The President's Daily Brief - October 27th, 2022. As Gas and Diesel Prices Continue to Rise, US Oil Companies are Exporting to Other Countries at Record Rates

Episode Date: October 27, 2022

It’s October 27th. You’re listening to the President’s Daily Brief. Your morning intel starts now. ------ Welcome to a Big Five Update this morning. Five critical updates on stories we’ve covered previously that are shaping America — and the world. First, if you’re thinking of buying an electric pickup truck, I’ve got some numbers you’ll want to hear about. All connected to a very big price tag.   Second, another group of rail road workers has rejected a labor-deal that was negotiated by the Biden Administration. I’ll explain why you should care. Third, US oil companies and refineries are exporting a record amount of oil, gas, and diesel abroad, that’s as America’s east coast has shortages. I’ll explain what’s going on. Fourth, state and local governments continue to buy Chinese telecom equipment despite warnings not to. We’ll discuss how you can help stop that. Finally, how about some good news? If you have an autistic friend or loved one, I’ve got a hopeful treatment to tell you about. Plus, one more thing before I let you go. A listener question about those poor kids in the Congo and the connection to Dirty Green Energy. ------ 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 October 27th. 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. Welcome to a big five update this morning. We've got five critical updates on stories that we have covered previously that are shaping America and the world. First, if you're thinking about buying an electric pickup truck, I've got some numbers that you are going to want to hear about all connected to a very big price tag. Second, another group of railroad workers has rejected a labor deal that was actually negotiated by the Biden administration. I'll explain why you should care. Third, U.S. oil companies and refineries are exporting a record amount of oil, gas, and diesel abroad.

That's as America's East Coast has shortages. I'll explain exactly what's going on. Fourth, state and local governments continue to buy Chinese telecom equipment, despite warnings not to. We'll discuss how you. can help stop that. Finally, how about some good news? If you have an autistic friend or loved one, I've got a very hopeful treatment to tell you about. Plus, one more thing before I let you go a listener question about those very poor kids in the Congo and the connection to dirty green energy. But first, let's get started with our big five update. And oh, we have got quite an update to our

dirty green series this morning to both start and end the podcast. To refresh our memories, the Dirty Green series was our exploration of solar, wind, and electric vehicles, plus the batteries that fuel them. Now, the idea, as always, was not to say don't buy it or build it, but rather treat it with the same degree of scrutiny as the fossil fuel industry, because what's good for the goose is good for the gander. So let's talk about those electric vehicles, because as PDB listeners know, they cost, on average, about $66,000 right now. That's according to Kelly Blue Book. Now, it is true that you can find some electric vehicles out there for a cheaper price, but not if you want a pickup truck, and certainly not if you want a GMC. That's because

over the past week, General Motors announced that the 2024 GMC Sierra Denali edition is going to run you $107,000. But if you want one, I'm sorry, but it's too late. According to GM, after 15 minutes of offering that vehicle on a pre-sale basis? It's sold out. Now, they do have a few other cheaper options available. The cheapest is the elevation series, which starts at a $50,000 base price. But that does not come with a level two charger. So you'll have to take about four days or so to charge it at the base price.

Now, if that doesn't suit your fancy and you still got that $100,000 burning a hole in your pocket, you could go for the all-electric Hummer. Okay, not a pickup, but that one goes for about $110,000. Now, GM is saying that there might be cheaper pickup trucks to come, but interestingly, all of them will still use their ultium battery platform, which includes the mineral cobalt. And as PDB listeners know, that mineral mostly comes from the Congo and is often mined by children.

That, of course, is according to the U.S. Department of Labor. As always, to be fair, the chemistry in this GM-Oltium battery, it actually does reduce the use of cobalt as compared to other vehicle batteries. But nevertheless, it still has some of that dirty green mineral inside of it. By the way, Ford, for its part, has the F-150 Lightning Electric Pickup Truck to consider for you all. The baseline price of that guy is $52,000, although the popular platinum edition, it's still going to run you $97,000. Still, I should mention a recent review from the good folks at Detroit News.

