Gov. Brown's tour of polluted areas in southeast LA, global sand shortage has some large-scale implications, Canoga Park tries out temperature cooling pavement
Gov. Brown visits polluted neighborhoods in environmental tour of southeast LA
California Gov. Jerry Brown made something of a stealthy tour in Los Angeles this week.
Assemblywoman Christina Garcia (D) of Bell Gardens invited the governor to tour polluted neighborhoods in her district and meet with environmental activists who've been pushing for policies to improve air quality in the region.
"I wanted him to experience the reality that myself and my neighbors live," said Assemblywoman Garcia. "And make it clear why I'm fighting so hard for clean air to be part of the discussion and for environmental justice is so important."
One of the reasons for Brown's visit is that he wants to expand California's cap and trade program, the system wherein companies to pay for permits that allow them to pollute.
Take Two's A Martinez spoke with one of the representatives who met with Governor Brown, Adrian Martinez. He is a staff attorney with Earthjustice, an environmental advocacy organization.
Interview Highlights
What's the state of pollution in Bell Gardens?
This is one of the most polluted parts of the region. There's lots of diesel trucks and other air pollution that comes into this regions. So, the idea was to let the governor experience firsthand, what it's like to live in this area that is heavily impacted by dirty trucks, dirty trains, and other emissions from goods movement.
What were the main topics discussed at Gov. Brown's meeting with environmental activists?
There was a lot of discussion about the 710 project which is the largest freight expansion projects to allow the southern part of the 710 to allow more trucks to come into and out of the ports of LA and Long Beach. A lot of groups have come together including community residents to propose an alternative that includes a zero-emission corridor.
There's a lot of discussion about how to protect people who live near toxic facilities like rail yards and warehouses.
And then, there was a lot of talk about Exide which was a really toxic facility that was pushing lead and arsenic into the community.
So, it was a really robust discussion about some of the most important and pressing environmental justice facing that part of Los Angeles.
What's your top priority when it comes to tackling these issues?
I think the freight issues are really important. We're seeing more trucks on our roads. We're seeing more freight coming though our region and we need to protect communities from the toxic diesel pollution that comes from the increased volume of freight.
What kinds of questions did Governor Brown have for you at the meeting?
He was asking some question about zero-emissions technology. For example, battery electric trucks and trucks that run on electricity. We answered the question that there are a lot of applications where this technology can be used and should be used quickly.
There were also some questions about the proposal the community developed around the 710 project.
What was talked about regarding California's Cap and Trade program?
There was a little bit of discussion about that. That is an important part of the governor's agenda. To be candid, I think what was interesting about the discussion is that is didn't come up as much as one would think for an environmental issue that a lot of people are focusing on. There was a lot more discussion of issues that are directly impacting this part of Los Angeles - freight, oil refineries, and those types of things- and how do we curb air pollution to protect communities.
Quotes edited for clarity and brevity
To hear the full interview with Adrian Martinez, click on the blue Media Player above.
California falls behind on wind-power production
California is getting blown away by its competitors in wind-power.
Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma have all surpassed California in wind-generated energy.
And Kansas is inching up behind us.
How are these states, usually associated with fossil fuel production, beat us in this particular sector of renewable energy?
Host A Martinez checks in with Danielle Osborn Mills, California director of the American Wind Energy Association, to see what can we do to play catch-up.
Click on the blue media player above to hear the full interview
Could high tech roads help with the heat?
The dog days of summer are almost here, there's something going on in the San Fernando Valley that might help - just a little bit.
Officials are trying out a new tool designed to help alleviate soaring temperatures, a new type of reflective street surface that's designed to cut public road temperatures, cool the insides of nearby buildings, and possibly lessen air pollution.
We'll talk about it with Ronnen Levinson, staff scientist with the Heat Island Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Why the world is running out of sand
Big holiday weekend coming...and the official kick-off of summer.
Maybe you'll head to your favorite beach. Feel a little sand between your toes.
