The post Joe Biden: ‘I am not banning fracking’ appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden insisted Monday that he would not ban fracking as president, seeking to reassure pivotal swing-state voters benefiting from the oil-and-gas boom fueled by hydraulic fracturing in Pennsylvania.
“I am not banning fracking,” Mr. Biden said in a speech at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. “Let me say that again. I am not banning fracking, no matter how many times Donald Trump lies about me.”
President Trump has taken aim at Mr. Biden’s $2 trillion green-energy plan, telling voters that the former vice president was “no friend of Pennsylvania” at a campaign stop two weeks ago in Scranton, Mr. Biden’s hometown.
Despite his no-fracking-ban pledge, Mr. Biden has called for achieving net-zero emissions by 2050; a 100% carbon-free electrical grid by 2035, and no new oil-and-gas permitting on public lands, which would at minimum severely curtail the use of hydraulic fracturing.
Republicans swung back Monday by posting an Americans for Prosperity video compilation showing Mr. Biden making comments like “I guarantee you, we’re going to end fossil fuels.”
Biden discusses his energy plan: “I am not banning fracking. Let me say that again: I am not banning fracking. No matter how many times Donald Trump lies about me.” https://t.co/LBywpukq9G pic.twitter.com/B5QXkBoQbt
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 31, 2020
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) August 31, 2020
Steve Milloy, a member of the Trump EPA transition team, said he was skeptical of Mr. Biden’s pledge, given that similar promises were made during the Obama presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012.
“We saw this in the Obama administration as well,” said Mr. Milloy. “Although [President] Obama said they would not ban coal plants, they did. Then Obama and Biden waged a war against coal using every tool of the federal government, which resulted in the destruction of 94% of the market value of the coal industry.”
During the U.S. energy boom, he said, “fracking has provided Americans with a higher standard of living, energy independence and energy dominance. Make no mistake — all of that is at risk in a Biden presidency.”
Mr. Biden came under pressure during the Democratic primary campaign from candidates on his left to disavow fracking, and declared at a March 15 debate, “No more — no new fracking.”
“No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore,” he said at the debate. “No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period.”
At his Monday appearance, Mr. Biden touted a “clean-energy strategy that has a place for the energy workers right here in western Pennsylvania.”
“We won’t just build things back the way they were before. We’re going to build them back better,” Mr. Biden said. “With good-paying jobs, building our nation’s roads, bridges, solar arrays, and windmills.”
In an Aug. 17 letter, the Biden camp asked television stations in Pennsylvania to stop running ads from a pro-Trump super PAC that accuse the Democrat of wanting to “eliminate fracking,” according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, said in his Aug. 20 remarks that the climate and energy recommendations of the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force, headed by former Secretary of State John Kerry and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, would “quickly outlaw American oil.”
“He’s going to outlaw American oil. Coal, American coal, he’s going to outlaw it. Natural gas, which is really an amazing form of energy, and clean, by mandating net-zero carbon emissions from all homes and buildings within nine years and from all power plants by 2035,” said Mr. Trump.
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]]>The post Banning middle seat on planes could cut coronavirus risk on flights almost in half: MIT report appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Eliminating the middle seat on planes may help cut already low on-flight coronavirus risk even more, a new research paper from Massachusetts Institute of Technology has suggested.
The paper, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, pegs the risk of contracting COVID-19 from nearby passengers on a full flight at about 1 in 4,300. According to the research findings, that risk drops to 1 in 7,700 when the middle seat is not booked.
AMERICAN AIRLINES PILOT SAYS SOME PASSENGERS ARE GETTING CREATIVE WITH REMOVING MASKS
The research paper, titled “Covid-19 Risk Among Airline Passengers: Should the Middle Seat Stay Empty?” was penned by award-winning MIT statistician Arnold Barnett and published in MedRxiv earlier this month.
The calculations, Barnett writes, “do suggest a measurable reduction in COVID-19 risk when middle seats on aircraft are deliberately kept open.”
The paper explores the risks associated with full flights as airlines are once again beginning to book planes to full capacity following months of blocking off the middle seat, or grounding flights altogether due to the pandemic.
(iStock)
He also notes that “it is not clear that the risk of getting infected during a flight is any higher than the risk associated with everyday activities during the pandemic.”
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The paper explores the risks associated with full flights as airlines are once again beginning to book planes to full capacity following months of blocking off the middle seat, or grounding flights altogether due to the pandemic.
“The airlines are setting their own policies but the airlines and the public should know about the risk implications of their choices,” Barnett said to ZDNet of his findings.
The study was based on estimations that passengers were wearing masks, which cuts risk down 82 percent.
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However, the risk estimates “do not consider the possibility of infection during boarding and leaving the plane, from contagious passengers who walk down the aisle to the lavatory, or within the lavatory itself.”
By comparison, Barnett adds the estimates imply the COVID-19 “mortality risks to uninfected air travelers are higher than those associated with plane crashes but probably less than one in one million.”
As of July, American Airlines and United have both started booking middle seats.
