Posted on 02/14/2023 7:18:39 AM PST by george76
Republican lawmakers criticized Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for his response to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which marks the most recent of several high-profile infrastructure disasters during his two-year tenure.
The derailment, which occurred on February 3, caused a fire that lasted several days. Officials decided to evacuate all residents within one mile of the crash and initiated a controlled burn of the chemicals to mitigate the risk of an explosion; five train cars of vinyl chloride, a carcinogen that can contaminate water supplies, was released into the atmosphere in the form of massive plumes of dark smoke that were visible in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania.
Buttigieg appeared at the National Association of Counties Conference on Monday to discuss matters such as racial equity in the construction sector. He soon faced pressure from several Republican officials who said Buttigieg has failed to address the crisis.
“Pete Buttigieg has finally emerged today. Not a single comment about the train crash in Ohio,” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) said on social media. “Instead, he bemoaned the whiteness of the construction industry. It’s a miracle that this country is able to function at all under this regime.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) said the official should be questioned by lawmakers, while Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) likewise claimed that Buttigieg “hasn’t said a word” on the ecological disaster more than nine days after the crash occurred. Norfolk Southern, the company responsible for the derailment, provided the EPA with a list of cars affected by the incident and the substances they were carrying; beyond vinyl chloride, toxic industrial chemicals such as ethylene glycol monobutyl ether and ethylhexyl acrylate were spilled at the site.
“The recent train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio is nothing short of a tragedy,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) commented. “This is another transportation failure under Mayor Pete’s leadership. Where is he?”
Buttigieg has previously faced heat from commentators who assert the Biden administration hired him because of his self-identification as a homosexual rather than his expertise in infrastructure policy. The official previously took months of paid leave after he and his husband adopted twins, even as the supply chain crisis hamstrung the American economy. He also vacationed in Portugal as the specter of a nationwide rail strike loomed earlier this year and reportedly used taxpayer-funded private jets at least 18 times since assuming office, despite his support for policies that seek to address climate change on a national level.
Democratic officials also criticized Buttigieg for his alleged failure to prevent mass delays and cancellations at Southwest Airlines, which induced holiday travel difficulties for thousands of passengers, less than one month before the Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide due to a system outage. Buttigieg most recently faced backlash over the Biden administration’s handling of the Chinese surveillance balloon that was allowed to traverse the entire continental United States, including missile silos and other sensitive assets.
A public records request from the Functional Government Institute last month concluded that the Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, created by the White House two years ago, suffered from nonexistent leadership. The organization noted that Buttigieg’s calendars during his two-month paternity leave show no evidence that he participated in any meetings for the initiative.
He’s trying to figure out how to ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) it
Buttigieg got an easy job and scrooed it up.
The Dem establishment considers him along with Nuisance, to be the two front runners to be the 2024 Dem presidential nominee. Wow!
He’s too busy worrying about what race construction workers are.
He would make an official statement but he can’t figure out how this derailment intersects with LGBTQ.
Better to be silent and thought the fool, then to speak and remove all doubt.
Too busy laying the rails to “hubby”
The Peter Principle immediately consumed Mayor Pete the moment Biden appointed him. For those who do not know what the Peter Principle is: One continues to get promoted within an organization until that person reaches his/her level of incompetence. The same can be said about the Secretary of Energy. She does not know the difference between a BTU and her BUTT. Oh, lets not overlook the Secretary of Homeland Security. He has mucked up our southern border until it is impossible to discern its location except for the Rio Grande River.
Oh, but we can all take great comfort in the diversity of the cabinet that Biden assembled. All we have to do is ignore the fact that diversity for the mere sake of diversity leads to failure. All the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams know this.
“This train wreck doesn’t look like the train wrecks in other neighborhoods “
Is that turbine spreading acid rain throughout the area?
The county where the derailment happened voted 71% for Trump in 2020. They are expendable.
He doesn’t know how to do his job. What change say?
Don’t blame the Alfred E. Newman of public policy for a train derailment.
Chinese spy balloon flies over the entire U.S. - Trumps fault, he did it too. Massive ecological disaster in Ohio - Trump's fault.
Hey liberals, if everything is Trump's fault, and you cannot take responsibility, then Trump should really be back in office. It's time for children, who cannot own up to their failures, to leave the tough job for adults.
Shows how much they really care for the environment. It is just another political tool. The hypocrisy is nauseating.
Diversity over Competence is joe’s motto.
I think that in Buttplug's case all doubt has been removed long ago
Maybe Pete was at home nursing his baby.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.