The droughts in Taiwan and Australia, Mayor Eric Garcetti's plan to tax Airbnb for affordable housing, Paul Feig talks about his new show, 'Other Space.'
Coal vs the E.P.A.: D.C. Court of Appeals hears arguments
The first of what could be many lawsuits against the E.P.A were argued in the D.C. Court of Appeals today. Two of the nation’s largest coal companies, along with 14 coal-producing states are trying to block environmental regulations proposed by the Obama Administration under the Clean Air Act.
In two separate cases, Murray Energy versus the E.P.A. and West Virginia versus the E.P.A., coal companies argued that the government agency does not have the authority to place limits on coal-fire emissions. Both plaintiffs want the Administration to stop work on the proposal. E.P.A lawyers say the proposal won't be completed until this summer.
Vicki Arroyo is a professor of environmental law and the executive director of the Georgetown Climate Center. She says the E.P.A. asked the coal representatives for more patience:
“The federal government attorneys argued that the EPA has a lot of discretion when it comes to federal rulemaking. Basically, their plea was to please wait until EPA finalizes the rule.”
Though the pending lawsuits aren’t likely to do much to affect the E.P.A’s proposal, Arroyo expects much more litigation once a law is actually passed. Those cases could wind up before the Supreme Court.
Press the play button above to hear environmental lawyer Vicki Arroyo’s conversation with Take Two’s Alex Cohen.
Garcetti's Airbnb tax plan does little to increase affordable housing
Airbnb has been criticized for worsening LA's affordability's crisis, but could the short-term rental site actually help the situation?
Mayor Eric Garcetti hopes so. In his State of the City address, he said he wants to use taxes from Airbnb to help replenish the city's depleted Affordable Housing Trust Fund. He hopes to inject $10 million into the fund, half of which will come from Airbnb taxes.
But the money generated from Airbnb would not have much of an impact on affordable housing. The $5 million would only build about 12 houses a year.
"If we break it down the typical house in Los Angeles costs about $400,000 to build so you're looking at maybe 12 or 13 houses a year that could be built with a fund like this," said Richard Green, Director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
"Fundamentally, Los Angeles doesn't have the resources in order to provide the kind of subsidies that we would need to solve the problem. That would have to come from the federal level and there just doesn't seem to be a lot of willingness in Congress to do things like increase funding for the section 8 voucher program," said Green.
Paul Feig on his new show and how he cast the new 'Ghostbusters' movie
Paul Feig's worked as a writer, producer and director on shows such as "Freaks and Geeks," "The Office" and "Arrested Development," and his newest work is called "Other Space."
It's set in the year 2105, and focuses on an international band of space explorers lead by a captain who is a far, far cry from James Kirk. All eight episodes of "Other Space" are out on Yahoo!.
Feig recently joined Take Two host Alex Cohen to talk about the show, he said that he was inspired to make it because he'd been a science fiction fan his whole life:
"I just noticed over the years there was no sci-fi comedy to speak of. And so I thought well, I just want to do a smart sci-fi comedy that's basically, it's a sci-fi show, but it's funny and the characters are dealing with real issues from science fiction."
But like many things in Hollywood, at first, the show was not meant to be, says Feig:
"So, this was something that I actually developed eight years ago for NBC and they didn't know what to do with it. And we didn't even shoot the pilot because they wanted it to be a sitcom, like in front of an audience, and I thought it wouldn't work that way.
"But then it took me about eight years to get the script back because they owned it. So when I got it back, it just happened that right around that time Yahoo! contacted my agent about wanting to put real money into... a couple of shows. And so I sent it to them... I'm not usually the guy who hangs onto passion projects, because I think you kind of evolve past those, but this was just one that always stuck with me..."
Feig's known for having a good eye for spotting unknown actors and actresses with talent and elevating them within his work. Take for instance "Freaks and Geeks." Check out the cast list on that show. Could he do the same thing with the cast of "Other Space"?
"What you're looking for is, "A" that they're funny. "B" that they bring a personality or a unique voice to things. So in the audition process, first of all I always tell people, don't worry about the script... change it to whatever you want. If you want to reword it, if you want to add jokes. Do whatever it takes to show me that you're going to be more than just an actor showing up and reciting lines."
Speaking of casting, the "Ghostbusters" reboot came up during the conversation as well. It comes out in 2016 and it's being directed by Feig, who chose an all female cast to play the main characters.
"I love funny women. It's just been my life's goal to get funny women better roles, because I just throughout my career saw the funniest women I knew showing up in projects not being allowed to be funny. And usually just having to be mean or the bitchy girlfriend... and I was like this is such an injustice because the guys get to be hilarious... And it's selfish too because my brain thinks more in terms of female comedy, I guess. Male comedy in general, this is an overgeneralization, but can be very over aggressive...
"The hardest thing about casting "Ghostbusters" was there's 30 other women I would love to have in those roles too. But you've got to go like, who's going to be the perfect mix that aren't sort of going to step on each other and be mirror images of each other. So, these four are so unique and have such strong voices... If my career is nothing but working with funny women and giving more and more of them opportunities, that's really all I care about."
Should California limit household access to water if the drought gets bad enough?
We're now in our fourth extremely dry year here in California. Scientists say according to tree ring evidence this may be the worst drought in the last 1200 years in this state, but we're not the only place grappling with extreme dryness.
Much of the Western US has been experiencing some form of drought for over a decade and elsewhere in the world conditions have been even more severe.
First off, let's look at Taiwan. It might not be the first place you think of when it comes to dry conditions, as the island averages almost a hundred inches of rain per year. Compared to the 15 inches a year here in Los Angeles and it seems like no contest. But the past year has been so dry officials had to shut off the public's access to water two days a week.
It's just one of the ways that they're dealing with their water problem.
is the BBC's reporter in Taipei and she used to live in California, she joins A Martinez for a discussion on the topic.
Check out the audio embedded above for that conversation, in addition to another one about Australia, the driest continent on Earth.
From 1997 to 2010, it had its longest dry period on record, the so-called Millenium Drought. The upside is the country now has among the best water conservation programs in the world.
from the environmental organization Tree People joins the program.
Could programs, like Australia's save California? Is California's future as bleak as Taiwan's?
Check out the attached audio to find out.
State of Affairs: Vaccine exemptions, tobacco restrictions, and body cam guidelines
On this week's State of Affairs: A bill to ban vaccine exemptions stalls, new tobacco restrictions are proposed, police body cam guidelines are considered, and campaign contributions begin to funnel in in the race to fill Barbara Boxer's US Senate seat next year.
Political news from around the Golden State with Los Angeles Times Capitol Reporter Patrick McGreevy and Capital Public Radio State Government Reporter Katie Orr.
As Juarez's murder rate drops, a push to increase tourism
Earlier this week, the U.S. State Department issued its latest travel warning for to Mexico. There was some good and somewhat surprising news: The report includes fewer restrictions on the Mexican border city of Juárez.
Britain's Daily Mail recently called it "murder valley," one of the deadliest places on earth. But the murder rate is actually dropping.
And, contrary to the scary headlines, life on the streets has more or less normalized for residents there. City officials now want to lure tourists from across the border.
Monica Ortiz Uribe with KJZZ joins Take Two with more.
Frida Kahlo's love letters to Jose Bartoli sell for $137K
Frida Kahlo's self-portraits made her famous around the world. But some of her lesser-known works -- her love letters to Jose Bartoli -- went up for auction in New York on Wednesday.
While the love letters are well-preserved and are considered a treasure, is it strange to have Kahlo's intimate items up for grabs? Peter Costanzo, director of the rare books, autographs and photographs department at Doyle's New York, tells more.