But, guess what? That sand? It's a lot rarer than you might ever imagine. At least according to David Owen. He's written a piece in the New Yorker titled, "The World is Running Out of Sand"
Owen says, at least in some places, sand is so sought after and hard to get, it's sometimes a trigger for violence:
"Parts of the world where the right of kind sand for the uses that it's being put to, is so scarce that people kill people for it. There are sand mafias in India, where illegal sand mining that is not only destroying ecosystems but there's this criminal enterprise that has huge impacts on people's lives."
With our long shorelines and deserts full of it, it's pretty hard to imagine people killing each other for sand. After all, it's sand. But it turns out there are lots of different forms of the grit we think of as sand. And David Owen says it's used in a for a whole bunch of things that most of us never think about.
To listen to the full segment, click the blue play button above.
Meet the 20-year-old racing to preserve the stories of WWII veterans
More than 16 million Americans served in World War II. It was a fight that few wanted. But the attack on Pearl Harbor threw the nation into battle. More than 400,000 wouldn't come home.
Today, the numbers are different. There are only about 558,000 veterans of that war left. Every day, 362 die.
Enter Rishi Sharma, a young man from Agoura Hills on a mission to record and save the stories of the country's remaining vets. He's only 20 years old, but he's in a race against time.
Sharma has been capturing stories since his junior year in high school. To date, he's recorded over 870.
"I've been one of the many recipients of their sacrifices," Sharma says. "I feel it is my responsibility to really understand what that bloodshed and sacrifice is like for their generation."
He started locally at first. Interviewing vets in Southern California and building relationships with veterans groups. After high school, he kicked his preservation efforts into high gear.
"I spend literally every single day either at a veteran's home, at a senior home, in a hospital, documenting these World War II veterans in — what is for many of them — their dying words," Sharma says.
Sharma now travels around the country, sleeping in the back of his car, and recording about three interviews every day. Tapings can last for more than four hours.
"I do research on the first interview that I'm going to conduct in the day, which usually starts around nine o'clock," Sharma explains. "The second interview of the day is usually around three o'clock. I'll have some night owl veterans, and I'm able to squeeze in a third one around seven o'clock. I hit the sack around 12, and then I just start the day over."
The result of this day-after-day marathon? Stories that paint vivid pictures of a war that few can imagine. Like the story of Steve Politis. Now 100 years old and living in Southern California, he served in the Army Signal Corps. He told Sharma about his friend Pat:
"Pat had a girlfriend. He was singing to her on the phone one day, 'I'll be Seeing You.' It's an old song. And was singing 'I'll be squeezing you in all familiar places.' He put in the word 'squeezing.' I'll be squeezing..."
Politis was never supposed to see combat, but in July 1943, he did. Along with thousands of others, he stormed an Italian beach during the Allied Invasion of Sicily:
"When we hit the beach, we were all hit, and the medics couldn't get to us. I could hear him singing 'I'll Be Seeing You.' And then he stopped. So, I listened to him die. It still bugs me."
Steve Politis was the only member of his 14-man unit to survive. Both legs had been hit by shrapnel:
"When I woke up back in Tunisia at the evacuation hospital, that's when I found out that the other five had died."
He was given the option to go home, but he refused. He continued to serve, transferring to the Air Corps. His plane was shot down twice.
Experiences like these weren't uncommon. But Risha Sharma knows a lot of these men are running out of time to tell their stories.
"If they're real old or aren't doing good health-wise, I'll just make a single straight-shot to them to get them documented before they die," Sharma says.
Just last week, Sharma drove from Kentucky to Florida in an emergency trip to record the stories of some veterans who he worried might die before he could get there on his recording tour.
Sharma says he's going to continue his routine, recording as many combat veterans as he can for the next five years. By that time, Sharma says, the vets will probably all be gone — veterans like Steve Politis, with stories that speak to the humanity of the war, stories worth passing down before it's too late.
Press the blue play button above to hear the story.
(This story has been updated.)
If you know of any surviving World War II combat veterans, please contact Rishi Sharma at his website.