February 24 - Is Racism and Science Denial the New Republican Presidential Litmus Test?; Obama's Veto of the Keystone XL Pipeline; The Dramatic Sea Level Rise on the Northeast Coast

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the increasingly poisonous political discourse in the country that is likely to get worse as the 2016 elections approach, with a recent poll finding only 11% of Republicans think President Obama loves America, a question pollsters posed repeating the ugly statements from former New York City Mayor Giuliani that none of the Republican presidential candidates have distanced themselves from. Doug McAdam, a Professor of Sociology at Stanford University and author of “Deeply Divided: Social Movements and Racial Politics in Post-War America” joins us to discuss the looming partial shutdown of the government over Obama’s attempt at immigration reform and the apparent litmus test for presidential candidates to make it through the Republican primaries where they have to reject the science of evolution and condone the dog whistle racist canard that Obama is not a real patriotic American who as Giuliani charged “wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up, through love of this country”.

Part 2

Then we discuss President Obama’s veto of the Republican’s Keystone XL pipeline bill, the third veto of his presidency, which he did in part to protect established executive branch prerogatives but the fight is hardly over as Senate Majority Leader McConnell vowed, “we are just getting started”. Joining us is Connor Gibson, a member of Greenpeace’s Investigations team who obtained documents exposing a prominent climate change denier Willie Soon’s financial ties to the Koch Brothers, ExxonMobil, the Southern Company and the American Petroleum Institute. We examine the fossil fuel industry’s role of denial and disinformation in selling the Keystone pipeline and frustrating efforts to deal with climate change from global warming caused by methane and CO2.

Part 3

Then finally we look into the dramatic sea level rise along the northeast coast of America with the co-author of a new report that shows sea levels north of New York City rose by 128mm in two years. Jianjun Yin, a Professor of Geosciences at the University of Arizona whose research includes Natural and Anthropogenic Climate Change, Sea Level Rise and the Ocean’s Role in Climate Change, joins us.