KPBS Midday Edition

Losing Earth: How We Almost Solved Climate Change

By Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host, Marissa Cabrera / News Producer, KPBS Midday Edition

Published August 6, 2018 at 6:51 AM PDT

This story was published more than 6 years ago.

An air tanker drops retardant while battling a wildfire near Mariposa, Calif., Wednesday, July 19, 2017.

Losing Earth: How We Almost Solved Climate Change

Losing Earth: How We Almost Solved Climate Change GUEST: Nathaniel Rich, author, "Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change"

The New York Times Magazine recently published a history of national efforts to avert a climate change disaster. The article recalls the push for education and action in the 1980s, and how close officials came to taking steps that may have slowed the warming of the planet.

What can the reasons those efforts failed tell us about our present chances of stopping a climate catastrophe?

For his story, author Nathaniel Rich spent time doing research at UC San Diego, as two of the central figures in the piece were former directors at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

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Rich discusses what kept the U.S. from taking action, Monday on Midday Edition.

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KPBS Midday Edition Climate Change

Maureen Cavanaugh

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Maureen Cavanaugh has been a familiar voice for KPBS listeners for more than 15 years, serving in a variety of capacities including announcer, host, and producer. As host of KPBS Midday Edition, Maureen has interviewed a wide range of notables, such as comedienne Sandra Bernhardt, actor John Lequizamo, author Chuck Palahniuk, composer Marvin Hamlisch, artist Robert Irwin, and designer Zandra Rhodes. But of all the interviews Maureen has conducted, her most special was with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Before joining KPBS in 1997, she worked as a news anchor for KSDO and KOGO News Radio in San Diego. While working for commercial radio stations in San Diego and in Salt Lake City, Utah, Maureen reported on both hard news and lifestyle features. Maureen has received three "Golden Mike" awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California for economic reporting and breaking news. She has also received a "Best of Show" and “Best Radio Newscast” awards from the San Diego Press Club and the "Flo" Award from Public Radio Program Directors Association for Best Public Radio Announcer in a large market. Maureen is a native of Queens, New York, but after more than 20 years in San Diego she feels she qualifies as a real Southern Californian.

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Marissa Cabrera

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Marissa Cabrera worked as a producer for KPBS Midday Edition and had previously served as a Newscast Producer for KPBS' Morning Edition. Before joining KPBS she reported on Vatican affairs, social, and cultural issues in Rome, Italy. She also contributed to a documentary on sex abuse in the Catholic Church. Marissa has worked as a multimedia journalist at various news stations in San Diego and Monterey as well as Columbia, Missouri. Marissa graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism.

See stories by Marissa Cabrera