npr--2020-08-11--In Historic Pick, Joe Biden Taps Kamala Harris To Be His Running Mate

In Historic Pick , Joe Biden Taps Kamala Harris To Be His Running Mate Former Vice President Joe Biden , the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee , has picked Sen. Kamala Harris of California as his running mate .
The selection will make Harris the third woman and first Black and first Asian American candidate to be nominated for vice president by a major political party .
`` These are n't normal times , '' Biden said in an email to supporters Tuesday afternoon , referencing the coronavirus pandemic and calls for racial justice .
`` I need someone working alongside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and ready to lead .
Kamala is that person . ''
Harris tweeted that she 's `` honored '' to join the ticket , saying Biden can `` unify the American people because he 's spent his life fighting for us .
And as president , he 'll build an America that lives up to our ideals . ''
In his note , Biden also referred to Harris ' friendship with his late son , Beau .
Harris and Beau Biden were state attorneys general at the same time .
`` [ Beau @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her work , '' Joe Biden wrote Tuesday .
`` I thought a lot about that as I made this decision .
There is no one 's opinion I valued more than Beau 's and I 'm proud to have Kamala standing with me on this campaign . ''
The two are set to deliver remarks in Biden 's hometown of Wilmington , Del.
, on Wednesday , and together hold a virtual fundraiser .
The pandemic prevents Biden and Harris from rolling out their ticket in the usual format : a boisterous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Harris pick creates a Democratic ticket that in many ways mirrors the one Biden ran on in 2008 with then-Sen. Barack Obama : An older white man and Washington lifer with deep foreign policy experience is paired with a younger , Black running mate with immigrant roots who has been in the Senate just four years yet still has managed to carve out a national profile .
Only this time , Biden is occupying the top spot .
Biden 's age , and the fact that the 77-year-old has repeatedly referred @ @ @ @ @ @ @ candidate , will almost certainly place increased focus on the 55-year-old Harris as the likely future leader of the Democratic Party .
`` That little girl was me '' The ticket is being formed despite a moment of tension between Biden and Harris during the Democratic primary .
While Biden regularly criticized Obama 's lack of experience when he was also running in the 2008 Democratic primary , Biden never attacked Obama in the high-profile , personal way that Harris did during a televised debate in 2019 .
Harris , whose own campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ key to her chances of winning the primary , criticized Biden for previously opposing federal busing mandates .
`` There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools , '' Harris said on the Miami stage .
`` And she was bused to school every day .
And that little girl was me . ''
The attack briefly cost Biden support and surged Harris toward the top of the polls , but those numbers quickly reversed themselves , especially after Harris conceded that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whether busing decisions should be made on the local or federal level .
Harris ultimately endorsed Biden and campaigned for him after suspending her presidential campaign in late 2019 .
Ahead of the running mate selection , several Biden allies and donors warned in the press that the debate attack was too personal , and too harsh , for Harris to serve as Biden 's vice president .
The critiques raised cries of sexism — particularly a Politico report saying former Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut , a member of Biden 's vice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Harris had no `` remorse '' for the attack .
Many Democrats pointed out that Biden , George H.W .
Bush , John Edwards and other men who became running mates of people they had opposed in a presidential primary rarely faced questions about whether they had any `` remorse '' for campaign critiques , or whether they were too `` ambitious '' for the No .
2 job .
As the Harris criticisms ticked up in the weeks before the pick , Biden 's campaign tried to diffuse them .
`` Ambitious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and win .
Our campaign is full of ambitious women going all out for Joe Biden , '' Biden 's campaign manager , Jen O'Malley Dillon , tweeted in late July .
Ahead of Harris ' selection , a group called We Have Her Back — which includes former Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and leaders from Planned Parenthood and the National Women 's Law Center — sent a letter to various media outlets demanding fair coverage of the vice presidential candidate .
`` Women have been subject to stereotypes and tropes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ relationships and experience .
Those stereotypes are often amplified and weaponized for Black and Brown women , '' the letter said , urging the media to resist popular coverage tropes such as `` likeability '' and `` electability '' for candidates who happen to be women — analysis they said is hardly ever applied to male candidates .
Obama offered his congratulations to Harris , saying in a statement Tuesday that Biden `` nailed this decision . ''
`` She is more than prepared for the job , '' Obama said of Harris @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defending our Constitution and fighting for folks who need a fair shake .
Her own life story is one that I and so many others can see ourselves in : a story that says that no matter where you come from , what you look like , how you worship , or who you love , there 's a place for you here .
It 's a fundamentally American perspective , one that 's led us out of the hardest times before .
And it 's a perspective we can all rally behind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump , in a press briefing Tuesday , said he was `` a little surprised '' by the pick , given Harris ' attack on Biden in the Democratic debate .
Trump also slammed what he called Harris ' `` horrible '' questioning of his Supreme Court nominee , Brett Kavanaugh , and her legislative record , saying she is `` known as being about the most liberal person in the Senate . ''
Harris was born in Oakland , Calif. , and grew up in Berkeley .
She 's the daughter of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Howard University in Washington , D.C. , and the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco .
She was a prosecutor in the Alameda County and San Francisco district attorney 's offices before running for San Francisco district attorney in 2003 .
She went on to win election as California attorney general in 2010 .
In 2016 , Harris became just the second Black woman in U.S. history to be elected to the U.S. Senate .
She was assigned to the Intelligence Committee , which held several nationally televised @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the presidential election , and how Trump 's campaign and the Department of Justice responded to those efforts .
The longtime prosecutor also sat on the Judiciary Committee , which oversaw the confirmation of two U.S. Supreme Court justices : Neil Gorsuch and Kavanaugh .
The high-profile hearings that each committee held quickly helped Harris develop a national reputation as a sharp , aggressive questioner who could unnerve opposing witnesses .
She generated headlines and energized progressives across the country with her questioning of Attorney General Jeff Sessions , Attorney General William @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In January 2019 , Harris launched a bid for the White House .
She was initially seen as a serious contender for the Democratic nomination , drawing more than 20,000 people to her kickoff rally in Oakland .
But Harris struggled to articulate a clear reason for her candidacy in a crowded field , and her campaign experienced bouts of infighting .
Since returning full time to the Senate , Harris has played a lead role in Senate Democrats ' response to both the coronavirus crisis , and the increased focus on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's pick came amid intense pressure from Democrats not only to pick a woman , which he promised to do in March , but also to pick a woman of color .
That drumbeat began well before George Floyd 's killing at the hands of Minneapolis police but intensified amid sustained protests across the country .
Harris will be the fourth woman on a major party 's national ticket .
All three women to run for president and vice president have lost : Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016 , Republican vice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democratic vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 .
The only previous Black candidate on a presidential ticket , Obama , won the White House with Biden at his side in 2008 .

