LA City Council set to vote on new citywide bike lane plan. Consumer Reports releases car rankings… who makes the best 4-wheeled ride? A new U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East? Deadly San Bruno gas explosion focus of NTSB hearing. Our extreme solar system & the possibility of life surviving in harsh conditions.
LA City Council to vote on final bike plan
LA may be a car-centric city, but there’s a fast-growing population of bicycle enthusiasts who are agitating for their space on the road. In the last eight years there has been a 50 percent increase in commuters bicycling to work, and these commuters are teaming up with other biking enthusiasts to get more dedicated lanes and safer, interconnected bike ways. These cyclist activists got a huge boost last year when LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had his own bike accident and saw for himself how marginalized bikers are on the city's streets. The City Council will vote today on a master plan that foresees 1,680 miles of interconnected bike ways and more than 200 miles of new paths every five years. The final draft was approved by the Planning Commission last month with input from hundreds of cyclists eager to see long-awaited bike-friendly improvements implemented. How likely is the passing of this plan? How will it be funded?
Guests:
Michelle Mowery, Sr. Project Coordinator, Bicycle Planning and Programming, City of Los Angeles, Department of Transportation
Jennifer Klausner, Executive Director, Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition
In the market for a new car? Consumer Reports has best of 2011 advice for you
Once a year, Consumer Reports reviews more than 270 car models for its annual auto report card. Vehicles are both road tested and scored in terms of reliability. Highest ranked auto makers this year were Honda and Subaru. The Honda Fit, the Hyundai Elantra and the Chevrolet Avalanche got the highest individual marks. The rubber really hits the road when Larry takes a look behind the results. Did Toyota’s recent recalls affect their scores? Which American auto maker made the biggest strides since last year? How did luxury German cars fare this year? Hint: not well. Looking for the best deals in something called “family haulers’? Fasten your seat belts and stay tuned.
Guest:
Mike Quincy, Automotive Content Specialist at Consumers’ Union
James Bell, President of the Motor Press Guild; former vice president and executive market analyst with Kelley Blue Book
A new U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East?
In the wake of ongoing uprisings in the Middle East, President Obama last week asked his aides to come up with a new approach to foreign policy in the region. Politically and philosophically, the U.S. supports democratic reform. But with so many of our Mideast allies under pressure from their citizens to change from within, the U.S. is faced with the strong likelihood of diminished influence over the emerging political order. In Egypt, the administration’s original policy of non-involvement was overtaken by events on the ground. When Mubarak’s demise became inevitable, President Obama and the State Department called for his swift departure. With Gadhafi, Obama has also been criticized for waiting too long to demand that he step down. Clearly, U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East is in a state flux. How should our policy change to adapt to the new reality of democratic movements challenging autocratic regimes? Can the U.S. support democratic change that comes about organically, without alienating longtime allies?
Guests:
Andrew Bacevich, Professor of International Relations and History at Boston University. His most recent book is Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War (Metropolitan Books 2010)
Danielle Pletka, vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Before joining AEI, she served for ten years as a senior professional staff member for the Near East and South Asia on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. She writes frequently on national security matters with a focus on domestic politics in the Middle East and South Asia regions, U.S. national security, terrorism and weapons proliferation.
Our extreme solar system & the possibility of life surviving in harsh conditions
Think life on earth is intense? Yes, hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis have an extreme way of showing us humans our humble place in the natural order. But for some serious perspective, consider Neptune’s ice-spewing volcanoes, hail made of diamonds and Martian dust devils that are taller than Mount Everest. In their new book, The 50 Most Extreme Places in Our Solar System, authors David Baker and Todd Ratcliff combine a fascination of extreme natural events with the allure of outer space. Forget hitchhiking through the galaxy. Just strap on your “Wack Pack” and grab this illustrated guide to some of the wildest sights in our corner of the universe.
Guest:
James Todd Ratcliff, co-author (with David Baker) of The 50 Most Extreme Place in Our Solar System (Belknap / Harvard University Press); planetary geophysicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
VOTE for your top extreme places: www.ExtremeSolarSystem.com
Deadly San Bruno gas explosion focus of NTSB hearing
Today, the National Transportation Safety Board started a three-day hearing on the San Bruno accident. Last September, a pipeline rupture sent a giant pillar of fire shooting into the air, killing eight people and leaving dozens of homes in the San Francisco suburb in ruins. A top federal safety official is promising to take “every step possible” to prevent another such explosion in the future. Officials from Pacific Gas and Electric Company are scheduled to testify. KPCC’s Kitty Felde joins us from the hearings in Washington D.C. to give us the latest.
Guest:
Kitty Felde, KPCC’s Washington D.C. correspondent