It’s been quite a week and a half for the Bay Area: It began with strong, dangerous winds storms; those led to massive power shut offs and also whipped up damaging fires; those fires led to mass evacuations, including record-setting evacuations in Sonoma County. 

On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss what this unprecedented series of events has meant for Bay Area residents. Then in the second half we consider how changes to California's power grid might one day decrease the state's fire risk along with the need for safety shutoffs. 

Guests: 
KCBS Reporter Jeffrey Schaub 
Severin Borenstein, the faculty director at the Energy Institute at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and a member of the California Independent System Operator Board of Governors
Michael Wara, senior research scholar at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University
Daniel Kammen, professor of energy at UC Berkeley and former science envoy for the US State Department

It&rsquo;s been quite a week and a half for the Bay Area: It began with strong, dangerous winds storms; those led to massive power shut offs and also whipped up damaging fires; those fires led to mass evacuations, including record-setting evacuations in Sonoma County.&nbsp;
On this edition of KCBS In Depth, we discuss what this unprecedented series of events has meant for Bay Area residents. Then in the second half we consider how changes to California's power grid might one day decrease the state's fire risk along with the need for safety shutoffs.&nbsp;
Guests:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>KCBS Reporter Jeffrey Schaub&nbsp;</li>
<li>Severin Borenstein, the faculty director at the Energy Institute at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and a member of the California Independent System Operator Board of Governors</li>
<li>Michael Wara, senior research scholar at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University</li>
<li>Daniel Kammen, professor of energy at UC Berkeley and former science envoy for the US State Department</li>
</ul>

KCBS Radio In Depth

Power Shutoffs, Evacuations the New Normal? Maybe.

The housing crisis is widespread in California and it has become especially dire for college students, as rents go ever higher and competition increases for whatever apartments are available.

A 2022 UCLA survey found that student homelessness ranges from anywhere 5 to 20% across California’s colleges and universities, meaning that potentially hundreds of thousands of students are unhoused.

So, what’s being done to solve this problem?

We’ll start our conversation with Zennon Ulyate-Crow, third year student at UC Santa Cruz and founder and co-chair of the Student Homes Coalition - a student-led collective of higher education advocacy organizations and youth activists fighting for abundant, accessible, and affordable student housing.

And then we'll turn to Su-Jin Jez, CEO of California Competes, a nonpartisan policy and research organization focused on identifying solutions to the state’s challenges at the intersection of higher education, equity, and the economy. 

The housing crisis is widespread in California and it has become especially dire for college students, as rents go ever higher and competition increases for whatever apartments are available.
A 2022 UCLA survey found that student homelessness ranges from anywhere 5 to 20% across California’s colleges and universities, meaning that potentially hundreds of thousands of students are unhoused.
So, what’s being done to solve this problem?
We’ll start our conversation with Zennon Ulyate-Crow, third year student at UC Santa Cruz and founder and co-chair of the Student Homes Coalition - a student-led collective of higher education advocacy organizations and youth activists fighting for abundant, accessible, and affordable student housing.
And then we'll turn to Su-Jin Jez, CEO of California Competes, a nonpartisan policy and research organization focused on identifying solutions to the state’s challenges at the intersection of higher education, equity, and the economy.

What can be done to solve the student housing crisis in California?

It’s a part of the passing of wintertime and moving into spring: you open up the windows or you step outside, and you hear them - birds singing.

And perhaps you hear the sounds of the male western tanager, a songbird that migrates thousands of miles once the seasons begin to change, heading to the Mountain West for springtime.

But maybe you’ve noticed, over the past few years, that spring seems to be arriving earlier than normal - flowers blooming, insects coming to life, sometimes months ahead of time.

Birds are noticing these changes and researchers are, too.

A recent study has looked at the effects of climate change on the seasons and found that by the time many migrating birds reach their destination, the food sources they search for have already bloomed or flown away.

And so the consequences of spring starting sooner - for the western tanager and for many other migrating birds - could be drastic.

To help us take a closer look at what we’re seeing in the world of migrating birds and how climate change is altering their world, I’m joined by Morgan Tingley, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA.

It’s a part of the passing of wintertime and moving into spring: you open up the windows or you step outside, and you hear them - birds singing.
And perhaps you hear the sounds of the male western tanager, a songbird that migrates thousands of miles once the seasons begin to change, heading to the Mountain West for springtime.
But maybe you’ve noticed, over the past few years, that spring seems to be arriving earlier than normal - flowers blooming, insects coming to life, sometimes months ahead of time.
Birds are noticing these changes and researchers are, too.
A recent study has looked at the effects of climate change on the seasons and found that by the time many migrating birds reach their destination, the food sources they search for have already bloomed or flown away.
And so the consequences of spring starting sooner - for the western tanager and for many other migrating birds - could be drastic.
To help us take a closer look at what we’re seeing in the world of migrating birds and how climate change is altering their world, I’m joined by Morgan Tingley, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA.

The effects of climate change on the lives of migrating birds

Every place carries a history, from forests and wildlife to the eventuality of roads, buildings, and all the communities of people who lay claim to a space and call it home.

For those who have called - and continue to call - Bayview-Hunters Point in southeast San Francisco home, that history comes with a heavy burden. A burden steeped in abandonment, in racial and economic injustice, and in toxicity that is embedded in the ground and moving through the air.

A new book looks at that history, but also at the activism for environmental justice that black Bayview-Hunters point residents have been seeking for years. 

For more, we're speaking with Lindsey Dillon, assistant professor of sociology at UC Santa Cruz and author of 'Toxic City: Redevelopment and Environmental Justice in San Francisco' which will be released on April 9th.

Every place carries a history, from forests and wildlife to the eventuality of roads, buildings, and all the communities of people who lay claim to a space and call it home.
For those who have called - and continue to call - Bayview-Hunters Point in southeast San Francisco home, that history comes with a heavy burden. A burden steeped in abandonment, in racial and economic injustice, and in toxicity that is embedded in the ground and moving through the air.
A new book looks at that history, but also at the activism for environmental justice that black Bayview-Hunters point residents have been seeking for years. 
For more, we're speaking with Lindsey Dillon, assistant professor of sociology at UC Santa Cruz and author of 'Toxic City: Redevelopment and Environmental Justice in San Francisco' which will be released on April 9th.

Power Shutoffs, Evacuations the New Normal? Maybe.

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