Environmentally Speaking

"On this episode of Environmentally Speaking, we dive into the intriguing world of legal practice and explore a topic that may seem unfamiliar to many - the rule of perpetuity. We explore a real-life situation involving the O'Leary family farm in Rhode Island. Mr. O'Leary has passed away, leaving Mrs. O'Leary with the decision of how to honor the family farm and keep its legacy alive. With Mrs. O'...

This week we are discussing a recent US Supreme Court case that raises questions about the outer limits of the Clean Water Act and what constitutes "waters of the United States." The proposed rule suggests that there must be a continuous and unbroken surface water connection between bodies of water, but this definition raises questions about how to deal with certain types of water. We also talk ab...

Rhode Island is very active in the clean energy industry in policy, pushing forward its own initiatives and recognizing entities in Rhode Island that are at the front of moving forward with clean energy projects.  In this episode we are going to highlight some of the awards across the public sector, which organizations got them and why.  These all were pretty cool, you don’t want to miss this.  

This week we are talking about the poor air quality that has covered the northeastern part of the United States, particularly New York City and into Rohde Island.  The sky over New York has been described as “orange and hazy”.  Tune in discuss what are fine particulates and why is it so bad for humans in public health? More importantly, How did this happen? https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-york-ci...

This week we are talking about composting of the last variety.  What happens you your body after death?  Some people are buried in a cemetery, some cremated.  What if you could compost your body? Take a listen as we talk about a new bill, 6045 as it relates to funeral director slash embalmer and funeral service establishments. The reason that this proposed bill is being cited under that particular...

The federal Clean Water Act contains something called a Citizen Suit Provision. If you’re thinking it means “Citizens Arrest”.. you’d be right. But before you get too excited, there isn’t actually an arrest process. So why are we telling you this?  The lawsuit we are going to discuss today has to deal with just that and a company discharging illegal amounts of copper into the Pawtuxet river. What...

A 13 year old girl from San Jose, California has been a beekeeper for a few years now and noticed the behavior of some of the bees were… off.  IN this episode we talk about this amazing young lady who has made a breakthrough discovery that helps a bees memory.  Why is that important? When bees are exposed to pesticides, it ruins or damages parts of their short term memory and their ability to coll...

In this week’s episode we are heading out to sea!  We are going to discuss a recent article of a ship captain who has pled guilty to Environmental Crimes!  The Galissas is a tanker that was carrying diesel oil from Rotterdam, Netherlands, to Providence, RI, in February 2022. During their voyage, the vessel discharged untreated oily bilge water directly from the tanker into international waters and...

How many of you are ready for summer and ready to hit the waterways for some swimming, boating, etc.  Well, pay attention because Rhode Island DEM announces the closure of certain waterways after Fall River accidentally releases 10 million gallons of partly treated wastewater. 10 MILLION GALLONS of wastewater! This is a real crappy situation (pun intended) and we are going to discuss what you need...

Earth day was on April 22nd and in this week’s episode, we are going to recap earth day and discuss how people celebrated not just here locally, but around the globe as well!  What country do you think has the biggest celebration of Earth Day?

How much can you really do with your hair?  Well, there are organizations out there collecting human hair (some animal hair as well) and forming mats out of it. They are using these mats made of hair to clean up oil spills!  We get into more detail as to how this is done and discuss what happens when there is an oil spill and who is responsible for the clean ups. References: https://www.youtube.co...

Ever see an abandoned gas station and wonder why someone just doesn’t do something with it?  Well turns out it’s not that easy… or is it? Redevelopment is where you take a previously developed property. And you do exactly what the name says. You re develop it, you're not impacting undisturbed habitat.  We are going to give some examples of some redevelopments that have happened around our area and...

Today we are going to discuss the Rhode Island coastal resources management council (CRMC).  We’ve discussed the CRMC in past episodes however, this episode is different.   The CRMC isn’t set up like other state agencies are. The CRMC (agency) staff and the executive director work every day like a regular state agency on permits and projects and approvals. The “Council” (not agency) only meets onc...

It’s  been a month since the train derailment in East Palestine Ohio that has caused a horrific environmental disaster.  We chose to wait to discuss this topic simply because we wanted there to be some short of concreate news to have a conversation about it.  One thing we’ve found is…there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered.  Take a listen as we discuss some of the findings.  On...

This episode is going to be a little different. Having done 72 episodes now, some topics we said we would come back to and give you the listener some updates. Well, this week, Clarice breaks down some past topics and brings us current with each of those topics covered. Some of the updates covered this week, Seekonk River oil spill, Providence River crane, Offshore Wind, and Navajo Water Rights jus...

We kick off the show sharing our love for True Crime type podcasts, which brings us to the question of, “have you ever wondered how we really are as a species?”.  It’s somewhat disturbing to think the extent and the depth we as a species have the capacity to harm each other.  Is it different to think that way when it comes to animals?   We start to discuss the so called “Green Energy Movement” and...

This week we had special guest Caitlin Townsend on the show talking about "Net Your Problem"  Caitlin shares her story and how she came to working with "Net Your Problem"  She recycles end of life fishing gear and gives it a new life, and she explains how they do that!  “biggest passion in life is advocating for fishermen, and just really understanding the ocean through their eyes. Because just as...

Do you have a rental property or an Air BnB in Rhode Island? Well this week’s topic has us hot under the collar as we discuss a new registry in Rhode Island.  Is it a state or local issue? Is it a new law or new rule? How are people repostponing to it? Take a listen as we answer these questions and discuss how this is impacting the home owners.

Buckle in folks, Marisa is fired up this week! We are discuss a recent decision that the supreme court issued in a case here locally. The particular case we discussing is not what we would call your customary environmental law case because it’s a private cause of action that is based in insurance, contract law. However, it just so happens that the source of the contract dispute centers around defi...

This week are going to discuss an issue we are seeing here with Aquaculture.  We did a show once before about what Aquaculture is (Ep: 017 - https://bit.ly/3RnpZke).  But to recap, it’s the farming of sea life for consumption. Today however we are going to discuss a conflict of uses of any submerged land that is adjacent to the coastline out to three nautical miles is in the custody and control of...

We are talking about Route 79!  If you’ve ever traveled this near Fall River you know there are quite a few things that are little stretch of roadway. Art spaces, yoga studios, breweries and a ton of other water front businesses.  So what’s the issue?  Route 79 cuts right after those businesses and BOOM, an expressway.  What's going to happen to Route 79 and will anything good come from it? Listen...

We got a good news show for you this week!  We talk about how the Senate rejected an amendment that would speed approval for polluting projects. Had this passed it would make it easier for polluting projects to move quickly, to sort of skip the line pass the red tape and the environmental considerations.   Senator Joe Manchin has tried to attach legislation to the National Defense Authorization Ac...

First show of the 2023!  Happy New year everyone!  This episode we are talking about Grow Smart RI.  We’ve talked about them briefly in past episodes but recently they were the recipients of the Community impact Award presented by Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission and Preserve Rhode Island. The work that Grow Smart RI does has a lot to do with a concept called smart grow...

This week we are talking about an article titled, the fossil fuel industries deceptive campaign to kill offshore wind. Do you think we agree or disagree? Our answer might shock you, take a listen. https://heated.world/p/the-fossil-fuel-industrys-deceptive

Today we are talking about the Earth Shot Prize.  We have never heard of this until last week. The Earth Shot Prize has an award ceremony attached to it and was presented in Boston, with Prince William and Kate Middleton recently.  We discuss what we have learned and talk about some of the really cool things people are doing to help our environment on a global scale.  Take a listen. Learn more her...