a segment on buoy barriers planned for the Rio Grande along the U.S.-Mexico border. Reporter Martha Piskowski explains the federal government aims to install over 500 miles of orange cylinder buoys, starting with a 17-mile section in Brownsville, Texas. She details concerns about the buoys breaking free during floods and notes the Department of Homeland Security waived over two dozen laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act and Clean Water Act, to bypass environmental reviews. Piskowski highlights protests in border towns like Brownsville and Laredo, where communities fear severed cultural ties and restricted river access. She discusses impacts on biodiversity, such as blocking black bears and jaguars, and frustration over lack of transparency despite $46.5 billion allocated for border projects. The episode then shifts to offshore wind, with Katherine Collins discussing a $1 billion payment to Total Energies to abandon leases off New York and North Carolina, criticizing it as a blow to clean energy and taxpayers. Collins outlines the economic impact of canceling wind farms, including lost $30 billion in activity and supply chain delays, while praising the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. Next, Max Boykoff analyzes a 40% drop in global climate news coverage since 2021, attributing it to media consolidation, disinformation, and climate fatigue. He emphasizes how reduced coverage diminishes public pressure and action, especially for frontline communities. The final segment features poet Amy Nezhukumatathil reading from her book 'Night Owl,' focusing on nighttime ecology, light pollution's effects on fireflies and birds, and poetry's role in processing ecological grief. She shares poems like 'Nocturne for Dark Things' and 'Triggerfish Invective,' highlighting connections between humans and the natural world.

As heard by us

A broad environmental hour links a border barrier, night life, and offshore wind policy.

Living on Earth sets the U.S.-Mexico border's floating barrier plan in the Rio Grande alongside the communities worried about what it would mean.

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Want a listening detour from border barriers to night wildlife and offshore wind?

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