In Historic Pick, Joe Biden Taps Kamala Harris To Be His Running Mate
Enlarge this image toggle caption Brian Snyder/Reuters Brian Snyder/Reuters
Updated at 7 p.m. ET
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has picked Sen. Kamala Harris of California as his running mate.
The selection will make Harris the third woman and first Black and first Asian American candidate to be nominated for vice president by a major political party.
"These aren't normal times," Biden said in an email to supporters Tuesday afternoon, referencing the coronavirus pandemic and calls for racial justice. "I need someone working alongside me who is smart, tough, and ready to lead. Kamala is that person."
Harris tweeted that she's "honored" to join the ticket, saying Biden can "unify the American people because he's spent his life fighting for us. And as president, he'll build an America that lives up to our ideals."
In his note, Biden also referred to Harris' friendship with his late son, Beau. Harris and Beau Biden were state attorneys general at the same time.
"[Beau] had enormous respect for her and her work," Joe Biden wrote Tuesday. "I thought a lot about that as I made this decision. There is no one's opinion I valued more than Beau's and I'm proud to have Kamala standing with me on this campaign."
The two are set to deliver remarks in Biden's hometown of Wilmington, Del., on Wednesday, and together hold a virtual fundraiser.
The pandemic prevents Biden and Harris from rolling out their ticket in the usual format: a boisterous introductory rally in a key swing state.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Alexander Drago/Pool/AFP via Getty Images Alexander Drago/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
The Harris pick creates a Democratic ticket that in many ways mirrors the one Biden ran on in 2008 with then-Sen. Barack Obama: An older white man and Washington lifer with deep foreign policy experience is paired with a younger, Black running mate with immigrant roots who has been in the Senate just four years yet still has managed to carve out a national profile. Only this time, Biden is occupying the top spot.
Biden's age, and the fact that the 77-year-old has repeatedly referred to himself as a "transitional" candidate, will almost certainly place increased focus on the 55-year-old Harris as the likely future leader of the Democratic Party.
NPR YouTube
"That little girl was me"
The ticket is being formed despite a moment of tension between Biden and Harris during the Democratic primary. While Biden regularly criticized Obama's lack of experience when he was also running in the 2008 Democratic primary, Biden never attacked Obama in the high-profile, personal way that Harris did during a televised debate in 2019.
Harris, whose own campaign saw Black voters in South Carolina as key to her chances of winning the primary, criticized Biden for previously opposing federal busing mandates. "There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools," Harris said on the Miami stage. "And she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me." The attack briefly cost Biden support and surged Harris toward the top of the polls, but those numbers quickly reversed themselves, especially after Harris conceded that she and Biden held similar views on whether busing decisions should be made on the local or federal level.
Harris ultimately endorsed Biden and campaigned for him after suspending her presidential campaign in late 2019.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Scott Olson/Getty Images Scott Olson/Getty Images
Ahead of the running mate selection, several Biden allies and donors warned in the press that the debate attack was too personal, and too harsh, for Harris to serve as Biden's vice president.
The critiques raised cries of sexism — particularly a Politico report saying former Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, a member of Biden's vice presidential selection committee, was surprised that Harris had no "remorse" for the attack.
Many Democrats pointed out that Biden, George H.W. Bush, John Edwards and other men who became running mates of people they had opposed in a presidential primary rarely faced questions about whether they had any "remorse" for campaign critiques, or whether they were too "ambitious" for the No. 2 job.
As the Harris criticisms ticked up in the weeks before the pick, Biden's campaign tried to diffuse them. "Ambitious women make history, change the world, and win. Our campaign is full of ambitious women going all out for Joe Biden," Biden's campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon, tweeted in late July.
Ahead of Harris' selection, a group called We Have Her Back — which includes former Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and leaders from Planned Parenthood and the National Women's Law Center — sent a letter to various media outlets demanding fair coverage of the vice presidential candidate.
"Women have been subject to stereotypes and tropes about qualifications, leadership, looks, relationships and experience. Those stereotypes are often amplified and weaponized for Black and Brown women," the letter said, urging the media to resist popular coverage tropes such as "likeability" and "electability" for candidates who happen to be women — analysis they said is hardly ever applied to male candidates.
Obama, Trump respond to the selection
Obama offered his congratulations to Harris, saying in a statement Tuesday that Biden "nailed this decision."
"She is more than prepared for the job," Obama said of Harris. "She's spent her career defending our Constitution and fighting for folks who need a fair shake. Her own life story is one that I and so many others can see ourselves in: a story that says that no matter where you come from, what you look like, how you worship, or who you love, there's a place for you here. It's a fundamentally American perspective, one that's led us out of the hardest times before. And it's a perspective we can all rally behind right now."
Meanwhile, President Trump, in a press briefing Tuesday, said he was "a little surprised" by the pick, given Harris' attack on Biden in the Democratic debate.
Trump also slammed what he called Harris' "horrible" questioning of his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, and her legislative record, saying she is "known as being about the most liberal person in the Senate."
A longtime prosecutor
Harris was born in Oakland, Calif., and grew up in Berkeley. She's the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, and attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., and the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.
She was a prosecutor in the Alameda County and San Francisco district attorney's offices before running for San Francisco district attorney in 2003. She went on to win election as California attorney general in 2010.
In 2016, Harris became just the second Black woman in U.S. history to be elected to the U.S. Senate. She was assigned to the Intelligence Committee, which held several nationally televised hearings on Russia's efforts to interfere in the presidential election, and how Trump's campaign and the Department of Justice responded to those efforts.
The longtime prosecutor also sat on the Judiciary Committee, which oversaw the confirmation of two U.S. Supreme Court justices: Neil Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.
The high-profile hearings that each committee held quickly helped Harris develop a national reputation as a sharp, aggressive questioner who could unnerve opposing witnesses. She generated headlines and energized progressives across the country with her questioning of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Attorney General William Barr and, most notably, Kavanaugh.
In January 2019, Harris launched a bid for the White House. She was initially seen as a serious contender for the Democratic nomination, drawing more than 20,000 people to her kickoff rally in Oakland. But Harris struggled to articulate a clear reason for her candidacy in a crowded field, and her campaign experienced bouts of infighting.
Since returning full time to the Senate, Harris has played a lead role in Senate Democrats' response to both the coronavirus crisis, and the increased focus on systemic racism and police brutality.
Biden's pick came amid intense pressure from Democrats not only to pick a woman, which he promised to do in March, but also to pick a woman of color. That drumbeat began well before George Floyd's killing at the hands of Minneapolis police but intensified amid sustained protests across the country.
Harris will be the fourth woman on a major party's national ticket. All three women to run for president and vice president have lost: Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin in 2008 and Democratic vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro in 1984.
The only previous Black candidate on a presidential ticket, Obama, won the White House with Biden at his side in 2008.


npr--2020-08-11--A Prophet Of Soil Gets His Moment Of Fame

A Prophet Of Soil Gets His Moment Of Fame More than 40 years ago , in Nigeria , a young scientist named Rattan Lal encountered an idea that changed his life — and led , eventually , to global recognition and a worldwide movement to protect the planet 's soil .
Lal was fresh out of graduate school , recruited to join the newly established International Institute of Tropical Agriculture , and given an assignment that , in hindsight , seems ridiculous in its ambition .
`` I was 25 years old , in charge of a lab , given @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of food production in the tropics ! ''
Lal says .
He struggled .
The problem was the soil .
Because of climate and geological history , it was more fragile than what he 'd seen in India , where he grew up , or Ohio , where he 'd received his Ph.D. Lal cleared parts of the forest for his research plots , but when the soil lost its vegetation and was exposed to sun and rain , it quickly deteriorated .
What Lal calls the `` life blood of the soil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made of microbes and decomposing roots , which holds moisture in the soil and provides a fertile bed for growing seeds — vaporized or washed away , leaving behind gravelly dirt as hot and hard as a road .
One day , a famous scientist named Roger Revelle came to visit .
Revelle was one of the pioneers in the field now known as climate science .
Lal told Revelle about his problems ; about how the organic matter kept disappearing .
Revelle pointed out that it was escaping into the air in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ main greenhouse gas .
Then Revelle asked a question : `` Can you put it back ? ''
`` That simple statement , 'Can you put it back ? '
was my introduction to climate and soil , '' Lal says .
Lal , now a professor at Ohio State University , is courteous , polite and soft-spoken .
But that can be misleading .
`` I am by nature competitive , '' he says .
`` You 're either going to be in the top one , two , three , four @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
It 's a lesson from childhood .
He grew up poor , in a village in India .
He and his family were refugees from present-day Pakistan .
His ticket out of poverty was a government stipend — a few dollars each month — to study at university .
To earn that money , his grades had to be in the top five in the class , and he was haunted by fear that he 'd lose it .
`` That insecurity never really left me , '' he says .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a professor of soil science in the late 1980s , the insight from that conversation with Revelle became his calling card .
He pushed a new view of soil , arguing that it 's more than a simply a place where farmers grow crops .
It 's also a vast global reservoir of carbon that has been a major source of carbon dioxide emissions .
Until the mid-20th century , cultivating the soil released more carbon dioxide than burning fossil fuels .
Even today , farming and clearing forests for agriculture is responsible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emissions .
Farmers control that reservoir ; they can continue to mine the soil by tilling it , spilling carbon into the air , or they can refill it , restoring some of the carbon that was previously lost .
Soil that 's rich in organic matter also is healthier in many other ways .
It acts like a sponge , holding water , and it also contains nutrients like nitrogen .
In the American Midwest , for instance , the undisturbed soil of the prairie once was incredibly rich in carbon .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ began plowing it to plant grain .
Deforestation and land clearing continues in parts of Latin America and Africa .
Lal began experimenting with farming practices to see how they affect the level of carbon in that reservoir , and he discovered that it 's actually possible to refill it at least partially by capturing carbon from the air .
Some of those experiments are still ongoing .
Nall Moonilall , a Ph.D. student at Ohio State , shows me one of them , an array of square plots at the university 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years , Lal has been monitoring the effects of covering the soil with mulch .
Some of the plots have been covered with different amounts of straw mulch every year .
Others remained bare .
Those bare soil plots now contain less than 1 % carbon , but `` the carbon content in plots that receive the maximum amount of mulch is probably upwards of 4 % , '' Moonilall says .
That 's a healthy amount of soil carbon , close to what Midwestern soils contained before they were first plowed .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of carbon in a single acre of soil , simply from adding mulch to the surface each year .
Researchers also have found that farmers can enrich soil by leaving it undisturbed .
Instead of tilling the soil before planting , which releases stored carbon into the air , farmers can deploy equipment that opens up a narrow slice in the soil and inserts the seeds .
Such `` no-till '' practices have been widely adopted by American farmers in recent decades .
Even better , at least from an environmental point of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ altogether , returning the land to permanent pasture or wetlands .
Lal was not the only scientist exploring this field .
In fact , some of his colleagues and rivals in soil science privately criticize him for spreading himself too thin , publishing articles at a ferocious pace yet not always breaking much new ground .
Few of them , though , were the equal of Lal when it came to bringing soil to the attention of policymakers and the general public .
Just in the past few years , dirt has turned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of them featuring Lal .
There 's a TED talk about soil health .
Agricultural industry giants like General Mills and Bayer are offering to pay farmers to adopt practices that restore carbon to the soil .
There 's a catchy new name for it : regenerative agriculture .
A startup company called Indigo Carbon released a video calling this `` the most promising technology we have to address climate change . ''
Last year , Lal received the Japan Prize , which many consider second only to the Nobel in scientific prestige @ @ @ @ @ @ @ World Food Prize , and former Vice President Al Gore and Senator Sherrod Brown , D-Ohio , both called to congratulate him .
There are critics of regenerative agriculture who say the movement has become a fad , promising more than it can possibly deliver .
According to the World Resources Institute , no-till farming is unlikely to capture enough carbon to make much of a difference for the climate .
And more dramatic changes , such at converting fields back into permanent grasslands , are n't likely to happen on a large @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for food , and farmers probably wo n't stop growing profitable crops .
Lal agrees that rebuilding soil wo n't stop global warming , but insists that it can make a difference — for carbon emissions and for a variety of other environmental problems , from reducing water pollution and expanding habitat for wildlife .
He 's mostly happy that soil is finally getting the respect it deserves .
He even wants it written into law .
The U.S. has a Clean Air Act and a Clean Water Act , he says ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , too .

