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Life & Times Transcript
6/27/07 This program is made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department. Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- The port of Los Angeles has an ambitious plan to clear the air, but are shippers on board for the ride? Geraldine Knatz>> If people want to sue us for trying to clean up the air, that's not a bad position to be in because that means we're trying to do something. Gary Toebben>> The amount of burden to businesses could be so significant that they would not make the improvements. Val Zavala>> And then, it's more than music, more than dance and more than visual experience. String Theory combines them all into a mesmerizing performance. It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times. Announcer>> Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val Zavala>> So what do you think is the single biggest source of pollution in the Los Angeles area? Cars? Factories? No, it's our port. But now port officials want to cut pollution in half and they're telling cargo companies, terminal operators and truckers to go green. And as Saul Gonzalez tells us, they're serious. Saul Gonzalez>> With their sea air and ocean breezes, coastal communities are often seen as healthy alternatives to smoggy cities. But in towns with big ports, breathing can be risky. Ports spew out a toxic brew of contaminants, making them major sources of air pollution. That's the case at the neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Together they make up the largest and busiest harbor facility in the United States and one of the worst polluters in southern California, according to Sam Atwood with the region's Air Quality Management District. Sam Atwood>> The smog-forming emissions from the ports are greater than those emissions from all six million passenger vehicles here in southern California. That gives you an idea of the magnitude. Saul Gonzalez>> On an average day, the ports emit some ten thousand tons of air pollutants. Most of the emissions come from ships. Heavy trucks and locomotives that travel to and from the ports also pump out pollutants. Air monitoring stations in communities adjacent to the ports record dangerous levels of nitrogen oxide as well as fine soot and sulfur oxides. The chemicals cause high rates of heart and lung problems among dock workers and area residents according to public health experts. Jesse Marquez>> "As we began to discuss port air pollution, we realized that almost every family that I knew here in Wilmington had children and adults who had asthma or some respiratory health problem." Saul Gonzalez>> Five years ago, Jesse Marquez and other activists started organizing house meetings and protests. Along with environmentalists, they filed lawsuits and fought for legislation to clean up the city-owned ports. Eventually, the courts sided with the environmentalists and the policymakers relented. Antonio Villaraigosa>> "Well, good afternoon, everybody. Today's an historic moment." Saul Gonzalez>> Recently, with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa commending them, officials from both ports adopted a five-year plan to slash pollutant levels. It is said to be the most ambitious environmental program of any port in the world. Its highlights include requiring vessels visiting the ports to use cleaner burning fuels, equipping berths with electric terminals so that ships can plug in for power instead of running their engines, helping drivers finance the replacement of aging and dirty diesel trucks with clean vehicles and replacing cargo-handling vehicles and port locomotives with equipment that uses cleaner fuels and state of the art exhaust treatment technologies. Geraldine Knatz>> The primary goal is to cut emissions from all port sources by fifty percent. Saul Gonzalez>> Geraldine Knatz, Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles, says requirements set by the ports will force global changes in the shipping industry. Geraldine Knatz>> I do think that we're setting a trend in changing the maritime industry internationally and that what happens here will benefit those other port communities because, if the ships are cleaner coming here, they're likely going to be cleaner going to other cities in the United States. Saul Gonzalez>> The new rules adopted by port officials go further than current federal and international guidelines and apply to both United States and foreign ships. Foreign-flag vessels account for about ninety-five percent of the big commercial ships in United States ports. Geraldine Knatz>> "You know, I'd like to embrace the more stringent standard and see if we can get there." Saul Gonzalez>> Knatz says that local officials have decided to do what the United States government should have done, which is require that all ships, foreign and domestic, that use the ports reduce their emissions. The action, she concedes, takes the ports into new legal waters. Geraldine Knatz>> I guess we're sticking our neck out and we're trying to do some things that people will question whether we as ports have the regulatory authority and they may question it through litigation. You know, as far as I'm concerned, if people want to sue us for trying to clean up the air, that's not a bad position to be in because that means we're trying to do something. Saul Gonzalez>> The Environmental Protection Agency did not respond to our interview requests. The EPA's position is that it prefers that the international body that regulates shipping adopt stronger air emission rules. But if it doesn't, the agency has promised to take up the issue of pollution from foreign-flag vessels sometime this year. The other contentious question for the port's anti-pollution plan is, who will pay for it? Industry says that implementing stringent rules will be costly and would drive business away. Gary Toebben>> It may be too ambitious for the industrial sector that is involved here. Saul Gonzalez>> Gary Toebben, President