Access Utah

The second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump begins in the U.S. Senate today. We'll provide a preview on the program today. We'll talk about procedure, recent history and all things related. We'll be talking to USU Political Science Professor Damon Cann. And I’d love to know what you’re thinking about this. Is impeachment of a former president constitutional? Should President Trump be convicted or acquitted? What would you advise Senators Lee and Romney? If President Trump is acquitted does that mean the impeachment process is broken? What will the outcome of the trial mean going forward for our national divide? You can send us your comment or question now to [email protected]

The film Downwinders and the Radioactive West has been airing on PBS Utah. Today we’re going to review a different part of America’s nuclear history. Susan Dawson and Gary Madsen are retired Utah State University professors whose research and Congressional testimony contributed to passage of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. In addition to providing financial compensation to downwinders and uranium miners and others, RECA also acknowledged that Congress "apologizes on behalf of the nation" to individuals who were "involuntarily subjected to increased risk of injury and disease to serve the national security interests of the United States." Professors Dawson’s and Madsen’s research from 1988 to 2010 focused on radiation exposures to underground and above ground uranium miners, uranium millworkers, and uranium transportation workers.

This special is part of UPR’s ongoing series Project Resilience. Project Resilience is made possible with support from the Utah State University Center for Persons With Disabilities.

On Wednesday’s Access Utah we’ll broadcast a full episode from This Is Her Place, a podcast that tells the remarkable stories of Utah women past and present, in all their diversity. Podcast co-host Naomi Watkins will also join us.

President Biden has issued an executive order placing an indefinite moratorium on new leases for oil and gas development on federal lands. Proponents of the moratorium say it’s a positive step and that previous lease sales on federal lands have harmed some of the West’s most cherished landscapes and slowed the nation’s shift to clean energy. Opponents argue that the moratorium will further harm already hard-hit economies with an outsized impact on rural areas. We’ll talk about it on Tuesday’s Access Utah. Our guests will include Sen. Ronald Winterton, R-Roosevelt; and Steve Bloch, Legal Director with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

At the request of the Utah Legislature, the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute – with the assistance of a 37-person Technical Advisory Committee – has prepared a Utah Roadmap to help legislators make policy to improve air quality and address causes and impacts of a changing climate. We’ll ask legislators and others how the Roadmap is being implemented this legislative session. Our guests will include Rep. Steven Handy, R-Layton and Rep. Joel Briscoe, D-Salt Lake City. Representatives Handy and Briscoe are among the co-chairs of the Clean Air Caucus. We’ll also be talking with Thomas Holst, Senior Energy Analyst with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute; and Josh Craft, Government and Corporate Relations Manager with Utah Clean Energy.

Today we’ll talk with David Quammen about viruses in general and the SARS-CoV-2 virus specifically.

On Wednesday’s Access Utah we’ll talk about the situation in Russia with former NPR Moscow Bureau Chief Corey Flintoff.

Today on Access Utah we’ll continue our coverage of the 2021 Utah Legislature by checking in with several advocacy and research groups. We’ll ask them what their priorities are and what they hope emerges from this session of the legislature. We’ll be talking to representatives from Sutherland Institute, Libertas Institute, Utah Health Policy Project, Utah Foundation, Utah League of Cities and Towns, and Crossroads Urban Center.

Today we’ll revisit our conversation from April 2019 with Mark Obmascik.