Massive oil spill kills wildlife, closes beaches in Southern California: 5 Things podcast
On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: A massive oil spill is affecting Orange County. Plus, how COVID-19 is disproportionately killing rural Americans, the Supreme Court begins a new term amid abortion fights, the Census Bureau’s first data on LGBTQ people indicates deep disparities and the Powerball jackpot keeps rising.
Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is Five Things You Need to Know Monday, the 4th of October 2021. Today, environmental catastrophe in California, plus the pandemic's toll in rural America and more.
Taylor Wilson:
Here are some of the top headlines. A former Facebook product manager says the company prematurely turned off safeguards designed to fight misinformation after Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in last year's election. The whistleblower, Frances Haugen, told CBS' 60 Minutes that the decision was a money making move. The death toll from Cyclone Shaheen has risen to 12 in the Middle East. Some fishermen from Iran also remain missing, as the storm moves further inland into Oman. And Tom Brady came out on top after his return to New England last night. He and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Patriots 19 to 17 in the quarterback's first return since leaving last season after two decades with the team.
Taylor Wilson:
Environmental catastrophe, that's what now looms in Southern California after one of the largest oil spills in the state's recent history. A possible underwater pipeline leak over the weekend sent more than 100,000 gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean. Booms, temporary floating barriers used to contain marine spills, were put out on the ocean's surface to try and contain oil, while divers worked to figure out where and how the leak happened. On land, a race continues to find animals harmed by the oil, and to keep the oil from harming any other sensitive plants or animals in Orange County. Videos from the area have already seen fish turning up dead and some birds with oil in their feathers. Volunteers, like Scott White, are working on the beach to takeaway as much oil-stained sand as possible.
Scott White:
We need to come out and get this oil out here, because it harms the environment very, very badly. I'm picking this up, and then I'm going to take it to the disposal center, as much as I can carry, right now.
Taylor Wilson:
Crews were able to remove more than 3,000 gallons of oil from the coastline yesterday, but tens of thousands likely remain, and will wash ashore in the coming days. Beaches are closing in several Orange County cities, as well. The spill came from a broken pipeline connected to an offshore oil platform owned by Amplify Energy, one of the largest oil producers in Southern California. Part of the pipeline was shutdown on Saturday and remains that way. The company said it's still examining how the disaster happened. The Coast Guard is also investigating. And officials are warning residents about the dangers of being near the coastline with toxic fumes that can cause vomiting, dizziness and irritation to the nose, eyes, throat and skin. The spill comes three decades after a massive oil leak hit the same stretch of coast, dumping more than 400,000 gallons of crude that time, and killing more than 3,000 fish and birds.
Taylor Wilson:
The COVID-19 pandemic is slamming rural America. People in rural areas are now dying at more than twice the rate as in cities. And health experts say that gap will likely continue to widen, as access to medical care shrinks for a population that tends to be older, sicker, heavier, poorer and less vaccinated. When the pandemic began to surge last year, it spread quickly through big cities, especially New York City last April. But more people in cities now have antibodies from already contracting the virus, and have significantly higher vaccination rates. In Oklahoma throughout the pandemic since April 2020, mortality in rural areas has passed urban ones. 34% of the state's population is rural, but make up 39% of COVID deaths. Trends are more clear more recently in rural Northeaster Texas, 11 patients died of the virus at a hospital in Mount Pleasant, a town of 16,000 people, in the first half of September compared with three or four non-hospice patients who typically die there in an entire month.
Taylor Wilson:
Nationally, COVID incidence rates were 54% higher in rural communities than urban ones last month. And in 39 states, rural counties had higher rates of COVID than their urban counterparts. But the high rates of cases, and low vaccination rates, don't tell the only story of why death rates are so much higher in rural communities than other places. Officials also point to rural Americans' greater rates of poor health, in general, to begin with, and more limited access to medical care. It's the latest example of COVID killing some communities at higher rates than others, including Native Americans, blacks and Hispanics. Vaccinations are the most effective way to prevent COVID infections from turning deadly. As of September 23rd, 41% of rural America was fully vaccinated compared with about 53% of urban America. Officials are largely blaming misinformation and politics for the low rates.
Taylor Wilson:
The Supreme Court begins a new term today. And after more than a year of working virtually, justices will return to the courtroom for oral arguments in-person. There will be one exception though, Brett Kavanaugh will stay remote after testing positive for COVID-19 last week. Over the summer, the court handed down rulings to overturn President Joe Biden's eviction moratorium, blocked his ability to unwind former President Donald Trump immigration policy, and, in a high profile move, allowed the restrictive abortion law in Texas to stand last month. In that ruling, the court did not decide whether, or not, the law is constitutional, but it has severely restricted abortions for millions. Ahead of the Supreme Court's return today, the Women's March protested over the weekend in support of reproductive rights.
Women's March Crowd:
My body, my right. My body, my right.
Taylor Wilson:
Advocates also made clear that the abortion fights stretches beyond just Texas. Planned Parenthood President, Alexis McGill Johnson.
Alexis McGill Johnson:
This year alone, we have seen nearly 600 restrictions introduced in 47 states. So no matter where you live, no matter where you are, this fight is at your doorstep right now.
Taylor Wilson:
The court will soon, again, tackle abortion, hearing arguments in a case challenging Mississippi's ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Taylor Wilson:
The US Census Bureau, in July, began asking Americans about their sexual orientation and gender identity. That marked the first time the federal government has tried to capture data on LGBTQ Americans in its large American surveys. The results, so far, are preliminary, but they do show that disparities queer Americans experienced before the pandemic have continued 18 months in, and for some those disparities have grown deeper. Data captured from July 21st through September 13th shows that LGBTQ people often reported being more likely than non-LGBTQ people to have lost employment, not have enough to eat, be at higher risk of eviction or foreclosure, and have trouble paying for basic household expenses. Specifically, as many as 23% of LGBTQ people and 32% of trans-people reported having lost employment in the month before the census questionnaire compared with about 15% of non-LGBTQ people. Think tanks have previously studied LGBTQ poverty, but there haven't been large government population surveys. Analyses were limited to same sex couples, a question the census began asking in 1990. But that leaves out major portions of LGBTQ people, and there had particularly been a lack of data on transgender people.
Taylor Wilson:
The Powerball top prize is skyrocketing. A lucky lottery winner could win $670 million from today's drawing, after no tickets hit all five numbers, plus the powerball, on Saturday night. If won, the new jackpot would be the sixth largest in Powerball history, and the eighth largest lottery jackpot of any kind in US history. If the winner chooses the cash option, instead of a 30-year payout, they'll walk away with $474.8 million. The Powerball jackpot has not been this big since January 29th, when an anonymous Maryland group won $731.1 million.
Taylor Wilson:
Thanks for listening to Five Things. You can find us here seven days a week every morning. Thanks, as always, to Shannon Green and Claire Thornton for great work on the show. I'll be back tomorrow with another edition of Five Things from the USA Today Network.