Trump discussed the NAFTA and the U.S./Mexico border in Phoenix yesterday, more House Republicans join the Climate Solutions Caucus, LA's mariachi scene expands.
'A tricky area of philanthropy': LA mayor solicits millions for his favored causes
GOP lawmakers shift stance on climate change
President Trump and many Republicans are skeptical of climate science that indicates human activity is causing global warming.
But some Republicans in Congress are starting to veer slightly from their party's platform on climate - mostly by taking small actions, such as joining the House Climate Solutions Caucus.
And recently, 46 Republicans joined Democrats to vote against an amendment that would have ended a requirement for the Defense Department prepare for climate change.
Take Two spoke with David Siders, who reported on this trend for Politico. According to Siders, lawmakers could be motivated to shift their climate change stance due to political pressure.
"What’s interesting about the 26 Republicans is that all but 5 are on the hit-list of members that the Democrats think they can take out next year. And three of them in Southern California are included there, and that’s Darrell Issa, Ed Royce, and Steve Knight. The numbers suggest that there’s some politics going on electorally. If 21 of the 26 Republican members of the Caucus are in these contested races, it suggests that they have some political reason to maybe not want climate change to be an issue."
To listen to the full segment, click the blue play button above.
The carbon offset program might not be so bad after all, new study finds
You may remember that just a few weeks ago, legislation was passed to extend California's cap-and-trade program.
Cap-and-trade creates a marketplace where companies can buy and sell permits to release carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
But here's a small part you may not have heard too much about that could affect forests all over the country.
Christa Anderson is the lead researcher of a new study that indicates positive news for California's carbon offset program.
And in case you need a refresher on what exactly the carbon offset program is, Anderson has you covered:
"It's a part of the cap-and-trade market. In the market, emitters can either reduce their own emissions or they can buy offsets from others who have reduced their emissions. What we study in particular are forest offsets. So in that case, forest owners agree to reduce their forest emissions by changing their forest management practices so that they'll store more carbon in their trees and when they do that they earn forest offset credits that they can sell to emitters in the cap-and-trade market."
This can mean that instead of sticking to a schedule that often harvests a standing forest for timber, they'll do so less frequently, therefore storing more carbon in the trees.
The carbon offset program is built into cap-and-trade and has been surrounded by opposition since it was first introduced. But Anderson's new study has some good news for the small program.
To hear the full segment, click the blue play button above.