L.A. Utility Lacked Common Wildfire Safety Measures

Summary

WSJ What’s News Podcast Summary: “L.A. Utility Lacked Common Wildfire Safety Measures”
Release Date: January 10, 2025
Host: Luke Vargas | The Wall Street Journal

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1. Introduction

In this episode of What’s News, hosted by Luke Vargas from The Wall Street Journal, the focus is primarily on the devastating wildfires ravaging Los Angeles, the lack of safety measures by the local utility, and the broader implications of these events on housing, climate, and international relations. Additional topics include a landmark Supreme Court case involving TikTok, Donald Trump’s legal battles, and market updates.

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2. Devastating Wildfires in Los Angeles

Death Toll and Impact
The episode opens with alarming updates on the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles:

• Confirmed Fatalities: “10 people have now been confirmed dead in connection with wildfires around Los Angeles” ([00:51]).
• Destruction Scale: Over 10,000 structures have been destroyed, with specific neighborhoods like Oceanside’s Pacific Palisades witnessing the loss of approximately 5,300 homes and businesses ([00:51]).
• Current Fires:
  • New Blaze: A new fire spanning LA and Ventura counties has spread to nearly 1,000 acres, with dangerous weather conditions exacerbating the situation ([00:51]).
  • Eaton Fire: The Eaton fire north of Pasadena remains uncontained at 0% and has destroyed over 5,000 structures, including Bridget Berg’s home ([00:51], [02:15]).

Ongoing Challenges
Officials warn of persistent high winds forecasted to return early next week, potentially worsening the fires already threatening communities ([00:51]).

Personal Accounts
Bridget Berg shares her personal loss:
“I think the, you know, my family and the kids wanted to come back and see, see what it was. I watched this house burn down live on the news while I was work. So just to kind of make it real and see what was here...” ([02:15]).

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3. Housing Shortage and Rebuilding Efforts

Temporary and Long-term Accommodation
Thousands displaced by the wildfires face the daunting task of finding shelter. The housing market is already strained:

• Shortage Statistics: “Louisiana had a shortage of 337,000 units in 2022,” highlighting a chronic deficit that’s inflating property prices, especially for single-family homes ([02:15]).

Rebuilding Initiatives
Mayor Karen Bass has pledged to eliminate bureaucratic obstacles to expedite rebuilding efforts. However, officials caution that the sheer scale of destruction may render the process lengthy and complex ([02:15]).

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4. Lack of Wildfire Safety Measures by LADWP

Utility's Negligence
A critical revelation from regulatory filings indicates that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) failed to implement proactive safety protocols, such as shutting off power during high-risk conditions to prevent wildfires:

• Regulatory Findings: “LADWP hasn't implemented a safety protocol to proactively shut off parts of its system to reduce the risk caused by sparks from its power lines in windstorms” ([02:15]).

Comparison with Other Providers
Unlike LADWP, other major power providers in California have established measures to mitigate fire risks from power lines ([02:15]).

LADWP’s Response
An LADWP spokeswoman stated that they have other safety measures in place and emphasized the importance of maintaining power for critical city and emergency services, despite the risks associated with widespread outages ([02:15]).

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5. Record-Breaking Heat and Climate Implications

Hottest Year on Record
New meteorological data reveals that 2024 was the hottest year ever recorded, surpassing the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels:

• Temperature Surge: “The temperature jump last year made the earth more than 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than in the pre-industrial era” ([02:15]).

Climate Consequences
Exceeding this threshold could lead to irreversible damage, including:

• Coral Reefs: Potential extinction and degradation.
• Antarctic Ice Sheets: Accelerated ice loss.
• Human Impact: Increased mortality and widespread suffering ([02:15]).

Historical Context
Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service noted that each of the past ten years has been among the ten warmest on record, underscoring the persistent trend of global warming ([02:15]).

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6. TikTok’s Supreme Court Battle

Legal Challenge
TikTok is set to present its case before the Supreme Court regarding a potential government ban unless parent company ByteDance divests the platform by January 19th:

• ByteDance’s Stance: “Saying selling TikTok is technological, commercially and legally infeasible” ([05:13]).

Arguments Overview
Supreme Court reporter Jess Bravin outlines TikTok’s defense based on First Amendment rights:

• Free Speech Claim: “They’re going to say that when the government wants to restrict speech under the First Amendment, it has to show that there is no less restrictive way to achieve that interest” ([05:13]).
• National Security Contradiction: TikTok contends the government hasn’t demonstrated that the app poses a genuine national security threat and thus lacks justification for such restrictions ([05:13]).