During a test drive of an F-150 lightning, a four-hour trip actually took six and a half hours because of charging issues. First, they had a glitchy charging app, and there were broken power stations. And then when they crunched the numbers on the cost of fuel, the driver paid the same amount for electricity as he would have had to have paid for gas. so much for fuel savings. All right, let's move on from trucks to trains. Another group of railroad workers has rejected a labor deal negotiated by the Biden administration. So to refresh our memories on this issue, railroad unions hashed out a deal back in September with railroad companies and the Biden administration

to solve a two-year impasse on a labor dispute, mostly over wages, but really over time off or medical appointments. Now, had there been no deal, there would have been a strike. But unfortunately, there still might be one starting in December. And that's because a third group of union workers has actually voted no on that deal negotiated with Biden and his team. Specifically, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalman, they just voted down the agreement, signed off actually by their union bosses by a 60-40 split. So I should say that there are six other unions that have actually ratified the deal, but there are two big unions remaining, and they're actually voting right now. The results won't be known until just after the midterm elections in mid-Devary, of course, which I'm sure is just a coincidence. Anyway, the bottom line here is that the odds of a strike in early December are now unfortunately growing.

We're going to have to see how these last two big unions vote, but if they turn it down and people are saying they probably will, that's going to be a huge. mess for the country because they may very well strike. And if they do, it's going to cost the economy about $2 billion a day and throw off a bunch of different supply chains right before Christmas. So fingers crossed and I'll keep you posted as always. And for our third update this morning, we're going to talk about something that will probably seem very strange to those of you who know from previous briefs that there is a serious shortage of diesel, gas and home heating oil on the East Coast, especially in the New England states. Now, that is happening, the shortages,

the rationing, all while oil and refining companies are actually exporting crude oil and fuel abroad. In fact, at record levels. So last week, total petroleum shipments reached 11.4 million barrels a day. That's according to the Energy Information Administration. Exports of crude alone hit a new high of 5.1 million barrels a day with Europe serving as the biggest customer. So what's going on here? Well, first, you should know that, of course, petroleum is a global commodity. So meaning that folks who drill for it and pump it and refine it, they can sell it to whoever they'd like, more or less, on the open market. And they are. But second, we have some structural issues here at home that, well, frankly, address a lot of this problem. Now, as PDB listeners probably recall, most of the

country's production and refining happens to be in Texas and Louisiana. So you've got to get the petroleum products from there to other parts of America. Now, for the East Coast, that's largely via a pipeline that's called the Colonial Pipeline. And that thing is booked solid at present. In fact, it's a choke point at moments like this when we have this growing shortage issue. Now, it is possible that we could send some of these petroleum products by ship, but there is a very old law called the Jones Act, and it limits the number of ships that we can use. And basically, it has to do with only using American ships with only American crews. Now, finally, it's also possible that investors could eventually build some new refineries on the East Coast instead

of being so dependent on Texas and Louisiana. But as listeners know, those things cost billions of dollars to construct and a decade or more to permit and build. And why would you do that when, well, as the oil and gas industries is now facing extinction because of America's forced transition to solar and wind because of the climate change issue. So all and all for my friends on the East Coast, I'm sure that this news is just exasperating. You know, to know that we've got gas and diesel in the Gulf Coast. It's just not for you, at least not anytime soon anyway. You will hopefully see some relief next week if you're in Atlanta in that region. And then about a week later up in New York in that region, you should see some relief too. And then in about a month's

time, a lot of additional supply coming online. One last thing, and for what it's worth, the Biden administration is considering a pretty controversial decision, and this is what it is. They're thinking about banning or curbing petroleum exports. Now, doing so would probably increase domestic supply that you and I could access and thus save us around $5 billion in costs. That's according to to an analysis done by the Wood McKenzie Group released on Tuesday. But it could also raise diesel costs by around $2 billion for our friends in Europe, who need this stuff because of the war in Ukraine. And, oh, by the way, it would raise about $30 billion in earnings for the American refiners.

