Roundtable: The Climate Crisis Gets Political

Friday, February 19, 2021

Credit: Associated Press

Above: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., left, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, right, speak after Republicans objected to certifying the Electoral College votes from Arizona, during a joint session of the House and Senate to confirm the electoral votes cast in November's election, at the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan 6, 2021.

A deep freeze in Texas and elsewhere becomes the latest political fight over how to deal with climate change, San Diego's push to step up enforcement of COVID-19 violations doesn't ... Read more →

Aired: February 19, 2021 | Transcript

PANEL:

Gary Robbins, reporter, The San Diego Union-Tribune

Jesse Marx, associate editor, Voice of San Diego

Catlan Nguyen, social media editor, The Daily Aztec

KPBS Roundtable airs on Fridays at 12:30 p.m. on KPBS Radio and at 8:30 p.m. on KPBS TV. Encore presentation Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on KPBS TV.

Extreme Weather And Climate Hypocrisy

The big story this week is the extreme weather across much of the country. Millions of residents in Texas dealt with days of freezing conditions and related power outages. Conservative media and politicians tried to lay the blame on alternative energy sources and are doubling down on support for fossil fuels. As the political debate plays out, COVID-19 shipments to San Diego are being delayed. Locally, San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Gary Robbins says our weather has been so mild, we're experiencing the city's driest February in more than a century.

COVID-19 Enforcement, Or Lack Thereof

Back during the holidays, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria promised renewed enforcement of public health orders relating to COVID-19. Nearly two months later, Voice of San Diego’s Jesse Marx found only five citations were issued since that announcement and the city isn't taking much action toward prosecutions. We’ll talk with Marx about the latest example of local government going only so far when it comes to a COVID crackdown.

Will Student Loan Cancellation Happen?

President Joe Biden is getting heat this week for his comments during a CNN town hall event in which he said he wasn’t interested in canceling or forgiving student loan debt. The issue is a big one, especially for younger voters and progressives who say doing so will provide a boost to the economy and lift people out of an endless cycle of falling into predatory loans that they might never pay back. The Daily Aztec’s Catlan Nguyen recently wrote about the student loan situation among students at SDSU. She joins us to offer some insight into how this issue is resonating with local college students.

The urgency of addressing human causes of climate change has long been apparent. To amplify this issue that's paramount to us all, KPBS has launched a Climate Change Desk to step up our coverage of this existential threat including reported stories and interviews with experts and newsmakers.

Roundtable is a lively discussion of the week's top stories. Local journalists join host Mark Sauer to provide insight into how these stories affect residents of the San Diego region.

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