Government’s Position
The government maintains that foreign adversary governments, like China’s, do not hold First Amendment rights in the U.S., negating the need for less restrictive measures ([05:13]).

Further Insights
For a deeper analysis of both sides' arguments, listeners are directed to the Tech News Briefing podcast ([06:01]).

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7. Donald Trump’s Legal Developments

Criminal Sentencing
The podcast discusses the latest on Donald Trump’s legal saga:

• Hush Money Case: Trump's lawyers’ attempt to block his sentencing was rejected, leading to an unprecedented court proceeding ([06:01]).
• Presiding Judge’s Statement: Judge Juan Merchan plans to address Trump about his conduct related to the guilty verdict from last May, while clarifying that no prison term will be imposed. Instead, Trump will receive an unconditional discharge, carrying no punishment ([06:01]).

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8. Market Updates

Upcoming Jobs Report
Investor attention is focused on the December jobs report, scheduled for release at 8:30 AM Eastern:

• Expectations: Economists predict the unemployment rate will remain steady at 4.2%, with job additions slightly decreasing to just over 150,000 from November’s 227,000 ([06:01]).
• Fed Implications: These figures are crucial for Federal Reserve policymakers ahead of their interest rate decision on January 29th ([06:01]).

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9. Potential US Military Action Against Mexican Cartels

Discussion with Jose DeCordoba
In a significant segment, WSJ reporter Jose DeCordoba discusses the alarming possibility of President-elect Donald Trump ordering military strikes against Mexican drug cartels:

• Possible Military Action: “Some sort of US Military action to basically take on Mexico's cartels, which are responsible for most of the fentanyl that is being smuggled into the United States” ([08:48]).

• Trump’s Stance: Historically, Trump has advocated for aggressive measures against cartels, including missile strikes against drug labs ([08:48], [12:11]).

Mexican Government’s Response
Mexico is vehemently opposed to unilateral US military interventions:

• Official Position: “We are very happy to cooperate with you and face this together” ([10:43]).
• Recent Actions: Mexican security forces have recently captured a significant amount of fentanyl, signaling their commitment to tackling cartels independently ([10:43]).

Implications of US Military Intervention

• Bilateral Relations: Unilateral action would severely damage US-Mexico relations, potentially ending all military and security cooperation ([09:40]).
• Effectiveness: Targeting movable and numerous drug labs would likely result in minimal disruption to the fentanyl supply chain and could cause civilian casualties ([09:40]).

Mexican Public Opinion
Despite governmental opposition, some segments of the Mexican population might support US intervention to alleviate pervasive violence:

• Public Sentiment: “In some cases, a majority of Mexicans would be supportive of US Military action as long as they were able to clean the area of the violence” ([11:31]).

Regional Political Fallout
Any US military action would provoke backlash throughout Latin America, uniting the region against the United States and supporting Mexico’s stance ([11:31]).

Trump’s Decision-Making Power
With fewer checks on his decisions compared to his first term, Trump’s top officials may not resist such aggressive policies ([12:11]).

Conclusion of Discussion
The possibility of US military involvement in Mexico to combat drug cartels remains a contentious and complex issue, fraught with diplomatic, humanitarian, and practical challenges ([12:11]).

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10. Closing Remarks

Host Luke Vargas concludes the episode by thanking guest Jose DeCordoba and providing production credits. He reminds listeners to tune in for future episodes and wishes them a great weekend ([12:40]).

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Notable Quotes:

• Jose DeCordoba ([00:51], [08:48], [09:40], [10:43], [11:31], [12:11]): Provides in-depth analysis on potential US-Mexico military actions and the ramifications thereof.
• Jess Bravin ([05:13]): Offers insights into TikTok’s legal strategies regarding free speech defenses in the Supreme Court case.

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This episode comprehensively covers the intersection of natural disasters, utility negligence, climate change, legal battles in the tech sphere, and international relations, providing listeners with a multifaceted understanding of current events impacting both local communities and global dynamics.

Transcript

[Luke Vargas]

This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Forget the frustration of picking commerce platforms when you switch your business to Shopify, the global commerce platform that supercharges your selling. Wherever you sell with Shopify, you'll harness the same intuitive features, trusted apps and powerful analytics used by the world's leading brands. Sign up today for your $1 per month trial [e-mail] tech all lowercase. That's shopify.com tech. The death toll climbs and thousands scramble for a place to stay as wildfires continue to rage in Los Angeles. Plus, the earth records its hottest year ever, shooting past a key climate threshold. And Mexico worries Donald Trump could order military strikes against drug cartels south of the border.