A Prophet Of Soil Gets His Moment Of Fame
Enlarge this image toggle caption Ken Chamberlain/OSU/CFAES Ken Chamberlain/OSU/CFAES
More than 40 years ago, in Nigeria, a young scientist named Rattan Lal encountered an idea that changed his life — and led, eventually, to global recognition and a worldwide movement to protect the planet's soil.
Lal was fresh out of graduate school, recruited to join the newly established International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, and given an assignment that, in hindsight, seems ridiculous in its ambition. "I was 25 years old, in charge of a lab, given the mandate of improving quality and quantity of food production in the tropics!" Lal says.
He struggled. The problem was the soil. Because of climate and geological history, it was more fragile than what he'd seen in India, where he grew up, or Ohio, where he'd received his Ph.D. Lal cleared parts of the forest for his research plots, but when the soil lost its vegetation and was exposed to sun and rain, it quickly deteriorated. What Lal calls the "life blood of the soil" — the so-called organic matter, made of microbes and decomposing roots, which holds moisture in the soil and provides a fertile bed for growing seeds — vaporized or washed away, leaving behind gravelly dirt as hot and hard as a road.
One day, a famous scientist named Roger Revelle came to visit. Revelle was one of the pioneers in the field now known as climate science. Lal told Revelle about his problems; about how the organic matter kept disappearing. Revelle pointed out that it was escaping into the air in the form of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. Then Revelle asked a question: "Can you put it back?"
"That simple statement, 'Can you put it back?' was my introduction to climate and soil," Lal says.
Enlarge this image toggle caption John Rice/OSU/CFAES John Rice/OSU/CFAES
Lal, now a professor at Ohio State University, is courteous, polite and soft-spoken. But that can be misleading. "I am by nature competitive," he says. "You're either going to be in the top one, two, three, four or you are not going to survive."
It's a lesson from childhood. He grew up poor, in a village in India. He and his family were refugees from present-day Pakistan. His ticket out of poverty was a government stipend — a few dollars each month — to study at university. To earn that money, his grades had to be in the top five in the class, and he was haunted by fear that he'd lose it. "That insecurity never really left me," he says.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Dan Charles/NPR Dan Charles/NPR
When Lal returned to Ohio State as a professor of soil science in the late 1980s, the insight from that conversation with Revelle became his calling card. He pushed a new view of soil, arguing that it's more than a simply a place where farmers grow crops. It's also a vast global reservoir of carbon that has been a major source of carbon dioxide emissions. Until the mid-20th century, cultivating the soil released more carbon dioxide than burning fossil fuels. Even today, farming and clearing forests for agriculture is responsible for roughly a quarter of global greenhouse emissions.
Farmers control that reservoir; they can continue to mine the soil by tilling it, spilling carbon into the air, or they can refill it, restoring some of the carbon that was previously lost. Soil that's rich in organic matter also is healthier in many other ways. It acts like a sponge, holding water, and it also contains nutrients like nitrogen.
In the American Midwest, for instance, the undisturbed soil of the prairie once was incredibly rich in carbon. Much of it was lost after settlers began plowing it to plant grain. Deforestation and land clearing continues in parts of Latin America and Africa.
Lal began experimenting with farming practices to see how they affect the level of carbon in that reservoir, and he discovered that it's actually possible to refill it at least partially by capturing carbon from the air. Some of those experiments are still ongoing. Nall Moonilall, a Ph.D. student at Ohio State, shows me one of them, an array of square plots at the university's research farm. For the past 30 years, Lal has been monitoring the effects of covering the soil with mulch. Some of the plots have been covered with different amounts of straw mulch every year. Others remained bare. Those bare soil plots now contain less than 1% carbon, but "the carbon content in plots that receive the maximum amount of mulch is probably upwards of 4%," Moonilall says. That's a healthy amount of soil carbon, close to what Midwestern soils contained before they were first plowed.
It also adds up to to tons of carbon in a single acre of soil, simply from adding mulch to the surface each year. Researchers also have found that farmers can enrich soil by leaving it undisturbed. Instead of tilling the soil before planting, which releases stored carbon into the air, farmers can deploy equipment that opens up a narrow slice in the soil and inserts the seeds. Such "no-till" practices have been widely adopted by American farmers in recent decades. Even better, at least from an environmental point of view, farmers can stop growing crops altogether, returning the land to permanent pasture or wetlands.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Dan Charles/NPR Dan Charles/NPR
Lal was not the only scientist exploring this field. In fact, some of his colleagues and rivals in soil science privately criticize him for spreading himself too thin, publishing articles at a ferocious pace yet not always breaking much new ground. Few of them, though, were the equal of Lal when it came to bringing soil to the attention of policymakers and the general public.
Just in the past few years, dirt has turned trendy. Books have appeared, many of them featuring Lal. There's a TED talk about soil health. Agricultural industry giants like General Mills and Bayer are offering to pay farmers to adopt practices that restore carbon to the soil. There's a catchy new name for it: regenerative agriculture. A startup company called Indigo Carbon released a video calling this "the most promising technology we have to address climate change."
Last year, Lal received the Japan Prize, which many consider second only to the Nobel in scientific prestige. In June, he won the World Food Prize, and former Vice President Al Gore and Senator Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, both called to congratulate him.
There are critics of regenerative agriculture who say the movement has become a fad, promising more than it can possibly deliver. According to the World Resources Institute, no-till farming is unlikely to capture enough carbon to make much of a difference for the climate. And more dramatic changes, such at converting fields back into permanent grasslands, aren't likely to happen on a large scale because there's a growing demand for food, and farmers probably won't stop growing profitable crops.
Lal agrees that rebuilding soil won't stop global warming, but insists that it can make a difference — for carbon emissions and for a variety of other environmental problems, from reducing water pollution and expanding habitat for wildlife. He's mostly happy that soil is finally getting the respect it deserves. He even wants it written into law. The U.S. has a Clean Air Act and a Clean Water Act, he says; there should be a Healthy Soils Act, too.


npr--2020-08-11--Big Ten Postpones College Football Season

The Big Ten Conference has voted to postpone its 2020 college football season .
NPR 's Mary Louise Kelly speaks @ @ @ @ @ Davidson about the decision .

