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Your Call

California’s Rolling Blackouts & The Health Effects Of Wildfire Smoke

CNN

On this edition of Your Call, we’ll learn more about last weekend’s rolling blackouts in California as temperatures broke records. We haven’t had blackouts since 2001, so why now? California's Independent System Operator decides when and where the blackouts occur. What do we need to know about this organization?

Later in the show, as fires rage across California, we’ll discuss the effects of wildfire smoke and air pollution on our immune systems and overall health. How can we protect ourselves? Given that this is our new norm, what policy changes are needed? 

Guests: 

Loretta Lynch, former president of the California Public Utilities Commission, lawyer, and community-based consultant 

Dr. Mary Prunicki, director of Air Pollution and Health Research at the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy Research at Stanford University
 

Web Resources:
 

KCRA: Why California Is Seeing Rolling Blackouts After Nearly 20 Years
 

PurpleAir: Real-Time Air Quality Monitoring
 

San Francisco Chronicle: Wildfire Smoke Chokes Bay Area, Creating Worst Air Quality In The World
 

Stanford News: Stanford Researcher Discusses Link Between Air Pollution and COVID-19
 

Stanford Medicine: Wildfire Smoke Worse For Kids' Health Than Smoke From Controlled Burns
 

The Mercury News: With 367 Wildfires Raging, Cal Fire To All Residents Of California: 'Be Ready To Go'

Rose Aguilar has been the host of Your Call since 2006. She became a regular media roundtable guest in 2001. In 2019, the San Francisco Press Club named Your Call the best public affairs program. In 2017, The Nation named it the most valuable local radio show.