Randy Newman captured a moment of national anger in "Burn On," a song about the polluted Cuyahoga River catching fire in 1969. That environmental disaster pushed Congress and the Nixon administration to create the Environmental Protection Agency and pass laws like the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. But today's guest warns that these laws are woefully outdated, and that clean water is becoming increasingly scarce. Access to freshwater, he argues, is the most urgent problem we face in the twenty-first century.

Twenty years ago, the Amazon River in Ecuador was heavily contaminated after chemical-laden wastewater was dumped into it. The effects on the surrounding population were devastating: illness, death, and economic loss. Chevron Corp., the U.S.'s second largest oil company, is the alleged culprits, and the company may have to pay at least $8 billion to repair damages after a ruling yesterday. In a statement, Chevron reacted, saying "The Ecuadorian court's jumdgment is illegitimate and unenforceable. It is the product of fraud and is contrary to the legitimate scientific evidence. Chevron will appeal this decision in Ecuador and intends to see that justice prevails."

Forty years ago, the Cuyahoga River caught fire. The river, riddled with pollution, burned for 30 minutes. Time magazine covered the bizarre event and their article helped jumpstart the environmental movement of the late 60s.

It has been 40 years of recovery for the Cuyahoga River. How far has the river and the surrounding environment come since June 22, 1969? Dan Moulthrop is the host of the Sound of Ideas on WCPN in Cleveland and he joins us now from the Cuyahoga river with a look back, and

forward.

Here's a cautionary tale about river pollution:

It's a common assumption that plants grow best in clear sunny weather, but scientists say this isn't always the case. Research has shown that forests and crops can also thrive in hazy conditions because clouds and particles, that's right, pollution, in the atmosphere scatter sun light so that it bathes more leaves, enhancing photosynthesis, the process by which plants turn light and carbon dioxide into food. All this pollution we humans have created has dimmed the skies and this so-called global dimming actually increased plant productivity (in the photosynthetic way) by as much as a quarter from 1960 to 1999. That amounts to more than a ten percent increase in carbon dioxide storage, which is good! To help us see through the smog, Matt McGrath, BBC Science Correspondent, joins The Takeaway with this report.