Years of Living Dangerously

Uprising (2x8)

Air date: Dec 14, 2016

Even though coal plants are shutting down across the country, coal remains a major source of energy, and burning it emits toxic pollutants and climate-altering carbon dioxide. America Ferrera journeys to Illinois, where a still-functioning coal plant is creating tension between those who want to shut it down and those — like the local mayor — who want to keep it open. She meets a group of activists fighting hard to close it in favor of an option that can provide clean energy and green jobs. Sigourney Weaver explores China’s explosive economic growth and the impact it is having on the environment not just locally but on a massive global scale. In New York, she sits down with the former U.S. ambassador to China before traveling to Hong Kong and China to see whether the world’s biggest polluter is fulfilling promises to reduce emissions — even as its populations and industry continue to grow.