University of Massachusetts Boston
Paul Kirshen is a professor in the School for the Environment at University of Massachusetts Boston and academic director of its Sustainable Solutions Lab.
PROFILE
Paul Kirshen
Guest
FROM Paul Kirshen
To the Point
Are we ready for natural disasters to come? After hammering Puerto Rico and devastating other Caribbean Islands, Hurricane Irma is heading northwest toward Florida. Disaster experts are watching to see if the East Coast is better prepared for a monster storm than Texas, which won't get over Harvey for decades. Every state has its own rules for protecting homes and infrastructure from natural disaster. Some have no rules at all. As the Trump Administration takes another look at federal standards, are higher building costs worth it to reduce damage and the need for reconstruction?
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To the Point
White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
To the Point
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.