The Red Folder

Archived from May 20, 2024. 

Key stories for the week, brought to you by Lindsey Zhao and the Red Folder team.

Reading for the sake of reading sucks. Telling yourself to read to win a round is nice but ineffective. This condensed news brief helps you understand current domestic and international issues, analyze the news, and gives you opportunities to read more.

Domestic Stories

3 key domestic stories for the week:

1) Secret Tunnel, Secret Tunnel, Through the (Delta) Lindsey Zhao

As California faces the devastating impacts of climate change, one stands out: sustained droughts that make an already existing water crisis from over-pumping underground aquifers even worse. Even despite a record amount of rainfall in 2023, California’s drought resilience remains in question as their main sources of water, from the Colorado River to aquifers, become severely depleted. 


So, in December of 2023, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) approved a controversial project known as the Delta Conveyance Project, or the Delta Tunnel, that’s been in the works for over six decades. Essentially, it would build a 44.6 mile long tunnel to divert billions of gallons of water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in Northern California into southern cities. It’s designed to store the excess rainwater that falls in California, to be saved until the state needs extra water in times of drought. If it were completed, it would be one of the largest water tunnels in the world, and it could supply more than 9.5 million people in the state with water every year. 


But there’s a reason why it’s taken so long to be approved. While it was initially expected to cost roughly $16 billion, that number has now ballooned to over $20 billion. That’s pretty hard to swallow for a state that’s seen recent financial trouble, especially considering taxpayer money was used to plan this project. Environmental groups are also massively concerned about the project putting the delta in peril. Their fears are not unfounded- as one of the largest water supply systems in the world, it already contributes to water for over 60% of Californians. This project would drain even more water from a fragile ecosystem, potentially sapping freshwater flows for fish, agriculture, and wildlife in the 1100 square mile delta. Beyond the huge environmental implications, it would also take roughly 15 years to construct.


California officials released a report this week measuring the costs and benefits of the project. They found that the total benefits would be around $38 billion, far outweighing the $20 billion in costs, arguing it would safeguard the state’s water infrastructure from earthquakes and deliver needed water to the state’s crucial agriculture industry. Because it will be a new project, replacing old, vulnerable pipes will ensure that in the event of earthquakes, fresh water is still available, a safeguard crucial to preventing the spread of disease after a natural disaster. They also set aside $1.2 billion to ‘offset local harms’. 


However, other experts contend that this project wouldn’t work as proposed, since it only bases water estimates off current availability & usage, and not how that would adapt with worsening climate change They are also concerned the report didn’t include the full costs of water treatment, distribution, construction, and displacement of wildlife and local communities.. 


“What better way to address declining salmon populations than by draining their homes? Bravo, Governor, for turning healthy rivers and estuaries into a punchline that harms tens of thousands of families, businesses and employees across California and Oregon.” 


Snarky. We love to see it. 


Environmental groups are not the only ones putting up a struggle against the DWR Delta Tunnel through lawsuits- tribal organizations are also working to protect their homes with a group of environmentalists. In January, a California judge ruled that the DWR isn’t allowed to issue funding bonds for the project, limiting how they’re able to pay for it. What the decision means for citizens is that the state isn’t allowed to use taxpayer money to fund it anymore. Supposedly. 


California is indeed in desperate need for more water for homes and their absolutely ginormous agricultural industry. But the controversial Delta Tunnel currently being proposed is likely to fall short of what it's been promised to do, at the expense of the environment, indigenous communities, and whoever is supposed to finance it. 


Read more here: 

2) Biden, Trump, and their Third Wheel Lindsey Zhao

In a very, very, brave feat of presidentialism (is that even a word?), President Biden agreed to publicly debate former President Donald Trump for two separate occasions, hosted by CNN and ABC in June and September, respectively. Congrats, Joe. We’re all super proud of your ability to make a one sentence announcement. 


But that bravery seems to have gone away. Recently, the television channels, Biden, and Trump confirmed the entry requirements for these debates- for CNN, reaching at least 15% support in one of 4 national polls and being on the ballot in a certain number of states (enough to win at least 270 electoral college votes). Not only did Biden insist the Commission on Presidential Debates, the nonpartisan organization that usually organizes- well- presidential debates, be excluded from the discussion (to be fair, Trump did too) but he’s also insisted on a one-on-one debate. 


