Betsy Bayha
US Immigration Debate
The impact of new arrivals to the US on the economy and on government spending is already a hot topic. But now the Census Bureau is projecting that immigration will help push the US population up by half, to at least 400 million by the year 2050. That kind of forecast has many who are […]
Making the Most out of Wastewater
Betsy Bayha of member station KQED in San Francisco visits the northern California town of Arcata, where conventional secondary sewage treatment has been replaced by a specially designed marsh. Arcata officials say the new wetland area cleans the wastewater more cheaply than a conventional system, with the added benefit of being a wildlife sanctuary and […]
Crowding out the Trees
Summer has arrived and frugal-minded, ecology-conscious vacationers are foregoing traditional amusement parks for the real thing: national parks. But their increasing numbers are wearing on the parks’ resources and increasing pollution and traffic in the fragile park environments. Betsy Bayha reports on the effects on one of America’s most famous and most vulnerable national parks: […]