This week, California rolls out the heavy artillery in its attack on climate change with a program called “cap-and-trade.” It’s like a stock exchange for carbon emissions, where the state’s biggest polluters have to buy the right to emit greenhouse gases. It’s the most ambitious climate change policy in the country, but not everyone is happy with it.
So how does it all work? I teamed up with Lauren Sommer to explain it.
This aired on KQED Science on November 12, 2012.
Hendy Woods State Park is in the rural Anderson Valley in Mendocino County.
The California Report’s series, “State Parks: On the Rocks,” visits a leafy corner of Mendocino County, known as Hendy Woods. To folks around there, it’s far more than just a pleasant spot for a picnic. It’s one of about eight state parks in Mendocino County still on the state’s list for closure. And locals are worried that will impinge on both their lifestyles and their livelihoods.
This story aired on March 6, 2012 as part of The California Report’s series on state park closures, and was accompanied by a Q&A with the executive director of the Save the Redwoods League.
(L to R) Melissa Quine, Galen Murphy-Hoffman, David Mendelsohn, and Cassidy Brown in TJT's production of In the Maze of Our Own Lives; photo by Ken Friedman.
The Jewish Theatre in San Francisco is closing at the end of its current season. In its 34 years, the company has produced original plays and reproductions ranging from works inspired by Yiddish poetry and Biblical traditions, to plays about the experiences of German Jews between the world wars, and the conflict in the Middle East.
KALW’s Molly Samuel went to see the play that opens The Jewish Theatre’s final act. It’s a Depression–era story that resonates with the economic reality the theater and many other arts organizations are facing today.
This aired on Crosscurrents on 11/10/11.
Mono Lake
In the thick of the latest budget crisis, the state Department of Parks and Recreation has been told to cut $22 million over two fiscal years, and it’s planning to do that by closing 70 parks. Now legislators are debating which parks will feel the blow.
This aired on The California Report on 11/2/11.
All hilarity aside, Governor Schwarzenegger’s 2010-2011 budget is likely to draw controversy and may lead to lawsuits. Nothing here is final; this is the initial version of the budget that heads to the legislature. But there are a few proposals that are worth watching.
California’s Budget: Not a River in Egypt appeared on KQED’s In Other Words blog on January 8.
