Rethink the Week 10/28/2019
…with Jeff Feingold, Editor of the NH Business Review; Mack Shelley, chair of the Iowa State Political Science Dept.; Dean Spiliotes, Civic Scholar and Presidential Scholar at Southern NH University.
The Climate Crisis: Last phone call before the power went out in California. The new California. Climate change and the power grid. Keep investing in the grid, or turn to alternatives? Gated communities and private firefighters? Climate change as this year’s essential topic. How are the impacts of the California fires being covered by journalism? How are midwestern farmers’ flooding problems being covered by journalism? Wind energy is growing and spreading. Some farmers are getting both power and wealth from wind energy, and can still farm the land. Offshore wind plans in New England are being slowed as the Trump administration would prefer offshore oil. Challenges to siting renewable energy. The climate crisis and health care, as climate migration disrupts employment. The administration’s denial of the Pentagon’s report on the cascading effecrts of climate change, partly the work of General Mark Milley, and denial of the insurance industry’s recognition of climate change, too. Syria – climate change migration led in part to the internal war. Some of the 2020 candidates are emphasizing the climate crisis, but not all are.
Journalism: Facebook’s news tabs. Inclusion of Breitbart. What is a news outlet today? “Democratization” of news via the Internet, vs. the professional newspapers of the past. Students’ news sources. There used to be a firewall between the news and editorial desks.
Isis: Trump’s managing of the news about the raid on Al Bagdadhi. The base is only focused on the dismantling of the administrative state.
Firearms: The Christian Right and the NRA. Only 14% of NH residents are gun owners, yet they hold sway over the government.
