Art from September-October 2020 cover of Sierra Magazine, with cover story by Antonia Juhasz
On this show:
0:08 – We go to an update from Southeast Texas, where Hurricane Laura was expected to hit hardest, with Kaitlin Bain (@KaitlinBain). Bain reports on local government for the Beaumont Enterprise.
0:13 – Antonia Juhasz (@antoniajuhasz) is a Bertha Fellow in investigative journalism, part of a global team of journalists investigating climate, fossil fuels and corporate power. Her major new cover story for the September-October edition of Sierra Magazine is titled “The End of Oil Is Near – The pandemic may send the petroleum industry to the grave.” She’s also reported on the federal Covid-19 bailout cash that the U.S. has funneled toward the fossil fuel industry: Bailout: Billions of Dollars of Federal COVID-19 Relief Money Flow to the Oil Industry
0:34 – Can storms like Hurricane Laura be tied to climate change? We’re joined by Noah Diffenbaugh, a professor of earth system science at Stanford University.
0:45 – How did Texas’ state government respond to Hurricane Laura, on top of the crisis of Covid-19? Zach Despart joins us; he is a reporter for the Houston Chronicle covering flood control and Harris County politics.
1:08 – In a series of interviews, we cover the protests in Kenosha after the shooting of Jacob Blake, whose attorney says he will likely not be able to walk again after being shot seven times by police in front of his children.
- Rochelle Anderson-Moore is a member of the Coalition for Dismantling Racism, and retired social worker for Kenosha County. She has been peacefully protesting in Kenosha and talks about what she’s seen at demonstrations.
- Isiah Holmes is a journalist with the Wisconsin Examiner who has been reporting on the protests in Kenosha. He gives an update on what observers witnessed on Wednesday night, when a 17-year-old Trump supporter and police supporter who identified as being part of a militia shot three people and killed two.
- Ruth Conniff is editor in chief of the Wisconsin Examiner, a nonprofit newsroom. She discusses Trump’s rhetoric attacking Black Lives Matter demonstrations nationwide, and how a 17-year-old extremist was allowed to take up arms and kill antiracist protesters.
1:48 – It appears a deal has been struck in Sacramento to address the “eviction tsunami” expected to begin when California courts reopen and people who haven’t been able to pay rent because of Covid joblessness are booted from their homes. It appears to be a convoluted plan where tenants who pay 25 percent of their rent owed cannot be evicted — far from the rent and mortgage forgiveness housing rights advocates have been calling for. Matt Levin (@mlevinreports) broke the story, he reports on housing and data for CalMatters. Shanti Singh (@uhshanti) is communications coordinator for the statewide renters’ rights organization Tenants Together.