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JetBlue and Alaska Airlines have stated that their middle seat ban will run through the end of July, while Delta and Southwest will continue theirs until September.
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]]>The post Banning TikTok Could Have Devastating Electoral Consequences For Trump appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>TOPLINE
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has floated a potential ban of TikTok, a Chinese-owned video-sharing social media app with a huge base of young American users, but polling suggests that such a move could have dire political implications for President Trump’s reelection bid.
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 18: President Donald J. Trump uses his cellphone as he participates in a … [+] roundtable discussion with Governors and small business owners on the reopening of Americas small businesses in the State Dinning Room at the White House on Thursday, June 18, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The Washington Post via Getty Images
KEY FACTS
Amid increasing concerns from lawmakers of both parties over TikTok’s alleged harvesting of user data, Pompeo told Fox host Laura Ingraham that the administration is taking the app “very seriously” and that they are “certainly looking at” a ban.
But a Morning Consult poll released Thursday suggests such a ban could backfire for Trump in November, with 33% of U.S. adults saying they oppose a ban and 29% saying they support it.
A ban is also opposed by critical voting blocs like independents by 4 points, self-described moderates by 6 points and those who didn’t vote in 2016 by 13 points, while independents and non-2016 voters also oppose a U.S. ban of any Chinese social media apps.
But the strongest opposition came from adults between 18 and 29 years old, who oppose a TikTok ban by a massive 33-point margin, 52% to 19%, while those 35 to 44 years old oppose it by a 13-point margin.
Young voters will be critical in deciding the outcome of the 2020 election; youth activism and voter turnout has risen sharply since Trump’s election, according to studies from Tufts University, which also showed that the youth vote played a major role in handing Democrats a massive win in 2018.
TikTok has ingrained itself into the day-to-day lives of young Americans in recent months, while polls suggest voters are not strongly motivated by issues like national security and international relations, meaning a TikTok ban by the administration could hold considerable political risk without a significant upside for Trump.
Key Background
TikTok users have already demonstrated their ability to mobilize en masse both in pursuit of progressive politics and in opposition to Trump. It has been widely used to organize and communicate during the protest movements that sprung up in the wake of George Floyd’s death. It was also used to inflate ticket registration figures for Trump’s Tulsa rally in June, with the Daily Mail reporting that as many as 300,000 of the roughly 1 million requests touted by the campaign came from TikTok users.
Surprising Fact
The Morning Consult poll also suggested that many young voters’ immediate reaction to a ban from the Trump administration would be defiance. 18% said they would be more likely to use the app on hearing that the U.S. government was considering a ban, while 48% said the information would have no impact on their use.
Big Number
37.2 million. The US has 37.2 million TikTok users, and that figure is projected to rise to as much as 45.4 million in 2020, according to Statista, which also reports that around two-thirds of those users are adults. By comparison, Trump lost the national popular vote by 2.8 million votes and won in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which handed him an electoral college victory, by just over 100,000 votes.
What To Look For
The looming question is whether anti-Trump sentiment would galvanize votes for Biden. Despite espousing hawkish rhetoric on China and trying to cast Trump as weak on his handling of U.S.-Chinese relations, Biden does not share Trump’s oppositional stance towards TikTok. Though the former Vice President has lashed out harshly at Facebook, accusing them of allowing disinformation to fester on their platform, he has not made any such declarations about TikTok, despite the app’s struggle to remove a deceptively-edited video of him in March. Biden even appeared on the Washington Post’s notorious TikTok to promote mask-wearing and hired “TikTok Grandma” Mary Jo Laupp, the most prominent organizer of the effort to inflate ticket registrations for Trump’s Tulsa rally, to start a “political hype house” for him on the app.
News Peg
The U.S. has already been reviewing the app from a national security standpoint for some time. Reuters reported in November that the Committee on Foreign Investment, which reviews trade deals for potential national security threats, was investigating TikTok’s acquisition of Musical.ly, for which it did not seek clearance from the CFIUS. In January, the Pentagon advised military personnel to delete the app from their phones, and India banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese mobile apps and services earlier this month amid rising tensions with China.
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]]>The post U.S. is ‘looking at’ banning TikTok and Chinese social media apps, Pompeo says appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, June 10, 2020.
Andrew Harnik | Pool via Reuters
The U.S. is “looking at” banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News on Monday.
His comments come amid rising tensions between the U.S. and China and as scrutiny on TikTok and Chinese technology firms continues to grow.
When asked in a Fox News interview if the U.S. should be looking at banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps, Pompeo said: “We are taking this very seriously. We are certainly looking at it.”
“We have worked on this very issue for a long time,” he said.
“Whether it was the problems of having Huawei technology in your infrastructure we’ve gone all over the world and we’re making real progress getting that out. We declared ZTE a danger to American national security,” Pompeo added, citing the two Chinese teleommunications networking companies.
“With respect to Chinese apps on peoples’ cellphones, the United States will get this one right too.”
TikTok was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
Washington has been on a campaign against Chinese technology firms.
