Leaks

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Many wonder why Teixeira decided to choose to reveal sensitive information and put national security at risk. Some speculate that there may be political motivation behind it. There was no given motive behind Teixeira’s actions. As of now, prosecutors do not believe that Teixeira leaked this information for any reason other than to prove to his online associates that he really did have top-secret security clearance. He had found a way to impress and engage his online audience, even though, through doing so, he risked jeopardizing countless intelligence efforts and revealing sensitive information about Ukraine.

The documents were available online for a number of months before the Pentagon flagged them as classified information. The extent of time that it took for the nation’s intelligence agency to realize that top-secret information had been leaked by a 21-year-old has many people wondering if the government has given out too many top-secret security clearances to efficiently keep track of them all.

However, this event does not compare to Daniel Ellsberg’s massive 1971 leak of information about war crimes in Vietnam, dubbed the Pentagon Papers. Dr. Roger Coate is a professor of political science and public administration at GC, and he emphasized that this leak is not of the same scale as the release of information that took place some 50 years ago.

“I hate the concept of Pentagon Papers,” Coate said “I feel like that it is just totally fallacious. That was a very, very different kind of phenomenon. No, this was more like WikiLeaks, where somebody is out there, but I think even WikiLeaks had sort of a politi- cal motive behind it.”

Nonetheless, this situation still has the potential to jeopardize U.S. intelligence operatives around the globe.

“One thing you have to be very careful of in intelligence is how things are made public because it jeopardizes those individuals who are — for example, in the special forces — those individuals who are the informants,” Coate said.

GC students continue to be upset about the incident and have begun

Electric vehicles are placed at the forefront

The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, recently proposed new auto pollution rules with a plan to place electric vehicles at the forefront by 2032.

As the main source of greenhouse gasses, which contribute to pollution, climate change and global warming, the Biden-Harris administration and many other political figures are looking to regulate the car- bon emissions from automobiles and factories.

“I think this is one of those opportunities to make it more available,” said Lorianne Hamilton, GC’s Chief Sustainability Officer. “For admissions, it is going to increase the sales, and the more electric vehicles we have out there, the lower emissions are going to be because automobiles are our highest producers of emissions.”

If implemented, the proposal would affect

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light-duty and medium-duty vehicles, starting with model year 2027.

The limits would aim to mandate greenhouse gas emissions rather than the sales of electric vehicles. According to a recent Gallup poll, 41% of Americans would not consider purchasing an electric vehicle.

Many have denounced the cars because of how little travel each vehicle can handle. The average EV can travel just 211 miles on one charge — which takes an average of 40 to 50 hours to reach — according to the Electric Vehicle Database.

Others worry about the ability to charge and fix these vehicles, considering their popularity has not hit the levels of gas-powered vehicles.

“For electric vehicles, if you are traveling any distance, you have got to be able to charge

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“I think they are sustainable, but I would not go out of my way to get one right now, because of the prices,” said Reagan Smith, a junior management major. “I feel like the prices cut off low-income people from getting sustainable cars and things like that.”

The cost of maintenance is a large issue to consumers.

“Anybody that tells you there is no maintenance with EVs is not exactly accurate,” Hamilton growth of EVs could save Americans up to $1.1 trillion on gas.

“The question is not can this be done; it is how fast can it be done,” said John Bozzella, CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. “How fast will depend almost exclusively on having the right policies and market conditions in place.”

Those in favor of EVs support the movement because the cars are energy efficient and cut down emissions.

However, many have to question our national security clearances. ments to maintain such a high level of electric ture. This would include cantly larger number of vamping electric grids munities and collecting materials needed to produce necessary batteries.

“Of course, certain people do need access, but there are tens of thousands of people, and I think that number is extremely high given that such young individuals, such as this 21-year-old guy, had access to it when he didn’t necessarily need access to all of that,” said Ansley White, a senior criminal justice major.

“Sales will go up, and I think that is the whole point of trying to push this out there,” Hamilton said. “I think the main thing is that the infrastructure is really what is going to hold us back.”

Despite criticism and concerns, the Biden-Harris administration and EPA expect to reduce air pollution, a goal referenced during Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign.