Near dawn at a waterhole in Motobo National Park, Zimbabwe, a young elephant makes the mistake of bothering a band of baboons. Living on Earth’s Explorer-in-Residence Mark Seth Lender relives the encounter.

On this week's trip Beyond the Headlines, Environmental Health News editor Peter Dykstra joins Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb to talk about some unexpected opposition to a solar facility in Florida, and in the Mojave desert, efforts to prevent a solar project there from harming the sensitive desert tortoise. Finally, celebrate a moment in history as the pair remember the million-dollar settlement in a fight for clean water that inspired the box office hit “Erin Brockovich”.

A new law puts California on a path to carbon-free electricity generation by 2045. And leaders from around the world recently convened in San Francisco at the Global Climate Action Summit organized by the state’s Governor, Jerry Brown. Host Steve Curwood and Jared Blumenfeld, former EPA Regional Chief, discuss the state’s swift progress towards decarbonizing its growing economy and why some citizen activists say even stronger action is needed.

Some 17 million acres of green space line US highways and byways, and it’s vital habitat for pollinators, as well as small voles and mice and birds. Bonnie Harper-Lore, a restoration ecologist formerly with the Federal Highway Administration, tells host Steve Curwood about the value they offer to wildlife and how President Lyndon Johnson’s wife, Ladybird, helped uplift this elongated haven for creatures and wildflowers.

For nearly half a century, Americans believed the running buffalo species of clover to be extinct, until a biologist discovered the plant on a hike 30 years ago. Glynis Board from the Ohio Valley ReSource reports from West Virginia on efforts to try and encourage the growth of the endangered species.

Compared to those that use fossil fuel, electric vehicles like Ford’s new F-150 Lightning truck are better for the environment. Now, new research suggests that EVs are also better for our health. Prof. Jack Spengler from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss how a reduction of particulate matter pollution thanks to EV adoption could reduce mortality and improve health outcomes.

Ford’s F-series are the best-selling vehicles in the United States. Now the all-electric version of the popular F-150 is making quite a storm in the auto industry and among aficionados. Jim Motavalli, freelance writer and blogger for Car Talk, joins Host Steve Curwood to talk about the future of the electric pickup in America's car market.

California has often led the nation in environmental ambition, and now that his state finds itself with a big budget surplus Governor Gavin Newsom wants to invest $14 billion of it in climate initiatives. That would help make progress on the state’s ambitious goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2045. Jared Blumenfeld is the secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency and host of the podcast, Podship Earth, and he joins Living on Earth Host Steve Curwood to discuss offshore wind, environmental justice and more.