Q&A – The Big, Black, Beautiful Wall
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Social: @brianmuddradio
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Today’s entry: @brianmuddradio How much hotter will the border wall be painted black?
Bottom Line: It’s been a historically successful year at the southern border for President Trump and his administration upon his return to office. Not only did President Trump restore the policies in he had in place when he left office after his first term that proved to be successful, he’s had unprecedented success in securing our southern border with them in his second term. Since becoming president attempted border crossings are over 90% lower than they were a year ago (95% most recently). With successful attempts are at the lowest levels on record – over 99% lower than a year ago.
The immediate and historic success has led to far less coverage of the southern border wall than was the case during President Trump’s first term when it was a central focus of his administration. Nevertheless, the border wall remains a priority of the president and the Department of Homeland Security. A key component to being able to complete the construction of the southern border was/is funding. Well, all of the funding that was needed to finish the wall, and then some, was accounted for in the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act. As I covered in early June prior to the passage of the OBBBA: effectively as long as there is at least $12 billion in the OBBB for enhanced border security – the wall can be completed. So where do we stand? The Department of Homeland Security requested $45.6 billion in the OBBB for enhanced border security. The final version of the law funded at the $45.6 billion level which means that there’s not only money to build the wall but to enhance it. So, about that...
On Tuesday Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the entire southern border wall would be painted black. While standing in front of a stretch of the wall she said: The one big, beautiful bill allocated an incredible amount of resources. If you look at the structure that's behind me, it's tall, which makes it very, very difficult to climb, almost impossible. It also goes deep into the ground, which would make it very difficult, if not impossible, to dig under. And today we are also going to be painting it black. That is specifically at the request of the president, who understands that in the hot temperatures down here, when something is painted black, it gets even warmer, and it will make it even harder for people to climb. So about that...how much hotter will the border wall be?
The primary material in question is steel. And as anyone in South Florida who has ever leaned on their car or a fence in the dead of the summer sun can attest to...it’s awfully hot. Metal is a conductor of heat, and nothing conducts more of it than when it’s black. To put in perspective the difference it makes when the metal is steel... A black steel wall at peak temperatures, at the southern border, will be 50 to 70 degrees hotter than it currently is. During the peak summer temperatures, the black wall will radiate heat at between 160 to 190 degrees.
To provide an idea of how hot that actually is... If you were to place your hand on a burner at 160 degrees, it would be burned within two seconds. Another example to help provide an idea. Asphalt doesn’t conduct as much heat as black steel does. So, if you can imagine the hottest road, you’ve ever felt – we're talking about something still hotter. And because the heat becomes so extreme, it doesn’t go away so easily once the sun goes down either. At the thickness of the southern border wall, it would take 15 hours without direct sun exposure to be able to cool...meaning that essentially, given the desert nature of most of it...that’ll just about never happen. What’s more – is even in the coldest month of the year – January, the wall will still reach 120 degrees. That’s not nearly the deterrent that burning on contact during the summer presents, however trying to scale 30 feet at 120 degrees probably isn’t easy.
So that’s the breakout on President Trump’s soon to be One Big, Beautiful, Black Border Wall that will act as an extra heat deterrent, and for that matter, will probably look rather intimidating.