KPFA - Terra Verde

KPFA

4.4 (7)
Politics
Biweekly

Terra Verde delivers news and views about the most critical environmental issues across California and globally. From agriculture and wildlife to energy and climate change, industrial pollution to design solutions, Terra Verde brings you stories of struggle and triumph that will determine the future of our planet.

1d ago

Youth Scientist Turns Waste into Energy

Every year, the Brower Youth Awards recognizes six outstanding leaders ages 13-22 for their achievements to transform the environmental movement in North America and beyond. Maritza Sanchez (21) received the 2026 Brower Youth Award last week in recognition of her work to develop microbial fuel cells from recycled materials to provide rural and low-income communities in Puebla, Mexico with access to clean energy and water. On this episode of Terra Verde, host and producer Fiona McLeod speaks with Maritza about her journey in STEM, her innovative microbial fuel cell prototypes, and what winning the Brower Youth Award means for her work moving forward. Growing up in the central Mexican town of Cuautlancingo, Maritza Sanchez was surrounded by pollution. As a high schooler, she developed a concept for microbial fuel cells that could reutilize materials from discarded local waste to generate electricity for energy-poor households and improve water quality along the heavily-contaminated Atoyac River. In 2025, Sanchez founded Aquayac Energy, where she designs, constructs, and tests microbial fuel cell prototypes; tests water quality after treatment; and measures energy generation. While she’s still refining the design, Sanchez expects to scale the project over the coming year and produce 50 functional fuel cells by 2027. Learn more about her work at www.broweryouthawards.org. The post Youth Scientist Turns Waste into Energy appeared first on KPFA.
Oct 23

On Movement Music and Building Bridges [Encore]

Lifelong trade unionist, environmental activist, and musician Joe Uehlein realized pretty early on how climate change was going to be, what he calls, a “jobs killer.” Founding president of Labor Network for Sustainability, an organization dedicated to driving urgent, science-based climate action by building a powerful labor-climate movement, Uehlein’s new memoir — Three Roads, Labor, Music, Ecology — offers us a blueprint for how we can build bridges across movements. In this episode of Terra Verde, Earth Island Journal editor-in-chief and cohost Maureen Nandini Mitra talks with Uehlein about his life learnings and about critical role of music in movement building. The post On Movement Music and Building Bridges [Encore] appeared first on KPFA.
Oct 16

Balcony Solar Comes to California

A balcony solar installation at a home in a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Photo by Triplec85 / Wikimedia Commons. A new law allows California residents to use plug-in solar, or what’s better known as “balcony solar,” setups that can power home devices such as fridges, computers, and air conditioners for several hours. The idea of balcony solar is catching on fast — bills to legalize it have been introduced in more than half of US states, and 10 states, including California, have already adopted them. Earth Island Journal editor-in-chief and Terra Verde co-host Maureen Nandini Mitra talks with two veteran solar advocates — Bernadette Del Chiaro, the California head of the Environmental Working Group, which co-sponsored the state’s new bill, and Dave Rosenfeld, executive director of Solar Rights Alliance, a statewide network of solar power users that champions the right to generate solar energy without utility interference. They share how California residents can plug in and reap the benefits of this technology, and discuss the larger political landscape in which the push for balcony solar is playing out. The post Balcony Solar Comes to California appeared first on KPFA.
Sep 18

On Movement Music and Building Bridges

Lifelong trade unionist, environmental activist, and musician Joe Uehlein realized pretty early on how climate change was going to be, what he calls, a “jobs killer.” Founding president of Labor Network for Sustainability, an organization dedicated to driving urgent, science-based climate action by building a powerful labor-climate movement, Uehlein’s new memoir — Three Roads, Labor, Music, Ecology — offers us a blueprint for how we can build bridges across movements. In this episode of Terra Verde, Earth Island Journal editor-in-chief and cohost Maureen Nandini Mitra talks with Uehlein about his life learnings and about critical role of music in movement building. The post On Movement Music and Building Bridges appeared first on KPFA.
Sep 11

Whole Body Learning on a Warming Planet

Indigenous activist and education Melissa K. Nelson. As the climate crisis deepens, our educational systems have a foundational role to play in developing an informed citizenry and charting a path forward. Yet traditional Indigenous knowledge often remains marginalized in these spaces. On this episode of Terra Verde, co-host and Earth Island Journal Managing Editor Zoe Loftus-Farren speaks with Indigenous ecologist and scholar-activist Melissa K. Nelson about the importance of integrating Indigenous learning models in our educational system and engaging the mind, body, heart, and spirit in learning. Melissa has spent her career advocating for Indigenous Peoples rights and advancing Indigenous ecological knowledge, including through her decades at the helm of The Cultural Conservancy, her time as a professor at San Francisco State University, and now her work at Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability. The post Whole Body Learning on a Warming Planet appeared first on KPFA.
Sep 4

Terra Verde – September 4, 2026

A weekly public affairs show that delivers news and views about the most important environmental issues in California and globally. The post Terra Verde – September 4, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.
Aug 28

Why Are So Many Gray Whales Dying Along the Pacific Coast?

A gray whale mother-calf pair migrating along the central California coast from the wintering grounds in Mexico to the summer feeding grounds in the Arctic. Long term ocean warming and changes in sea ice have affected supplies of the high-fat prey that these cetaceans, researchers say. Photo Courtesy of NOAA Fisheries.Photo Courtesy of NOAA. Since the start of this year, at least 187 gray whales have washed up dead or dying up and down the Pacific coast, making 2026 one of the deadliest years for the species in recent history. Marine conservationists are calling this a “catastrophic mortality event.” And on Tuesday, August 25, three conservation groups — Oasis Earth, the International Marine Mammal Project, and the Center for Biological Diversity — sent the Trump administration an intent to sue notice for failing to protect the species. In this episode of Terra Verde, Earth Island Journal editor-in-chief and cohost Maureen Nandini Mitra talks with conservation biologists Mark Palmer, associate director of the International Marine Mammal Project, a Berkeley-based environmental group that works to protect dolphins, whales, and their ocean environment (and an Earth Island project), and Rick Steiner founder of Oasis Earth, a global consultancy that focuses on policy solutions to the environmental crisis, to understand what is causing this spike in whale mortalities and what can be done to prevent it. The post Why Are So Many Gray Whales Dying Along the Pacific Coast? appeared first on KPFA.
Aug 21

Protecting the Roadless Rule

The Trump administration advances a plan to rescind the federal “Roadless Rule,” which protects millions of acres of national forest lands from new roads and timber harvesting. Photo by Mick Haupt / Pexels. For more than two decades, the federal Roadless Area Conservation Rule has limited new road construction and certain forms of development across millions of acres of undeveloped national forest lands. Now, the US Forest Service is proposing to rescind the rule, potentially opening up more than 4 million acres of roadless forest in California to new roads, logging, mining, and other development. In this episode of Terra Verde, host and producer Hannah Wilton speaks with Wendy Schneider, executive director of Friends of the Inyo, and Benjamin Pitterle, director of advocacy and field operations at Los Padres ForestWatch, about what’s at stake for California’s public lands. The US Forest Service is accepting public comments on the proposal through September 21. Californians can learn more about the proposed rule on the federal registrar, and can submit comments by visiting Roadless.org. The post Protecting the Roadless Rule appeared first on KPFA.

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Terra Verde delivers news and views about the most critical environmental issues across California and globally. From agriculture and wildlife to energy and climate change, industrial pollution to design solutions, Terra Verde brings you stories of struggle and triumph that will determine the future of our planet.