Local experts react to latest UN report on climate change

S1: San Diego climate activists respond to the UN's latest climate warnings.
S2: And I think the report is a big dose of realism about how much we really still have to do.
S1: I'm Maureen CAVANAUGH with Jade Hindmon. This is KPBS Midday Edition. We'll hear about the high cost of climate change in California.
S3: And they actually came to my school every single year , starting in first grade , where they would do these breathing tests. I would blow into this machine because they were trying to see how the air was affecting our lungs.
S1: Advances in surveillance technology lead to San Diego's first privacy advisory board. And veteran U-T border reporter Sandra Dibble is out with a podcast about Tijuana. That's ahead on Midday Edition. There is still time left to act. That was the conclusion of hundreds of climate scientists and researchers in the latest report from the UN's Governmental Panel on Climate Change. The report's hard facts and figures show a world on track to push past the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and looking at two or three degrees of warming by the end of the century. That amount of warming could alter much of the world's environment , changing how and where we can live on a transformed planet. But the report says there is still time. If we have the courage to use the resources we have to scale up renewable energy sources , overhaul transportation systems , restructure cities , improve agriculture and pull carbon from the air. Is such a coordinated effort possible ? We asked several San Diego climate activists for their take on the new U.N. environmental report. First , we hear from Professor David Victor of UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy Center for Global Transformation.
S2: I think this report does a good job of showing what could happen if everything were to line up. And I think the report , because everything's not lining up perfectly , is a big dose of realism about how much we really still have to do. But my main takeaway is that the IPCC team is doing its very best to figure out how you would make big reductions in emissions needed to stop global warming at one and a half degrees above pre-industrial levels or two degrees. Those are the widely discussed policy goals and they show it's technically feasible , but it's extremely difficult. You have to everything has to line up. You have to turn the global economy on a dime right now. Emissions are rising. They need to start falling and then falling rapidly. So it's going to be extremely difficult. And I expect we're going to blow through those goals of one and a half to two degrees. This report has a little bit of good news. Emissions are still rising globally. They're about 60 billion tons globally right now , but they're rising in about half the rate they were rising in the previous decade. We're more or less on track right now for about three degrees , a little more than three degrees of global warming. So there's still a lot of global warming , but it's a lot less than the five or six that we were on track for a decade or so ago. So all of that , a bit of good news. This report shows very clearly that if you want to make big reductions in emissions , the industrial sector is crucial and electric power has to be at the very center of that. I think this report largely confirms what we knew , which is that you have to work across the entire economy. Crucially , you have to redirect investment. And there's been quite a lot of progress on that front. So capital , massive amounts of capital and new start flowing into low carbon technologies , especially in the electric power sector. One thing I found very interesting in this study is that they the findings that they have about the impact of diet on emissions are more prominent. That's usually a very controversial subject , and I was pleasantly surprised to see that come a little bit forward because a lot of people are asking what can they do individually to help reduce emissions ? One thing you can do in addition to reducing travel or moving to more efficient travel modes is to alter your diet , eat less meat.
S1: Professor Romm Ramanathan is distinguished Professor of atmospheric and climate scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
S4: This particular IPCC report finally acknowledges the seriousness of the climate change we are facing , and we are going to fare soon. And the second thing is that it spells out the sort of drastic actions we need to prevent the warming to go into a rapidly runaway stage. About four years ago , I teamed up with a few of the other colleagues and we said.
S2: This one and a half.
S4: Degree warming is likely to happen by 2030. That's eight years from now. IPCC until then had always assumed we're not going to see this one degree of wanting till 2040. That gives it gives us at least 20 years time. It's going to happen a lot sooner. And this IPCC accepts that. And if I can comment on what's left of what's a big deal about a degree and a half , you see the planet warmed by across the one degree warming threshold by 2014 , and that's when the whole experience with climate change and extreme weather started manifesting worldwide. In Oakland , California , of course , our drought and fires. But when they cross that degree and have warming , that's when I have been suggesting that the COVID moment for climate change would come , that everyone would experience weather extremes. Once this message gets across , I am extremely optimistic that society , particularly Californians and. Ricans will take the sort of actions we need to take. I think the responsibility for action is lie at the governments and major industries. Individual actions are very critical. But the warming is accelerating and they themselves are not enough. We need actions from the top and we need actions brought about from the individuals. But I want to conclude with is that we know what needs to be done and there are technologies of how to do it and it's already happening. So don't get me wrong , a lot of the renewables , the prices have come down drastically. Solar costs one day about 10 to 15% of what it cost ten years ago. So what is lacking here is political actions from the top and aggressive participation by the industry.