So as ever, lots of challenges to this issue, and we will see what happens in the coming weeks. And as always, I'll keep you posted. With that, we are going to take a quick break. And when we come back, I've got two more updates for you with some very good news for those of us who have friends and loved ones with autism. We'll be right back. This is a Bose moment. You've been there before. Somebody's apartment, small talk that's going nowhere, plastic up that's almost empty.

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I've got two more critical pieces of news for you this morning. First, a new report out is confirming that state and local governments across the country continue to buy products made by China that actually are designated by the federal government as a threat to national security. So that includes things like smart phones, and surveillance cameras and surveillance systems, plus computer networking equipment,

all from China and all very bad for our national security. So here's what we know with some very good news on what you can do to stop all of this. First, Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology. So these folks put out a report yesterday after an investigation into state and local government procurement systems. And what they found was that between the years 2015,

and 2021. Over 1,600 state and local entities purchased equipment and services tied to five Chinese companies, all of whom are banned by the federal government due to their ties to the Communist Party. And more importantly, they're known to work on behalf of or cooperate with the Chinese military or their intelligence services. By the way, those Chinese companies are Huawei, ZTE, Hike Vision, Dahua, and Hiterra. So listen to this. State and local entities purchased $45 million worth of stuff from those five companies. And by state and local entities, I mean public school districts, colleges, prisons, public hospitals, and public transit systems.

So if you're wondering where these entities are located, well, everywhere, virtually every single state. The largest buyer, though, was actually a public university in Michigan who invested more than 15 million bucks in Huawei computer equipment. We don't know the name of that university. I'm still looking into it. Another big buyer, by the way, was in Arkansas, two public school districts buying more than $1 million worth of Hike Vision surveillance systems. Again, I don't have the names of those school districts, but I'm looking into it. Now, what's interesting is that five states, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, and Vermont do have some laws and rules to limit procurement of this Chinese equipment on national security grounds. But this report from Georgetown

found that there are loopholes in some of those rules in some of those states. So, folks, that's what the report found. And it's a big deal. As PDB listeners know, China is America's greatest threat that we have ever faced, an assessment made by our military, the FBI, the CIA, and it's one that I agree with. So the good news here is that you, my friends, can absolutely do something about this, unlike a lot of stuff that we talk about. So here's what you do. Go to Congress.gov.

Scroll to the bottom of the website where you will see a column that reads resources. About halfway down a list in that column, you'll see text that reads state legislature websites. click on that. And then you're going to see a map of the United States. Click on your state and away you will go to your home state's legislature, where you can find your local state senator or your local state representative. And then contact them. Tell them about this issue.

And if you want, you can forward along the article that captures this problem. It's from a media outlet called Axios, and that's spelled AXIOS. And the article is, entitled state and local governments continue to buy Chinese telecom gear despite warnings. So y'all, I am so excited to tell you about this because together we can really do something to fix this one. Because y'all are in 50 states and these local senators and representatives are honestly sometimes your next door neighbors. So we can truly sincerely make a difference against the communist threat with frankly not a lot of effort. So let's get to it. Because I

really do not like communists. I want to know your progress on this one. So my email address, as always, is PDB at thefirsttv.com. So that's P as in presidents, D as in daily, and B as in brief, at the first TV as in television.com. Or you can draw me an email on my personal website, brian deanwright.com. So folks, do this for me. Do this for me. Do this with me and keep me posted. And let's do some damage of those comments. Finally this morning, let's end with some good news. Most especially for those folks struggling with autism, which is around five million of us in this country. Or for those of you who have a loved one with autism, this one's going to get right to your heart. Researchers at Tel Aviv University believe that by using hyperbaric

medicine, which involves a person sitting or laying inside a pressurized chamber or a room, well, that could provide significant improvement in social functioning. So here's what we know. Researchers at Tel Aviv University's Sago School of Neuroscience and their school of psychological sciences. Well, they wondered if hyperbaric medicine might benefit those with autism. Now, you might have heard about this type of treatment, mostly associated with deep-sea divers who get the bends.

