Barbara Bernstein

Lithium, the lightest metal on earth, is a key element in the effort to combat climate change. Since lithium ion batteries are far lighter than other batteries and hold a charge for much longer, they are an important component of solar and wind energy systems, storing energ... Read more

  This program was originall broadcast on May 3, 2021 Is it possible that trees are sentient beings, rather than simply the source of timber and pulp? For decades forest ecologist Suzanne Simard has been exploring the complicated, interdependent communities that are forest... Read more

For years, community members, organizations, and coalitions have been calling on the City of Portland to shut down Zenith Energy’s dirty, dangerous oil-by-rail operations in NW Portland. When the City of Portland failed to take action, dedicated community members refused to... Read more

  This program originally aired on March 29, 2021   Before European settlers transformed the north reach of the Willamette River, near its confluence with the Columbia, it was a braided river of shallow channels and islands rich in biodiversity. Today the area is designat... Read more

  This program originally aired on March 15, 2021 Beavers have been called “Nature’s Engineers.” In fact, the Army of Corps of Engineers could learn a lot from beavers. Instead of re-engineering nature to serve narrow human interests, beavers engineer the natural environm... Read more

Hummingbirds, with their jewel-like plumage, acrobatic flight, and fearless character, have fascinated us for centuries. For hundreds hese mythic-like creatures have played a central role in the folklore and spirituality of many cultures. But the future of these amazing lit... Read more

Since the 1930s, the Columbia River has been tamed and reshaped by an array of dams that stretch from the Bonneville Dam east of Portland to the Grand Coulee Dam near the Canadian Border. Not only have these dams destroyed abundant salmon runs, they have also inundated innu... Read more

We are still a long way away from recovering from last year's wildfires in Western Oregon. But if the damage and dislocation those fires wreaked was not traumatic enough, now the Oregon Department of Transportation is carrying out systematic clearcutting along the scenic wa... Read more

For nearly 17 years Oregonians have been fighting to stop the massive Jordan Cove LNG export terminal from being built on Coos Bay, as well as its companion 229 mile pipeline that would cross much of Southern Oregon. In the past year, this struggle has begun to pay off. On... Read more

Is it possible that trees are sentient beings, rather than simply the source of timber and pulp? For decades forest ecologist Suzanne Simard has been exploring the complicated, interdependent communities that are forests. She discovered that trees communicate their vitality... Read more