On this week's trip beyond the headlines, Environmental Health News editor Peter Dykstra and Host Steve Curwood inspect a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act that ensures permanent funding to help coal miners suffering from black lung. Then, the pair look at a legal loophole where European countries are burning wood pellets from logging in ancient forests and passing it off as "clean energy". Finally, the two look through the history books at the 35th anniversary of the Montreal Protocol, which addressed the dangerous ozone holes at Earth’s poles.

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of over 12,000 chemicals known as “forever chemicals” because they hardly break down in the environment. And they’re now found everywhere from microwave popcorn to drinking water supplies to human blood. Laurel Schaider, Senior Scientist at the Silent Spring Institute, joins Host Bobby Bascomb to talk about the research on how these chemicals are affecting us and what we can do about it.

California has been a national leader on tackling climate change and recently announced two changes to further green the golden state. First, California will ban the sale of most new gas-powered vehicles by 2035. Second, and more controversially, Governor Newsom approved an extension for the life of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power station, which is carbon-free but not without risk. CalMatters environmental policy reporter Nadia Lopez joins Host Bobby Bascomb to discuss the implications of these decisions.

Earth’s rainforests are astonishingly biodiverse ecosystems that can even drive the climates on faraway continents. But they’re disappearing in the name of the kind of economic development that values rainforests more when logged, mined, or turned into farmland. Tony Juniper, author of the book Rainforest: Dispatches from Earth’s Most Vital Frontlines, joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the amazing science of how rainforests work and why leaving them intact offers more, not less, economic benefit.

King Charles III, the former Prince of Wales, has acceded to the throne and brings with him a lifelong passion for nature and environmental causes. His longtime advisor and co-author Tony Juniper joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss His Majesty’s contributions on environment and climate, how that might influence him in his new role as King, and the passing of the activist torch to his son William, the new Prince of Wales.

“Local Voices, Local Choices: The Tacare Approach to Community-Led Conservation” is the story of the Jane Goodall Institute’s holistic approach to conservation, which puts the local people in charge of preserving their surrounding ecosystems. Join us online Friday September 23rd at 5:30pm Eastern time and find out more at loe.org/events.