Analyses abound on President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, but how has the media fared? We debate the performance and "fairness" of today's news. We'll also dive into a KPCC investigation on the uptick in big rig crashes and what truck drivers wish general drivers were more aware of; a new California cap and trade proposal; and more.
Legislative, environmental stakeholders debate pros and cons of new cap and trade proposal
California Democrats are taking a shot at extending the state’s cap and trade program, set to expire in 2020, by proposing an overhaul to the current system that would allow the state to charge polluters a fee for carbon emissions and pass the rebates on to consumers.
The current cap and trade system, which puts a limit on the amount of carbon pollution that large facilities can emit into the atmosphere and charges polluters to obtain permits to emit the gases, currently lets some industries get permits for free and only sets a price floor. It was designed as a way to encourage industries to adopt green technology sooner and consider ways to offset their carbon emissions.
SB 775, introduced by Fremont Democrat Bob Wieckowski and Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, would allow the state to charge all industries and set a price floor and ceiling that will go up over time while gradually raising what it costs to emit pollution. It will require two-thirds approval in the Senate and Assembly. Republicans have said they are willing to consider parts of the proposal but want to make sure that the rebates are going to consumers and not lawmakers. Some environmental groups are also pushing back, saying the state’s already complicated system doesn’t need to be remade from scratch.
What effect will this proposal have on consumers? With Governor Brown’s transportation package being signed into law last week, what are the chances that this bill gets the approval it needs?
Guests:
Danny Cullenward, lecturer at Stanford, energy economist, lawyer and research associate at Near Zero, environmental research organization that advised the bill’s sponsor
Rocky Chavez (R-Oceanside), California Assemblymember representing the 76th Assembly District, which includes Camp Pendleton, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Oceanside, and Vista
Erica Morehouse, senior attorney with the Environmental Defense Fund where she focuses on California climate policy, climate law and cap-and-trade
A report card on the news media 100 days into the Trump presidency
Analyses abound on President Donald Trump’s performance in his first 100 days in office. But how has the media fared in these first three months?
Mainstream outlets like the New York Times and Washington Post were heavily criticized for their failure to grasp and report on the massive wave of support for Trump that brought him to the White House.
After the election, many mainstream media outfits have concentrated their efforts on holding the Trump administration accountable for ethical and other concerns, earning the ire of the President. In more than one occasion, President Trump has called the mainstream media “unfair” and “fake news” for their reporting targeting the Trump administration and the Trump business empire.
What’s your take on the media’s performance in these 100 days? Is the media being fair?
Guests:
Michael Memoli, White House reporter at the LA Times who has covers the White House press briefings under both the Trump and Obama administrations; he tweets
David Folkenflik, media correspondent at NPR and the author of “Murdoch’s World: The Last of the Old Media Empires” (PublicAffairs, 2013); he tweets
Jeffrey McCall, professor of communication at DePauw University in Indiana and former journalist; he is the author of “Viewer Discretion Advised: Taking Control of Mass Media Influences” (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2007); he tweets
KPCC investigation: Big rigs and road danger
In Southern California, tens of thousands of big commercial trucks — whether called tractor-trailers, tankers, semis or 18-wheelers — crawl and barrel along congested freeways every day.
Crashes involving these vehicles, which can weigh as much as 40 tons, are the deadliest and costliest, and they are on the rise, creeping up faster than collisions involving only cars.
Read Meghan’s full story here.
Uh, yeah, rig plowed into my wife yesterday on the 405 S at the 101.
— Alex Kasendorf (@akasendorf)
Uh, yeah, rig plowed into my wife yesterday on the 405 S at the 101. pic.twitter.com/mS5njAfI4x
— Alex Kasendorf (@AKasendorf) May 2, 2017
Guest:
Meghan McCarty Carino, commuting and mobility reporter for KPCC whose latest story “Big rigs, big risks” looks at truck traffic and crashes in Southern California; she tweets
Cancer research development hype could give patients false hope
Buzzwords like “breakthrough” may give cancer patients unrealistic expectations of survival, sparking concern around false hope in the medical community.
As reported by Kaiser Health News, there are several factors which potentially contribute to a false sense of security for cancer patients. Media hype around new developments in cancer research, pharmaceutical company promises and hospital ads touting superior bedside manner can cause more harm than good for people in treatment and their families if things don’t turn out as they hoped.
So what happens when expectation doesn’t meet reality? And with so many new strides in cancer research, shouldn’t patients be hopeful?
Guests:
Otis Brawley, M.D., chief medical and scientific officer for the American Cancer Society and professor at the School of Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta
Stephen J. Forman, M.D., leader of the Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute at City of Hope; he specializes in leukemia, lymphoma and bone marrow transplantation