S1: Nicole Cabot's is founder and executive director of San Diego's Climate Action Campaign.
S5: You know , this is yet another clarion call to.
S4: Action that.
S5: You know , it's now or never that we are going to collectively commit to slash our carbon emissions and get.
S4: Off fossil fuels. Also that the problem is not technological. It's not that we don't have the solutions. It's that we don't have the political will. And the authors of the.
S5: Report were pretty clear that one of the main reasons.
S4: We don't have political will is because of the entrenched power of the oil and gas industry across the world , and that this is stymieing progress. And then.
S5: Third , and this is kind of , you know , fits into our local work.
S4: In San Diego and makes me optimistic is that they said cities and local action is instrumental. Like , that's where we can really model what zero carbon future looks like. And that's where you can really innovate and experiment and really prove what's possible.
S5: Without a doubt , transportation.
S4: Remains the largest single.
S5: Driver of emissions in.
S4: San Diego. So what that really means is we need walkable , dense communities. We need to sort of totally reform how we grow and.
S5: Develop to make sure we are building up our urban communities. And we're making them so that people don't have to get in their car to get around. That means making walking and biking safe , and it means finally.
S4: Building out a world class public transit system. We deserve that. And it's a climate solution , really. I don't tend to feel spend much time feeling hopeful or discouraged because that to me feels like energy refusing to be taking action.
S1: And Megan Phelps is Youth for Climate program coordinator at San Diego 350.
S4: This report isn't anything that we haven't heard before. The technology , the science , it's all been here for years , and it's just a matter of rising up and demanding that.
S5: Our leaders and.
S4: Decision makers make a change. This report is really showing us how quickly we have to transition that we're in the final.
S5: Window for opportunity.
S4: To really save my future.
S1: Thanks to the experts who contributed to this report. The IPCC study concludes that whatever it takes , it's now or never to stop the worst effects of climate change. Limiting global warming will require a shift away from fossil fuels. So , say IPCC scientists , the pollution from those fossil fuels has both immediate impacts on air quality. It also has long term impacts on warming temperatures that are already affecting life and ecosystems in our local deserts. What you'll be hearing next is an excerpt from a California newsroom special called Climate Costs The High Price of Climate Change for California Communities. Reporter Kari Glynn of Cave PR in Fresno picks up the story in San Bernardino County , where a reliance on fossil fuels for transportation and development has fueled the region's economic growth.
S5: Big rigs rumble across the state , many to and from the Inland Empire , where acres and acres of orange groves have been replaced by warehouses that can be measured in football fields.
S3: The Inland Empire is the main vein of logistics for the West Coast.
S5: That's Jonathan Linden , a reporter at KVCR in San Bernadino. By some estimates , 40% of the country's consumer goods funnel through here. All those warehouses mean jobs. But also all those trucks and with them , smog forming pollution. We caught up with Jonathan near his old middle school.
S3: It's been almost 12 years since I graduated from Amelia Earhart. This was just an empty field. There wasn't anything on this plot. What you see now is this. Right across from me.
S2: We see this.
S3: Up's 1 million square foot warehouse. Neighboring to that is another million square foot warehouse that is operated by Amazon. And also neighboring those warehouses is another warehouse that's under development. It's something that's happening across the entire Inland Empire region.
S5: It's a region that has some of the dirtiest air in the country. As Jonathan himself has experienced.
S3: Growing up here in Riverside , I was actually a participant in the study called the USC Children's Air Study , and they actually came to my school every single year starting in first grade , where they would do these breathing tests. I would blow into this machine because they were trying to see how the air.
S2: Was affecting.
S3: Our lungs.
S5: Climate scientists expect ozone and air pollution will keep getting worse as heat rises , and that heat is putting pressure on all of our landscapes , including our deserts. Cameron Barrows is a research ecologist at the Center for Conservation Biology at UC Riverside.
