Bright Future for Western Solar, Tim Walz’s Climate Record, Poems for a “New Nature” and more.

The Bureau of Land Management is updating its master plan for developing solar energy on western lands, to help the US meet ambitious clean energy targets. The proposed plan aims to reduce barriers to solar by highlighting “previously disturbed” lands and automatically excluding critical habitat. Also, Democratic VP candidate Tim Walz has signed climate legislation as Minnesota Governor and supported regenerative agriculture bills as a Congressman, but he has received criticism for his history of supporting the ethanol industry and oil pipelines. And poetry can be up to the seemingly impossible task of capturing ecological loss, wild joy, and empathy for other species on this embattled planet. US Poet Laureate Ada Limón shares poems from her new anthology, You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World and discusses why she believes we need a new kind of nature poetry for the new nature amid the climate crisis. -- What issues are you most interested in having Living on Earth cover in the 2024 election season? Let us know by sending us a written or audio message at [email protected].