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<title>19 February, 2023</title>
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<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<body>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A National Experiment in Refugee Resettlement</strong> - The Biden Administration’s Welcome Corps will allow Americans to sponsor newcomers to their home towns—and will test how exposure to refugees changes people’s lives. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/a-national-experiment-in-refugee-resettlement">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Is a Woman Ever Going to Win the White House?</strong> - Trump’s performative macho is scaring voters in both parties away from women candidates. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/is-a-woman-ever-going-to-win-the-white-house">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bernie Sanders’s New Campaign: Taking On Big Pharma and Starbucks</strong> - As the new chair of a powerful Senate committee, the reënergized progressive leader is once again targeting the corporate plutocracy. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/bernie-sanderss-new-campaign-taking-on-big-pharma-and-starbucks">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What’s Behind the Chinese Spy Balloon</strong> - President Xi Jinping has modernized and expanded his military, but the balloon incident may indicate the challenges he faces in consolidating its power. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/whats-behind-the-chinese-spy-balloon">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Year of the War in Ukraine</strong> - The historian Stephen Kotkin and the Ukrainian journalist Sevgil Musaieva on a year of disaster, and the hopes for an end. Plus, Angela Bassett on playing the queen of Wakanda. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour/a-year-of-the-war-in-ukraine">link</a></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><strong>Can the Republican establishment finally stop Trump this time?</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="Trump standing beside an American flag." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-lLUWlgx8DJhsOEfsyfg6Dvr9EE=/0x0:4108x3081/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71992423/1246619717.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Former President Donald Trump speaks in Salem, New Hampshire, on January 28, 2023. | Scott Eisen/Getty Images
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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The limits of party elites’ influence on presidential primaries.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FVCeRv">
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Republican Party elites are gearing up to try to stop Donald Trump from winning the GOP presidential nomination — again.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MMbLkv">
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Both the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/06/us/politics/club-for-growth-trump-desantis.html">Club for Growth</a> — an anti-tax group — and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/05/us/politics/koch-donors-trump-campaign-finance.html">donor network</a> created by the billionaire <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/4/14/11348780/gop-megadonors-koch-brothers">Koch brothers</a><strong> </strong>plan to intervene in the GOP presidential primaries, the New York Times recently reported, and both hope to turn the page on the former president. But it’s not clear whether they will endorse one specific alternative to Trump and, if so, who that would be, with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/14/us/politics/nikki-haley-president-trump.html">several</a> <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/sen-tim-scott-test-drives-potential-2024-campaign-message-rcna70444">other</a> <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/gov-chris-sununu-takes-major-step-running-president-rcna69751">Republicans</a> <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mike-pence-2024-presidential-campaign-trump/">expected</a> to enter the race.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Rdd2y4">
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As many are pointing out, that would be a familiar scenario. The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2023/01/2024-republican-primary-donald-trump-deus-ex-machina/672888/">writes</a> that “a sprawling cast of challengers could just as easily end up splitting the anti-Trump electorate, as it did in 2016, and allow Trump to win primaries with a plurality of voters.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NQpQY1">
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Politico’s David Freedlander <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/02/09/gop-trump-2024-election-00081944">opened a recent article</a> citing an anonymous Republican donor’s worries “that once again Donald Trump will prevail over a splintered Republican field.” The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/20/us/politics/2024-republican-field.html">New York Times’s Shane Goldmacher</a>, too, wrote that “a fractured field” could “clear the way” for Trump to win with just “a fraction of the party base.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BeIhi1">
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This nods to a common piece of conventional wisdom in some political circles: that Trump’s 2016 nomination was somewhat of a fluke. That, if only there weren’t so many other candidates in the race, or if only those candidates hadn’t spent so much time attacking each other, or if only GOP elites coordinated more competently to back one challenger, Trump would have been stopped.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u3BqP1">
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But that smacks of wishful thinking that underestimates the sources of Trump’s strength and understates the weaknesses of his opponents back then. The failure to stop Trump in the 2016 primaries wasn’t an issue of elites playing their cards wrong or opposing campaigns making poor strategic choices.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="taMLdU">
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Party elites aren’t puppet masters who can rig the outcome. They’re not entirely powerless either — but they’re constrained in their choices, and trying to influence a dynamic that can be to a large extent determined by forces out of their hands.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DaGKSw">
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In 2016, GOP elites’ problem was that there wasn’t a Trump alternative in the race who had credibility with both the party’s elites and its voters. There are already signs, though, that 2024 may be different.
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</p>
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<h3 id="FMxDBj">
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How Trump won the GOP nomination in 2016
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KZMPYZ">
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The 2016 GOP nomination contest began in confusion with the question: <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/jeb-bush-2016-gop-frontrunner-117175">Who was the frontrunner</a>?
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c9uLUh">
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Polls <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/2016_republican_presidential_nomination-3823.html">taken</a> throughout<strong> </strong>the second half of 2014 and the first half of 2015 (before Trump’s entry into the race) showed that a rotating cast of several candidates had roughly even support, but that nobody had all that much.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="70R0Ly">
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The candidates who polled above 10 percent at some point in this period were Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz, and Ben Carson — but none of them topped 17 percent in <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/2016_republican_presidential_nomination-3823.html">the RealClearPolitics polling average</a>. Some of these candidates were raising <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/jeb-bush-2016-fundraising-11-million-in-16-days-119908">lots of money</a>, but none of them had broken out of the pack in polls, or in endorsements from other Republicans, <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-endorsement-primary/">which were remarkably few in number</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iKYWJG">
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Could this have been solved by greater party elite coordination around one candidate early?
