♪ ♪ tonight on kqed newsroom. a quarter of the crude oil that california imports comes from the amazon, we talk with 2 environmental advocates about how fossil fuel extraction is impacting the rain forest in ecuador. governor newsom unveils a new plan for living with covid- 19 for the long-term, while new poll numbers show that californians are increasingly concerned about rising crime, we will discuss with our panel of reporters and analyze the results of this week's election. an intriguing art exhibit about the health of our planet is in this week's

edition of something beautiful. from kqed headquarters in san francisco, friday, february 18, 2022. >> this is kqed newsroom. focusing on where california gets its oil, and why it matters. the latest figures available show that about one third of the oil that goes to california refineries comes from the state itself. another 18% comes from alaska, nearly half of our oil comes from foreign sources. what may surprise you is that the largest source of foreign oil to california is in the amazon, in 2020 for the first time, i california imported more oil from ecuador than from saudi arabia or iraq, in fact a recent report from our next guests show that california is the world's largest consumer of oil derived from the amazon. joining me now are amazon watch climate and energy director kevin koenig, hello kevin. and deep amazon program

director at tyson miller, from carolina, hello tyson. >> hello. >> thank you for joining us, tyson, help us understand where and how this oil from ecuador is being used in california? >> it is really shocking to see that california is responsible for about 50% of the oil exported from the amazon, that is equivalent on average to every one in nine gallons pumped in state is amazon oil, amazon derived. in southern california it's even more, everyone in seven gallons pumped is from the rain forest, anlax is the largest consumer in terms of airports, for every 1 in 6 gallons pumped. citizens and corporate sectors, fleets and large brands are all connected, and it is a real issue that we need to get a handle on.>> why is an issue, let's just start with the broad picture, why are you concerned

about this?>> oil drilling in the amazon is really the last ple that crude oil should be coming from, one of the major problems is that it will be expanding and kevin can get into that shortly but one of the most bio diverse regions in the world, and home to hundreds of thousands of indigenous peoples whose cultures are at risk from oil drilling and also the industry itself often, is the first industry to go intact into relatively pristine regions, building infrastructure to put in pipelines and the like, the first cut is the deepest, that's what we want to avoid is what is planned in ecuador and other places, which is to oil for you is demand supply primarily, two thirds of all exports from the amazon, oil exports, are going to the u.s. california is the line share, even president biden's home

state of delaware is implicated. as kevin just mentioned, the president of ecuador has pledged to double oil production coming out of ecuador, you lived in ecuador for many years, you are in the capital, quito, and tell us what you witnessed during that time there, which is really the beginning of this deep drilling?>> sure, oil extraction in ecuador, there is a crisis of contamination, a lot of the infrastructure in place is pretty much built to spill, just as last january there was the second spill in the last two years, a major spill, but right now the country is averaging two per week, this is devastating the forest and the lives of indigenous people, and they are the ones that are fishing in these contaminated rivers in the drinking water is coming from there and they're using the forest for their daily survival, it's their pharmacy in supermarket, it's having a

major impact, we are seeing indigenous people that are also expressing concern in opposition to new expansion plans, some of the leaders have been threatened, and exactly, the government of ecuador is planning to double production. it means greater drilling in the national park, a unesco world biosphere reserve, home to indigenous people living in voluntary isolation. and the government is talking about opening up some .5 million acres of mostly roadless rain forest, on indigenous territory in the country southern amazon, this is all new exploration and new concessions that will be auctioned off, california's consumption is really driving this expansion, and it is a black stain on the climate legacy of california.>> talk to me about the importance of the amazon as kind of a biosphere, retaining its essential

properties, and what does that mean in terms of our need to control what is happening with global warming and how does that play into it? >> right, the amazon basin, the global thermostat driving weather patterns around the world, and studies talk about rainfall, the comes to california is dependent on what is happening in the amazon, there's a real direct link, obviously the amazon basin is at a crucial tipping point, inside this line, and to going to become a carbon source instead of a carbon sink, there is no climate stability, about a healthy amazon. what we are seeing, extraction happening, penetrating into the forest, and one of the worst places to be drooling from a climate perspective because you're looking for fossil fuels underneath standing forest,

