KPFA - A Rude Awakening

An in-depth look at community affairs on a local, national and international level, with interviews and commentary. Hosted by Sabrina Jacobs.

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On today’s show, Armando Quintero, director of California State Parks will be here to talk about grants through the Arts in California Parks program.  We’ll switch gears and speak to Marcy Brown of Mycelium Youth Network about their latest storytelling, climate conscious youth cohort and then we’ll close the show out with the Ecology Center’s Martin Bourque along with author and sustainable food educator Anna Lappé discussing the need to update the Berkeley soda tax.

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On today’s show, a river is granted personhood and enters the courtroom to defend itself.  We spend the hour with acclaimed author and Stanford professor Nina Schuyler discussing her latest evocative, enduring, and philosophically resonant novel, Open the Floodgates (Reverberations Books, 2026), out this month.

Save the Roadless Forests Petition/Comment Link: https://saveroadlessforests.com/

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On today’s show: catastrophic floods on the Nepal–Tibet border. Kathmandu-based journalist Prakash Dahal joins us with the latest from the disaster zone—and a look at who bears responsibility, who should pay, and what can be done to protect Himalayan communities. Then, CODEPINK co-founder Jodie Evans joins us to talk about the campaign to cut the Pentagon budget, and why peace activists say that fight is also about protecting the planet.

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20 Years of Failure:  On today’s show, after nearly two decades and billions in backing, has Africa’s so-called Green Revolution delivered on its promises—or deepened hunger and dependency? We take a  look at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, AGRA, and the fight for food sovereignty across Africa.

I’ll speak to Mutinta Nketani National Coordinator for the Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB).  Ms. Nketani is was a coauthor on the 2020 assessment of AGRA and is part of a delegation from the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa to AGRA’s  Africa Food System Forum in Kigali, Rwanda.

And Timothy A. Wise, a Tufts University Global Development and Environment Institute senior research fellow and author of the new Green Revolution assessment, “Requiem for Africa’s Green Revolution”.  Mr. Wise wrote the book “Eating Tomorrow: Agribusiness, Family Farmers, and the Battle for the Future of Food” (The New Press 2019).

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On today’s show, Greenfaith’s development director and strategist Anna Wagner will be here promoting their interfaith event in San Jose on August 23rd.  We’ll switch gears and have a conversation with the Oakland Institute’s policy director Frederic Mousseau about the highlights of their annual impact report.

Greenfaith Event Info:

More Than 75 Faith Leaders and Community Members Expected to Gather to Launch Week of Action for Climate Justice, Community Protection, and the Common Good

WHAT: South Bay Interfaith Climate Justice Summit

WHEN: Sunday, August 23 | 1:00–5:30 p.m. PT

WHERE: First Unitarian Church of San José, 160 North Third Street, San José, CA 95112

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On today’s show, carbon capture and storage for California?  That is the question.  I’ll speak to Ileana Navarro policy associate with the Central California Environmental Justice Network, Stanford University Woods Institute for the Environment policy fellow and scientist Thom Hersbach and Nina Robertson, deputy managing attorney for Earthjustice to get some answers.

Response from California Air Resource Board (CARB)’s Lindsay Buckley:

“California’s ambitious climate goals require both significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and growth of carbon sequestration. To help meet this charge, CARB staff initiated work on the Senate Bill 905 rulemaking last year which requires the agency to create the Carbon Capture, Removal, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) Program to evaluate, demonstrate, and regulate CCUS and carbon dioxide. The proposed regulations are expected to be considered by the Board before the end of the year as part of a transparent public engagement process. CARB remains committed to carrying out the objectives of the law which includes balancing environmental, public health and economic considerations as the state moves towards carbon neutrality.”

Agency Meeting Info in Sacramento:  ww2.arb.ca.gov

Further Reading about CCS:

Policy Brief by T. Hersbach: https://tinyurl.com/bdhy2pyz

https://projects.propublica.org/why-carbon-capture-cant-solve-climate-change/

https://projects.propublica.org/carbon-captured/

Beyond Denial: How Oil Execs Shaped a Landmark Climate Study

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On today’s show, the Center for Climate Integrity has released a new report titled “The Fraud of ‘Clean’ Natural Gas: How Big Oil and Gas Created the Myth that Natural Gas is a Climate Solution”.  I’ll speak with the report’s authors, investigative journalists Rebecca Leber and Rebecca John, about how the oil and gas industry helped build the image of natural gas as clean and climate-friendly — despite decades of evidence about air pollution, methane emissions, and climate harm.

Rebecca John on “A Rude Awakening” January 2025:

WSPA Knew

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This is a rebroadcast of May 1, 2026 A Rude Awakening featuring Maurice Carney, Kailea Rose Loften and Kate Rose Weiner.

On today’s show, part two of my conversation with Maurice Carney, executive director of Friends of the Congo.  We’ll switch gears and speak to Kailea Rose Loften and Kate Rose Weiner of Loam Publishing about their latest publication entitled, “Compassion in Crisis: Building Disaster-Resilient Communities”.

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On today’s show, we bring you three urgent climate and environmental justice stories. Talia Nimmer of the Center for Biological Diversity shares the latest on Sable Offshore Drilling’s push to acquire public and private land in Santa Barbara, California. Woody Hastings of The Climate Center previews a free public webinar on the need for clear guidelines in the transportation fuel transition. And Harjeet Singh, Global Convenor of the “Fill The Fund” campaign, joins us for a powerful conversation on loss and damage.

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