of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, says the costs need to be shared. Gary Toebben>> If, in fact, you implement every regulation called for and you implement it right away, the amount of burden to businesses could be so significant that they would not make the improvements. Saul Gonzalez>> What would they do? Gary Toebben>> They wouldn't be able to operate at the ports and those jobs would go somewhere else. >> "You should know that we have many, many environmental programs in place and operational." Saul Gonzalez>> To promote their plan, port officials recently sponsored a harbor tour, inviting some long-time critics. Many environmentalists want to make sure that taxpayers aren't saddled with the two billion dollar cost of implementing the plan. >> "There really should be some money from the industrialists and from the shippers and the businesses that make money off of the ports, so we're asking them also to ask industry to pay part of the bill of cleaning up the ports. Don't put it all on the public." Saul Gonzalez>> Environmental groups favor a thirty to sixty dollar fee on every cargo container unloaded. That's similar to a state bill vetoed last year by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at the urging of business. Gary Toebben>> We want to make sure that whatever fees are assessed to the carriers don't make us be non-competitive with other ports around the country that are already expanding their capacity. Saul Gonzalez>> Port officials hope costs will be met by a combination of government funds, tariffs, bonds and fees. In addition, if shipping and terminal operators don't meet pollution control standards, the ports might not renew their leases. Geraldine Knatz>> So in exchange for our investing in their terminal facilities which will allow them to grow and handle more cargo, we will then ask them to sign on to these requirements. So it's sort of tit for tat, you know. We're going to allow them the opportunity to grow and, in exchange, they're going to grow green. Saul Gonzalez>> As efforts to clean up the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports cruise ahead, California officials and activists are meeting with counterparts around the world to promote a global, clean ports movement. For Life and Times, I'm Saul Gonzalez. Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, plus transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org, scroll down the page and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> Billions of dollars are given away every year to charities and nonprofits who are doing good works. The money comes from foundations whose job it is to give money away, but some critics contend that the money is not granted fairly, that too little money goes to minority groups helping minorities. For a provocative conversation, we brought Joe Hicks of CommUnity Advocates together with Orson Aguilar of the Greenlining Institute who's pushing for an accounting of foundation grants to minorities, and Manny Klausner, a member of The Federalist Society who says an accounting is not necessary. Our Kitchen Table is made possible by Ralph Tornberg. Joe Hicks>> Orson, I got a little gift over the transom. It was the Greenlining study on philanthropic giving. I'm trying to really figure out what it is you guys are actually arguing is the case here in terms of the giving of foundations. Why don't you tell us in a nutshell what that's all about? What do you guys want to happen here? Orson Aguilar>> Well, the Greenlining Institute is we're a multi-ethnic public policy and advocacy institute. A lot of what we do is hold large institutions accountable to the growing diversity in the state and the nation. In this case, we decided to look at the practices of foundations. These are large charitable giving institutions, multi-million and multi-billion dollar in size. We wanted to see basically how they were responding to the growing diversity and whether, one, their boards and staffs were reflective of the diversity and, two, whether their grant-making was going to minority communities. So we issued a study, found that just 3.6 percent of dollars go to minority organizations, so that's one indicator. Joe Hicks>> So what do you want to have happen here? What do you want them to do? Orson Aguilar>> Well, for us, this is an issue of civic participation. We think that foundations have a lot of power in society today. So what we want is to make sure that foundation dollars are reaching our communities so that we can be active decision-makers, discussion-makers, that we can be voters, that we can influence the democracy that we live in. So that's basically what we're asking for, equal opportunities, equal dollar amounts. Joe Hicks>> Manny, Kellogg Foundation, Rockefeller, Bill and Melinda Gates. These are the most political liberal groups that I'm aware of. You know, why do you think they wouldn't be interested in furthering "interest" of urban inner city communities and does this premise even make sense at all to you? Manny Klausner>> Who's to say a grant to a foundation that has a lot of minorities on its board or on its staff is using the funds for efforts that are helping minority communities? So I think it's a total misplaced logic here in this whole quest that Greenlining is doing. You know, the story of America, the story of the abolition of slavery, for example, one of the greatest boons to help blacks who were incarcerated and enslaved against their will, didn't come from blacks. It came from largely whites in Britain and in America. The history of abolitionism is a history of participation and helping literally enslaved minority communities by people who were not of the same color. So the idea of the stereotypical view is really good if you want to encourage racial polarization. It is not good if you want to encourage good policy. Joe Hicks>> One of the things I did note in your report, the latest version I got, was that basically what you're focused on is philanthropic giving to minority-led nonprofits. Not nonprofits that are doing work