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="K1IzDI">
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Well, there’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg question — is the problem that the party failed to coordinate, or is it that there was simply no candidate running with the stature and skills to win widespread party support?
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vrNAWO">
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Compare this to contests where one frontrunner “clears the field” of all but a few rivals — as Hillary Clinton did in 2016, and George W. Bush and Al Gore both did in 2000. All three of them <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/3751/bush-continues-dominate-republican-field-2000-election.aspx">had large poll leads</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/01/30/hillary-clinton-is-the-biggest-frontrunner-for-the-democratic-presidential-nomination-ever-yes-ever/">long before</a> their campaigns officially started, which helps explain why so many didn’t bother to run against them, and why they racked up endorsements — politicians like to back the likely winner!
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sxF5TX">
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In the 2016 GOP contest, when candidates eventually did break from the pack in polls, they were, notably, different. Trump himself took the lead about a month after he entered the race in June, and held onto it for almost all of the race afterward. The only candidate to briefly tie him in national polls was another outsider — retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson — but Carson’s numbers declined by the late fall of 2015.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="F0Wekd">
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He was replaced as the second-place Trump alternative by Ted Cruz, a sitting senator who loved to gleefully trash the GOP establishment and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/1/28/10846212/ted-cruz-republicans-hate">was widely loathed by them</a>. By the eve of the Iowa caucuses, Trump and Cruz together were pulling about 56 of the vote in national polls of Republicans, and Carson was getting another 7 percent. A veritable parade of noteworthy Republicans criticized Trump and said he must not win the nomination, but GOP voters were unmoved.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HZs9cj">
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This wasn’t an accident — rather, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2015/05/21/negative-views-of-new-congress-cross-party-lines/">most Republican voters thought</a> their party’s existing leaders were doing a bad job, and they were inclined to support outsiders.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RnSAP9">
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Meanwhile, several more establishment-friendly candidates — Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, and Chris Christie — combined for about 20 percent of the national vote just before the Iowa caucuses were held. So, yes, they were splitting the establishment-friendly vote — but the establishment-friendly vote was very small. The claim that the problem was no establishment candidate had unified party elite support seems to miss the reality that voters just didn’t care about that support.
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oVSg612P0Kvm760nZ-ghQ4hz1Pw=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24438547/Screen_Shot_2023_02_16_at_4.32.49_PM.png"/> <cite><a class="ql-link" href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/2016_republican_presidential_nomination-3823.html" target="_blank">RealClearPolitics</a></cite>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zYV2UZ">
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It’s also a mistake to treat the establishment-friendly candidates as interchangeable. Indeed, there was widespread skepticism all along in the party that Bush, Kasich, or Christie — each of whom had a moderate streak — could ever appeal to conservative Republican voters nationally.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="We2Z0o">
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So really, the hopes that some establishment-friendly candidate could beat Trump hinged on just one person who many felt hit the sweet spot, and could appeal to all factions of the party: Rubio.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dyI9hv">
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And as early state balloting approached, Rubio’s team referred to what became known as the “<a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/2/9/10956848/rubio-strategy-new-hampshire">3-2-1 strategy</a>” — he wanted to finish third in the conservative-dominated Iowa caucuses, then second in New Hampshire, and then win South Carolina, and with that momentum, the party’s voters would flock to his banner before Super Tuesday.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9k3oZR">
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If there was a chance to stop Trump, it probably came after the Iowa caucuses, which Cruz won (and in which Rubio, as per the plan, came in third). And if the crowded field had an impact at all, it was probably in this specific moment.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WWNHUU">
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In New Hampshire, Trump won with 35 percent of the vote, with his next closest competitor being Kasich with about 16 percent. Cruz, Bush, and Rubio each got about 11 percent, and Christie followed them with 7 percent. So if you combine the Kasich-Bush-Rubio-Christie New Hampshire vote, that totals about 44 percent of the vote, enough to top Trump. And in the next contest, South Carolina, the Rubio-Bush-Kasich vote (Christie had dropped out) was 38 percent, enough to top Trump’s 32 percent victory.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TtwLsL">
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But the assumption that all those candidates’ voters were one coherent “establishment” bloc that was dead-set against supporting Trump, and would have unified around any of those candidates, is wrong — some of those voters had Trump as their second choice!
