Although he did not mention it during his campaign, since taking office, President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested the U.S. should buy or seize Greenland – the largest island in the world, and part of the Kingdom of Denmark. A U.S. Geological Survey study estimates that there are 31 billion barrels of oil in eastern Greenland, and beneath the ice are also rare earth metals needed for electric cars, batteries, and computers, as well as uranium. We talk to two Greenland experts, Paul Bierman, a professor at the University of Vermont (pictured) and Anne Merrild, who grew up on the island and is now a professor at Aalborg University in Denmark, about what role minerals and oil are playing in the politics – and potential take-over – of Greenland. Local elections on March 11 may help decide whether prohibitions remain on the extraction of oil and gas and uranium on the island. 

The Role of Minerals and Oil in President Trump’s Desire to Seize Greenland

State legislatures are seeing a wave of industry-backed bills that would ban or restrict the public’s ability to test for air pollution in local communities. Last year, the Louisiana legislature effectively banned community groups from using their own air monitoring to warn residents about pollution or publicly advocate for cleanups. Violators can face penalties of up to $32,500 per day, plus $1 million for intentional violations. Earlier this year, Kentucky passed legislation that attempts to restrict what evidence state and local environmental regulators can use when enforcing pollution regulations. Morgan King, climate and energy program manager with the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, joins us to discuss her work building up an air monitoring network around West Virginia, where industry-backed legislation to restrict monitoring has failed twice over the last two years.

The Attack on Community Air Monitoring in State Legislatures

What is the environmental impact of the food you eat?  We investigate the water pollution produced by the meat processing industry.  The nonprofit, nonpartisan Environmental Integrity Project examined federal records for 98 large slaughterhouses across the U.S. that discharge into rivers and streams and found that 75 percent of them violate the federal Clean Water Act by dumping illegal amounts of fecal bacteria, nitrogen and other pollutants -- with little enforcement and few penalties.

Water Pollution from Slaughterhouses

President-Elect Joe Biden has picked North Carolina’s top environmental regulator, Michael Regan, as his choice to run the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. How has Regan performed in his job as Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality?  And what challenges will he face rebuilding an EPA devastated by deregulation, staffing cuts, and control by industry lobbyists during the Trump Administration?  We interview three experts:  Derb Carter, Director of the North Carolina office of the Southern Environmental Law Center, who has extensive first-hand knowledge of Regan’s track record in North Carolina; Eric Schaeffer, Executive Director of the Environmental Integrity Project and former Director of Civil Enforcement at EPA, who has insights into how to get the EPA back on track; and Betsy Southerland, former Director of Science and Technology in EPA’s Office of Water.

A Look at Biden's Pick to Run EPA, Michael Regan, and the Challenges he Faces

We discuss important environmental issues in the news and investigative reports by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Environmental Integrity Project.

The Attack on Community Air Monitoring in State Legislatures

Environmental Integrity Podcast

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