S2: Climate change is happening faster in deserts than it is anywhere else ever. I mean , anywhere at all. The animals and plants that live here are adapted to being hot and dry , but they're also probably fairly close to the physiological limits of what an animal and plant can live in. So if it gets hotter and drier , they may be the first ones to show us what those impacts are going to be. Water , by definition , is limiting and deserts. But when you limit it even further , that's what makes this area so fragile.
S5: Well , so one of the species that people may identify with California deserts is the Joshua Tree. Your work predicts a dire future for these trees. Talk about that.
S2: Even though there's Joshua trees throughout the park in many places where they've always been. What we were seeing is that in much of the park there was no reproduction happening. There was no young Joshua trees coming in to replace the old ones as they just died of old age. In other parts of the park , there was plenty of young Joshua trees coming in and it was really tied to rainfall or moisture and temperature and how those two variables worked together. And the cooler , wetter areas were reproducing just fine and the drier , hotter areas weren't. There was just a bunch of dried adult Joshua trees with no young ones coming in below them. And so it's like going into a community and all they have is senior centers , but there's no great schools.
S5:
S2: And as a result of that , I think people will not object to people damaging or doing whatever they want to the desert where they would have very strong objections if you were to take them into the redwood forest or take them into an alpine meadow or something like that. So one of our objectives in developing these hikes and this community of naturalists is to develop a much deeper understanding of the amazing biological diversity of our deserts at some levels of measurement , much richer than the redwood forest and much richer than those alpine meadows. And it's not just a nature walk. We're actually out there collecting data. And so they feel like they're making contributions. And and I think that's one of the problems with climate change , is the individual person doesn't feel like they can make a difference , which isn't true at all. But it's easy to think of this global problem that you have no way of impacting. And so if you have no way of impacting , we just won't deal with it. We won't think about it. I firmly believe , unfortunately for me , because I'm a scientist , that as much science as I throw at people isn't going to change their minds. And so what you have to do is say this is how it's going to impact you. And so when I bring those people out in the desert and we look at animals and plants , they look at that. That's what we're going to lose. And they don't want to lose that. And so they become advocates.
S5: All right. Well , Dr. Cameron Burrows , a research ecologist at the Center for Conservation Biology at UC Riverside. Thank you so much for speaking with me today. I really appreciate it.
S2: My pleasure.
S1: That was reporter Carrie Clean of Cave PR in Fresno. To hear more of the program , climate costs , the high price of climate change for California communities. Go to our Web site.
S6: You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman with Maureen CAVANAUGH. The votes are in for California's 80th Assembly District special election , the seat vacated by former Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez. Earlier this year , Democrats David Alvarez and Georgette Gomez were the top two vote getters yesterday and will head to a runoff election on June 7th. But at the same time , they'll be campaigning for a parallel race for the same seat , which may be a little confusing to voters. KPBS big City Heights reporter Jacob Air joins me now with more. Jacob , welcome.
S3: Thanks for having me on.
S6: So the latest results show Gomez trailing Alvarez by just over one point.
S3: And in another sense , maybe not so much. It was the expectation that Gomes and Alvarez were the front runners. Lincoln Picard , the Republican candidate , was a bit of a dark horse , but Gomes had a lot more big names backing her campaign , including the Democratic Party , something Alvarez didn't. When I spoke with both of those candidates last night , I could hear the excitement in Alvarez's voice. He was kind of giddy and laughing , and the fact that he currently holds a slight lead over Gomes is somewhat surprising.
S6: And the third candidate in this race is Republican Lincoln Picard , who invested no money in his campaign.
S3: Much of that likely along party lines , but potentially still a little bit of the voters beyond just the Republican Party in that district. What that did is it made it difficult for one of the other candidates , Alvarez or Gomez , to get that 50% plus one or majority vote to win the seat outright on Tuesday's primary. He acted a bit like a buffer , and that really forced this June runoff.
S6: And there's been some reporting on special interest groups funding the campaigns of the Democrats in this race.
S3: It seems mostly like big business groups are backing Alvarez , while Gomez is getting a lot of support from labor groups , including teachers unions and the California Nurses Association. Gonzales also endorsed Gomez in early February , and she has deep labor rights roots , which makes sense. She's now going off to lead the California Labor Federation. So far , the two Democratic candidates , again , Gomez and Alvarez , they've raised a total of more than $770,000 in direct contributions. That's according to some reporting by Calmatters. And on top of that , more than 1.2 million has been spent by independent expenditure committees. Big numbers. Absolutely.