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Irn99O">
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Rubio would surely have improved his position somewhat if Bush or Kasich had dropped out earlier. The evidence is mixed on whether he would have done so enough to win these states — <a href="https://fairvote.org/archives/second-choice-polling-series-2015-2016/">some polls at the time</a> suggested Trump would have lost one-on-one contests with other candidates, and <a href="https://gelliottmorris.substack.com/p/donald-trump-did-not-win-in-2016?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email">others suggested</a> he would have won head-to-head matchups with anyone else running. Yet we don’t have to imagine what would have happened if Rubio tried to take on Trump: We saw it, and it <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/03/03/politics/donald-trump-small-hands-marco-rubio/index.html">didn’t end well</a> for the Florida senator.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qRgi7Q">
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By Super Tuesday, Rubio and Kasich were the two remaining establishment-friendly candidates. Of the 11 contests that day, Trump won seven, Cruz won three, and Rubio won one. Yet the combined Rubio-Kasich vote, if united around one candidate, would only have been sufficient to flip two Trump states — Virginia and Vermont. Rubio quit two weeks later after Trump beat him by nearly 20 percentage points in his own home state of Florida.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0C5hEv">
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Some argue that, if Rubio had only managed to win an early state, it all could have been different, as he would have seemed more credible to Super Tuesday voters. We’ll never know that for sure. Yet the Super Tuesday results largely resembled the polls before the early states even cast their ballots — Trump winning, Cruz in second, and Rubio in a distant third.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eCPFtQ">
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This suggests the contest’s dynamics were pretty entrenched, and it would have taken something quite dramatic to shake them up. But party elites had no power to create the perfect candidate from thin air — or to change its voters’ inclinations from anti-establishment to pro-establishment.
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</p>
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<h3 id="4tobOA">
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The 2024 race looks dramatically different than 2016
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="O4oVNB">
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If there’s anything political pundits are famous for, it’s fighting the last war. In 2016, so many commentators assumed the GOP race would play out the same way as it did in 2012, when various “outsider” candidates surged in the polls but then declined, as GOP voters settled for the establishment candidate, Mitt Romney. Now, pundits are assuming 2024 will play out just like 2016, with Trump triumphing over a divided field.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bmHNdv">
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But the <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2024/president/us/2024_republican_presidential_nomination-7548.html">polling for the next presidential contest</a> is already incredibly different than that for the 2016 contest. Rather than no frontrunner, there’s Trump, polling a little above 40 percent nationally. Then, though, there’s a clear second-place contender: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who’s polling a little above 30 percent nationally, far above every other potential candidate (all of whom poll in the single digits if they get any support at all).
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2u0j24">
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Recall that, in 2015, no candidate managed to top 17 percent in <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2024/president/us/2024_republican_presidential_nomination-7548.html">RealClearPolitics’s polling average</a> until Trump’s rise. But now there are already two candidates well above that number, and looming well above the rest of the field — and one of them, DeSantis, isn’t even officially running yet.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Y7z6Sb">
|
|||
|
|
In a sense,<strong> </strong>DeSantis already solved the problem Rubio, Bush, and Kasich couldn’t solve. That is: In the eyes of Republican voters nationally, he’s already made himself the clear leading Trump alternative. (Nikki Haley’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2023/2/14/23599194/nikki-haley-donald-trump-2024-presidential-campaign">entry</a> into the race was generally greeted with intense <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/15/opinion/nikki-haley-president.html">skepticism about her prospects of winning</a>.)
|
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|
|
</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y2HhE3">
|
|||
|
|
Now, DeSantis also faces a different problem than those past candidates — Trump is starting off in a much stronger position than he did in 2015. So DeSantis winning 35 percent likely won’t cut it — he needs to win more, and to the extent other candidates being in the race do lower his ceiling, that could be a problem.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="umfYJJ">
|
|||
|
|
Still, this is a very different scenario from 2016, when it really wasn’t clear who the main alternative to Trump and Cruz was for quite some time. If polling very clearly shows a Trump versus DeSantis contest, voters will understand that, and they’ll adjust their strategic choices accordingly.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DEFA6g">
|
|||
|
|
So who’s responsible for DeSantis’s prominence? On one hand, you could argue that it’s a creation of party elites. Fox News <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/08/13/inside-fox-news-desantis-is-the-future-of-the-party-and-hes-taking-advantage/">heavily promoted DeSantis</a> to its national audience starting in 2021, and there has been a long and deliberate effort by conservative commentators and activists to hype DeSantis. It could be viewed as a long-running GOP elite effort to foster and promote a Trump alternative who could be credible to both the party’s leaders and its base — something they simply did not have in 2016.
|
|||
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|
</p>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4UMdJG">
|
|||
|
|
But you could also say it just comes down to DeSantis’s own actions. He built a political profile that resonated among national conservatives, cultivating Fox and other right-wing media outlets with strategically chosen culture war fights. There was certainly some anointing of DeSantis going on, but the anointed one has to be someone to whom voters will actually flock.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CBvtHE">
|
|||
|
|
So it’s too simple to say party elites could make DeSantis the nominee if they wanted. They have some limited influence in a larger process that also depends on choices by individual candidates, media outlets, and feedback from voters as expressed in polls.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Oq1ArW">
|
|||
|
|
Early presidential primary punditry has a way of going awry. The GOP contest could well look totally different later this year than it does right now. Unexpected candidates could rise, and the two front-runners could fall. But what’s already clear is that this contest looks quite different than 2016’s inchoate, divided field — and we shouldn’t expect it to follow the same track.