And it's also very helpful for those people with wounds that just won't heal. But the idea for folks with autism is that, hyperbaric medicine might decrease the chronic inflammation that's often seen in the brains of those with this disorder. And if this worked, the researchers believed, it would be of notable benefit because it's a very simple, very safe, and non-invasive treatment. You just quite literally sit in a pressurized chamber or lie down inside a pressurized tube, usually while breathing 100% oxygen pumped inside the chamber. So researchers tried this to start with one young lay. and after a series of treatments, they found that her social abilities and brain function had improved

considerably. And that's because the treatment had, in fact, lowered the brain inflammation and encouraged better flow and delivery of oxygen. So with that in hand, they moved on to animal studies, with mice who had the same genetic mutation as the young girl. It's the shank three gene. So researchers put these mice through one-hour sessions inside of a hyperbaric chamber with some additional oxygen. And there were 40 sessions in all. And what they found was that it worked. In fact, it worked in the same way as the young girl. It reduced inflammation in the brain and encouraged blood and oxygen supply to brain tissue. But most importantly, they also found that the social behavior in the mice, it matched what they saw in the young girl. Those treated mice

were notably more interested in engaging with other mice as compared to a control group of mice who didn't receive any therapy at all. So the bottom line is that researchers are saying that while more study does need to be done, these findings are really encouraging, in part because they offer a very clear scientific explanation for why such a treatment might work. Plus, again, to emphasize, this treatment is really safe, very well studied for lots of other ailments, and best of all, patients don't have to do much. They just sit down or lie down. And that's pretty good news for listeners out there who are looking for options, because sometimes with autism, options are few and far between.

If you want to learn more about this study, you can find it at the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. There's also an article in the media outlet Medical Express. Search for that article entitled, Pressure Chamber Therapy is effective in the functional improvement of autism. And that, folks, is your big. five update for this Thursday morning. But I've got one more thing before I let you go. We'll be right back. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel

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Instant room upgrade. Stop taking bad travel advice. Start comparing hundreds of sites with kayak and get your trip right. Kayak. Got that right. Welcome back to the PDB, ladies and gentlemen. One more thing before I let you go. Chris and her husband Bob from somewhere in America wrote in about this issue of children mining cobalt in the Congo.

So to refresh our memories, I told listeners earlier this week about a report by the U.S. Department of Labor. Put out just about a month ago that says that all lithium ion batteries coming out of China, or 80% of the market, which powers your electric vehicles amongst other things. well, those batteries are full of cobalt that gets mined by kids, increasingly so, in the Congo. So Chris and her husband wanted to know a little bit more. Like, is all the cobalt from the Congo mined by kids, and are there any big mining companies that are legitimate in that country? Well, Chris and husband, Bob, awesome questions.

Let me give you a little bit more information. So if you look at a map of the Congo, a country in Central Africa, there is a, a a little tail-like slice of territory in the south that just sort of juts down into the country of Zambia. Well, that area, the area that juts out and down, well, that's called the Copper Belt, or the Katanga province. And it's been mined for decades by big mining companies from all around the world for all sorts of metals, from copper to cobalt. So about two-thirds of the operations there, at least for cobalt, are done by larger mining companies with standard mining equipment. and it's mostly Chinese companies doing it.

Meanwhile, about one-third of the operations are these artisanal miners, many of whom are the kids. Now, what happens is that they use mostly their hands to claw away for the cobalt. And as John in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, you correctly wrote me about, even touching that stuff without protective gear can be dangerous. And definitely breathing cobalt dust can cause horrific damage to the body. Now, naturally, these poor kids in the Congo have no gear, no gloves, no protection. So if they survive a day's work, they or their families will take the bags of cobalt to these large mining companies, or the middlemen who then sell these bags to the corporations. Again, mostly Chinese.

Well, then these mining outfits will mix the child mined cobalt with their own production, which, of course, hides the original source. And then onward it all goes to China to be refined. and then into our electronics, especially the batteries for electric vehicles and solar and wind farms. So that's the challenge before us. That's how dirty this cobalt industry is, at least abroad. And that's why it's so important to be honest about it, as we hold dirty green energy to the same standard as fossil fuel energy. Because folks, those kids in the Congo deserve it.

And in fact, we all deserve it. And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes your morning brief. 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.