S6: Absolutely. And because this was a special election to replace Lorena Gonzalez during an election year , it makes the next step of this race a little unusual. Voters are going to see the race on their June 7th ballots twice.
S3: According to the San Diego County registrar voters , Cynthia Paths. One will be for the special election runoff. That's between Alvarez and Gomez. And then the other will be for the regular election primary. So the same three candidates , including Picard plus a second Republican , are running in the new version of the district drawn by the state's redistricting commission. So again , there's not just two questions , but two different boundaries for different types of voters who can actually vote on each. Voters from the old district lines can vote for the special election runoff. Whereas the new district boundaries. That's for voters who are going to be participating in the June 7th primary for the regular election. And then no matter what happens on that special election runoff on June 7th , the top two vote getters from the regular election in June , they're headed to the November primary. Ultimately , the winner is going to get a full two year term starting in January 2023.
S6:
S3: That's because they're the two from the special election who have made it now to the runoff and then come November. In theory , someone new could take over the role , whether that's Alvarez currently taking the position from the runoff and then flip flopping with Gomez or the other way around or in a dark horse situation or Republican taking over that role. Whoever wins the June special runoff will have a bit of an advantage , as they will technically be an incumbent in November. But we'll have to see how this all plays out.
S6:
S3: I think based off of the Democratic makeup of that district , it very well could be Alvarez and Gomez back at it again in November. So they're going to be duking it out for much of the next three or four months.
S6: I've been speaking with KPBS speaker City Heights reporter Jacob Air. Jacob , thank you very much.
S3: Thank you for letting me explain this complex election.
S6: The San Diego City Council established the city's first privacy advisory board yesterday to protect residents and visitor privacy as the city expands surveillance equipment that stores individual data. City Council President Pro Tem Monica Montgomery Step led the council's work creating the nine member board. She described the purpose of the board is to ensure that the use of surveillance technology is to protect public health and safety. Joining me to talk about the use of surveillance technology around the city is Lillie Irani Trust , SD Coalition Representative on behalf of Tech Workers Coalition and Associate Professor of Communication and Science Studies at UC San Diego. Lily , welcome.
S4: Thank you so much for talking about this.
S6:
S4: Those smart street lights not only have cameras , but they have microphones. They have computers on board that can detect people walking around cars , thespians. They also connect to the Internet and send all the video and any other data they take from the streets up onto a cloud somewhere where it gets stored and used by us and possibly others. There's also all kinds of technologies that we don't see. So automated license plate readers are a really common example and use in a lot of cities where cameras will be installed on city vehicles or the entry way of a freeway or a street. And it'll just take pictures of all the cars that go by looking for license plates. Now we see license plates in public all the time , and you don't think it's that big of a deal. But the technology allows all of the license plate readers that are connected to each other to connect and create a picture of where someone goes for their home , their doctor , their schools. So we've got invisible surveillance technologies. We've got really visible ones , and powerful things are possible when they all start combining their data to create a picture of our lives.
S6: Now , some of this technology has been around for a long time. Has it been in use for a while ? Yeah.
S4: So I think the technology's been in use for a long time , like automated license plate readers. But one of the things that's changing in the last decade is that it's becoming a lot cheaper to store all the data that these technologies gather and to then use powerful computers to combine that data to create pictures of people's lives that would be difficult to create at a mass scale before. And so that's one of the reasons why people are becoming even more concerned. Nothing has changed in the last , I would say , 20 years is that , you know , as a tech industry has grown , it's created a lot of data tracking technologies. Like every time we use the Internet , we leave little data traces around in the company websites. So we browse and those companies sell those data traces that we generate to each other and they create profiles of us. And so we also have now a private industry that profits off of creating profiles that our institutions , our insurance companies , our health care providers , our schools , our future employers , they could buy profiles based on that data to make judgments about us based on data that we didn't even know was collected. Hmm.
S6:
S4: So , like for me , I am aware of people sometimes using a surveillance technology in a limited way around an area where they want to make sure to track what animals are moving around. And maybe that is helpful for environmental planning. So I think that there are uses that can be positive. But one of the things that this oversight ordinance that the Trust Coalition has been pushing for is for the technologies to come along with what's called a use policy. So we define why we're using the technology , who is supposed to benefit , and then we have policies in place about who can access it. How long is the data stored , whether it can be bought or sold to private companies that make sure that this technology is being used for what communities say that they need , rather than being used for what companies need in terms of building up their profits or what people hacking or abusing the technology for that was out of scope of the original purpose.