that play such a critical role in mitigating climate change. >> and yet at the same time, ecuador looks of the resources and as we need to grow and improve the quality of living for our citizens here as well, this is the resource that we have, and this is what we can sell to the rest of the world, we need to do this, ecuador many years ago tried to not drill, tried to find ways around drilling, which is your sting to see the foresight, can you talk to us about that time?>> sure, in2007 they were realizing they had 1 billion barrels of oil sitting under a really important part of the national park.>> it is one of the most bio diverse places on earth, 655 different tree pecies, more than we have in all of north america, just trees alone, and not to mention the other fauna they have there as well. >> one of the most bio diverse

places, and defour station starts with the extractive industry and in those places, it was really a pioneer proposal, we want to keep these oil reserves and fossil fuels in the ground, but we need some help for the world to offset foregone revenue, i think it was a revolutionary idea the time, but unfortunately the world did not the pup in the way that it needed to, as well. >> my understanding of that time, the ecuadorian said we have about $7 billion worth of oil in the ground, if you don't want us to extract it, get us a few billion world and help us to keep in the ground and the road made commitments of about $13 million. so plan b, drill.>> there's an interesting point here though, i thk it's important to debunk a little bit this myth that drilling for oil is what's going to save ecuador from it

economic woes, if you look back in the 60s when oil was first discovered, the first barrel of oil was given its own parade in quito, blessed by the archdiocese of the classic church, it was going to be the panacea. -- catholic church but that model of trying to drill your way to prosperity one will at a time doesn't work out, ecuador's trapped in a cycle of debt and dependency in large part because of his -- its dependency on oil, a solution pathway does need to involve the northern countries here, who do own ecological debt to places like ecuador, and they should step up and help finance a transition away from fossil fuels and towards a post-petroleum economy. >> i would go back to here, ecuador is not a rich country, as kevin was saying, they are billions of dollars in debt, to

china, they need to raise money to become more financially independent and improve standards of living, should they not be allowed to use their natural resources to grow their economy the way that developed countries have done for so many years? >> that's a great question, ecuador needs to figure out solutions that will work to meet its economic obligations and also protect its cultural and natural heritage. and so look for other models to other countries, they've kept úthe forest in the areas intact and able to attract resources, payments for ecosystem services and other types of funding to keep it standing and to keep the forest intact. they could be thinking about that.>> which countries you suggest that we look at as a model?>> historically before bolson aro was in office, a lot of things to stop defour station and 80% of the forest intact, a lot of funding was

from other countries and for sort of a payment for ecosystem services approach. there is debt forgiveness itself, that is a major driver of amazon forest degradation of the light and if countries like china can forgive debt or if the imf through special rights or other mechanisms can also support debt forgiveness, it might make the president of ecuador choose a different path. what is needed, is kevin úmentioned, these old models of the, which really hasn't happened in ecuador. other mechanisms, for the economy, in model for the world. and so many indigenous peoples whose cultures depend on them.>> tyson in california, we are still oil dependent as a state, we are working to transition away from fossil fuels but you're not there yet, since we are oil dependent,

where should we get oil from instead of ecuador, what are better sources? >> i would first say the state should prioritize not getting oil expanding from those regions. the most bio diverse force of the planet and human rights relations, 70 indigenous nationalities are posted new extraction and expansion, with oil going to california, how can the state put screens on the imports and refining the approaches, and put regulations in place for refiners to make sure that they are not on california's list for getting more oil. i don't know if i want to say hey here's the places where california should get the oil, should focus on the expanded ev, and public transportation to reduce demand and how to regulate refineries and make sure they are not getting

oil.>> i do want to ask, you've been speaking with the nixon administration, tell us what actions you are requesting them to take?>> for starters, california does have an addiction to amazon crude, the starting place that we all know is that they need to admit they have a problem, we want to see the governor recognize that there is complicity in the role of california's consumption of crude and commit to a rapid phaseout of crude source from the amazon for starters. and i think there are a lot of things that people can do here, we need to call major bas like j.p. morgan chase and citibank that are actors and financing his fresh activities that's happening in the amazon, we highligh in our report that there is a whole slew of companies right, whose transportation fleets in