Big Ten Postpones College Football Season
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
There will be no college football in the Big Ten or the Pac-12 this fall. The athletic conferences both made their announcements this afternoon, citing the COVID-19 pandemic. Conference officials say they are hoping sports start up again in the spring. Kavitha Davidson is following this for The Atlantic, and she joins us on Skype.
Hi there.
KAVITHA DAVIDSON: Hi. Thank you. I'm with The Athletic, by the way, just to tell you.
SHAPIRO: I'm so sorry. I misspoke there. Tell us more about what happened today. What did the Big Ten and Pac-12 decide?
DAVIDSON: So it wasn't that surprising given the developments that we saw over the weekend, but it still is stunning. So the Big Ten announced this morning - early afternoon that it would be postponing fall football until at least the spring. Now, the Pac-12 followed suit after a meeting among its presidents, not only announcing that it would be postponing fall football or all fall sports, it would be postponing all sports through the end of the calendar year, and that includes basketball.
SHAPIRO: Now, the Big Ten and Pac-12 are two of the five power conferences. Where do the other three stand?
DAVIDSON: So the big swing vote, if you will, among the three remaining is the Big 12. They've kind of been on the fence throughout this entire debate. The SEC has said all along that its medical advisory committee say that it's safe - it's OK to go forward with football and that it would be keeping an eye on what the Big Ten and the Pac-12 were announcing but that it would make its own decisions. So we're - everything's kind of up in the air. We're still kind of waiting for the other three dominoes to fall after today's announcements from the first two conferences.
SHAPIRO: It does seem like a dramatic about-face. Just last week, the Big Ten announced that it would play a reduced season but still a season.
DAVIDSON: So this is the biggest question I think is exactly what changed? It's been six days since the Big Ten released its fall schedule, and there really haven't been any great answers to that end, even though the question has been asked repeatedly. Ohio State's athletic director was just on Big Ten Network today and basically said the science came at us so fast. But the fact of the matter is the science that they're referring to when it comes to the long-term heart and lung consequences that can potentially arise from contracting COVID, that science hasn't actually developed very much in the past six days. So I think that that question is one that these commissioners and these university presidents will still have to answer.
SHAPIRO: Have you heard any reaction yet from players? I mean, just yesterday on this program, we had defensive lineman from Washington State Dallas Hobbs saying he wanted to play. What are you hearing now that the plug has been pulled?
DAVIDSON: I mean, these players are - like, they are the biggest victims in this entire college football fight, right? I mean, they have said that they wanted to play. They have been given absolutely no leadership throughout this entire thing, and they haven't really been given any assurances that the protocols would be in place or would suffice to play safely, if that's even possible.
So, you know, you've seen Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields just kind of tweeted, shake my head. Like, I don't think anybody really knows what to do with themselves. And then questions going forward for these athletes are, what happens to my scholarship? What happens to my transfer eligibility? And what happens to my potential future in the NFL and beyond once I'm losing this season?
SHAPIRO: That is Kavitha Davidson of The Athletic.
Thank you for speaking with us.
DAVIDSON: Thank you.
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npr--2020-08-11--The Oil Spill At Mauritius Is A Disaster. And It Could Soon Get Worse

The Oil Spill At Mauritius Is A Disaster .
And It Could Soon Get Worse A Japanese cargo ship struck a reef off the coast of Mauritius more than two weeks ago and has now leaked more than 1,000 metric tons of oil into the pristine waters and unique ecosystems of the island nation .
Mauritius has declared a state of environmental emergency , and the French government has sent technical support to assist with the disaster response .
In addition , independently-organized local volunteers have been working to clean up and protect beaches with improvised materials .
But an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inside the ship 's hull has been growing , and government officials warn the entire ship could split in half , releasing all the oil remaining inside the vessel .
Efforts are underway to pump that oil out of the ship before it breaks apart .
As of Tuesday , just over 1,000 metric tons of oil had been pumped out of the ship , while some 1,800 metric tons of fuel oil and diesel remain on board , according to the company that owns the ship .
The ship , the Wakashio @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an oil tanker , carrying 4,000 metric tons of fuel to power its engines ( in comparison , supertankers can carry hundreds of thousands of metric tons of oil . )
However , any oil spill larger than 700 metric tons is classified by industry groups as a large spill , and this spill has already released more oil than the combined total from every tanker spill documented in 2019 .
Mauritius has declared a state of environmental emergency , and the French government has sent technical support to assist with the disaster @ @ @ @ @ @ @ residents to stay home and leave the clean-up to authorities , the BBC reports , but residents have organized themselves anyway and assembled home-made oil booms — floating barriers to contain and absorb the toxic spill .
Reuters reports that sugar cane leaves , plastic bottles and human hair ( cut off and donated by residents ) are being sewn into makeshift booms .
`` People have realized that they need to take things into their hands .
We are here to protect our fauna and flora , '' environmental activist Ashok Subron @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told a local news outlet the collective action by everyday citizens demonstrated `` the failure of the state , '' and other residents are angrily asking why action was n't taken sooner to prevent this unfolding disaster .
`` The authorities did nothing for days , '' Fezal Noordaully , a taxi driver from a coastal village in Mauritius , told The Guardian .
`` Now they are but it 's too late . ''
When the Wakashio initially ran aground on July 25 , its hull was intact and no major oil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was brought in to refloat the ship and prevent spills .
But late last week , oil began to escape from the ship 's tanks ; the ship 's owners issued a statement blaming bad weather and rough seas for the breach .
The vessel 's operators acknowledged `` the regretful harm to the beautiful nature in Mauritius . ''
The island nation of Mauritius is located east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean .
It 's home to a number of endemic species , or plants and animals that live nowhere else @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saved from extinction , to the blue-tailed day gecko , which pollinates a rare flower that only has 250 plants remaining .
The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation , which is dedicated to protecting endangered plants and animals that exist only in Mauritius , says it has helped lay booms to protect the Ile aux Aigrettes nature preserve as well as protected wetlands on the main island .
But the key challenge is stop the flow of oil , the group says ; until the source of the leak is addressed , shoreline clean-up will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ devastation , the spill could have `` dire consequences for Mauritius ' economy , food security and health , '' Greenpeace Africa warns .
Tourism is an important part of the economy and had already taken a hit from the coronavirus pandemic .

The Oil Spill At Mauritius Is A Disaster. And It Could Soon Get Worse
Enlarge this image toggle caption Jean Aurelio Prudence/L'Express Maurice/AFP via Getty Images Jean Aurelio Prudence/L'Express Maurice/AFP via Getty Images
A Japanese cargo ship struck a reef off the coast of Mauritius more than two weeks ago and has now leaked more than 1,000 metric tons of oil into the pristine waters and unique ecosystems of the island nation.
Mauritius has declared a state of environmental emergency, and the French government has sent technical support to assist with the disaster response. In addition, independently-organized local volunteers have been working to clean up and protect beaches with improvised materials.
But an even bigger danger looms.
A crack inside the ship's hull has been growing, and government officials warn the entire ship could split in half, releasing all the oil remaining inside the vessel.
Efforts are underway to pump that oil out of the ship before it breaks apart. As of Tuesday, just over 1,000 metric tons of oil had been pumped out of the ship, while some 1,800 metric tons of fuel oil and diesel remain on board, according to the company that owns the ship.
Enlarge this image toggle caption AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images
The ship, the Wakashio, was a cargo ship, not an oil tanker, carrying 4,000 metric tons of fuel to power its engines (in comparison, supertankers can carry hundreds of thousands of metric tons of oil.) However, any oil spill larger than 700 metric tons is classified by industry groups as a large spill, and this spill has already released more oil than the combined total from every tanker spill documented in 2019.
Mauritius has declared a state of environmental emergency, and the French government has sent technical support to assist with the disaster response.
The Mauritian government has urged residents to stay home and leave the clean-up to authorities, the BBC reports, but residents have organized themselves anyway and assembled home-made oil booms — floating barriers to contain and absorb the toxic spill.
Reuters reports that sugar cane leaves, plastic bottles and human hair (cut off and donated by residents) are being sewn into makeshift booms.
"People have realized that they need to take things into their hands. We are here to protect our fauna and flora," environmental activist Ashok Subron said, according to AFP.
Subron told a local news outlet the collective action by everyday citizens demonstrated "the failure of the state," and other residents are angrily asking why action wasn't taken sooner to prevent this unfolding disaster.
"The authorities did nothing for days," Fezal Noordaully, a taxi driver from a coastal village in Mauritius, told The Guardian. "Now they are but it's too late."
Enlarge this image toggle caption -/L'Express Maurice/AFP via Getty -/L'Express Maurice/AFP via Getty
When the Wakashio initially ran aground on July 25, its hull was intact and no major oil spill was detected. A Dutch company was brought in to refloat the ship and prevent spills.
But late last week, oil began to escape from the ship's tanks; the ship's owners issued a statement blaming bad weather and rough seas for the breach. The vessel's operators acknowledged "the regretful harm to the beautiful nature in Mauritius."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Daren Mauree/L'Express Maurice/AFP via Getty Daren Mauree/L'Express Maurice/AFP via Getty
The island nation of Mauritius is located east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. It's home to a number of endemic species, or plants and animals that live nowhere else — from the pink pigeon, recently saved from extinction, to the blue-tailed day gecko, which pollinates a rare flower that only has 250 plants remaining.
The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, which is dedicated to protecting endangered plants and animals that exist only in Mauritius, says it has helped lay booms to protect the Ile aux Aigrettes nature preserve as well as protected wetlands on the main island.
But the key challenge is stop the flow of oil, the group says; until the source of the leak is addressed, shoreline clean-up will accomplish little.
In addition to environmental devastation, the spill could have "dire consequences for Mauritius' economy, food security and health," Greenpeace Africa warns. Tourism is an important part of the economy and had already taken a hit from the coronavirus pandemic.


