The President's Daily Brief - August 23rd, 2022. How Green is Green Energy? The Chinese Government is Coming After our Cows

Episode Date: August 23, 2022

It’s August 23rd. You’re listening to the President’s Daily Brief. Your morning intel starts now. ------ First, Joe Biden is launching a national tour this week to promote his renewable energy revolution, to include electric vehicles. But here’s a question: when people plug those cars in, how green is their electric fuel? That’s an important part of this debate, and that is coming up shortly. As always, I’m keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. The Chinese Government is after America’s cows. Well, we think so. They’ve hacked some agricultural software, and it’s left experts stumped. I’ll explain that bizarre story. And finally, the last thing before I let you go. I got a sharp-elbowed comment from Cam from somewhere in America. He doesn’t like how I pronounce words — one in particular. So I’m going to share with you the word, why it’s a big deal to me, and why it should be to you too. ------ Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief. Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's August 23rd. You're listening to the President's Daily Brief. I'm your host and former CIA Officer Brian Dean Wright. Your morning intel starts now. First up, Joe Biden is launching a national tour this week to promote his renewable energy revolution to include electric vehicles. But here's a question. When people plug those cars in, how green is their electric fuel? That's an important part of this debate, and that is coming up shortly. As always, I'm keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. The Chinese government is after America's cows. Well, at least we think so. They've hacked some agricultural software and it's left experts stumped. I'll explain that bizarre story. And finally, the last thing before I'd let you go,

I got a sharp elbow to comment from Cam somewhere in America. He doesn't like how I pronounce words, one in particular. So I'm going to share with you that word, why it's a pretty big deal for me. why I think it should actually be a big deal for you too. But first, let's get started with today's main brief. Joe Biden is launching a national tour this week to promote the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which, as listeners know, doesn't actually reduce inflation, but it does spend $370 billion to promote renewable energy. So the hope is that eventually this will bankrupt the oil and gas and coal industries and replace all of it with solar and wind. Now, one of the ways that Biden and his supporters hope to make this happen is to encourage and

eventually force consumers to purchase electric vehicles. Biden has said that by the year 2030, he wants at least 50% of the cars sold in America to be electric vehicles. Now, there are some very important national security implications for these policies, and it's why I've spoken about it so much on the PDB. For instance, most of the batteries inside those electric cars are not made. in America. Instead, they are largely made in China. So Tesla, for instance, just signed long-term deals with two of its existing Chinese battery suppliers for its electric vehicles in this country.

Ford, meanwhile, is buying a huge volume of Chinese batteries for its Mustang Mock-E and for the F-150 lightning pickup truck. Now, those battery manufacturers in China don't just make the batteries. They or their Chinese comrades also control. the batteries materials, the cobalt and the lithium inside. And those materials come from foreign mines in places like the Congo, frankly, largely controlled by China too. But one thing that we haven't talked a lot about on the PDB, but really we should, is what kind of power is going into those batteries? In other words, let's say that you buy an electric vehicle, you bring it home and you plug her in. So how green or renewable is the power that you are putting inside that battery

inside your green vehicle? Because that's really important. Consumers are being asked to buy these electric vehicles all based on the premise that they are stopping climate change. But how true is that? So putting aside the debate of whether or not climate change is even real, what is the source of that electricity that is going into the green vehicle? Well, Over the past month, a PDB researcher and I have been asking that last question. We have been calling cities all around America to ask, how green is your grid? So here's what we found. First, a whole bunch of America's local and state utilities do not want to share this information.

In city after city, they claimed that either they didn't know their energy mix, in other words, what's renewable and what's not, or they couldn't release the information. For example, in Seattle, Washington, they were just rude and very, very suspicious of why we wanted to know the information, like it was some sort of state secret. And then there was Portland, Oregon. They said that our question was actually a good one, and they hadn't thought of it. So they had to do some digging, which is just sort of bizarre, the responses from both of those cities. I mean, if we are switching to all renewables in this country, shouldn't consumers have a right to know where we're? we are currently at in that energy mix and how far we have to go, plus the plan to get there and

how expensive it will be. Well, regardless of the roadblocks, my researcher and I moved forward and we got some information through some, well, creative ways, but regardless, we got it. So let me share with you what we learned. In Seattle, Washington, around 96% of their energy comes from renewable sources, wind, solar, and hydro. In fact, most of it, 86% is hydropower. So why the secrecy from Seattle? Because you would think that in that very heavily Democrat city, they would celebrate that they are eco-friendly. Well, I'm not exactly sure why they were so cagey, but I have a suspicion, and I think it has to do with fish. So to back up just a touch, Seattle gets most of its electricity from four dams that they both own and operate. Plus, they both own.

bypower from dams operated by the Bonneville Power Administration. Regardless, all of the dams are on rivers that used to have big runs of native salmon. But environmentalists and Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest have for decades waged war against dams. Because, at least their argument goes, dams block the fish from properly swimming past the big structures, never mind the fish ladders, but regardless, it prevents them from spawning a new generation. Now, there is debate about the extent to which that is true in any particular year, but regardless, the solution for environmental activists and many tribes is to rip out all of the dams. And there are plans to do just that at some point in the future, all throughout the northwest.

