Hecht on Infrastructure Projects’ Threat to Tropical Forests, Rural People’s Rights

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In an opinion piece published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, leading tropical scholars, including Professor Susanna Hecht of UCLA Luskin Urban Planning and the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, warn that large-scale infrastructure projects in Latin America are undermining efforts to prevent climate change and biodiversity loss and enhance community land and resource rights. The researchers suggest alternative approaches to infrastructure, guided by an understanding of development that prioritizes human and environmental flourishing, equitable participation in decision-making, climate change mitigation, and a deepened relationship between science and public debate. The opinion is a response to the Group of 20’s emphasis on investment in large-scale infrastructure as a means of promoting economic growth. Governments are also promoting investment in infrastructure as a response to economic recession in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the authors. They outline how science can guide infrastructure planning to emphasize sustainability and respect for human rights.

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Nothing Uglier Than Redistricting, Yaroslavsky Says

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Los Angeles Initiative Director Zev Yaroslavksy spoke with KPCC’s Airtalk about the process of redistricting in relation to recent corruption charges against suspended City Council member Jose Huizar. Every 10 years, district lines are redrawn to reflect changes in population based on the census, and some have noted that the shuffling of districts gave Huizar a large swath of Los Angeles’ asset-rich downtown. “There’s nothing uglier or more difficult than the redistricting process every 10 years,” said Yaroslavsky, who described the political and sentimental factors at play. Most elected officials “want to keep as much of their district as they can” and some have close ties to the neighborhoods and constituents they may have represented for a decade or more. When politicians redistrict for themselves, self-interest can play a role, but Yaroslavsky also noted that there are “unintended consequences of so-called independent commissions.” He concluded, “There is no perfect system for redistricting.” 

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Risk of Undercounting Native Tribal Populations, Akee Says

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Associate Professor of Public Policy Randall Akee was featured in a Spokesman-Review article discussing the risks of undercounting Northwest tribal community populations. The Census Bureau announced that it will cut door-to-door counting short by a month, leaving census workers scrambling to meet the new deadline of Sept. 30. Indigenous people living on reservations were undercounted more than any other group in the 2010 census, the article noted. Tribal leaders fear that the shortened timeline could lead to an even more drastic undercount this year, resulting in less federal funding and other resources for tribes. Akee explained that the COVID-19 pandemic has stalled self-response rates. “There are so many competing messages about other things, and it’s hard for this to take hold in communities where people are worried about their economic stability and their actual health,” he said. “Filling out a census form is further down in people’s priorities.”

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Newton on What Harris Brings to the Democratic Ticket

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Jim Newton, lecturer and editor of UCLA’s Blueprint magazine,  spoke with Nine News Australia about Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s selection of Sen. Kamala Harris as a running mate. Biden and Harris “come from different backgrounds and different parts of the country,” Newton said. “I think her presence on the ticket makes the ticket feel much bigger and much more appealing to a bigger section of the country.” Newton, who has tracked Harris’ career for two decades and interviewed her for the first edition of Blueprint in 2015, called her a tough political figure who has sparred with critics from both the left and right. He added that the selection of the first Black woman on the presidential ticket of a major party shows that Biden is open to “a new idea of America, rather than this country fighting to retain a white-majority establishment political culture.” 

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II&D Research Cited in L.A. Proposal to Forgive Household Debt

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News reports about a Los Angeles City Council member’s proposal to forgive the household debt of Angelenos hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic cited a report on the risk of widespread evictions compiled by the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy (II&D). Councilman David Ryu pointed to the research in making a case for the debt relief proposal, which would be funded through the Federal Reserve’s Municipal Liquidity Facility program, part of the federal CARES Act. “If we don’t deal with this crisis now, it will create an avalanche of homelessness and a generation of people buried in debt, and Los Angeles will pay the price for decades to come,” Ryu said. News outlets covering the proposal include the Larchmont Buzz, Los Feliz Ledger and Beverly Press. The II&D report was also recently cited by the Los Angeles Daily News and Pasadena Now.

 

Segura on Challenge for Republican National Convention

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USA Today spoke to UCLA Luskin Dean Gary Segura for an article laying out steps President Trump can take to build momentum during this week’s Republican National Convention. Trump would be wise to remind reluctant voters why they backed him in the first place, the article noted. It focused on three strategies: Steer the conversation away from Trump’s record as president by convincing voters that the alternative is worse. Instead of trying to broaden his coalition, double-down on appealing to the base. Convince Americans that things are getting better — a steep hurdle while the COVID-19 crisis persists, Segura said. “We have 165,000 dead Americans, and they’re not going to come back to life,” he said.

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Steinert-Threlkeld on Social Media Response to Kamala Harris

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Assistant Professor of Public Policy Zachary Steinert-Threlkeld spoke to Zenger News about the growing role of social media in recent election cycles. Social media engagement with stories about Joe Biden hit a high the week the Democratic presidential candidate named Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate. Social media has become a more significant part of the political process than in previous election cycles, Steinert-Thelkeld explained. This increase in social media engagement makes it difficult to draw comparisons with Donald Trump’s selection of Mike Pence as his running mate in 2016. However, Steinert-Thelkeld highlighted the differences between the vice presidential candidates. “I think it’s more about the person that people are responding to as opposed to the four-year difference,” he said. “Pence is not that exciting. Pence is like the Biden now, and Kamala is like the Trump then.”

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Yaroslavsky on Joe Biden and 2020 Democratic National Convention

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Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, appeared on CBS2/KCAL9 News to provide analysis of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s speech during the final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. “Yes, he has a winning platform, and yes, he can do it,” said the former five-term member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Commenting on Biden’s plans to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, Yaroslavsky said, “What Vice President Biden is promising and what he is proposing is to do what should have been done in the first place, which is lead, not follow, lead from Washington, lead from the White House, use the bully pulpit, bring the people along, provide the resources that are necessary to fight the virus and get it over with.” Yaroslavsky added, “Everybody understands that the stakes in this election in November, the stakes are very high. We have a distinct choice in November between Biden and Trump — no question.”

 

Diaz on What Voters Want to Hear From Biden

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Sonja Diaz, executive director of the Latino Policy and Politics Initiative at UCLA Luskin, offered commentary on the Democratic National Convention as a political analyst on KTLA News. Diaz joined a panel of experts who provided live commentary during the convention broadcasts over four evenings this week. On the final evening, when Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden delivered a key speech, Diaz noted, “Over the course of the last four years, we have seen more job losses than we have ever seen in American history. If Joe Biden can talk about two things, it’s health and jobs.” She added, “Vice President Biden has to talk about what America will look like in January 2021 and tell us about a future that does not have Americans dying unnecessarily and losing shelter with foreclosure on the horizon, but a future of prosperity and opportunity.” Diaz will also provide live commentary on KTLA during the Republican National Convention from Aug. 24-27.

 

Armenta on Biden’s Immigration Enforcement Plan

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Associate Professor of Urban Planning Amada Armenta spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle about Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s pledge to scale back laws requiring local police to participate in federal immigration enforcement. If elected, Biden plans to limit Section 287(g), which allows local governments to reach agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to aid in enforcing federal law. Armenta accompanied police officers on ride-alongs in Tennessee during the street-enforcement phase of 287(g). Her book about the experience noted that most of the immigrants held for deportation were detained for driving without a license. “Ending the ICE contracts would mean that millions of immigrants would be less afraid that a minor infraction (such as driving without a license or fishing without a license) would result in their deportation,” Armenta said. “ICE is not removing most people identified through 287(g) because they’re dangerous. They’re removing them because they have the authority to do so.”

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