|
|||
|
|
</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>Would better regulations and equipment mandates have prevented the Ohio rail disaster?</strong> -
|
|||
|
|
<figure>
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="Norfolk Southern train derails in Michigan" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yOqhbowQc01T7QJ_SVzpQGx8Eq0=/340x0:6569x4672/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71991561/1247260682.0.jpg"/>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Nick Hagen/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Frequent derailments may signal a need for more rapid deployment of infrastructure investment, as well.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YoLjtb">
|
|||
|
|
In the aftermath of the train derailment and hazardous chemical spill that happened on the evening of February 3 in East Palestine, Ohio, questions linger about the cause of the accident and officials continue to lay blame on one another. While residents worry about the safety of the air and water as they return to their homes, questions about regulations and infrastructure funding linger.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MCAIEg">
|
|||
|
|
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Railroad Association are launching an investigation but it could take months—or even years for officials to determine what caused the accident. Still, the NTSB has promised it will deliver a <a href="https://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/NR20230214.aspx">preliminary report</a> of its investigation within two weeks. S<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2023/02/17/train-derailment-ohio-explained-graphics/11251530002/">urveillance footage</a> seemed to capture video of the train’s wheel bearing overheating almost 20 miles away from<strong> </strong>where the train went off the tracks.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="62FH0n">
|
|||
|
|
As Vox’s Umair Irfan <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23597778/ohio-train-east-palestine-trainwreck-accident-chemical-norfolk">explained</a>: “Rail workers, government officials, and industry analysts have long warned that such disasters are an expected consequence of an industry that has aggressively cut costs, slashed its workforce, and resisted regulation for years.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IdyabZ">
|
|||
|
|
Since returning to East Palestine on February 8, residents have reported symptoms including <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/17/health/ohio-derailment-rashes-health-impacts/index.html#:~:text=Residents%20were%20given%20the%20all,any%20elevated%20chemicals%20of%20concern.">nausea, headaches and rashes</a>. At a recent <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64659795">town hall</a>, community members demanded answers to questions about the long term health impacts from exposure to the chemicals. Norfolk<strong> </strong>Southern representatives weren’t in attendance for that meeting but CEO Alan Shaw did meet with town officials on Saturday. ”We know we will be judged by our actions, and we are taking this accountability and responsibility very seriously,” Shaw said in <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/norfolk-southern-ceo-visits-ohio-train-derailment-says-im-here-support-the-community">a prepared statement</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IbCJgN">
|
|||
|
|
This follows <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/norfolk-southern-ceo-visits-east-palestine-after-derailment-97312234#:~:text=Norfolk%20Southern%20said%20in%20a,not%20only%20recover%20but%20thrive.%E2%80%9D">another statement from Norfolk Southern</a> on Friday that they are “committed to coordinating the cleanup project and paying for its associated costs.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MCxovI">
|
|||
|
|
Despite <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/epa-chief-update-air-east-palestine-derailment/story?id=97285796%5D">assurances</a> from EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Governor Mike DeWine, it’s unclear if the air and water is <a href="https://www.vox.com/science/2023/2/18/23603471/east-palestine-ohio-derailment-water-contamination-health">safe</a> because air quality monitors lack the sensitivity to detect low level particles. Even more concerning, Delphine Farmer, a chemist at Colorado State University <a href="https://www.vox.com/science/2023/2/18/23603471/east-palestine-ohio-derailment-water-contamination-health">told Vox’s Benji Jones</a>, is that scientists don’t really know what level of exposure is safe over the long term.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0rHrWy">
|
|||
|
|
Governor DeWine has said water is safe, but encouraged people with wells to drink bottled water. So far, residents have filed at least <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/lawsuits-filed-ohio-train-derailment-rcna71192">six class action lawsuits</a> against the rail operator.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FgnKVy">
|
|||
|
|
Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/pete-buttigieg-blames-trump-ohio-194108166.html">blamed the Trump administration</a> for rolling back an Obama-era rule that required operators carrying hazardous chemicals to employ better breaking technology. His statements came as Republicans claim that Buttigieg’s department and the Biden administration have been dragging their feet.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PPEddY">
|
|||
|
|
“We’re constrained by law on some areas of rail regulation (like the braking rule withdrawn by the Trump administration in 2018 because of a law passed by Congress in 2015), but we are using the powers we do have to keep people safe,” Buttigieg said Tuesday.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e2B2kI">
|
|||
|
|
Even Democrats are calling for a more robust response. While noting the potential for long term health effects from the spilled chemicals, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) urged more action. “We need Congressional inquiry and direct action from Secretary Buttigieg to address this tragedy,” Omar <a href="https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1625265520638304259?s=20">tweeted</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DX8gZG">
|
|||
|
|
Florida Sen. Mark Rubio on Thursday wrote a <a href="https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2023/2/rubio-to-biden-time-for-secretary-buttigieg-to-resign">letter</a> to President Biden calling for Buttigieg’s resignation. “The circumstances leading up to the derailment point to a clear lack of oversight and demand engagement by our nation’s top transportation official,” Rubio wrote.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lj41Jc">
|
|||
|
|
On Friday, the White House stood behind their response to the crisis, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/02/17/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-deploys-additional-federal-resources-to-east-palestine-ohio/">stating that</a> a team from the EPA arrived within hours of the derailment and that the Department of Transportation was quickly on the ground as well but were committed to sending additional assistance.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bvNFCo">
|
|||
|
|
“Today, in response to Governor DeWine’s and the Ohio congressional delegation’s request on February 16 for additional federal public health support, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced they are deploying a team of medical personnel and toxicologists to conduct public health testing and assessments,” the statement said.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SfW2Yn">
|
|||
|
|
Meanwhile, former president Donald Trump, who has already announced plans to run for president in 2024, told Fox News that he will be <a href="https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/17/donald-trump-to-visit-east-palestine-ohio-next-week-according-to-fox-news/69917488007/">visiting East Palestine on Wednesday</a> to speak with residents.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="snDexJ">
|
|||
|
|
What penalties could Norfolk Southern face and would better regulations have helped?