And if that were to come to pass, there would be an avalanche of issues to deal with. But for folks in Seattle with their electric vehicles, they could start with this. With the dams gone, what renewable and energy? energy source will you build? Because it's probably not going to be solar. They only have on average about 130 to 150 days of sunshine in any particular year. Now, as for wind, there is nothing on the drawing board of potential Seattle projects that comes close to replacing the lost hydro power. Now, there is some conversation about an offshore wind project in the Pacific Ocean, but that wouldn't be operational for years. And again, it still wouldn't have enough power nor it will

reliable power to replace the dams. So all of this is to say that I suspect that the leaders of Seattle are reluctant to publicly discuss their hydro energy because for their environmental community, it's not green enough. And that is an uncomfortable matter to admit. All right, let's next talk about Seattle's little sister, Portland, Oregon. Only 35% of Portland's energy comes from renewable sources, and most of that is from dams. But just like, like in Seattle, those dams have runs of endangered salmon. And the environmentalists and native communities in that area want those dams out too. So what would they replace all of these dams with that they tore them out? Well, the city of Portland is not real sure. Much like Seattle, Portland is gray for most

of the year and no good for industrial solar. And as for wind, well, there's some, but it's not enough or sufficiently reliable to replace the lost hydro power. So once again, Democrats in Portland, just like Seattle, want to rip out their green hydro energy because it's just not green enough. Now, what's fascinating to me about this not green enough movement? It's that it's pretty widespread when it comes to all energy projects, including renewable. About 10 years ago, the Portland Autobon Society and Oregon Natural Desert Organization opposed to the a windmill project in the Steens Mountains. Now the reason was that the transmission lines would scar the natural beauty of the area and threaten migratory routes of big horn sheep and golden eagles

and sage grouse. Meanwhile, in California, environmental groups like natural resources defense council and the Sierra Club once opposed the Soda Mountain Solar Farm because of impacts that it could have on the big horn sheep and the desert tortoise. So all in all, folks, here is what my researcher and I kept finding over the past month making these calls. First, local utilities were not cooperative or were actually very surprised to be asked how green their grid actually is. Second, there was a wild mix of energy sources in cities all across the country, meaning that when you plug in your green car, that electric fuel might not be green at all. For instance, Jacksonville, Florida is about 1% renewable. So finally, we were struck by Democrat groups in

places like Seattle and Portland who want to actually tear down renewable energy projects like dams, but at the same time, they are also opposed to building up new projects, including solar and wind, which really left us scratching our heads, wondering what is this really all about? Because when you put the environmental argument together, logically, it seems like their goal is for us all to have no power, live in tents and eat bugs, I guess. So those are the facts this morning, and if I were briefing you in the White House, here would be my counsel and personal advice. There's an old expression that I keep thinking of when I discuss the green energy revolution.

The first casualty in war is truth. Right now there is unquestionably a war on traditional energy, like oil and gas and coal. And that's not really up for debate anymore. Not because I wouldn't welcome that debate, but that is in fact what we have heard repeatedly and quite clearly from Joe Biden and others. And in that war, what's become obvious is that we have lost truth. But we should remind ourselves of truth, so here's some of it. The battery packs in your electric vehicle are almost certainly not made in America, but instead in China, with metals coming from mines operated and controlled by the Chinese government.

And yes, the truth is that when you plug in your electric vehicle, that electricity may not be as green as you think or as green as environmentalist eventually want it to be. So what do you do about all this as a consumer? I mean, how does one person respond to this lack of truth or at least the incomplete telling of it? Well, start locally, just like I did. You can call, email, or visit your local utility. Ask them what their current energy mix is, what their goals are for the future and their plan to get there. In fact, I would be fascinated to know. what you learn. You all know my email address. It's PDB at thefirsttv.com. Meanwhile, really press these folks at your utilities on where their green energy infrastructure is coming from.

For instance, the solar panels. Is it China? Folks, you all really have some control on this one. It's a local and a state issue, unlike a lot of things that we discuss on the PDB, which tend to be international. But regardless, once you get all the information from your utility, Ask the owner of an electric vehicle in your town how green their electric fuel is when they plug in. Not to be a smart aleck or nasty, but to start a conversation. Because the truth that comes from that dialogue is the truth that America really needs. Coming up, ladies and gentlemen, a closer look at what's on my radar. One quick brief for you on China.

They're apparently hacking software related to America's cows. And that's bizarre. We'll be right back. It said everything happens for a reason, but maybe everything happens for a recess. Take noise-canceling headphones. Do they block hearing to heighten taste? Hmm. That sound seems to show. Everything happens for a recess. Welcome back to the PDB folks. As always, I'm watching a few other stories this morning. Put this one on your radar. China is after America's cows. Well, maybe. That's the surprising finding of an investigation into the cyberhousing.

of a web-based software that monitors America's livestock. And it was done by hackers closely affiliated with the Chinese government. So here's what we know about this very bizarre story. Last March, there was a report released by U.S. cybersecurity firm Mandiant. And what they found was that 18 states were using a web-based software known as the Animal Health Emergency Reporting Diagnostic System, or USA Herds. It's a software that state government, used to track and trace animal diseases in America's livestock.