S6: So at this point , we see the city trying to get in on this data collection.
S4: So we're already living in that world. So the smart street lights were installed and maintained by General Electric. General Electric then sold the whole camera system and its operations , the contract to a private equity firm that buys and sells companies and restructures them to figure out new ways to make profit. And then there are streetlights. And then got sold by the private equity firm to a company in Florida called Ubiquiti. And Ubiquiti has refused to stop to actually turn off the street light recording , even though the city council said , we don't want these recording anymore. And the city council stopped paying the bills for the streetlights. So there's a real danger , as these technologies are run by private companies , that they're not accountable to our democratic oversight processes. So another reason why these ordinances are really important is to make sure we find out how much control we really have over these private digital infrastructures. At the beginning , before we install them and put them on everybody's street corner and then lose control of how they're running.
S6: And so after 18 months of crafting the Privacy Advisory Board , the San Diego City Council officially created the board yesterday to potentially be passed later this year.
S4: Technology experts , legal experts who understand civil liberties and privacy. You know , auditors who understand how to keep computer systems safe and control access so that computer data doesn't get abused. And the board also has four seats for people that are in organizations that have historically represented communities that have been targeted by surveillance.
S6: I've been speaking to Lily Irani Trust , SD Coalition Representative on behalf of Tech Workers Coalition and Associate Professor of Communication and Science Studies at UC San Diego. Lily , thank you very much for joining us.
S4: Thank you so much. Have a great day.
S1: One month ago , Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled an ambitious proposal to create mental health courts in California. These so-called care courts would be places where homeless people with severe mental health disorders could get connected to the treatment they need. But more controversially , the courts would also have the authority to force some people into care if they didn't want to go. Raising concerns about abuse and Civil Liberties. In the weeks since the CARE Court's proposal was announced , a lot of people have weighed in with opinions. Elected officials , mental health professionals and civil rights advocates. KQED host Saul Gonzalez wanted to talk about the idea with unhoused Californians who have dealt with mental illness. He talked to three people on LA's Skid Row with experience of this situation who agreed to talk about their own struggles with mental illness while living on the streets if he didn't use their full names.
S2: How big are the mental health problems for people here ? Three.
S7: Catastrophic. Yeah , it is. It is the main issue out here. It is the main issue that people are. He has a mental problem. And. How many percent ? 85. 55%.
S2: 55%.
S7: I can use myself as an example. One of the reasons why I'm in the situation that I and I was established and I was struggling with mental health. Went off my medicine. Things got backed up with medical. And I wasn't able to to be stable. So , you know , there's.
S2: This idea to just.
S7: Start these these courts and in essence , make it easier to take people off the streets if they're having mental health episodes , even if they don't want to go initially. Is that to you as somebody who's had mental health , health issues , does that sound like a good idea or too extreme ? For me personally , I can't speak for anyone , but for me , while I was going through what I was going through at the time , I would have love for somebody to come and pull me up off the street. Yeah , you know what I mean ? Because they'll. Because when you're in that state and you're having a mental breakdown , you need someone else to do for you what you can't do for yourself and for people who would say , well , you know , that could threaten people's personal freedoms or civil liberties. Any thoughts there ? My my my personal belief , when you're in that state and you have an a mental breakdown , you lose all your freedom and your civil liberties anyway , because you on the streets living like a dog , like an animal. So you don't have any rights at that point ? Yeah. Please , please. Absolutely. Really wary of that kind of thing , though , because you don't want people coming through and just , you know , gathering everybody up and some sort of cattle call. People have a right to show their own self determination. And I'm sorry if people are in bad positions with drugs and mental health. If you want to help people who want to offer them the help and really offer them good services , you'd be surprised how many people will be more than happy to jump on. What is it that you have to do it with ? Kind of a light touch ? You have to do it with a touch where you never forget that you're dealing with a human being just like yourself. What I want to see is real programs that are effective and that , you know , are actually available at the times. The programs open up , but they're all booked up and there's no way to get it.
S1: That was KQED host Saul Gonzalez for the california report speaking with L.A. Teacher and alicia in L.A. Skid Row neighborhood.