california are using a tremendous amount of crude from amazon, including amazon.com, fedex or ups, a lot of actors involved, and we need to see action from all of them.>> tyson, final thoughts from you for what you would like to see from the state government or residence?>> thank you so much for covering this issue, my final thought would be relating to citizens and the relation to these issues, and in california, two thirds of citizens are concerned about amazon oil imports coming to state and being complicit in drilling the amazon, and two thirdswould be likely to vote for those have taken action, we are hoping that governor newsom and governors from other states that are connected will step up and this is a legacy issue for california but also for the world, and governor newsom, and measurable steps forward to address the issue.>> we want you to know that we didn't make

a request for representatives from the states environmental protection agency and energy commission to join us on the show today but the they did not make anyone available, we will continue to be in conversation with them. tyson miller, and kevin koenig, thank you both for joining us ensuring the information today. >> thank you so much. this week, governor gavin newsom released his endemic plan for california called smarter, it leaves out how to coexist with covid safely going forward. the indoor mask mandates ended for most blic places for people fully vaccinated, it comes as covid case numbers continue to fall sharply in the state, california's test positivity rate has fallen from 8% to 5% according to state health officials. government correspondent, marissa, and joel fitzgerald rodriguez, thank you both for being here and you today.>> take you for having us.

>> you're watching governor newsom's announcement of the plan, tell us we should know? >> standing in front of boxes of thousands of mass. essentially this is a plan that they say will allow the state to move forward into is next phase. but still be prepared for potential surges like we saw just a few weeks ago with omicron. from a practical perspective it's not going to change anyone's life. the government is saying we are putting in place a scaffolding so that if we have another variant or another search, we are ready with masts and healthcare workers, and sentinel tracing of wastewater, which is become a really good way to actually accurately tell if things are spreading. so at the end of the way -- end of the day, a fancy name, smarter, the mass mandate ending and the question about what happens with kids in schools at the end of the month

is more what average people think about. >> i see people bring masts in the bay area, we will see that a lot, as well. >> i am seeing that all over the place. as far as businesses go, even my own barbara just this week was telling me, thank god, i don't have to worry about this masking soon enoughbut other businesses, social media, posterior businesses reminding customers, hey, we actually want to have you mast in our spaces still, that's interesting. they were really looking to the state and to counties to kind of give them back to say we are the reason that we are masking and they could point to that, now it is little bit back to each individual business in store, we will see how that develops. a new poll out of the uc berkeley institute of governmental studies poll, same people are less concerned about the coronavirus, starting to fall off but increasing concern over rising crime in the state. and you been doing a lot of

reporting. what are you seeing? >> is not surprising, we've seen a really staggering increase, 30% increase nationwide and murders during 2020, no question that violent crime increased during the pandemic, it seems to have leveled off from 2021, but been looking at that, is it caused by progressive policies or district attorneys, the truth is when you look at the per capita murder rates across the state they've gone up more significantly in rural and conservative counties than in places like la and 7 cisco, where they are facing recalls. >> it seems counter message. >> it's a hard argument to people who don't feel safe, if you're a victim or know people, or watching media coverage that picks out individual stories, it's easy to feel unsafe, criminologists say there is

probably a really wide range of reasons this uptick happen but what's true as it haened across the nation, and in rural and big cities, we see more, big cities of course, there's more people but this is not necessarily one that you can fall along easy political lines but that's the message we are hearing from opponents of people like the governor and das and others.>> this week, a silly member putting out new legislation, specifically addressing hate crimes and uniformity in reporting hate crimes because that varies from place to place. >> we've seen this uptick in reporting, especially stop api heat, really bring to the for reporting that we hadn't seen happening. and 70 rising anti-asian hate crimes, people being spat at and beaten and just discrimination the workplace over the pandemic with the rising sentiment towards the asian community, who seen them struggle with that, and that ties into what we are talking about with the da, and with the recalls in general, we are

