Fires Update
The Bobcat Fire is threatening the famed Mt Wilson Observatory, as well as other cherished areas in the San Bernardino Mountain range. We have an update on the fire's rampage.
Guest:
- Sharon McNary, KPCC's Infrastructure Correspondent
CA Secretary on Climate Change
President Trump, as you may know, came to California yesterday to check on the situation with the wildfires. As you may also know, the President has been very vocal about the state's need to clean up the forest floor to prevent these fires - even though most of the state's wildlands are managed by the federal government. But yesterday, Governor Newsom and others in his administration very politely acknowledged his point, but pointed to climate change as one of the most significant things fueling the megafires that we are experiencing all over the state.
Guest:
- Wade Crowfoot, CA State Secretary for Natural Resources
Climate Migration
Climate Change is weighing heavily on our minds of late. I mean, it's always been there but these last few weeks, signs of it are everywhere ...from the megafires burning in California to the megastorms bearing down on the southern coasts. Former California Governor Jerry Brown, speaking to the New York Times about those who want to leave the golden state because of this, asked asked, "where are you going go?" We discuss the series he wrote in conjuction with the New York Times Magazine.
Guest:
- Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica Reporter
Air Quality Masks Redux
In 2020, we've talked a LOT about masks...when and why to wear them...which ones help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and...even how masks have become politicized in our polarized climate. I'll say it right here. I am a big fan of masks. Early on in the pandemic, my wife and I were early adopters. she sewed masks for everyone in my family, friends, colleagues and even donated them to a local hospital. But in 2017, I was a mask "newbie."Three years ago, as California battled fires, I tested out five different masks in the hopes of finding the best one to wear when the air quality is unhealthy-- like it is now.
Guest:
- Ed Avol, air pollution expert at USC's Keck School of Medicine
2020 Census Hearing
Now last month ... a federal court decided to temporarily block the Trump administration’s decision to end the 2020 census count a month earlier … from its original October 31st deadline. Judge Lucy Kohn of the North District in California issued the order in response to a challenge by civil rights groups and local governments… including the city of Los Angeles. She also ordered the Trump administration to present documents to justify the change in the schedule… and those records became the subject of an open hearing she held yesterday.
Guest:
- John Thompson, former director of the U.S. Census Bureau