S6: In recent years , a lot of people have become rideshare and delivery drivers to make extra money. But those drivers face a number of threats while on the road. A new report out today claims that the gig companies the drivers work for aren't doing enough to compensate the drivers when bad things happen to them. KQED Aditi Bond Mahmoudi has more.
S5: According to the advocacy group Gig Workers Rising , more than 50 rideshare and delivery drivers have been killed while on the road nationwide between 2017 and February of this year.
S8: The killings are the tip of the iceberg.
S5: That's Cheri Murphy , an organizer for the group and a contributor to the report.
S8: Thousands are getting into car accidents.
S7: They're being sexually assaulted , physically assaulted , emotionally accosted.
S4: These workers aren't.
S8: Afforded the important legal protections that they deserve.
S5: It's been two years since voter approved Proposition 22 went into effect in California. The law is facing challenges in the courts. But as things stand now , California drivers who work for companies like DoorDash and Uber aren't considered employees rather independent contractors. So consider the case of Keyshawn , who asked that we not use his last name for safety reasons. He used to work for DoorDash in San Diego. One night last August , he picked up an order from Jack in the Box and was getting ready to deliver it when he was shot in the face and crashed into a traffic signal pole , according to his aunt , Jackie Stokes , who's driven for DoorDash as well.
S8: This is gnarly. This is not.
S4: Something that should be happening to someone that's just working.
S5: Prop 22 promised big companies would offer contractors occupational accident insurance to cover medical expenses and lost income in the case of on the job injuries. In a statement , DoorDash added , there's , quote , no opt in required. Stokes says DoorDash covered Keyshawn medical bills and gave him about $300 a week , half of what he would have made if he wasn't bedridden. DoorDash didn't cover the damage to his car , which was totaled in the accident. And according to Prop 22 , they don't have to.
S8: There are still fragments of bullets still in my nephew's head.
S7: And I don't know if those.
S8: Things are going to affect him later.
S5: And unlike traditional worker's compensation , which would cover disability payments for the rest of Keeshan life , Prop 22 only requires companies to provide disability payments for two years. Professor Veena Dubal is a labor expert from UC Hastings. So for people who sustained really terrible injuries , like many people do after they are held.
S4: Up or get into severe accidents after two years , there's nothing they can do.
S5: Prop 22 also allows rideshare companies to cap how much they pay for medical bills. Unlike the state system , which covers all medical expenses , no matter how expensive.
S4: One of the many drawbacks of Proposition 22 is that it really took away the. Onus.
S5: Onus.
S4: And the responsibility of large corporations to be responsible to and for their workers.
S5: Proposition 22 , the most expensive ballot measure in California history , cost gig companies more than $200 million to pass. And they've gone on to push similar measures in other states. One has already passed in Washington state and others are on the move in Massachusetts and Illinois. Meanwhile , Jacy Stokes moved from San Diego to Dubai with her fiancee and son , even though she never suffered personal injury while driving for DoorDash. Stokes came close once a stranger flashed a gun at her while she was completing a delivery. She says she received little support from the company at the time.
S7: After those experiences.
S8: It just made me feel like it was safer to go back to a 9.
S4: To 5 job.
S5: She's now looking for an office job. I'm Aditi bunda moody in san francisco.
S6: San Diego area ride hailing service drivers are holding a caravan this hour in mira mesa. They are calling out rideshare companies for , quote , offering little support to workers who are attacked , threatened or injured on the job.
S1: This is KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Maureen CAVANAUGH with Jade Heineman. Tijuana means many things to San Diegans. For some , it's home. For others , a business resource or a weekend getaway. But for many , it remains a mystery. Former San Diego Union-Tribune border reporter Sandra Dibble explored that mystery for more than 25 years. She's witnessed the growth of Tijuana , the years it descended into violence , its renaissance in restaurants and business. It's changing relationship to the U.S. and San Diego. And most of all , she experienced a profound respect , love and hope for Tijuana. That's now reflected in her new L.A. Times podcast called Border City. Joining me is Sandra Dibble , and welcome to the program.
S8: Hi , Maureen. Thanks for having me.
S1:
S8: I did not think of the podcast that came from Jeff Light , the editor , and I was a little bold over like what me a podcast , but I wanted to leave something in all this time. And this gave me a chance to look at the past 25 years. And you know how Tijuana and the border has changed.