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BakgDy">
|
|||
|
|
The White House is weighing whether to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/17/ohio-rail-disaster-biden-officials-00083461">file civil lawsuits or impose fines</a> on Norfolk Southern to make sure the rail operator makes good on its promise to pay for the cleanup costs. Experts, however, don’t think fines will encourage wider changes to the rail industry.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UMV9Xf">
|
|||
|
|
“[Railroad companies] have an army of lawyers that would fight tooth and nail to reduce any penalties,” Najmedin Meshkati, a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at USC said. “That’s why I say punishment and fines won’t force them to become better and safer,” Meshkati added that encouraging a culture shift within the boards of these companies is what is needed.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CtsvkW">
|
|||
|
|
Steven Ditmeyer, a former senior official at the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), told <em>the Lever </em>that <a href="https://www.levernews.com/rail-companies-blocked-safety-rules-before-ohio-derailment/">existing safety measures</a> could’ve lessened the impact of the disaster if they had been mandated. Electronically Controlled Pneumatic (ECP) breaks, which Norfolk Southern had previously promoted as having “the potential to reduce train stopping distances by as much as 60 percent over conventional air brake systems,” were later heavily lobbied against by Norfolk Southern’s own lobbyists.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LasWuv">
|
|||
|
|
“Would ECP brakes have reduced the severity of this accident? Yes,” Ditmeyer said. “The railroads will test new features. But once they are told they have to do it… they don’t want to spend the money.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dz2iJR">
|
|||
|
|
Norfolk Southern recently had also been lobbying against minimum crew rules, which would have mandated each train have two crew members, something <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2023/02/18/norfolk-southern-derailment-ohio-train-safety/%5D">Federal regulators have argued</a> would help reduce the severity of derailments and other accidents.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="eWCaNK">
|
|||
|
|
Will more funding for infrastructure solve the issue?
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="n28HZP">
|
|||
|
|
While it’s unclear at this moment if the cause lies with equipment failure of the train itself or the track it was traveling on, according to an article from 2015 by Scientific American, broken or degraded tracks are the <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/broken-rails-are-leading-cause-of-train-derailments/">most common cause</a> of train derailments, accounting for as much as 15% of all derailments.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TvFqQW">
|
|||
|
|
And while the 2021 <a href="https://www.vox.com/22770447/infrastructure-bill-democrats-biden-water-broadband-roads-buses">bipartisan infrastructure package</a> allocates <a href="https://www.vox.com/22621793/public-transit-funding-bipartisan-infrastructure-bill">$66 billion</a> to enhancements to the US rail system — including <a href="https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/railroads-use-of-long-trains-to-go-under-the-microscope/">$2 million</a> for research into the impacts of longer trains on derailments — followed by a smaller investment in June 2022 by the Biden Administration which awarded <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/biden-administration-announces-over-368-million-grants-improve-rail-infrastructure">$368 million</a> for rail improvement projects, it could take years for the improvements to filter out.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0t7wMK">
|
|||
|
|
Still, the need for urgency is apparent, as between 1990 and 2021, there were an average of nearly 2,000 train derailments per year, according to <a href="https://www.bts.gov/content/train-fatalities-injuries-and-accidents-type-accidenta">federal data</a>. While just ten percent of railroad derailments involved hazardous materials, according to a <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2023/02/09/did-train-wrecks-spill-hazardous-chemicals-near-your-home-look-data/11197948002/">USA Today analysis</a> there has been a 36% increase in hazardous materials violations caught during inspections over the past five years.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="r2HvNq">
|
|||
|
|
The thought of trains continuing to haul dangerous chemicals — <a href="https://www.aar.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/AAR-Chemicals-Fact-Sheet.pdf">over 2 million carloads in 2021</a> — through American backyards might be hard to stomach, but it continues to be more safe and cost-efficient than transport by air or road.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Dmr8lV">
|
|||
|
|
However, without significant changes to both regulations and infrastructure, incidents like the one that happened in East Palestine will keep occurring. Indeed, that derailment isn’t even the most recent—On Wednesday, a freight train <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/02/16/train-derailment-in-michigan-near-detroit/11274008002/">went off the tracks</a> in Michigan. Luckily, the car carrying hazardous materials wasn’t derailed.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2qG8vJ">
|
|||
|
|
</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>Yes, the Ohio train wreck is an environmental disaster. No, it’s not Chernobyl.</strong> -
|
|||
|
|
<figure>
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0b63ouFNqyGISuQAWP7qhvZrygg=/441x0:7497x5292/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71990255/AP23037806695053.0.jpg"/>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
A plume of dark smoke rises over East Palestine, Ohio, after a freight train derailed earlier this month. The smoke is from a controlled detonation of chemicals. | Gene J. Puskar/AP
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
How bad is the East Palestine derailment, really?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fNwlRI">
|
|||
|
|
The images from East Palestine, Ohio, earlier this month are frightening. They show a giant tower of thick, black smoke rising from a train wreck and expanding into the horizon, as if a bomb went off.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="E7vcG4">
|
|||
|
|
The description of what happened isn’t much less worrying: A large train derailed that was carrying hazardous chemicals, and some of them leaked into the air, water, and soil. To avert an explosion, authorities purposefully <a href="https://governor.ohio.gov/media/news-and-media/east-palestine-update-evacuation-area-extended-controlled-release-of-rail-car-contents-planned-for-3-30-pm-02062023">detonated a chemical called vinyl chloride</a>, which caused the dark plume.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qkhFcpizfFgFnTdiC9T4LQsX9EE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24440471/AP23037820900420.jpg"/> <cite>Gene J. Puskar/AP</cite>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Fire and smoke from a controlled detonation of vinyl chloride gas on February 6 in East Palestine, Ohio.