seeing this targeting of the community and the community tryi to push back and all sorts of different ways. i was just talking with the police commissioner, san francisco, the past president of the chinese six companies, one of the oldest groups in san francisco trying to help the chinese community dating back to the time of san francisco's first founding, he was telling me you know, it takes time to prove that he can of the community, folks that are feeling that, within the statistics back it up, people are feeling under assault, and with the asian community they absently have been. and we've seen chase make this community unit inside of the das office, trying to address the chinese community in particular, was some permanent members of the chinese community, some ople from a

democratic club in years and years of service, and larry goes that's a few hires when you get a city that is so majority chinese and asian, what is being done to help people, what amounts to for them and what their concern is, seeing things happen to folks who perpetrate crimes.>> you brought up the san francisco district attorney, he had his eye on the recall election that happened this past week, where the three school board members to get recalled, is this a harbinger of what's to come for him and larger lessons we should be looking at for democrats more broadly? >> a couple of things. the conversation around api eight, a lot of activation in the chinese community against the school board members and other things went will be on the pandemic closures that launch some of the signature

gatherings, concerns over policy changes, public high schools and 7 cisco and some others, i think there's a couple of leons here, i think the recall may be should take some lessons or maybe not, there are different issues. more broadly what it does show is that constituents are angry right now if they don't feel heard, and whatever political background they're coming from, the recall of gavin newsom or the board members, i think people have been really activated over this pandemic time. and i don't think the fox news take, this means the end of the democratic party in seven cisco is right, but think it does show that people want competent public servants, even if there is disagreements over some of the policies and priorities. >> let's turn to anotr race joe, you had the following the assembly seat for david chu that he left vacant when he

came to the city again, two people are headed to a runoff right? former sam cisco supervisor, and the current one, medhanie, tell us what they offer to the state more broadly? >> is important to note, 2 figures that are well known and 7 cisco and have been figures for quite a while. we know their positions a little bit here, but david you was someone who really defended tenants on the state level, and david chu was negotiating for tenants in particular during the pandemic to make sure there were restrictions on evictions and played a central role in that alongside the governor. when were talking about who's going to take the seat, we are also talking about who is going to speak up on behalf of tenants, in a place where san francisco politicians have normally played the role, that is why the region should have and i am the seat as much as

san francisco does. >> last week were talking about mountain lions in the south bay, this week we're talking about feral bigs all over california. >> 56 of the 50 counties, brady lake crazy, 5-6 piglet at a time. >> and soccer fields. -- greeting like crazy. >> were hunting of the bigs got everything crates in california, we'll see how they go >> the pandemic, and now hearts and minds and now feral bigs, what's next?>> we'll figure that out. thank you both.>> a pleasure. within san francisco's reimagined cliff houses a new exhibit, lands and. examining humanity's relationship with the environment through multiple works of modern art.

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the exhibit is organized by the foresight foundation, chickened out before packs up on march 22 and also read our review of the show at kqed.org /the do list. last week you might member we featured a field of flowers going through a super bloom, it was a beautiful sight but viewer glenn shared concerns about what he saw, he wrote i was very upset to notice that everything in those blooming fields on this evening show is a problematic invasive, when invasive plants crowd of the natives they remove this food sources of native pollinators whose loss deprives the creatures who eat them of their food and so on. for a future something beautiful copl show a meadow with even more gorgeous native flowers, which will be in bloom very soon. san bruno mountain will be a good place and some of the painstakingly restored grasslands and pacifica. thank you glenn. if you would like to share your opinion, email us at knr at

mark kqed.org , and you can reach me on twitter. that's the end of our show tonight, thank you for joining us, we will see you next friday night,♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for sunday, february 20: tensions increase as russia extends military drills along ukraine's border, sparking concerns of an imminent invasion; and a vibrant tribute and museum highlighting the efforts of women of the black panther party movement. next on “pbs newshour weekend.” >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the anderson family fund. the estate of worthington mayo-smith. leonard and norma klorfine. the rosalind p. walter foundati.