Huawei in particular has been in the crosshairs. The U.S. maintains that Huawei equipment could be used for espionage by Beijing, and that user data could be compromised. Huawei has repeatedly denied those allegations.
But TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, has also been on the radar since last year. Washington has been concerned that the platform censors content and that its data could be accessed by Beijing.
TikTok has tried to distance itself from its Chinese parent company.
The company hired former Disney executive, Kevin Mayer, to be TikTok’s CEO earlier this year. His priority was seen as rebuilding trust with regulators.
But the Trump administration still appears skeptical of TikTok. When asked by Fox News if Americans should download the social media app, Pompeo said: “Only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”
“TikTok is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the U.S. We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users. We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked,” a spokesperson told CNBC in response to Pompeo’s comments.
TikTok has previously said that U.S. user data is stored in the United States, with a backup in Singapore. The company also said that its data centers are located entirely outside of China, and none of their data is subject to Chinese law.
TikTok has faced scrutiny around the world. In India, the app was recently blocked along with 58 others. Tensions between India and China have been rising over their disputed border in the Western Himalayas and a clash earlier this month left 20 Indian soldiers dead.
Hong Kong exit
Meanwhile, TikTok announced plans to pull out of the Hong Kong market on Monday amid uncertainty around the controversial national security law introduced by Beijing last week.
Opponents of the legislation say that it undermines Hong Kong’s relative autonomy from the Chinese mainland. Critics are also concerned the law grants the central government in Beijing sweeping powers to clamp down on dissent in the Chinese territory, which saw more than a year of protests that sometimes turned violent.
“In light of recent events, we’ve decided to stop operations of the TikTok app in Hong Kong,” a spokesperson for the app told CNBC.
The TikTok app was meant for the international market, while ByteDance runs a separate app in China, called Douyin.
Other technology firms have voiced concerns about the new national security law in Hong Kong. A number of major companies, mostly U.S. firms, have said they are pausing co-operation with Hong Kong authorities and their requests for data.
“Last Wednesday, when the law took effect, we paused production on any new data requests from Hong Kong authorities, and we’ll continue to review the details of the new law,” a Google spokesperson told CNBC.
Facebook followed suit saying the company believes “freedom of expression is a fundamental human right” and that the company will “support the right of people to express themselves without fear for their safety or other repercussions.”
“We are pausing the review of government requests for user data from Hong Kong pending further assessment of the National Security Law, including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with international human rights experts,” a spokesperson told CNBC.
Facebook’s decision applies to its entire family of apps including WhatsApp and Instagram.
Twitter, which has also paused processing data request from Hong Kong authorities, raised concerns about the fact that the national security law was passed but only published in its entirety for the first time last week.
“Our teams are reviewing the law to assess its implications, particularly as some of the terms of the law are vague and without clear definition,” a Twitter spokesperson told CNBC.
“Like many public interest organizations, civil society leaders and entities, and industry peers, we have grave concerns regarding both the developing process and the full intention of this law.”
Telegram has also made similar moves, according to numerous media reports. The company was not immediately available for comment.
All of these companies are blocked in mainland China but have enjoyed access to the Hong Kong market.
Technology companies usually comply with requests for data from law enforcement when they are satisfied they meet the laws of the country that is requesting the information.
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]]>The post The US military is banning anyone who had COVID-19 from enlisting, according to a new memo appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>- A military recruitment memo sent out by the US Military Entrance Processing Command (MEPCOM) states that those who have tested positive for COVID-19 will not be allowed to join the military — even after they recover.
- According to the memo, which has been widely circulating on social media and was first reported on by Military Times on Wednesday, new recruits with a confirmed diagnosis will be permanently disqualified from enlisting.
- It is not immediately clear why a COVID-19 diagnosis would be permanently disqualifying for new recruits.
- According to Stars and Stripes, over 1,500 service members in the US military had tested positive for the new coronavirus as of April 6.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
A military recruitment memo sent out by the US Military Entrance Processing Command (MEPCOM) outlines that those who have tested positive for COVID-19 will not be allowed to join the military — even after they recover.
The memo has been widely circulating on social media and was first reported on by Military Times on Wednesday. Pentagon spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell confirmed to Military Times that the memo is authentic.
According to the memo, all 65 Military Entrance Processing Stations (MEPS) around the country will implement new guidelines for determining the medical qualifications of enlisting recruits.
According to Military Times, all new recruits will have their temperature taken and will answer questions about symptoms and potential contacts with those who have been exposed to COVID-19.
The memo states that during the prescreen process, “a reported history of confirmed COVID-19 will be annotated as ‘Considered Disqualifying'” and documented on their medical report.
It adds that during the medical history interview or examination part of their application, “a history of COVID-19 confirmed by either a laboratory test or clinician diagnosis, is permanently disqualifying.”
It is unclear why a COVID-19 diagnosis would be permanently disqualifying for new recruits. Representatives for MEPCOM did not immediately respond to Business Insider for comment.
According to Stars and Stripes, over 1,500 service members in the US military had tested positive for the new coronavirus as of April 6. That number includes service members who have since recovered.
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