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3T3Wwj">
|
|||
|
|
It looks bad. It sounds bad. So, how bad is it really?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uu4QDT">
|
|||
|
|
The East Palestine incident is not an environmental disaster on the scale of Chernobyl, the BP oil spill, or the lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan — events that had very clear and devastating impacts on human health and wildlife. Some initial testing from the Environmental Protection Agency in East Palestine suggests that the air is safe to breathe and the municipal water is safe to drink.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5Wo2YX">
|
|||
|
|
There doesn’t seem to be much immediate danger.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nblCQD">
|
|||
|
|
What is concerning is that the specific risks of the spill are unknown, including the long-term threat. That’s partly because these chemicals are unusual; scientists don’t fully understand what level of exposure to vinyl chloride and other compounds spewed from the train is safe, or how they interact with each other. Plus, many of the sensors used to measure concentrations of them are not very sensitive, and even small quantities could harm people, experts say.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aZ5Aeu">
|
|||
|
|
So where does that leave residents of East Palestine?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="orSJHz">
|
|||
|
|
The dangerous chemicals that spilled from the train
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SYbsg7">
|
|||
|
|
The disaster in East Palestine, a town of roughly 4,700, was caused by a <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23597778/ohio-train-east-palestine-trainwreck-accident-chemical-norfolk">train wreck</a> two weeks ago. While traveling east in Ohio not far from Pittsburgh, 38 cars in a freight train operated by Norfolk Southern derailed. <a href="https://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/NR20230214.aspx">Eleven</a> of them contained hazardous chemicals, some of which spilled onto the ground and into waterways or were burned off by authorities.
|
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|
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</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WkucCw">
|
|||
|
|
These aren’t natural substances like what you’d find at an oil spill but synthetic compounds made by the chemical industry, said Delphine Farmer, a chemist at Colorado State University. Five of the derailed cars, for example, carried vinyl chloride, a colorless gas that’s used to make PVC pipe. Another contained butyl acrylate, a clear liquid used to make glue, paint, and other products.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="A view from above shows 20 or so train cars in disarray over the train track, most of them blackened and burned." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/e7zrLTaR38grZxFipni4fChnAdE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24440504/GettyImages_1247183181.jpg"/> <cite>National Transportation Safety Board via Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images</cite>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
A view from above of the train wreck in East Palestine, Ohio.
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DjDXgf">
|
|||
|
|
Scientists know that these chemicals can harm humans and wildlife. Exposure to vinyl chloride can cause a range of symptoms including headaches and, with high exposure, a rare form of liver cancer. What’s more is that when the gas is burned — as it was, producing the dramatic plume from the images — vinyl chloride releases hydrogen chloride and phosgene, two other harmful chemicals, as well as a number of other toxic combustion compounds. Butyl acrylate, meanwhile, can cause a range of respiratory ailments.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8Hh6NF">
|
|||
|
|
A number of residents reported headaches, respiratory problems, and dizziness in the days after the wreck, yet understanding the specific risks associated with this disaster is a challenge, Farmer said. For one, it’s not clear how much of the chemicals actually spilled into the environment. More importantly, these chemicals aren’t easy to measure.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="s2P1XY">
|
|||
|
|
Why it’s still not clear whether the air and water are safe
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ten1j3">
|
|||
|
|
The air in East Palestine today won’t land you in the ER, Farmer said. Monitoring by health officials has not detected harmful levels of air pollutants from the wreck <a href="https://governor.ohio.gov/media/news-and-media/east-palestine-update-2-17-23-2-15-pm-02172023">as of Friday</a>, <a href="https://governor.ohio.gov/media/news-and-media/east-palestine-update-2-16-23+-1-15-pm-02162023">including vinyl chloride and hydrogen chloride</a>. “The great thing about outdoor air is the atmosphere is very large,” Farmer said. “Dilution is your friend.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TOORMk">
|
|||
|
|
These chemicals also degrade in the environment, some in a matter of days, Farmer said. They’re not like “<a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/8/25/23318667/pfas-forever-chemicals-safety-drinking-water">forever chemicals</a>,” or PFAS, that can stick around for decades. “Over the next few days, the outdoor air should clear out and the indoor air should improve,” she said.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eZwyTw">
|
|||
|
|
That’s the good news.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CDOEUM">
|
|||
|
|
The challenge, however, is that many of the sensors used to measure air quality so far are not very sensitive, Farmer said. They’re good at identifying, say, a leak at a factory or the presence of chemical weapons, Farmer said, not at detecting trace amounts of airborne chemicals. This is a problem because even small amounts of some of these compounds could pose a threat to human health.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZcLbCb">
|
|||
|
|
More concerning still, she said, is that scientists don’t really know what level of exposure is safe over the long term. These are strange compounds that aren’t well tested, Farmer added. (The Environmental Protection Agency said it will release more, higher-quality data on air quality soon.)