npr--2020-08-11--'We Can't Stand It Anymore': Bolivian Protesters Demand Quick Elections

'We Ca n't Stand It Anymore ' : Bolivian Protesters Demand Quick Elections Anti-government blockades in Bolivia have entered their second week amid escalating political tensions , violent confrontations and government allegations that protesters are causing deaths by stopping supplies from reaching coronavirus patients .
The protests are deepening the crisis facing a nation already struggling to cope with a pandemic which officials say has so far killed more than 3,700 people and infected more than 91,600 .
The highway blockades are organized by labor unions alongside rural and indigenous groups allied to the socialist party of ousted former president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ launched an open-ended campaign of strikes , marches and barricades in a bid to pressure Bolivia 's unelected interim government to bring forward presidential elections after electoral authorities twice postponed these , citing the coronavirus .
Bolivia has become increasingly polarized since November , when Morales , its first indigenous president , was pushed out after nearly 14 years in power amid mass protests and still-disputed allegations of electoral fraud .
An interim government took over , promising new elections would take place two months later , in January .
Under the constitution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a conservative Christian senator from a minor right-wing party .
Bolivia 's electoral authorities have announced the poll will now go ahead on Oct. 18 , but this failed to dampen opposition suspicions that Áñez and her ministers are seeking to retain power indefinitely , or at least buying time to unify the divided right wing .
The opposition protest movement is demanding that the elections take place on a previously agreed date , Sept. 6 .
`` We have a government that is illegitimate because we have n't elected it , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an accountancy student who has been taking part in protests in El Alto , the city neighboring the administrative capital La Paz .
`` Many of us know the risk [ voting ] entails because of the pandemic , '' she tells NPR , `` but we want to hold elections ... We ca n't stand it anymore . ''
Bolivia 's government has blamed protesters for causing the deaths of at least 30 COVID-19 victims by blocking vehicles carrying oxygen and other urgent supplies for hospitals .
On Monday , it instructed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ passage for these deliveries , although blockade organizers say they were already allowing medical supplies to pass through their barricades .
Images have appeared on social media of sporadic clashes involving police and protesters and also pro-government and pro-opposition paramilitary groups .
Some within opposition ranks are calling for the immediate resignation of Áñez , whom they accuse of mishandling Bolivia 's pandemic response .
The pandemic has overwhelmed much of the country 's health system .
Two weeks ago , according to Reuters , Bolivia 's police revealed that since April , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from homes or public places in La Paz and El Alto .
They said 80 % of those whose bodies they picked up were thought to have had COVID-19 .
Áñez 's critics accuse her of exceeding her mandate — which was primarily to organize new elections — and heading a government that has committed widespread human rights abuses .
A six-month investigation by Harvard Law School 's International Human Rights Clinic and the University Network for Human Rights concluded that Bolivia has seen `` a surge of human rights violations '' since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said this includes deadly `` state-sponsored violence , restrictions on free speech , and arbitrary detentions . ''
President Áñez initially said she would not run in the elections , but later changed her mind .
A July opinion poll showed a narrow lead for the candidate from Morales ' socialist movement , Luis Arce , with 24 % , followed by centrist former president Carlos Mesa at 20 % .
Áñez had 16 % .
Morales himself has taken refuge in Argentina , and maintains he was the victim of a coup @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sedition and treason , saying he has orchestrated anti-government demonstrations in Bolivia .
But this week , he publicly called for dialogue and suggested those behind the blockade protests consider accepting the Oct. 18 election date .

'We Can't Stand It Anymore': Bolivian Protesters Demand Quick Elections
Enlarge this image toggle caption Gaston Brito/Getty Images Gaston Brito/Getty Images
Anti-government blockades in Bolivia have entered their second week amid escalating political tensions, violent confrontations and government allegations that protesters are causing deaths by stopping supplies from reaching coronavirus patients.
The protests are deepening the crisis facing a nation already struggling to cope with a pandemic which officials say has so far killed more than 3,700 people and infected more than 91,600.
The highway blockades are organized by labor unions alongside rural and indigenous groups allied to the socialist party of ousted former president Evo Morales.
Last week, they launched an open-ended campaign of strikes, marches and barricades in a bid to pressure Bolivia's unelected interim government to bring forward presidential elections after electoral authorities twice postponed these, citing the coronavirus.
Bolivia has become increasingly polarized since November, when Morales, its first indigenous president, was pushed out after nearly 14 years in power amid mass protests and still-disputed allegations of electoral fraud. An interim government took over, promising new elections would take place two months later, in January. Under the constitution, the presidency fell to Jeanine Áñez, a conservative Christian senator from a minor right-wing party.
Bolivia's electoral authorities have announced the poll will now go ahead on Oct. 18, but this failed to dampen opposition suspicions that Áñez and her ministers are seeking to retain power indefinitely, or at least buying time to unify the divided right wing. The opposition protest movement is demanding that the elections take place on a previously agreed date, Sept. 6.
"We have a government that is illegitimate because we haven't elected it," says Heidi Motiño, 22, an accountancy student who has been taking part in protests in El Alto, the city neighboring the administrative capital La Paz.
"Many of us know the risk [voting] entails because of the pandemic," she tells NPR, "but we want to hold elections ... We can't stand it anymore."
Bolivia's government has blamed protesters for causing the deaths of at least 30 COVID-19 victims by blocking vehicles carrying oxygen and other urgent supplies for hospitals.
On Monday, it instructed the police and military to secure safe passage for these deliveries, although blockade organizers say they were already allowing medical supplies to pass through their barricades.
Images have appeared on social media of sporadic clashes involving police and protesters and also pro-government and pro-opposition paramilitary groups.
Some within opposition ranks are calling for the immediate resignation of Áñez, whom they accuse of mishandling Bolivia's pandemic response.
The pandemic has overwhelmed much of the country's health system. Two weeks ago, according to Reuters, Bolivia's police revealed that since April, they have collected more than 3,300 bodies from homes or public places in La Paz and El Alto. They said 80% of those whose bodies they picked up were thought to have had COVID-19.
Áñez's critics accuse her of exceeding her mandate — which was primarily to organize new elections — and heading a government that has committed widespread human rights abuses.
A six-month investigation by Harvard Law School's International Human Rights Clinic and the University Network for Human Rights concluded that Bolivia has seen "a surge of human rights violations" since the interim government took office. They said this includes deadly "state-sponsored violence, restrictions on free speech, and arbitrary detentions."
President Áñez initially said she would not run in the elections, but later changed her mind. A July opinion poll showed a narrow lead for the candidate from Morales' socialist movement, Luis Arce, with 24%, followed by centrist former president Carlos Mesa at 20%. Áñez had 16%.
Morales himself has taken refuge in Argentina, and maintains he was the victim of a coup. The Áñez administration accuses him of sedition and treason, saying he has orchestrated anti-government demonstrations in Bolivia.
But this week, he publicly called for dialogue and suggested those behind the blockade protests consider accepting the Oct. 18 election date.


npr--2020-08-11--'Hispanic,' 'Latino,' or 'Latinx'? Survey Says...

