In the summertime love is in the air, but so is an energy-efficient boost for your hybrid car. Liz Gross reports.

Scientists say huge cuts are needed to avoid dangerous disruption of our climate. But delegates gathered in Bonn to craft the first phases of a new climate treaty made little progress, with major polluters, the U.S. and China, unable to reach agreement. But, as Living on Earth’s Bruce Gellerman tells host Steve Curwood, there does seem to be some good news for developing nations: direct aid, in the form of hundreds of billions of dollars and technology, is on the table to help poor nations adapt to climate disruption.

Ecotherapy, a new branch of psychotherapy, explores nature-based ways to cope with depression and anxiety. From animal therapy to gardening to wilderness excursions, the practices in this expanding field are gaining notice. Linda Buzzell, co-editor of Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind, explains to host Steve Curwood the potency of nature in the healing process and why more Americans should know about it.

For ten years, the United States has been helping the Colombian military fight a six billion dollar war on coca, the plant used to make cocaine. The major focus has been eradicating cultivation of the plant by manual removal and pesticide spraying. But increasingly, there are efforts to help farmers find alternatives to growing coca. As Conrad Fox reports from the Choco forest in western Colombia, one project has farmers picking native fruit to make blue ink for tattoos.

For decades, the drinking water at a Marine base in North Carolina was tainted with high levels of toxic chemicals. But a new report by the National Academies says the contamination can't be linked to the health problems former residents have suffered. Host Jeff Young talks with a Marine who says his daughter died as a result of contaminated water; an Academy panel member who explains the exposures should be the basis of policy decisions; and an epidemiologist who says the National Academy report is lacking.

The nation's most influential energy and climate change policy makers gathered at MIT to set goals for the future. The challenges are daunting and the dangers are real. President Obama's climate czar, Carol Browner, and chief science advisor, John Holdren, attended the MIT summit.

Forty years ago this month, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland became the poster child for the problem of industrial pollution on American rivers. A Time Magazine article reported the local joke that if a person fell in the river they would not drown, but decay. That article sparked outrage in the American public and jumpstarted the environmental movement and the Clean Water Act. Host Jeff Young talks with Frank Samsel who spent his career cleaning up the Cuyahoga.

Living on Earth continues its series exploring features of the American landscape. It’s based on the book “Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape,” edited by Barry Lopez and Debra Gwartney. In this installment, Pattiann Rogers explains the wetlands term tule.

The Obama Administration just released a brutally honest report on the state of our climate. It spells out to everyone from lawmakers to lay-people that climate change is real and it is here now. President ObamaÂ’s top science advisor John Holdren tells host Steve Curwood that we need to address this challenge now.