Now, what Mandiant discovered was that the Chinese cyber espionage group APT-41, they used a vulnerability in that USA Herds software to penetrate the state government servers that the software was running on. Now, once inside those servers, the Chinese could steal information on not only our livestock, but potentially use those state servers and the access as a leapfrog into other state systems too. But what exactly are the Chinese communists after here? Well, that's really unclear.

The most obvious is something related to our agricultural system and our animal diseases. Now, it could also be that the herd software was just a vulnerable tollhold into a state government servers. And once they were in, they got, well, whatever they were really looking for or looking to do. Now, up until late last week, Mandiant kept very quiet on which 18 states were targeted, by the Chinese. However, after a freedom of information required by an investigative journalist, we know the identity of at least one state, and that is Montana. Now, you may be interested to know that when Montana was asked to release the documents related to this hack, well, they did,

but they blacked out large sections of every single page, making specific details impossible to know. So one final piece here. Beijing was asked for a response to this. hack, and they said this, that their government opposes all cyber attacks and would never support or encourage such activity. Well, we all know that that is a lie. We'll be right back in just a minute with that sharp elbowed comment from a listener named Cam. We'll see you shortly. This is a Bose moment. Your 10 boring blocks from home until the beat drops in Bose clarity. And the baseline transforms boring into maybe the best part of your Your life deserves music.

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Subscribe now at Bloomberg.com. Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. I've got one more thing for you before I let you go. I got a rather sharp comment from Cam, from somewhere in America, and he didn't like how I pronounced a word from yesterday's podcast, so here's his comment. Brian, while I realize that a former president of the U.S. also failed to correctly pronounce the word nuclear, well, that does not give license for you to do the same. There is clearly only one instance of the letter U in the word nuclear,

and it makes it difficult to listen to the PDB when you continue to mispronounce it. So please, Do better. Well, all right, Cam. Let's talk about that word, spelled N-U-C-L-E-A-R. Now, many people pronounce that word as nuclear, and that's how Cam wants me to say it. But others say it, nuclear. And that's how President Dwight Eisenhower said it too,

and it appears me. But that's not why I care about Cam's comment, nor why I bother to tell you all about it. I want to tell you a story. I grew up in a very rural area with a farming and a ranching family. My dad was the first one to go to any kind of advanced schooling. He got an associate's degree in welding. So when my siblings and I all went through public high school and on to college,

that was a really big deal for us. But our humble beginnings were sometimes held against us. For example, when I first started at the CIA, I was at a big fancy meeting and there were lots of fancy people around the table. and I mispronounced the name of a capital city in Europe. And the man running the meeting stopped. He pointed it out and everybody laughed. Well, everybody laughed except me.

In the 20 years since then, I've learned something about the people like that man and those who laughed. There are people with Ivy League educations, PhDs after their last names. They run places like the CIA and the FBI, the State Department, and the White House, because as they like to remind us, they are smarter, and they can pronounce words properly. But here's what I have also learned. Those same smart people got us into a 20-year war with Afghanistan and we lost. They also got us into a war in Iraq, a war that spread Islamic

terrorism throughout the region and turned that country from a dictatorship to a hellscape. They also fueled the rise of China, allowing the communist regime to grow into the most unimaginable threat that this nation has ever seen. And that's just the foreign policy world. The CDC just admitted that they botched their response to the COVID pandemic. And that is an organization full of nothing but MDs and PhDs. That is fancy people central. I mean, they can properly pronounce Latin words. And yet despite their record of failure, those same fancy people will still tell the rest of us, you know, the ones who can't pronounce nuclear right or the name of a European capital. Well, they tell us that we're not good enough and that we need to, well, how did Cam say it?

We need to be better. So these are the words that I heard a lot in Washington, D.C. Basically, you just need to leave it to the experts and all of their intelligence. And it's they who will lead the nation, thank you very much. But friends, I want to tell you something without reservation, they are wrong. People like you and I, the common man and woman who come from humble beginnings, who have worked hard, we have gotten knocked down and made fun of. This is our country too.

And no matter how many people may say otherwise, they are wrong. This nation's future is up to you too. You get a voice and so do I. So keep your chins up, keep fighting, and pronounce words to the best of your ability. But no matter what, you will have a friend and a fighter in me. As always, we close out the show, reminding each other of why we are here, talking about our country and our world. It's the

creed of every good spy and every smart American. It's from John chapter 8, verse 32. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Good day. Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right, so I can tune out travel advice that's just plain wrong. Bro, Skycoin, way better than points. Never fly during a Scorpio full moon. Just tell the manager you'll sue. Instant room upgrade. Stop taking bad travel advice. Start comparing hundreds of sites with kayak.

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