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Roads, Bridges and the Future of Civilization-Episodes-Trump on Earth Podcast

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Ep. 26: Roads, Bridges and the Future of Civilization-Episodes-Trump on Earth Podcast

As Congress pays out more than 36 billion dollars in disaster relief, the General Accounting Office recommends that the federal government find ways to minimize the economic impacts of climate change. President Obama started moving in that direction when he signed an executive order requiring infrastructure be designed to survive flooding and other consequences of climate change. Obama's order was never finalized, and President Trump issued an executive order of his own that pretty much undid it. So what's the danger if infrastructure policies do not consider the risks that are coming with climate change? 

I think Trump’s regulatory rolling back of cumulative impact in NEPA will be devastating

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I think Trump’s regulatory rolling back of cumulative impact in NEPA will be devastating. 🌎

Some of the things proposed by Trump are bad but this is devastatingly bad for our country. Looking at cumulative impacts of government policy is at the heart of the National Environmental Policy Act, ignoring it basically guts the law. We need to fully understand the impacts of government policies before moving forward, especially with large complicated projects. It’s always better to avoid impacts then try to fix them after the fact. 

NPR

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Trump Rule Would Overhaul Landmark Environmental Law : NPR

A key part of the administration's proposal centers on whether agencies must consider the cumulative environmental effects of things like pipelines, which have attracted protests by climate activists across the country.

Under the new limits, federal agencies would only need to consider effects that are "reasonably foreseeable" and have a "close causal relationship" to the project. That could mean simply the impact of building thepipeline.

For Cuomo, familiar music with some new notes

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For Cuomo, familiar music with some new notes

In 2019, however, the Democratic-controlled Legislature approved a huge chunk of these perennial proposals. That forced Cuomo to come up with an unprecedented amount of new material for his 2020 State of the State address on Wednesday.

The end result was still a very Cuomonian speech: New York, he said, needs to pass monumental pieces of progressive legislation. Particularly those that don’t make the budget soar.

I am pretty sure the same could be said about Governor Nelson Rockefeller and the Republicans, but then again, they weren't so concerned about letting the budget soar, especially back in the day. But then again, things kind of ended badly for New York with the rent strike putting the Urban Development Corporation and all of New York State at the edge by mid-1970s.