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5742A5">
|
|||
|
|
There’s better, more reliable information for water.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BTuvxO">
|
|||
|
|
Health authorities are far more equipped to sample harmful chemicals in wells and streams compared to air, Farmer said, and tests so far have come back clean. “The municipal water wells are safe to drink,” Anne Vogel, director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, said in a press conference Thursday.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CbdQAC">
|
|||
|
|
People in East Palestine who source water from private wells should still drink bottled water, <a href="https://ema.ohio.gov/media-publications/news/east-palestine-update-021723-1415">according to health officials</a>, until their wells have been tested.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cXUgcV">
|
|||
|
|
Separately, there’s also a plume of butyl acrylate that leaked from the train floating down the Ohio River, authorities say. Testing suggests it’s now diluted enough that it’s not hazardous to humans, <a href="https://governor.ohio.gov/media/news-and-media/east-palestine-update-2-17-23-2-15-pm-02172023">according to</a> Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s office. It’s not clear what effect the chemical spill will have on wildlife, though shortly after the wreck wildlife officials reported the death of roughly 3,500 fish.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UErlxl">
|
|||
|
|
Some experts are also concerned that authorities may not be testing for the full range of compounds that could harm humans. “It’s unclear what chemicals they’re testing for in comparison to what chemicals were generated and released,” said Andrew Whelton, an environmental engineer at Purdue University. It’s not just the chemicals that leaked from the train that are potentially hazardous, he said, but also compounds produced by combustion. “I am concerned,” he said.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="pUZfuT">
|
|||
|
|
The long-term health risks
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y0XrdL">
|
|||
|
|
The long-term impacts of the spill will depend, in part, on how fast and thorough the clean-up is, Whelton <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-dangerous-was-the-ohio-chemical-train-derailment-an-environmental-engineer-assesses-the-long-term-risks-199993">has written</a>. That’s what officials are doing now. Crews are digging out contaminated soils and damming fouled creeks, and removing pollutants from water. “If they don’t clean [the spill] up, it starts migrating,” Whelton said.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/86rpncY6At5_rVDerkPeCB40s_Y=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24440510/AP23040709489516.jpg"/> <cite>Gene J. Puskar/AP</cite>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
A clean-up crew places booms in a stream that flows through East Palestine to prevent the spread of chemicals.
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yJv8xQ">
|
|||
|
|
But regardless of the clean-up effort, it’s hard to say what residents might experience in the years to come. The exact level of exposure is unclear, as are the impacts of individual chemicals on human health, Farmer said. Scientists also don’t know what happens when people are exposed to a combination of chemicals like vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zq0pCS">
|
|||
|
|
“It’s really hard to know how those different chemicals interact and then how your body reacts,” Farmer said. “That’s why I think all the scientists are having a really hard time telling anybody what is going to happen long-term.” (To address health concerns, for at least the short term, the state is setting up a medical clinic in East Palestine.)