[Jose DeCordoba]

What really terrifies the Mexicans is that it will be unilateral U.S. actions. It would be a disastrous blow for the relationship, probably ending all military and security cooperation.

[Luke Vargas]

It's Friday, January 10th. I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal and here is the AM Edition of what's news, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. 10 people have now been confirmed dead in connection with wildfires around Los Angeles that have destroyed more than 10,000 structures. Firefighters are now battling a new blaze straddling LA and Ventura counties that began yesterday and has already spread to nearly 1,000 acres. Dangerous weather conditions, which have fanned blazes, are expected to persist today, with officials warning that high winds are forecast to return early next week, potentially worsening fires that are not brought under control over the weekend. In the Oceanside neighborhood of Pacific Palisades alone, some 5,300 homes, businesses and other buildings have been destroyed or damaged and the fire there is just 6% contained. Meanwhile, the massive Eaton fire north of Pasadena remains 0% contained and has also damaged or destroyed more than 5,000 structures, including the home of Bridget Berg, a local who returned with her family to survey what remained.

[Jose DeCordoba]

Today.

[Luke Vargas]

I think the, you know, my family and the kids wanted to come back and see, see what it was. I watched this house burn down live on on the news while I was work. So just to kind of make it real and see what was here, I don't think. I didn't expect to find much, but there's a few keepsakes. She is among thousands who've lost their homes or are under evacuation orders and who now face the daunting task of finding temporary shelter and longer term accommodation. According to home listing site Zillow, Louisiana had a shortage of 337,000 units in 2022, part of a chronic housing shortage that's triggered a sharp rise in property prices, especially for single family units. Mayor Karen Bass yesterday pledged to try and clear red tape to aggressively rebuild affected areas, but officials have cautioned that the scale of devastation could make that process long and difficult. In the meantime, as investigators try to look for the cause of the fires, we exclusively report that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power hasn't implemented a safety protocol proactively shut off parts of its system in order to reduce the risk caused by sparks from its power lines in windstorms. That's according to regulatory filings. Power lines in California have ignited some of the nation's most deadly and destructive fires in the past, and every other big power provider in the state has such a measure in place. An LADWP spokeswoman said the utility has other safety measures in place and added that widespread power outages pose risks to critical city and emergency services. 2024 was the hottest year on record, according to new meteorological data released today by the eu, UK and Japan. Those findings show that the temperature jump last year made the earth more than 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than in the pre industrial era, surpassing a key threshold in international climate diplomacy. A massive 2018 study by the United nations found that holding global temperatures below that level could avert irrevers damage to coral reefs, keep Antarctic ice sheet loss at bay, and prevent human death and suffering. According to Europe's Copernicus Climate Change Service, each of the past 10 years was one of the 10 warmest years on record. TikTok is scheduled to argue its case before the Supreme Court today, which is deciding whether the government can ban it if its Chinese parent company ByteDance doesn't divest itself of the platform by January 19th. ByteDance has said selling TikTok is technological, commercially and legally infeasible. Journal Supreme Court reporter Jess Bravin says TikTok's arguments today are expected to center around free speech.

[Jess Bravin]

They're going to say that when the government wants to restrict speech under the First Amendment, it has to show that there is no less restrictive way to achieve that interest. And here TikTok says the government fails that test. They say that the government hasn't shown that this app really is a national security threat. And the government acknowledges that China, the foreign adversary designated by law, hasn't used it in a way to undermine US national security yet. And TikTok is going to argue that there are less restrictive ways to address it, for example, Greater disclosure, disclosing to Americans that the app is collecting a lot of data about them what's the government's point of view? Foreign adversary governments have no First Amendment rights inside the United States, and so it's not even appropriate to look in that direction.

[Luke Vargas]

