DeSantis’s website undermines Biden’s infrastructure ‘policy agenda’

Tallahassee

Hours before Thursday’s presidential debate, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a new website created by his administration that tracks the Biden administration’s infrastructure policies, calling it a tool to “promote a political agenda.”

“In 2022, the Biden administration’s transportation secretary launched a $1 billion transportation project that he said would combat ‘racist roads,’ and I thought to myself, well, anyone can drive on our roads, I don’t know where you got that from,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis was referring to a pilot program launched by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg that would allocate $1 billion over five years to restore connectivity to communities that have historically been cut off or harmed by federal road construction.

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The federal list of funded projects includes two in Florida. The city of Tampa received $5.3 million to help make a key downtown intersection safer and more pedestrian-friendly by reconfiguring the highway interchange. Defuniak Springs received the most funding for a nearly $1 million project to create a pedestrian bridge over the rail line.

The governor said at his news conference that Florida is “one of the states that gets the least money from this Biden infrastructure,” an apparent reference to a 2021 bill passed by Congress called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

According to a White House press release, the priorities of this legislation are improving infrastructure while mitigating the effects of climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“We do not play by those rules,” DeSantis said. “We will not allow the federal government to use purse strings to impose bad policies on the state of Florida.”

Although DeSantis ran in the Republican primary against former President Donald Trump, the two Florida GOP leaders reconciled, with DeSantis pledging to support his campaign.

The announcement on the website on the day of the presidential debate between Trump and President Joe Biden may be a mere coincidence. But Biden and Trump’s contrasting approaches to climate change and energy are potential focal points of Thursday night’s debate.

The Inflation Reduction Act, Biden’s signature initiative to be passed by Congress in 2022, is a multi-agency effort to address the “existential threat of the climate crisis… and power the global economy with clean energy,” according to a White House press release.

Meanwhile, Trump reportedly courted oil executives by promising them tax cuts and reduced regulation in exchange for $1 billion in campaign contributions.

A new website run by the Florida Department of Transportation — roadsarenotforpolitics.com — promotes how the state government is suing the Biden administration over certain infrastructure and environmental policies.

“Given Florida’s legal victory over the Administration on illegal greenhouse gas mitigation measures,” the Florida Department of Transportation “is emboldened to challenge the legality of several executive orders.”

Two of the lawsuits concern federal rules that will affect how projects are assessed for environmental impact starting July 1, with a focus on climate justice and environmental protection efforts, as well as how the government seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks.

The U.S. Fuel and Petrochemical Industry Association called the latest rule “a government-wide effort to eliminate gasoline-powered cars from the market.”

In total, the Florida government has filed 50 lawsuits against the Biden administration over such regulations, according to the DeSantis administration’s new website. The site also claims that “only 25% of Florida’s transportation budget comes from the federal government, and the state is showing no signs of slowing down on that commitment, with a $64 billion plan for infrastructure improvements by 2030.”

This story was originally published June 27, 2024 12:10 PM.