Trump Flips Environmental Binders

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

In pursuit of his infrastructure promise, Trump dug deep into the obstacles that sometimes stops the government from initiating new projects.  In a show of action, and so as to send a message out to those who pay attention, during a press briefing, Trump flipped through thick binders of what he said were unnecessary and burdensome environmental reviews holding up a highway project. He flopped them around the table until microphones picked up an audible “thunk” and then dropped them to the ground.

Trump, with the wisdom of a businessman who knows the horrors of wading through government red tape, pledged to cut through the “dense thicket of rules, regulation and red tape” he said were causing “terrible delays” for infrastructure permits.

With cutting and slashing, he also added his own potential burden to the system disguised as help, announcing that his administration will be setting up a new council to assist project managers navigate bureaucracy, and an “online dashboard” to track projects through the approval process and impose “tough penalties” on federal agencies that delay projects.

President Trump added that another burden is on its way, a new office in the Council of Environmental Quality, “to root out inefficiency, clarify lines of authority, and streamline federal, state and local procedures.”

Two notes.  While I understand his desire to get the infrastructure back in gear, technically, that is up to the States.  Federal involvement in basic infrastructure projects is not an enumerated power granted to the federal government by the Constitution.  Second, while I understand the perceived need to create a new office in the Council of Environmental Quality and associated systems, I must ask, “Do we really want to expand the size of bureaucracy?”  Remember, Democrats love more bureaucracy because when they get back into power they will be able to fill it with all kinds of socialist horrors.