Northern California Braces for Possible Shutoffs This Weekend
Amid forecasts of strong winds from the National Weather Service, PG&E is warning of a third round of power outages affecting much of Northern California, starting Saturday night through Monday afternoon. By Thursday, the utility had cut off power to nearly 180,000 customers in parts of 17 counties. The company faced harsh criticism from Gov. Gavin Newsom, state lawmakers and the California Public Utilities Commission over its handling of its first round of power outages two weeks ago. PG&E CEO Bill Johnson accepted some of the blame and apologized to customers, saying the utility was “not adequately prepared” for the forced outages earlier in the month as its website crashed repeatedly and its call centers were overloaded.
Guests:
- Lisa Pickoff-White, senior producer and data journalist, KQED
- Melissa Male, disability rights advocate
Facebook Pushes Cryptocurrency Amid Concerns over Privacy, Election Meddling
On Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced skeptical lawmakers on Capitol Hill during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee. He defended Facebook’s plan to launch Libra, a new digital currency that he claims would help poor people around the world who lack bank accounts to quickly and securely send money. Meanwhile, 47 state attorneys general have agreed to investigate the tech giant for possible anticompetitive behavior. But California’s state attorney general, Xavier Becerra, has so far not signed on. And as the 2020 presidential race ramps up, Facebook is under pressure to police its platform for election interference efforts. This week, the company said it had removed four new disinformation campaigns from Russia and Iran targeting voters in the U.S. and abroad.
Guests:
- Jeremy Owens, San Francisco bureau chief and tech editor, MarketWatch
- Nancy Scola, senior tech reporter, Politico
Climate Change Effects Spark Eco-Anxiety
Last month, on the eve of a United Nations global climate summit, millions of young people around the world skipped school or work to demand action on climate change. Leading the charge was Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old activist from Sweden who addressed world leaders at the U.N. climate meeting with anger, defiance and frustration. But it’s not just young people who are fearful and worried about droughts, shrinking ice sheets or mass extinctions. Psychologists and therapists are increasingly seeing the toll climate change has on mental health, and are helping patients turn that despair into empowerment and psychological resilience.