The shrinking Colorado River is a critical water source for thirty million people and a source of friction between Mexico and the United States. Now,the two countries have signed what they hope will be a better deal for them and the river. Host Steve Curwood talks with Carlos De La Parra, Professor of Urban and Environmental Studies at the College of the Northern Frontier in Tijuana, Mexico who advised the Mexican Commissioner in the Colorado River negotiations.

The Massachusetts fishing port of New Bedford was the heart of the whaling industry in the 19th century, and called "the city that lit the world". That industry has gone, and so has much of New Bedford's prosperity. But city managers see a new energy future, thanks to energy efficiency, renewables and offshore wind. Naomi Arenberg reports.

Colleges and universities across the country are investing in building efficiency and renewable energy to save money and the environment. Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb reports from Boston’s Northeastern University that small changes can add up to big savings.

For years scientists have attempted to find effective treatments for mental disorders like depression and addiction. Thanks to new research using optogenetics that controls monkeys’ motions, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. Christy Perera reports.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has released a report that documents the disproportionate health impacts of coal-fired power plants on low-income communities of color. The director of the NAACP’s Climate Justice Initiative Jacqui Patterson joins host Steve Curwood to discuss environmental justice, and coal pollution.

As one of the hottest years on record comes to a close, the CIA has decided to shutter its Center on Climate Change and Security. Joe Romm, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, discusses the closure of the center and the future of environmental security with host Steve Curwood.

In collaboration with Orion magazine writer Wong Yoo-Chong shares his thoughts and feelings about the place he now calls home in the rolling green hills of Northern California.