The Environmental Protection Agency will start regulating greenhouse gases from some of the country's biggest sources in January. With the death of climate change legislation in Congress, EPA's use of the Clean Air Act is one of the few tools the Obama administration has left to address global warming pollution. But in a showdown on Capitol Hill, some lawmakers aim to block EPA from taking action. Living on Earth’s Jeff Young reports on what’s at stake.

With a wastewater system that is over a century old, New York City is losing the battle against overflow contamination of the East and Hudson Rivers. As Living on Earth’s Honah Liles reports, the city’s mayor is proposing to add a new weapon to the fight: blue and green roofs.

The first genetically modified animal for human consumption could soon be on its way to a dinner table near you. The Food and Drug Administration is set to make a decision about the safety of transgenic salmon. Some, including Dr. Martin Smith, an economist at Duke University, say the FDA is ignoring potential effects on both human and environmental health. He talks with host Bruce Gellerman.

American consumers eat genetically engineered plants, like corn and soybeans, and soon, we could also be eating genetically modified animals. Ron Stotish, director of AquaBounty, tells host Jeff Young about the development of his company’s engineered salmon. Stotish also describes the FDA’s approval process and discusses the issue of mandatory labeling.

In response to taste complaints, officials at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill tested water in the college’s brand new buildings. To their surprise they found lead in the water. Host Bruce Gellerman talks with Marc Edwards, a civil engineering professor from Virginia Tech University. Edwards was called in to find out where the lead was coming from and how to remediate the problem.

Many Americans are re-evaluating their relationship with chemicals, asking where they end up in people and the environment once they've fulfilled their intended use. Now universities are teaching students to ask those same questions. Ingrid Lobet reports on changes at UC Berkeley.

New York is known as a city of strangers. But that changed when a redtailed hawk made his home on the ledge of one of Fifth Avenue’s ritziest buildings. People from all walks of life flocked to a bench in Central Park to view the trials and tribulations of the bird named Pale Male, forging a bond and a new community. Frederic Lilien was one of Pale Male’s followers. He tells host Bruce Gellerman about the hawk, the city, and the love story which he documented in his feature-length film “The Legend of Pale Male.”