in urban communities, but only those that are run by minorities. Defend that decision because a lot of these nonprofits are doing very good work in urban neighborhoods that may not be headed up by minorities. So why the decision just to focus on those? Orson Aguilar>> Well, first of all, there's no study out there that says foundations are adequately serving minority communities. There's been a slew of studies out there. Ours is just one. When we went out and did our study, we recognized that this was not an impact report. We were just going to look at one issue because we think it's an empowerment issue. It's about foundation effectiveness. It's about having people from those communities with those experiences adding to those solutions that need to be addressed in those communities. So for us, it's an empowerment issue. But what we really are interested in is looking at a bunch of different factors. When we need to look at foundations, we need to look at the board diversity. We requested this, but the majority of foundations refused to provide this to us. Staff diversity is important. If you look also at where they have their investments is really important. The Los Angeles Times just did an excellent piece looking at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and finding that, in fact, a lot of their investments were counter-productive to the mission. So there are a lot of issues that have to be raised looking at the sector. We're just starting to raise one, but little by little, we're going to start raising these other issues and we're starting to do so through our legislation. Joe Hicks>> Right. What do you want to achieve and what's the status, the bill and the whole process? Orson Aguilar>> So there's precedence in this country where institutions that receive public subsidies are required to provide equal opportunities. In this case, foundations are tax exempt, so in many ways, taxpayers are subsidizing the work of foundations. So we should expect them to provide equal opportunities. The problem is that foundations are not transparent. So the legislation would do simply that which would require the large foundations -- we don't want to bring the small foundations -- would require large foundations to simply divulge diversity data on an annual basis. This is similar to what corporate America does and, frankly, we think that if corporations are doing it, foundations which are held to a higher standard should be doing much more. It's a shame that foundations really fought this bill adamantly when, in fact, they should embrace diversity and really think of how they can be ahead of the curve and not behind the curve. Joe Hicks>> So, Manny, let's say we're able to force this information out of foundations where they all tally up -- Manny Klausner>> -- for the sake of discussion. Joe Hicks>> For the sake of discussion. Somehow we're able to force Kellogg to say how many blacks, Native Americans, whatever, is on the board and their staffs and whatnot. So what? What's the importance of this information? Manny Klausner>> Counterproductive. It's not only not important, but it's pernicious. It encourages invidious discriminations selecting board members and staff. Look, if Reason Foundation were to hire Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to be on our board or our staff, we'd get -- Joe Hicks>> -- not bargaining controversy here. Manny Klausner>> Well, I'm just trying to comply with the new standards here that Orson is advocating. We'd get brownie points or black points, however you count those up, because we have more blacks on the recent staff. Is that good news for the minority communities? Maybe good news for Jesse and Al Sharpton. I don't think it's good for minority communities. I think it's totally unfocused and this whole notion that people of a certain color or a certain ethnic hue somehow are going to do good things is absurd. Some people do good things and some people don't and you can't judge it by the color of their skin. I don't think we want to start encouraging people to look at skin color as a first reaction of is this guy a good guy or a bad guy. Joe Hicks>> On that note, we got to stop. We're out of time. Thanks, guys, for coming in and talking about this. Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Val Zavala>> Most musicians on a gig bring their instruments with them, whether they be a rock band or a chamber group. But we found an unusual ensemble that actually builds the instrument at each location, creating a unique sound for each performance. They're called String Theory and, as Vicki Curry discovered, the results are captivating. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> This is String Theory. Luke Rothschild>> I call them harps. I call them long string harps. They are a certain kind of harp, but they're definitely not the normal kind of harp. Vicki Curry>> Not normal unless you're watching this extraordinary ensemble at work. The musicians, dancers and artists who make up String Theory create a unique site-specific version of their signature instrument at every performance. Luke Rothschild>> When String Theory is at its best, it's like a comprehensive performance environment that completely envelops the senses of the viewer. Vicki Curry>> On this night, it was Vibiana, the former cathedral turned performance venue. Strings stretched across the space transform it into a giant sculptural instrument. Joseph Harvey>> Virtually, it's such a unique sound and visually it's so interesting. It just makes it a little bit more special and I think that's what the audiences take away from it too. It's such a unique experience. