Engaged On Energy

 

Welcome to this week’s Engaged on Energy! I’m Rick Whitbeck.

 

Leave it to the eco-Left. Their continued efforts to make life more difficult for Americans has now reached new lows.

 

You remember the celebration across much of the political spectrum from the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill last fall? That bill – which was supposed to allow for new roads, bridges and transportation corridors as part of the package – is turning out to be quite different in practice than it was prior to passage.

 

According to a recent opinion piece by the Wall Street Journal, it turns out that highway upgrades will be championed, but new highway construction will have strings attached that will make it nearly impossible to add to our nation’s highway system.

 

The Federal Highway Administration, part of the US Department of Transportation, sent out a memo advising their staff to red-light projects if they – and I quote – add new general purpose travel lanes serving single-occupancy vehicles, also known as cars.

 

Ultimately, the environmental lobby doesn’t want new roads. They want mass transit, and have co-opted the Highway Administration’s leadership to help them get there.

 

The Journal calls it a bait and switch on Congressional Republicans who backed the infrastructure package because of its expansion and improvements of surface transportation. Since Alaska and Wyoming could use some infrastructure support, especially when compared to both coasts, the change could have tremendous, negative impacts.

 

Oh, and another part of the memo noted that the shortened, 90-day maximum window for reviewing projects under the National Environmental Policy Act – another tool Republicans fought for and were assured were OK by Democrats in leadership – has been scuttled. Any project requiring new right of ways are ineligible for the shortened timeframe. Now, radical environmental organizations can litigate and delay these projects for years.

 

So much for the spirit of cooperation and bipartisanship. Obstructionists win. Americans lose.

 

That’ll do it for this week’s Engaged on Energy. Drop me an email at Rick@PowerTheFuture.com with comments or suggestions for a future segment. Thanks for watching, and have a fantastic, energy-filled week, everyone.