We 've been using the term `` Latinx '' on NPR 's Code Switch podcast regularly .
But new research shows it has n't really caught on among Latino adults in the U.S. : While one in four have heard of the term , only 3 % use it .
The Pew Research Center 's national survey of Latinos queried more than 3,000 respondents about the term Latinx , and I spoke with their director of global migration and demography research , Mark Hugo Lopez , about their findings .
Our conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ adults living in the United States , you found that only three percent self-identify as Latinx .
What 's being used instead ?
What we found is that `` Hispanic '' is preferred by far .
Then , Latino , and finally , as you noted , a very small share say that they prefer Latinx .
But there 's another important finding in the report , which is about awareness of the term .
Latinx is a relatively new umbrella term on the scene .
It 's been around for about 20 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — in the last five or six years— really begun to be used widely in the news media , in pop culture and by corporations .
Universities have been using it for a while , but only about a quarter of people in this population say they 've actually heard the term .
So the term is relatively unknown to the population it 's meant to describe .
You say it 's been around for 20 years .
That 's longer than I thought .
Where did it originate ?
There 's actually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to 2004 , the beginning of Google Trends ' search data .
However , in the '90s , there were a lot of changes at universities .
For example - Chicano studies programs were renamed Chicana/o studies , to better represent the experiences of both men and women , to be gender inclusive .
As people were searching for a way to be inclusive , Latinx emerged sometime in the late ' 90s .
That 's the earliest reference that I found as we were doing this study .
But it did start @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Pulse nightclub shooting .
Latinx is a term that is gender inclusive and inclusive of LGBT adults .
That 's where you started to see it in headlines and in news coverage .
And that may have led to more Google searches .
There have been other events , like when Elizabeth Warren used it .
But we saw the highest level of searches in June of 2020 , more than we 've ever seen relative to the past , so we 're actually at a high point right now .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that does n't mean that 's the term people want to use to describe themselves .
So , who are the 3 % your survey says self-identify as Latinx ?
It is young people , people ages 18 to 29 who are most likely to be aware of the term .
Forty-two percent of them , for example , say that they 've heard the term Latinx .
Interestingly , only seven percent of that group actually use the term to describe themselves .
Another group that uses it more than others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are also more likely to use it .
And interestingly , the one group that uses it the most is young Hispanic women ages 18 to 29 .
About 14 percent of Hispanic women say that they use the term to describe themselves .
That 's almost one in seven people , and that 's one of the highest shares of use that we see among the data that we collected .
We 've done stories on the Code Switch podcast about the birth of the pan-ethnic label to refer to people in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Latin America .
And we know how hard-won those labels were , whether it 's Hispanic or Latino .
But , based on your research , people would still rather identify based on country of origin , not based on these broad umbrella terms .
That 's right .
We found over the years , over 15 years of surveys , that when it comes to the labels that people want to use to describe themselves , more often than not , they prefer their country of origin .
That 's true particularly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ true even of U.S.-born Hispanics or Latinos who are the children of U.S.-born parents .
Into the third generation , oftentimes the most common term used references the country of origin , like Mexican , Dominican , Cuban or Puerto Rican .
And that 's something that 's been pretty strong over the years .
In your research over the last two decades , specifically on this issue , do you feel like the adoption of pan-ethnic labels is becoming more popular ?
That 's a really great question , because there are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are impacting the way in which this population that we 're talking about sees itself .
About a quarter of all newlyweds who are Latino have a spouse who 's non-Latino .
And that 's been true for about 30 years .
But , an inflow of new immigrants during the 1980s , '90s and into the 2000s softened the impact of that of intermarriage in terms of identity .
But now it 's US births that are the biggest source of growth of the Latino population .
What does this mean in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that , for example , among immigrants , nearly 90 % will say they 're Hispanic .
Among U.S.-born children of immigrant parents of this heritage , you 'll also find about 90 % will self-identify as Hispanic .
But by the third generation that falls to about 75 % .
And then by the fourth generation , only half of them self-identify as Hispanic .
So what happens to the identity and self-identifying with this group over the course of several decades with high rates of intermarriage and without a new inflow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for this population in terms of how they identify ?
What pan-ethnic label do you use ?
I heard you say Hispanic and Latino a lot .
The Pew Research Center uses them interchangeably in our reports , as does the U.S. Census Bureau .
For me personally , it varies depending on where I 'm at , because it does matter who asks .
For example , I might say I 'm Hispanic in a certain part of the country .
I 'm here in Southern California right now , here I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dad had been in the Chicano movement in the '60s and '70s locally , and so it was important to identify as such .
And when I travel abroad , for example , I might actually say that I 'm American because most people in Europe , for example , may not be aware of the distinctions between Hispanic , Latino , etc .
And if I am in other parts of the country , I might use Latino .
It depends how I feel that day .
I think that 's really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ change depending on the circumstances , who 's asking and how and where they are .

'Hispanic,' 'Latino,' Or 'Latinx'? Survey Says ...
Enlarge this image toggle caption Raul Arboleda/AFP via Getty Images Raul Arboleda/AFP via Getty Images
We've been using the term "Latinx" on NPR's Code Switch podcast regularly. But new research shows it hasn't really caught on among Latino adults in the U.S.: While one in four have heard of the term, only 3% use it.
The Pew Research Center's national survey of Latinos queried more than 3,000 respondents about the term Latinx, and I spoke with their director of global migration and demography research, Mark Hugo Lopez, about their findings. Our conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
In Pew's latest survey of Latinx adults living in the United States, you found that only three percent self-identify as Latinx. What's being used instead?
What we found is that "Hispanic" is preferred by far. Then, Latino, and finally, as you noted, a very small share say that they prefer Latinx. But there's another important finding in the report, which is about awareness of the term. Latinx is a relatively new umbrella term on the scene. It's been around for about 20 years, but it's only recently — in the last five or six years— really begun to be used widely in the news media, in pop culture and by corporations. Universities have been using it for a while, but only about a quarter of people in this population say they've actually heard the term. So the term is relatively unknown to the population it's meant to describe.
You say it's been around for 20 years. That's longer than I thought. Where did it originate?
There's actually been Google searches all the way back to 2004, the beginning of Google Trends' search data. However, in the '90s, there were a lot of changes at universities. For example - Chicano studies programs were renamed Chicana/o studies, to better represent the experiences of both men and women, to be gender inclusive.
As people were searching for a way to be inclusive, Latinx emerged sometime in the late' 90s. That's the earliest reference that I found as we were doing this study. But it did start to rise in use, especially after the Pulse nightclub shooting. Latinx is a term that is gender inclusive and inclusive of LGBT adults. That's where you started to see it in headlines and in news coverage. And that may have led to more Google searches. There have been other events, like when Elizabeth Warren used it. But we saw the highest level of searches in June of 2020, more than we've ever seen relative to the past, so we're actually at a high point right now. But just because there are more Google searches, that doesn't mean that's the term people want to use to describe themselves.
So, who are the 3% your survey says self-identify as Latinx?
It is young people, people ages 18 to 29 who are most likely to be aware of the term. Forty-two percent of them, for example, say that they've heard the term Latinx. Interestingly, only seven percent of that group actually use the term to describe themselves. Another group that uses it more than others are college-educated people. U.S.-born English speakers are also more likely to use it.
And interestingly, the one group that uses it the most is young Hispanic women ages 18 to 29. About 14 percent of Hispanic women say that they use the term to describe themselves. That's almost one in seven people, and that's one of the highest shares of use that we see among the data that we collected.
We've done stories on the Code Switch podcast about the birth of the pan-ethnic label to refer to people in the U.S. who trace their roots to Latin America. And we know how hard-won those labels were, whether it's Hispanic or Latino. But, based on your research, people would still rather identify based on country of origin, not based on these broad umbrella terms.
That's right. We found over the years, over 15 years of surveys, that when it comes to the labels that people want to use to describe themselves, more often than not, they prefer their country of origin. That's true particularly of immigrants, but it's also true even of U.S.-born Hispanics or Latinos who are the children of U.S.-born parents. Into the third generation, oftentimes the most common term used references the country of origin, like Mexican, Dominican, Cuban or Puerto Rican. And that's something that's been pretty strong over the years.
In your research over the last two decades, specifically on this issue, do you feel like the adoption of pan-ethnic labels is becoming more popular?
That's a really great question, because there are a number of demographic trends underway that are impacting the way in which this population that we're talking about sees itself. About a quarter of all newlyweds who are Latino have a spouse who's non-Latino. And that's been true for about 30 years. But, an inflow of new immigrants during the 1980s, '90s and into the 2000s softened the impact of that of intermarriage in terms of identity. But now it's US births that are the biggest source of growth of the Latino population.
What does this mean in terms of self-identification? You'll find that, for example, among immigrants, nearly 90% will say they're Hispanic/Latino. Among U.S.-born children of immigrant parents of this heritage, you'll also find about 90%will self-identify as Hispanic/Latino. But by the third generation that falls to about 75%. And then by the fourth generation, only half of them self-identify as Hispanic/Latino.
So what happens to the identity and self-identifying with this group over the course of several decades with high rates of intermarriage and without a new inflow of immigrants? What would that mean for this population in terms of how they identify?
What pan-ethnic label do you use? I heard you say Hispanic and Latino a lot.
The Pew Research Center uses them interchangeably in our reports, as does the U.S. Census Bureau. For me personally, it varies depending on where I'm at, because it does matter who asks. For example, I might say I'm Hispanic in a certain part of the country. I'm here in Southern California right now, here I tend to use Chicano, because my dad had been in the Chicano movement in the '60s and '70s locally, and so it was important to identify as such. And when I travel abroad, for example, I might actually say that I'm American because most people in Europe, for example, may not be aware of the distinctions between Hispanic, Latino, etc. And if I am in other parts of the country, I might use Latino. It depends how I feel that day. I think that's really important here, what people use can change depending on the circumstances, who's asking and how and where they are.