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> The long strings are complemented by traditional instruments like cello, violin and guitar on music ranging from classical to contemporary. The repertoire reflects the diverse backgrounds of String Theory's founders. Luke Rothschild, Holly Rothschild and Joseph Harvey first met in Chicago. Holly Rothschild>> Luke went to the Art Institute and Joey started classical cello and I come from a dance choreography background. Luke Rothschild>> Some friends and I, when we were in the sculpture department at the Art Institute of Chicago, learned about this woman named Ellen Fullman. Holly Rothschild>> Who is said to have come up with the concept of taking wire like this and stretching it great distances. Joseph Harvey>> And she's sort of a performance artist with new classical music and we really loved the sound of it. [Film Clip] Luke Rothschild>> We weren't tuned in a western scale or anything like that and what we wanted to do is play music that we really enjoyed like, you know, songs in a twelve-tone scale or like a normal tuning. So we were able to figure out a way to tune the strings in a way that we wanted to. Joseph Harvey>> We're learning more all the time. So right now, we have the things that we think the long strings can do well, so we make it do those things and the pieces that we write for. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> Luke, how does this work? Tell me about the long strings. Luke Rothschild>> Okay. Here's the resonator and this is the body of the instrument that amplifies it. This is resin which is the same type of resin that one uses with a violin or a cello. What happens is, these brass wires are quite taut. They go the length of the space. When I go like this -- [Film Clip] Luke Rothschild>> I'm generating a compression wave and the molecules are vibrating out to the tuning block and back into the bridge and igniting the resonator with energy, with vibration and sound. Vicki Curry>> And so then the way you tune it or make each string have a different note is by the location of the tuning block. Luke Rothschild>> So if we come from here out to here, here is where the vibration ends. This oak block clamps the string and the vibration comes in, is blocked off and shoots back down to the resonator and ignites that with sound. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> I really like that sound. Luke Rothschild>> The end sounds really cool right at the end. Vicki Curry>> Yeah. Luke Rothschild>> The closer to the bridge you are, the higher the pitch. So we use a C Chromatic Scale and our C note is about twenty-three or twenty-four feet from our resonator, our middle C. Then we go up chromatically and we have twelve notes per side. Vicki Curry>> Luke designs and builds all of String Theory's harps. Each one of the various shapes and sizes makes a slightly different sound. Luke Rothschild>> I kind of have an innate sense of what a resonator kind of does, you know, but by no means in a scientific way. I got my degree in painting and drawing, so what I wanted to do is create resonators that looked really beautiful, but also would enhance the attractive sounding elements of the instruments. Vicki Curry>> To install the harps, the resonator must be fixed in place and then each wire stretched and attached to another fixed point. The strings have to be at least twenty-three feet long, but can go up to a thousand. So it takes hours to set up and tune each harp. Holly Rothschild>> It always seems like it's down to the wire, no pun intended (laughter). Joseph Harvey>> The site-specific nature of the installations is different every time, you know, even in the same places sometimes. At first, it was daunting because you were kind of worried that, you know, it might not work out, but it always has. Holly Rothschild>> Now I feel like we've been doing it long enough that we're really highly adaptable and also I feel like it makes the work more interesting in a way. We like the idea of sort of the space or the environment forcing change upon what's happening. Vicki Curry>> The space is a big part of String Theory's work and brings an added visual element to their performances. They've played venues around the world, some outdoors and some in, including art museums, office buildings and the openings of Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Luke Rothschild>> I've never been so conscious of architecture until we started doing these installations because we're kind of integrating ourselves directly into it. I've heard people tell me this, too, like after the show. It makes them think about the space in a different way. Vicki Curry>> Once the installation is complete and the harps ready to play, String Theory adds one final visual element to the performance: dance. [Film Clip] Luke Rothschild>> It's much more interesting to watch a dancer play them than a musician necessarily, you know. There's a lot of physicality that goes with that and it was wonderful to see Holly kind of absorb and kind of take the lead as far as creating a language of movement that incorporates the actual playing of the harps. Holly Rothschild>> It was so natural because of the scale of the installations and the scale of the instruments that there was just so much movement available in playing the strings and the size and the landscape and everything, so it just seemed immediately available. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> Music, dance and sculpture-like long string instruments. String Theory calls it transforming architecture into theater. But when they leave behind an old space, they also leave behind the performance that happened there. Luke Rothschild>> We have to like physically adapt ourselves to the space, so that will engender a different performance no matter what. You know, afterwards it feels like a bit of an achievement. I mean, we've definitely played our set, but also we've kind of created an environment that's never been created in that space and then it goes away. Val Zavala>> For more information about String Theory and future performances, you can go to their website at stringtheoryproductions.com. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. We'll see you next time. Announcer>> Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. This program was made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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