Insight: Capitol Chat / Rising Energy Rates / Kelly McEvers / Sound Advice: Nebraska Mondays
Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or
Flash plugin.
Capitol Chat It’s time for Capitol Chat and this week is an oddly quiet one, not just because California's Legislature is in recess, but also because this summer is unusually calm in terms of election action. In the past, lots of candidates would be running hard more than a year out from the race. But not this year. Our Capitol Bureau Chief Ben Adler joins us from the bureau to explain a little more.
Rising Energy Rates If you live in Sacramento you may soon be paying more for the same amount electricity. Why? Because more of that energy will come from renewable sources like wind or sunlight. A 2006 law –AB 32- requires the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to certain level by 2020 and utilities like SMUD are obligated to produce a specified amount of their electricity from renewable energy sources –a requirement known as Renewable Portfolio Standard. We’re taking a moment to look at California’s RPS and discuss the ups and downs of transitioning to cleaner energy. SMUD is holding a public hearing on July 18 at 9 a.m. about its proposed rate hikes.
Kelly McEvers After years of covering turmoil in the Middle East, NPR foreign correspondent Kelly McEvers found herself questioning the purpose of being a war reporter as her colleagues were being killed and kidnapped. McEvers began recording her thoughts in an audio diary as she struggled to answer one question: "Why do otherwise intelligent people risk their lives when they don't have to?" "Diary of a Bad Year: A War Correspondent's Dilemma" is a one-hour documentary chronicling McEvers’ quest to answer that question and bring meaning to her presence in the Middle East. We’ll speak with Kelly McEvers about the documentary and her time in Syria reporting on the war.
Sound Advice: Nebraska Mondays Every Monday night, you can find live jazz from some of the most diverse modern players at Luna’s Café in Sacramento. Founder and organizer – and jazz musician himself – Ross Hammond joins us for this week’s Sound Advice to introduce us to some of the sounds regularly heard at Nebraska Mondays. We’ll hear tracks from Sameer Gupta, Dwight Trible, Tony Passarell and Catherine Sikora.