npr--2020-08-11--The Big Ten, Pac-12 Postpone Football, Other Fall Sports Over Coronavirus Concerns

The Big Ten , Pac-12 Postpone Football , Other Fall Sports Over Coronavirus Concerns Two major college conferences — the Big Ten and Pac-12 — each announced Tuesday they were sidelining college football and other fall sports because of the coronavirus , just weeks before schools were scheduled to play their first games .
The Big Ten , which includes universities with powerhouse sports programs , such as Ohio State , Michigan , Nebraska , Wisconsin , Penn State and Michigan State , said it will look at holding some competitions in the spring .
The Pac-12 , which includes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ USC and University of Oregon , announced shortly after the Big Ten , adding that officials reached a unanimous decision to call off athletic competition through the calendar year .
`` Our primary responsibility is to make the best possible decisions in the interest of our students , faculty and staff , '' said Morton Schapiro , chair of the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors and president of Northwestern University , in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon .
In addition to football , the Big Ten 's decision postpones fall sports such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ women 's volleyball .
Under the college schedule , basketball is categorized as a winter sport .
News that the Big Ten would postpone or cancel the 2020-21 football season was first reported by the Detroit Free Press on Monday .
`` The health , safety and well-being of our student-athletes and all those connected to Pac-12 sports has been our number one priority since the start of this current crisis , '' said Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said in a statement .
`` Our student-athletes , fans , staff and all those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have seen the season played this calendar year as originally planned , and we know how disappointing this is . ''
The Pac-12 also said that when conditions improve , a return for impacted sports would be considered after January .
All of the Power Five conferences – the Big Ten , Southeastern Conference , Atlantic Coast Conference , Pac-12 and Big 12 – had previously announced their schools would be playing almost entirely within their own conferences for the upcoming season , hoping to preserve a popular fall ritual and fulfill TV @ @ @ @ @ @ @ each year .
The Big Ten was among the first Football Bowl Subdivision conferences to adopt the conference-only plan — and now , it 's among the first to abandon it .
Other Power Five conferences could follow suit , but the SEC commissioner said late Tuesday his conference still intends to play .
Sportscaster Dan Patrick announced on his radio program Monday , `` The ACC and the Big 12 are on the fence .
The SEC is trying to get a delay to have teams join them . ''
Patrick added @ @ @ @ @ @ @ SEC is seeking exclusive television contracts and might bring in other schools , including some from the ACC and from Big 12 conference , to play games .
The setback for fall sports comes days after the U.S. surpassed 5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases — by far the most in the world , according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center .
Not everyone in the Big Ten agreed with the decision .
As rumors of the move circulated on Monday , Nebraska head football coach Scott Frost told reporters that his university @ @ @ @ @ @ @ matter what that looks like . ''
Frost even left the door open to playing outside his conference , adding , `` we 're prepared to look for other options . ''
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh also pushed for playing games , saying , `` This virus can be controlled . ''
`` I 'm not advocating for football this fall because of my passion or our players desire to play but because of the facts accumulated over the last eight weeks since our players returned to campus on June 13 , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also outlined several benchmarks that he says the Michigan program has met since football players returned to campus in June , including `` zero positive tests among the coaches and staff over the entire eight weeks of testing '' and `` zero pauses in our training . ''
`` This is n't easy .
This is hard , '' Harbaugh said .
`` We respect the challenge that the virus has presented .
however we will not cower from it . ''
Alabama coach Nick Saban agreed , telling ESPN on Monday that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ structure of his football program — if the season remains intact .
`` I know I 'll be criticized no matter what I say , that I do n't care about player safety , '' said Saban , who coaches in the SEC .
`` Look , players are a lot safer with us than they are running around at home .
We have around a 2 % positive ratio on our team since the Fourth of the July .
It 's a lot higher than that in society , '' Saban said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ca n't get this unless they play football .
They can get it anywhere , whether they 're in a bar or just hanging out . ''
The Big Ten is sidelining fall sports less than a week after the conference announced plans to hold a 10-game , conference-only schedule that could kick off as early as Sept. 5 .
But as news about the looming change emerged , Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse , a Republican , sent a letter Monday to the presidents and chancellors of the Big Ten , telling them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ college football season . ''
`` Life is about tradeoffs , '' Sasse , a former president of Midland University in Fremont , Neb.
, wrote , adding that `` these young men need a season . ''
`` There are no guarantees that college football will be completely safe — that 's absolutely true ; it 's always true .
But the structure and discipline of football programs is very likely safer than what the lived experience of 18- to 22-year-olds will be if there is n't a season , '' Sasse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump lent his support to college athletes , coaches and fans who are urging conference officials to allow football games to go ahead .
`` Play College Football , '' Trump said in one tweet .
`` The student-athletes have been working too hard for their season to be cancelled , '' Trump said in another tweet that used the hashtag `` WeWantToPlay . ''
The latter was a retweet of Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence , one of several top players who are expressing their desire to take the field — and who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provide safety and equity for players .
The measures include establishing universal health and safety procedures to protect college athletes among all NCAA conferences , allowing those who do n't want to play to opt out and guaranteeing eligibility whether a player chooses to play or not .
The Big Ten announced its decision one day after the Mountain West Conference , which includes Colorado State and Boise State , announced `` the indefinite postponement of all scheduled fall sports contests and MW championship events '' citing virus concerns .
Over the weekend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ postponing `` all scheduled fall contests , as well as MAC championships , due to the concerns related to the COVID-19 global pandemic . ''
The MAC Council of Presidents vote was unanimous .
However , MAC officials said the hope is to hold competition from the fall sports in the spring semester of 2021 , including for football , men 's and women 's cross-country , men 's and women 's soccer , and women 's volleyball .

