Nation magazine
Mark Hertsgaard is an investigative editor for the Nation. He is author of Hot: Living through the Next Fifty Years on Earth and On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency.
PROFILE
Mark Hertsgaard
Guest
FROM Mark Hertsgaard
To the Point
Two inexperienced leaders and the prospect of nuclear war President Trump shook much of the world yesterday with his comment on future threats from North Korea. "They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen." North Korea's Kim Jung Un responded by saying he's reviewing plans to target America's airbase on the island territory of Guam. Today, some White House advisors are urging calm, but there's renewed concern about what might happen in one of the world's most dangerous regions. What more needs to be done to avoid catastrophic miscalculation by either side?
To the Point
Paris Climate Talks… More Progress than Expected? The deadline for the UN Climate Change summit in Paris is Friday, with the stated goal of keeping global warming under 2° Celsius. Today, John Kerry says they might do better than that. While the Secretary of State acknowledged that the announced targets will make a "major dent" in global emissions, he cautioned that "they will not hold the warming to…what scientists tell us we need to avoid the worst impacts. Or 1.5, whatever, we need to go as low as we can, as many people in this hall are demanding." That sounds like an insignificant difference, but it’s not -- especially for the world’s poorest, most vulnerable nations, as we hear from Mark Hertsgaard, who is covering the talks for The Nation .
Which Way, L.A.?
Governor Brown: On His Way to Paris On his way to the Climate Summit in Paris, Governor Jerry Brown spoke to reporters and radio hosts today. I asked him what he hopes to accomplish since California has no official role. He says California's a "catalyst" for change in the fight against greenhouse emissions. Is that's consistent with his support for fracking, diverting cap-and-trade fees to high-speed rail and watching the oil industry score a big victory in Sacramento?
Which Way, L.A.?
Governor Brown Announces Stricter Greenhouse Gas Goals When it comes to the fight against climate change, Jerry Brown has raised Arnold Schwarzenegger by setting tough new goals for reducing greenhouse emissions. The current Governor spoke today at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills. Mark Hertsgaard is an independent reporter and author of Hot: Living through the Next Fifty Years on Earth .
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Almonds Almonds are an $11 billion business in California, but they’ve come under scrutiny for being water intensive to grow. They’ve become like the Hummer during times of high gas prices: a symbol of waste or extravagance that might not make sense during drought conditions. But have almonds been unfairly-maligned? Is the fault not in almonds, but ourselves, or rather, other water issues?
To the Point
Taming Water Use in the Wild West Yesterday, after four years of drought, Governor Jerry Brown stood on dry grass where the snow pack is normally five feet deep and announced the state's first-ever mandatory restrictions on the use of water — escalating water wars between urban and agricultural users. The shortage of water's unprecedented, but the competition is nothing new -- and it's not just in California, which gets much of its water from winter snows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. People in Las Vegas and Phoenix, as well as Los Angeles, are pitted against the farmers who feed the rest of the nation and other parts of the world. Will states with no choice but to share water get together to resolve a crisis that's never going away?
Recommended
LRC Presents: All the President's Lawyers
[ ██████████ ] Mueller’s sentencing memo for Michael Flynn might have redacted “all the sexy parts,” but Josh Barro and Ken White speculate on the black bars.
The Mixer
Heading for the fire exit Thousands of Californians are spending the holidays deciding what to do next after devastating wildfires. The Camp Fire – in northern California – took out nearly an entire town, killing at least 86 people. And the Woolsey Fire, closer to home, left 3 people dead, chewing through nearly 100,000 acres in L.A. and Ventura Counties. Ken Pimlott knows those names all too well. He heads up the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and today is his last day on the job.
The 805
Lessons learned a year after the Thomas Fire and debris flow A year ago, the Thomas Fire swallowed large swaths of Ventura County and lept into Santa Barbara’s front country, setting the stage for the late-night debris flow that took 23 lives. As we observe those anniversaries, we’re checking back with those we spoke with in the immediate aftermath.
KCRW Features
Despite evacuation orders, some Malibu residents 'stay and defend' homes The Woolsey Fire destroyed 670 structures in Malibu, including more than 400 single family homes. That makes it the most destructive fire in the history of that beachside community. But some residents say even more homes would have been lost, if not for the private citizens who defied mandatory evacuation orders to protect their neighborhoods. The homeowners who stay during a fire can be a nuisance for fire fighters... but they say they're not going anywhere next time.