President Obama announced a ban on offshore gas and oil drilling in swaths of the Arctic and Atlantic – how necessary is the ban, and is it truly permanent?; two school districts recently voted to let teachers carry guns on campus – we debate the move and analyze implications and alternatives; plus, the holidays are upon us, and we'll share some delicious and therapeutic recipes to end the year; and more.
Inside the debate over President Obama’s drilling ban
President Obama is using a provision of a 1953 law to try to permanently ban drilling in a large swath of the Arctic and along much of the Atlantic coast.
A line in the 60 year old Act allows a President to remove areas of the Outer Continental Shelf from development. It doesn't mention a future President reversing the action. Is it a balance of energy and environmental needs? Will President-elect Trump be able to change it?
Guests:
Niel Lawrence, Alaska Director, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Nicolas (Nick) Loris, an economist who focuses on energy, environmental, and regulatory issues as the Herbert and Joyce Morgan fellow at The Heritage Foundation - a conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C.
Why is the number of millennials living at home at a 75-year high?
Despite job growth and a rebounding economy, nearly 40 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 were living with family members in 2015 — that's the highest percentage since 1940, according to real estate tracker Trulia.
As a result, there is less demand for housing than expected from millennials, which are now the largest demographic in U.S. history. Cultural factors, later marriages, rising rents, lack of housing and finances are among the many reasons young Americans choose to live at home.
If you're a millennial living at home, what is your reasoning and how do you feel about it? If you're a parent living with an adult child, what's your take?
Guest:
Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University and author of “Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before” (Free Press, 2006)
Trumpet virtuoso Arturo Sandoval talks playing with the LA Phil, how his Cuban heritage inspired his musical career
Over a 40-year career that has spanned music and film, Cuban-born trumpet master Arturo Sandoval has assembled a staggering list of bonafides.
He’s got 10 Grammys, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, has composed music for films, and has played with some of the most prestigious symphony orchestras on stages across the world. HBO even did a movie about his life and asked him to score it, earning him an Emmy Award. A protege of American jazz great Dizzy Gillespie, Sandoval defected from Cuba, got political asylum in the U.S., and has been a naturalized citizen since 1999. He has mastered several instruments, including trumpet, flugelhorn, and piano, and is a prolific composer with more than 200 original compositions and arrangements.
Sandoval joins Larry Mantle to talk about his long and colorful musical career, his feelings about Cuba and its future after the death of Fidel Castro, and how his heritage and love of Afro-Cuban jazz informed his musical career and pushed him to be the musician and composer he is.
Guest:
Arturo Sandoval, musician, composer, and 10-time Grammy Award winner
School districts polarized over arming teachers with guns
Two school districts, one in Kern County and one in Hanover, Colorado, voted recently to let teachers and some staff carry guns on campus — decisions which have divided parents, students, staff and board members.
In both counties, the school board votes came down to a 3-2 split, and a survey of Hanover residents found 126 in favor and 123 against. Moreover, opponents of the move by Kern High School District have kicked off a petition drive to overturn the vote, while other Kern staff, including bus drivers, are asking for permission to carry weapons, too.
The larger context of recent school shootings has created a divide over how best to protect students. Proponents of arming staff have argued that some schools, often in rural areas, can’t afford armed security and need to take measures into their own hands, while those against say the presence of guns on campus is an even bigger threat to children.
Steve Dulan, member of the board of directors of the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners, told AirTalk host Larry Mantle that even though campus shootings aren’t that common, their seriousness justifies arming teachers.
“It's kind of like having fire extinguishers. Schools almost never burn down anymore, but they have fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems, fire alarms,” he said.
As for the concern that a teacher might harm a student, Dulan said numbers show that “people with concealed licenses are essentially the most law-abiding portion of the population.” Additionally, most schools don’t have metal detectors, so if a teacher truly wanted to harm a student, they could bring a gun to school regardless of policy.
Laura Cutilletta, managing attorney at the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said she’s more concerned about unintentional shootings.
“Studies have existed for decades [showing] that a gun in the home, for example, doesn’t usually get used against an intruder — it gets used against the people in the home, because of an unintentional shooting,” she said.
Dulan said concerns over accidents can be solved through technology.
“You probably wouldn’t want the teacher carrying it on his or her person in every case,” he said. “Sometimes they're going to want to put it in storage, and there are very affordable systems that use fingerprint IDs or a quick combination code — lockboxes where the gun could be stored.”
But Cutilletta said the level of distraction that teachers have to deal with make having a gun too much of a liability.
“Teachers’ hands are full ... with teaching and classroom discipline. And to expect them to also be worried about having a loaded gun in the classroom, I think, is irresponsible ... even if they have training.”
There are currently three other districts in California — Folsom Cordova Unified School District, Kingsburg Joint Union High School District and Anderson Union High School District — that allow staff to bring guns to campus.
Click the blue play button above to listen to the full discussion.
Guests:
Steve Dulan, member of the board of directors of the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners and an adjunct professor at the Cooley Law School at Western Michigan University
Laura Cutilletta, managing attorney, Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Holiday food therapy to get you ready for 2017
The year 2016 pulled no punches.
The presidential election alone was an exhausting and polarizing ordeal, regardless of which candidate you supported, never mind the who’s who of beloved icons like Prince, Muhammad Ali and Gene Wilder that passed away this year. But the holidays are here and the year is coming to an end, so it’s a time for us to eat, drink, and be merry with those we love as we prepare ourselves for the new year.
Whether you need a dynamite dinner idea, can’t quite figure out how to nail that Pinterest cookie recipe, or just want to know the best recipe for eggnog, food columnist Russ Parsons and L.A. Times Test Kitchen director Noelle Carter are back for AirTalk’s annual holiday cooking segment to answer all of your questions. We’ll chat about the results of the Times’ annual holiday cookie bake-off, share some tricks of the trade for making those holiday standbys really stand out, and come up with a few ideas for fun and delicious New Year’s Eve party snacks. And as always, we want to hear from you about your favorite holiday dishes and recipes! Join us at 866-893-5722.
For recipe ideas, tips and more, click here.
Guests:
Russ Parsons, food columnist and former food editor at the L.A. Times; he tweets
Noelle Carter, director of the L.A. Times Test Kitchen; she tweets