Environment

What Could Go Wrong?

Written by SK Ashby

Trump is reportedly going to sign an executive order to "streamline" the process for approving and building the infrastructure projects that he has no plan to build.

Trump's order will rescind an Obama-era regulation requiring new federally-funded projects to account for sea level rise.

via Reuters:

Trump will sign his own executive order this afternoon to revoke the standards as part of his administration's plan to "streamline the current process" for infrastructure projects, a government official said.

The Obama-era standard required that builders factor in scientific projections for how climate change could affect flooding in a certain area and how projects are constructed.

This affront to common sense regulation will set a bad precedent but, on the other hand, Trump doesn't actually have a plan for building new infrastructure so it may not matter in the short term.

You can't "streamline the current process" when there is no current process.

It's entirely plausible that Trump believes he has initiated a nationwide effort to rebuild our infrastructure because he, you know, signed a piece of paper once.