President Obama Directs EPA to Reconsider Emissions Standards; The Politics of Obama's Stimulus Package; The Cultural Meaning of the Obama Presidency; Oil, Money, Power and the Energy Crisis; The Future of Water in the West
President Obama Directs EPA to Reconsider Emissions Standards
President Obama directed the Environmental Protection Agency to re-examine whether California and other states should be allowed to have tougher auto emission standards to combat a build up of greenhouse gases. Obama also directed his administration to get moving on new fuel-efficiency guidelines for the auto industry in time to cover 2011 model-year cars. California's proposed restrictions would force automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent in new cars and light trucks by 2016. Larry Mantle talks about the implications of the news with Senator Barbara Boxer, California Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols, and Business Week's Detroit Bureau Chief David Welch.
The Politics of Obama's Stimulus Package
President Obama is urging both houses of congress to embrace bipartisanship and pass his economic stimulus package. But the call for bipartisanship may fall on deaf ears as the Republicans demand changes in the package like tax cuts for businesses and the Democrats hold fast to the President's proposals. Larry and Los Angeles Times' Washington columnist Doyle McManus discuss the politics of bipartisanship as Congress considers an economic rescue plan.
The Cultural Meaning of the Obama Presidency
In his new book "What Obama Means" author Jabari Asim examines what the emergence of a leader like Barack Obama tells us about our culture and our politics. Asim puts Obama in the historical context of the black rhetorical tradition and posits that Obama has transformed the old civil-rights model of African American leadership. Asim also believes that Obama's election is evidence of the progress that has been made in broadening America's concept of leadership and inspiration. Larry talks with him about his book.
Oil, Money, Power and the Energy Crisis
Pulitzer Prize winning author Daniel Yergin joins Larry Mantle to discuss the current energy crisis, the global struggle for oil and how worldwide oil production and consumption interacts with the global economy. His bestselling book "The Prize" was published during the gulf war and has been recently updated, expanded and re-released.
The Future of Water in the West
Where will the water come from to sustain growth in the western region of the United States? Burgeoning populations in the great desert cities of Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Phoenix and farming in the region consume every drop of the Colorado River, with global warming and drought adding to an already critical shortage of water. Larry Mantle talks with James Lawrence Powell, author of "Dead Pool," a new book that explores the past, present and future of water in the West.