journalist and author
Journalist and author, most recently, of Windfall: The Booming Business of Global Warming
PROFILE
McKenzie Funk
Guest
FROM McKenzie Funk
To the Point
Dash cams, body cams and unintended consequences High-profile cases of questionable killings and other alleged misbehavior have police departments mounting cameras on patrol cars and on cops themselves. The idea is public "transparency." But Seattle had 300,000 hours of dash-cam footage — enough to keep 170 people busy for a year in response to a court order. Body cams don't provide surveillance of the police -- it's the mostly innocent people they talk to. Should those interviews become public? Who should make the rules and implement the decisions day-to-day?
To the Point
Dash cams, body cams and unintended consequences High-profile cases of questionable killings and other alleged misbehavior have police departments mounting cameras on patrol cars and on cops themselves. The idea is public "transparency." But Seattle had 300,000 hours of dash-cam footage — enough to keep 170 people busy for a year in response to a court order. Body cams don't provide surveillance of the police -- it's the mostly innocent people they talk to. Should those interviews become public? Who should make the rules and implement the decisions day-to-day?
To the Point
America's Rejoining the Race for Arctic Oil President Obama has protected some parts of the Arctic Ocean from oil and gas development — but he's permitted exploration in other parts . Royal Dutch Shell will be towing massive rigs back and forth from Seattle to far Northern waters for drilling during brief summer respites from icy storms. In the waters off Seattle, small boats and kayaks are gathered to protest exploratory oil drilling. Outraged environmentalists see potential disasters worse than Deepwater Horizon, which devastated the relatively placid Gulf of Mexico. Meantime, Russia, Norway — and even China — are also looking at opportunities for Arctic oil drilling created by climate change.
To the Point
The Booming Business of Global Warming Global warming deniers may have to take note: climate change is already big business for entrepreneurs and investors all over the world. Shell Oil has been strategizing about it for decades. Wall Street is in on the action. Coca Cola and Nike recognize it's shaping their bottom lines. We hear how money's being made -- from the Arctic to Africa and the Tropics, and how the US government will have to play catch-up. What are the potential costs of looking the other way, and the differing consequences for the haves and the have-nots?
To the Point
Global Warming and the Rush to Claim the Arctic's Riches CNN calls it "an irony that even Al Gore might appreciate." As global warming causes the polar icecaps to recede, frozen oceans become navigable and undiscovered oil and natural gas becomes accessible. Russia's most famous Arctic explorer, Artur Chilingarov , has placed a flag on the seabed beneath the North Pole. Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper is out on the Arctic Ocean making plans for an Army training center and a deep-water port. Melting ice may free up both the Northwest Passage and one quarter of the world's undiscovered oil and natural gas. It's the Wild, Wild West all over again. Will the US assert its national interests? What are the prospects for international conflict?
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To the Point
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
To the Point
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
To the Point
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
To the Point
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.