S1:
S8: It's very personal about me , but I think it's a vehicle. I'm the vehicle for looking at Tijuana. So it's Tijuana story.
S1: Now , you didn't know too much about Tijuana when you first started covering the border for the U-T back in the nineties. We have a clip from your podcast , Border City.
S8: Other U.S. reporters who cover Tijuana lived in San Diego and commuted across the border. But I decided to live in Tijuana. I imagined slipping into a busy , bustling metropolis filled with people searching for a place and a purpose. So I left my job and my family and friends in Washington , D.C. , and set out on an impulsive midlife adventure covering Tijuana for the San Diego Union-Tribune. To my friends , it seemed like a bold decision. But to tell you the truth , I was homesick and filled with self-doubt. I spoke Spanish and had studied and worked in other parts of Mexico , but I didn't know a single person in Tijuana. It felt overwhelming.
S1: That's from Sandra Audible's new podcast , Border City.
S8: I used to be able to cross the border in about 20 minutes. There was no entry , so I'd have appointments in San Diego and I knew I could make it. I think maybe more intimate , even though it was a million people. I was fascinated always by eastern Tijuana , and that was just booming and fast growing. It was one of the fastest growing cities in Mexico. I think it still might be , but people would come from all over Mexico and settle in Tijuana. Maybe some hope to cross to the U.S. , but many ended up building their lives in Tijuana.
S1:
S8: And I just remember being caught in the crowd outside , and I'd never been caught in a crowd and I'd never understood how crowds move and how you can panic and you could get trampled. I do remember that. And some friend of mine actually had a law office and he pulled me inside his law office , which was just across the street from La Penny. So a bunch of us ended up in the law office. I think nobody was trampled. But how about surprising the caravan ? That was surprising.
S1: That's remained a major issue during all your time as border reporter. Today , camps of asylum seekers wait in Tijuana. Refugees from Ukraine have assembled there.
S8: So there was this flow , I have to say , in my entire time there , though , there has been this flow of people from other countries , third countries. The year I came , there were a lot of Chinese in smuggling boats that ended up off the shores of Baja California. Their aim was to get into Baja California and then pass to San Diego. Later on you had the Iraqi Chaldeans in 2001 , they ended up showing at the border. In 2016 , we had the Haitians. In 2018 , we had the caravans of Central Americans. And I remember 2019 there were Cameroonians and now we have Ukrainians. So it's been this amazing change. I think it's gotten more international. A lot more people ending up there because they're waiting to apply for asylum under both title. Title 42 has kept them all in Tijuana. So there's a big community of asylum seekers who are now in Tijuana.
S1:
S8: I think most people sort of have that in their brain , that maybe what I mostly hope is that people will feel closer to Tijuana. And it certainly does look at these issues , but maybe in a different way. We talk to cops. We talk to normal , regular residents , a doctor , artist , a family who ended up getting caught up with the Ariano. Felix. Mostly people I hope will feel closer and not feel that there's just this place far away where things happen that have nothing to do with me. Because really what happens in Tijuana has a lot to do with San Diego.
S1:
S8: It's gotten you know , if you go by the numbers , the homicides have risen. I don't know. They've been hovering around 2000 a year. I don't know what the count is. The violence has not gotten better. Transportation is really you know , people talk a lot about the violence and it is a big problem and it is a big problem for journalists. That is a fact. Transportation to one really needs a rapid transit system , a good mass transit system , because the streets are just clogged with cars. You can't turn anywhere in the city without somebody complaining to you about how they were stuck in traffic , especially at rush hour. So these things have not gotten better. What has emerged is I think the unions have really held on to their identity and stood their ground. So I think that's what is interesting about the city. There's artists , there's cuisine , there's music. Baja California has an orchestra that was founded in the 1990s with musicians from the former Soviet Union , from Russia and Ukraine. And some of those musicians are still there. And in fact , this week they're going to be playing Ukrainian music in the sickout in the to win a cultural center. So what has gotten better ? I think it's just gotten more interesting and more people from more countries and more cosmopolitan. And so I think it's an amazing , fascinating city. It has never loosened its grip on me. I remain very interested in Tijuana.
S1: Well , the podcast is called Border City. It's by former San Diego Union-Tribune border reporter Sandra Dibble , who's joined us. And Sandra , thank you so much. I really appreciate your time.
S8: Thank you so much , Maureen.