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ys8P1H">
|
|||
|
|
But what is clear is that the train wreck is not catastrophic, Farmer said. “We’re dealing with a lot of questions and a lot of uncertainty,” she said. “I know that’s very uncomfortable for people, but they should not feel that they are in the next Chernobyl. They are not living in Flint, Michigan. It’s just not on that scale.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NMCmXz">
|
|||
|
|
In other words, there’s no material or compound that’s causing severe health problems in a large group of people, or across a large region.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<aside id="vAWSoV">
|
|||
|
|
<div>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
</aside>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hiPiTb">
|
|||
|
|
Fortunately, there are also very practical things that residents can do to reduce their risk, Farmer said. Clean your house thoroughly, she said, especially if you’re in the evacuation zone. Wipe down your counters, floors, and walls. Wash every piece of fabric including your clothes and sheets. Many of these chemicals are water-soluble, so they’ll disappear in the laundry. If the outdoors doesn’t smell bad, open all of your windows and doors.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3RLsdw">
|
|||
|
|
“I would clean the hell out of my house,” Farmer said. “Cleaning is a bit of a pain, but it can actually work really well.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3YiYg4">
|
|||
|
|
<em>Umair Irfan contributed reporting.</em>
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iZuHYg">
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PmTUfz">
|
|||
|
|
</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>No changes in India squad for remaining Tests, out-of-form KL Rahul retained</strong> - Seasoned left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat is back in the team for the remaining two Test matches</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Second Test victory sees India tightens grip on qualification for WTC Final</strong> - The World Test Championship (WTC) has seen two years of intense competition in the longest format</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>‘King’ Kohli becomes sixth and fastest batter to score 25,000 runs across formats, beats Tendulkar</strong> - Kohi also has a 53-plus average while making the 25000-plus runs, the highest among the members of the exclusive club with Kallis second at 49.10.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>On slow and low Kotla track, Australians sweep their way to self-destruction</strong> - The collapse ensured another day three finish after the series opener in Nagpur.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ind vs Aus 2nd Test | Jadeja helps India retain Border Gavaskar Trophy, hosts all but through to WTC final</strong> - The win was India’s 100th against Australia across formats. The third Test will be played in Indore from February 27.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Virtual court hearings increased efficiency, necessary to utilise system with vast infrastructure: Justice Kaul</strong> - Justice Kaul said when the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the international arbitration community shifted to the virtual system</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Foundation stone laid for ‘Autonagar’ in Mysuru</strong> - A concept to centralise automobile and mechanic shops and decongest city</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Beach run challenge on February 25</strong> -</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>India saw record over 15,000 organ transplants in 2022: Union Health Secretary</strong> - Rajesh Bhushan says there has been a fast resurgence in organ transplant activities post Covid, and for the first time, the country has achieved more than 15,000 transplants a year</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pondicherry University VC occupying DU residence 3 years after retirement, over ₹23 lakh due in penal rent, water charges</strong> - The latest notice to Mr. Singh asking him to vacate the ‘Type-5’ bungalow at the Delhi University’s North Campus’ Cavalry Lines was sent by the varsity last week.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>China may give Russia weapons for Ukraine war, Anthony Blinken warns</strong> - The US secretary of state said Beijing was considering “lethal support” for Russia in Ukraine.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>BFM journalist Rachid M’Barki suspended in scandal linked to disinformation firm</strong> - Veteran presenter Rachid M’Barki accused of running stories planted by an Israel-based organisation.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine war: Russia must be defeated but not crushed, Macron says</strong> - The French president reaffirms support for Kyiv but hints that talks with Russia are a final goal.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine war: Russia has committed crimes against humanity, US says</strong> - Kamala Harris was speaking at a security conference, where leaders called for long-term support of Ukraine.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rishi Sunak: Ukraine’s long-term security must be ensured now</strong> - Allies must give advanced Nato-standard equipment and long-term security assurances, Sunak says.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>TNG reunion injects a little fun into Star Trek: Picard’s uneven final season</strong> - <em>Picard</em> adds familiar faces while addressing few of the show’s other problems. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1915766">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The US plan to become the world’s cleantech superpower</strong> - Biden’s revolution in industrial policy is a gamble with geopolitical ramifications. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1918239">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro review: More than enough buttons, too much software</strong> - Supreme programmability is too reliant on the Synapse app. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1917971">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Microsoft “lobotomized” AI-powered Bing Chat, and its fans aren’t happy</strong> - Microsoft limits long conversations to address “concerns being raised.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1918465">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>GoDaddy says a multi-year breach hijacked customer websites and accounts</strong> - Three breaches over as many years all carried out by the same threat actor. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1918737">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A pervert watched a bunch of numbers have an orgy through a window</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
|||
|
|
<div class="md">
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Some were 69ing, 7 ate 9’s ass, you get the picture.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
After a while they started to cum in descending order (20, 19, 18, etc.) until 2 came and saw the perv in the window. He got scared and ran away, never looking back.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
He never saw that one coming.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/IQof24"> /u/IQof24 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/115w614/a_pervert_watched_a_bunch_of_numbers_have_an_orgy/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/115w614/a_pervert_watched_a_bunch_of_numbers_have_an_orgy/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I once dated a girl with a twin</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
|||
|
|
<div class="md">
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
People used to ask me how I told them apart. Lisa painted her fingernails red and Bob had a cock
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Longjumping-Party186"> /u/Longjumping-Party186 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/115iln3/i_once_dated_a_girl_with_a_twin/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/115iln3/i_once_dated_a_girl_with_a_twin/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I bought my blind friend a cheese grater for his birthday</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
|||
|
|
<div class="md">
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
He said it was the most violent book he’s ever read
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Allen202012"> /u/Allen202012 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/115zuum/i_bought_my_blind_friend_a_cheese_grater_for_his/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/115zuum/i_bought_my_blind_friend_a_cheese_grater_for_his/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Whats the problem with 9/11 jokes</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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they’re two plane
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Substantial-Bag6230"> /u/Substantial-Bag6230 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/115tp4v/whats_the_problem_with_911_jokes/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/115tp4v/whats_the_problem_with_911_jokes/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My boss said to me, “You’re the worst train conductor we have ever had. How many derailments have you had this year?”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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I said, “I’m not sure; it’s hard to keep track.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/zelgadiss44"> /u/zelgadiss44 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/115gya8/my_boss_said_to_me_youre_the_worst_train/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/115gya8/my_boss_said_to_me_youre_the_worst_train/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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