The Big Ten, Pac-12 Postpone Football, Other Fall Sports Over Coronavirus Concerns
Enlarge this image toggle caption Charlie Neibergall/AP Charlie Neibergall/AP
Updated 6:32 p.m. ET
Two major college conferences — the Big Ten and Pac-12 — each announced Tuesday they were sidelining college football and other fall sports because of the coronavirus, just weeks before schools were scheduled to play their first games.
The Big Ten, which includes universities with powerhouse sports programs, such as Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan State, said it will look at holding some competitions in the spring.
The Pac-12, which includes elite sports programs Stanford, UCLA, USC and University of Oregon, announced shortly after the Big Ten, adding that officials reached a unanimous decision to call off athletic competition through the calendar year.
"Our primary responsibility is to make the best possible decisions in the interest of our students, faculty and staff," said Morton Schapiro, chair of the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors and president of Northwestern University, in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon.
In addition to football, the Big Ten's decision postpones fall sports such as cross-country, field hockey, soccer and women's volleyball. Under the college schedule, basketball is categorized as a winter sport.
News that the Big Ten would postpone or cancel the 2020-21 football season was first reported by the Detroit Free Press on Monday.
"The health, safety and well-being of our student-athletes and all those connected to Pac-12 sports has been our number one priority since the start of this current crisis," said Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said in a statement.
"Our student-athletes, fans, staff and all those who love college sports would like to have seen the season played this calendar year as originally planned, and we know how disappointing this is."
The Pac-12 also said that when conditions improve, a return for impacted sports would be considered after January.
All of the Power Five conferences – the Big Ten, Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, Pac-12 and Big 12 – had previously announced their schools would be playing almost entirely within their own conferences for the upcoming season, hoping to preserve a popular fall ritual and fulfill TV contracts that bring in billions of dollars each year.
The Big Ten was among the first Football Bowl Subdivision conferences to adopt the conference-only plan — and now, it's among the first to abandon it.
Other Power Five conferences could follow suit, but the SEC commissioner said late Tuesday his conference still intends to play.
Sportscaster Dan Patrick announced on his radio program Monday, "The ACC and the Big 12 are on the fence. The SEC is trying to get a delay to have teams join them."
Patrick added that a source told him that the SEC is seeking exclusive television contracts and might bring in other schools, including some from the ACC and from Big 12 conference, to play games.
The setback for fall sports comes days after the U.S. surpassed 5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases — by far the most in the world, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center.
College head coaches speak out
Not everyone in the Big Ten agreed with the decision.
As rumors of the move circulated on Monday, Nebraska head football coach Scott Frost told reporters that his university "is committed to playing ... no matter what that looks like." Frost even left the door open to playing outside his conference, adding, "we're prepared to look for other options."
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh also pushed for playing games, saying, "This virus can be controlled."
"I'm not advocating for football this fall because of my passion or our players desire to play but because of the facts accumulated over the last eight weeks since our players returned to campus on June 13," Harbaugh wrote in a statement.
He also outlined several benchmarks that he says the Michigan program has met since football players returned to campus in June, including "zero positive tests among the coaches and staff over the entire eight weeks of testing" and "zero pauses in our training."
"This isn't easy. This is hard," Harbaugh said. "We respect the challenge that the virus has presented. however we will not cower from it."
Alabama coach Nick Saban agreed, telling ESPN on Monday that players would be safer living under the structure of his football program — if the season remains intact.
"I know I'll be criticized no matter what I say, that I don't care about player safety," said Saban, who coaches in the SEC.
"Look, players are a lot safer with us than they are running around at home. We have around a 2% positive ratio on our team since the Fourth of the July. It's a lot higher than that in society," Saban said. "We act like these guys can't get this unless they play football. They can get it anywhere, whether they're in a bar or just hanging out."
Making "tradeoffs"
The Big Ten is sidelining fall sports less than a week after the conference announced plans to hold a 10-game, conference-only schedule that could kick off as early as Sept. 5.
But as news about the looming change emerged, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican, sent a letter Monday to the presidents and chancellors of the Big Ten, telling them, "We should not cancel the college football season."
"Life is about tradeoffs," Sasse, a former president of Midland University in Fremont, Neb., wrote, adding that "these young men need a season."
"There are no guarantees that college football will be completely safe — that's absolutely true; it's always true. But the structure and discipline of football programs is very likely safer than what the lived experience of 18- to 22-year-olds will be if there isn't a season," Sasse wrote.
Trump tweets
On Monday afternoon, President Trump lent his support to college athletes, coaches and fans who are urging conference officials to allow football games to go ahead.
"Play College Football," Trump said in one tweet.
"The student-athletes have been working too hard for their season to be cancelled," Trump said in another tweet that used the hashtag "WeWantToPlay."
The latter was a retweet of Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, one of several top players who are expressing their desire to take the field — and who are calling for measures they say would provide safety and equity for players.
The measures include establishing universal health and safety procedures to protect college athletes among all NCAA conferences, allowing those who don't want to play to opt out and guaranteeing eligibility whether a player chooses to play or not.
The Big Ten announced its decision one day after the Mountain West Conference, which includes Colorado State and Boise State, announced "the indefinite postponement of all scheduled fall sports contests and MW championship events" citing virus concerns.
Over the weekend, the Mid-American Conference announced it was postponing "all scheduled fall contests, as well as MAC championships, due to the concerns related to the COVID-19 global pandemic."
The MAC Council of Presidents vote was unanimous.
However, MAC officials said the hope is to hold competition from the fall sports in the spring semester of 2021, including for football, men's and women's cross-country, men's and women's soccer, and women's volleyball.


npr--2020-08-11--Navajo Nation Asks Trump To Commute Death Sentence Of Native Man Facing Execution

As the U.S. government prepares to execute Lezmond Mitchell , the only Native American man on federal death row , the leaders of the Navajo Nation have asked President Trump to reduce Mitchell 's sentence to life imprisonment .
`` We strongly hold to our cultural , traditional , and religious beliefs that life is sacred , '' Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer wrote in a recent letter .
Mitchell is scheduled to be executed on Aug. 26 .
The federal government recently resumed executions after a 17-year hiatus .
( Capital punishment is used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the federal government . )
But putting Mitchell to death would violate Navajo beliefs , Nez and Lizer say .
And they add that his execution would challenge tribal sovereignty .
Mitchell and a co-defendant , both of whom are Navajo , killed a Navajo woman and her 9-year-old granddaughter on a Navajo reservation in 2001 .
Federal prosecutors typically ca n't seek the death penalty for a major crime committed on a reservation without the tribe 's approval , and most tribes reject capital punishment .
The Navajo Nation did not agree @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's murder charges .
So federal prosecutors also charged him with carjacking , a lesser offense , and they were able to seek the death penalty on that charge over the tribe 's objections .
The Mitchell case would be the first time in the modern history of the death penalty that the federal government executed a Native American for a crime committed entirely on tribal lands and against fellow tribe members .
The Navajo leaders say that since 2002 , the tribe has repeatedly informed the U.S. government `` of the Navajo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Mr. Mitchell 's case citing Navajo cultural teachings that stress the sanctity of life and instruct against the taking of human life for vengeance . ''
They note that the daughter and mother of the victims also opposes the death sentence in this case .
Pursuing the death penalty anyway has `` marginalized '' the sovereignty of the Navajo Nation , Nez and Lizer say .
Mitchell has appealed his conviction , arguing racial bias may have tainted his jury trial .
His appeal was rejected this spring by the Ninth Circuit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as they allowed his execution to move forward , two judges wrote opinions expressing deep concerns about the federal government 's actions in Mitchell 's case .
Judge Morgan Christen called the pursuit of the death penalty in the case `` a betrayal of a promise made to the Navajo Nation . ''
She agreed that the government was acting within the bounds of the law .
`` But that the government had the right to make this decision does not necessarily make it right , '' wrote Christen 's colleague , Judge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consider using his authority to call off the execution .
The Navajo Nation sent its plea to the president a week and a half ago ; a spokesman tells NPR the tribe has not yet received a response .

Navajo Nation Asks Trump To Commute Death Sentence Of Native Man Facing Execution
As the U.S. government prepares to execute Lezmond Mitchell, the only Native American man on federal death row, the leaders of the Navajo Nation have asked President Trump to reduce Mitchell's sentence to life imprisonment.
"We strongly hold to our cultural, traditional, and religious beliefs that life is sacred," Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer wrote in a recent letter.
Mitchell is scheduled to be executed on Aug. 26. The federal government recently resumed executions after a 17-year hiatus. (Capital punishment is used more frequently by the states than by the federal government.)
But putting Mitchell to death would violate Navajo beliefs, Nez and Lizer say. And they add that his execution would challenge tribal sovereignty.
Mitchell and a co-defendant, both of whom are Navajo, killed a Navajo woman and her 9-year-old granddaughter on a Navajo reservation in 2001. Federal prosecutors typically can't seek the death penalty for a major crime committed on a reservation without the tribe's approval, and most tribes reject capital punishment.
The Navajo Nation did not agree with pursuing the death penalty for Mitchell's murder charges. So federal prosecutors also charged him with carjacking, a lesser offense, and they were able to seek the death penalty on that charge over the tribe's objections.
The Mitchell case would be the first time in the modern history of the death penalty that the federal government executed a Native American for a crime committed entirely on tribal lands and against fellow tribe members.
The Navajo leaders say that since 2002, the tribe has repeatedly informed the U.S. government "of the Navajo Nation's opposition to the death penalty in Mr. Mitchell's case citing Navajo cultural teachings that stress the sanctity of life and instruct against the taking of human life for vengeance."
They note that the daughter and mother of the victims also opposes the death sentence in this case.
Pursuing the death penalty anyway has "marginalized" the sovereignty of the Navajo Nation, Nez and Lizer say.
Mitchell has appealed his conviction, arguing racial bias may have tainted his jury trial. His appeal was rejected this spring by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
However, even as they allowed his execution to move forward, two judges wrote opinions expressing deep concerns about the federal government's actions in Mitchell's case. Judge Morgan Christen called the pursuit of the death penalty in the case "a betrayal of a promise made to the Navajo Nation."
She agreed that the government was acting within the bounds of the law.
"But that the government had the right to make this decision does not necessarily make it right," wrote Christen's colleague, Judge Andrew Hurwitz. He suggested President Trump consider using his authority to call off the execution.
The Navajo Nation sent its plea to the president a week and a half ago; a spokesman tells NPR the tribe has not yet received a response.