That statement might be a little confusing to some- wouldn’t it just be Biden and Trump? And to that, I’d like to remind everyone about their favorite vaccine-denier- RFK Jr., the nephew of former president John F. Kennedy. You can read a mini campaign biography about him here. While both Biden and Trump technically have an interest in keeping third party candidates like RFK Jr. out of the presidential debates, for fear of getting even more voters siphoned from them, Trump has publicly announced that he has no problem with RFK Jr. being at these debates. Biden, on the other hand, appears to be skeptical of whether the candidate truly belongs on a national stage with the two frontrunners. 


That’s a pretty valid fear for either candidate, because the race is already expected to be a close one- the first debate, in fact, is expected to take place in Georgia- the very place Biden eked out a win over Trump in 2020. Neither candidate wants to take the risk that giving a potentially dangerous rival a national platform could bring. 

However, it’s not clear that RFK will even be able to qualify in the first place. The first debate, hosted by CNN, takes place on June 27- leaving just six weeks for RFK to meet CNN’s debate requirements. While he’s met the polling at 15% nationally requirement, the other one could prove substantially more difficult to navigate. In order to qualify, he needs to be able to be on the ballot in enough states that could hypothetically give him 270 electoral college votes (what he would need to win an election). Unfortunately, he’s only on the ballot in roughly 5 states, giving him a total of 84 votes. 


As an independent candidate, RFK must gather hundreds of thousands of signatures from voters across the US to be registered on state ballots. Even with his most valiant efforts, collecting signatures from Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas, they either haven’t been submitted or haven’t been confirmed by electoral officials. Even then, he only has 201 electoral votes. 


“They [Biden & Trump] are trying to exclude me from their debate because they are afraid I would win. Keeping viable candidates off the debate stage undermines democracy.”


With rising voter discontent, independent candidates like RFK Jr. are on the rise. For years, even reaching 10% support as an independent was virtually unheard of. As RFK continues to break barriers, he’s finally being recognized as a real, dangerous opponent for both Biden and Trump- if only because he could take away key support from both candidates. 


Read more here: 

3) The Grid Has Gone Dark AmandaLesly Miranda


Houston, Texas, is currently grappling with a number of significant power outages following a trail of severe weather events that have torn through the area. As of today, there are thousands of residents without reliable electricity, and the catastrophic storms and flooding have substantially damaged the city's infrastructure and caused widespread restoration disruptions.


CenterPoint Energy, the main electricity provider for the larger areas of the region, has reported that their crews are working “around the clock to restore power to local residents and businesses.” The most recent update that they gave indicated that over 100,00 customers are experiencing power outages at peak, but that those affected will have to be patient. Although these restoration efforts are ongoing, they said that customers should expect to randomly lose and regain power during their attempts to restore the entire electrical grid.


The outages from not only CenterPoint, but other large electric companies, have prompted local authorities to open cooling and distribution centers to support the affected residents due to the heatwave currently sweeping the area. These centers are essential as the temperatures in this area continue to rise and the need for cooling becomes at a critical level. According to Paul Robinson, a fellow Red Folder author and resident of Houston, “houses are hitting record-high levels without air conditioning,” with his own house being a solid 81 degrees with humidity, and that's inside of his housing. Due to this, and other complications, CenterPoint and other companies have confirmed that many of their stations are still heavily damaged, and may be experiencing longer restoration times due to the significant damage sustained to their systems.


As the city works to restore normalcy, citizens of the city and the entirety of the United States are left wondering about the success of the power grid system. Many question its safety or reliability, especially after catastrophic disasters such as the torrential storms that took place in Houston these past few days. Houston city officials have reassured residents that they can recover from this, but many of their people wonder what will happen next, and if this can be relied upon should another event take place. Tron was able to establish a working grid, but will Houston be able to restart theirs? Only time will tell.


Read More Here:


The Equality in Forensics News Brief is brought to you by Lindsey Zhao and the News Brief Team:

 

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