And for more on what the arguments on both sides are likely to be, check out today's episode of our Tech News Briefing podcast. Well, speaking of the Supreme Court justices have rejected a last ditch effort by Donald Trump's lawyers to block his criminal sentencing for covering up hush money paid to an adult film star, clearing the way for an unprecedented court proceeding that will brand the president elect as a felon. To go ahead Today in New York, the presiding judge in the hush money case, Juan Merchan, is likely to address Trump in court and speak about the conduct that led to his guilty verdict last May, though he's made clear he won't order a prison term and will sentence the president elect to an unconditional discharge, which carries no punishment. And in markets today, Investor focus will be on December's jobs report set for release at 8:30am Eastern. Economists polled by the Journal expect the unemployment rate to hold steady at 4.2%, with the US economy adding just north of 150,000 jobs in December, down from 227,000 in November. The data will be a key input for Fed policymakers ahead of their next interest rate decision, due January 29th. Coming up, could Donald Trump order missile strikes against Mexico's drug cartels? The Journal's Jose DeCordoba joins us to discuss the president elect's possible moves targeting organized crime south of the border and how they could reshape the U S. Mexico relationship. After the rink taxi, imagine hailing a cab with no one in the driver's seat. Welcome. Please buckle your seat belt and enjoy the ride. Self driving car company Waymo has spent billions developing its tech. What's changed is machine learning. I'm not really thinking about who's driving, but will this big bet pay off for Waymo and its parent Google owner Alphabet? Find out in Waymo and the Robo Taxi Race, a new series in the WSJ's Future of Everything feed. Donald Trump has long been a hot topic of conversation in Mexican political circles. But the Journal's Jose de Cordoba in Mexico City reports that a once unthinkable action that the incoming president could take has lately been dominating the discussion. That's the prospect of US Military action on Mexicans soil targeting drug cartels. Jose we have discussed here on the podcast before Trump's potential trade policy with Mexico. We've talked about, of course, immigration, but not specifically how the President elect might go after Mexican organized crime. What is potentially on the table?

[Jose DeCordoba]

What's on the table is some sort of US Military action to basically take on Mexico's cartels, which are responsible for most of the fentanyl that is being smuggled into the United States. That, as you know, is responsible for something like 70,000 overdose deaths a year. Trump mused about missile strikes against drug labs during his first term, and taking military action against the cartels was also a big part of his policies during the campaign. Since he won the election, people who will be taking top positions in his governing team have also echoed his policy prescriptions.

[Luke Vargas]

Jose, is it at all clear whether that would be the kind of thing. I mean, we're in the realm of hypotheticals here, but that would involve Mexico government cooperation, or is this kind of a unilateral US Move?

[Jose DeCordoba]

It's unclear. What really terrifies the Mexicans is that it would be unilateral U.S. actions that would keep them out of the scene. That would really cause a huge crisis in the relations between the two countries. And remember, these two countries are enormously close trade partners. It would be a disastrous blow for the relationship, probably ending all Mexican military and security cooperation with the US to begin. And it probably wouldn't do any good, because you have to remember that these labs, I've been to three or four of them, many of them are in cities. You know, they're in, like, in a regular street, you would probably cause civilian casualties. And all these labs, they cost a couple of hundred dollars to set up. They're total, totally movable. And there's lots of them, you know, knocking out one lab or two labs or three labs wouldn't do absolutely anything to stop the flow of fentanyl going north.

[Luke Vargas]

Jose, what has the Mexican government response been to this?

[Jose DeCordoba]

Well, the Mexican government response has said no way. You know, we are very happy to cooperate with you and face this together. There was one big bust just a short time ago in which Mexican security forces captured 1.3 tons of fentanyl, which is a huge amount of fentanyl. And that was obviously, I think, done to telegraph to the US Government that they're on the case. I think the Mexican strategy is, you know, let's show the Americans that we can crack down on these guys, therefore, that they don't have to come and do anything that's going to be very difficult to walk back afterwards.

[Luke Vargas]

And what do the Mexican people make of all of this?

[Jose DeCordoba]

The violence in some parts of Mexico is such that polls show that in some cases, a majority of Mexicans would be supportive of US Military action as long as they were able to clean the area of the violence that plagues so much of Mexico. Nevertheless, it would cause a crisis with Mexico and a regional political crisis because most, if not all of Latin America would back the Mexican government position against the United States military intervention.

[Luke Vargas]

Can we say, especially looking back at Trump's first term, for any clues as to how this relationship might go? Is that likely to be enough to get Trump off of this idea?

[Jose DeCordoba]

Well, it's hard to say. You know, in the first term, you had lots of people in the US Government who would talk Trump off his ideas. You had the famous guardrails. There are no guardrails in the second term. And so everybody is very scared. There won't be any resistance to his ideas, such as this one.

[Luke Vargas]

Wall Street Journal reporter Jose Decordoba is in Mexico City. Jose, thank you so much.

[Jose DeCordoba]

Well, thanks for having me on. It's always a pleasure.

[Luke Vargas]

And that's it for what's news for this Friday morning. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach with supervising producer Christina Rocca. And I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Otherwise, have a great weekend and thanks for listening.