DOT's Pete Buttigieg falsely claims that Trump was responsible for Ohio train disaster
The Biden administration is blaming Donald Trump” for the train disaster in Ohio even as his own NTSB Chair Hemendy says that anyone who says so is spreading disinformation.
The Biden administration and Pete Buttigieg should stop blaming Donald Trump for the train disaster in Ohio and spreading disinformation. This is only one falsehood in a very long list of disinformation produced by the Biden administration.
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is falsely blaming former President Donald Trump for the train disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, claiming, “we’re constrained by law on some areas of rail regulation,” and citing a “braking rule” that was withdrawn under the Trump administration.
It is true that in 2018 the Department of Transportation (DOT) withdrew a proposed rule requiring trains carrying certain dangerous chemicals to use electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes, this rule would not have applied to the train that derailed in East Palestine on February 3.
Buttigieg claimed, “We’re constrained by law on some areas of rail regulation,” and cited “the braking rule withdrawn by the Trump administration in 2018 because of a law passed by Congress in 2015.”
Buttigieg’s assertion is blatantly false.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy announced on Thursday that if this particular rule were to have gone into effect, the mandate would have applied only to trains classified as high-hazard flammable trains.
“This means even if the rule had gone into effect, this train wouldn’t have had ECP brakes,” Homendy said, and she suggested that anyone who says otherwise is “spreading misinformation.”
Norfolk Southern corroborated Homendy’s comments “that the train in question “was not considered a high-hazard flammable train.”
Therefore, the braking rule cited by Buttigieg would not have applied to the train operated by Norfolk Southern that derailed in East Palestine earlier this month. Moreover, Buttigieg had two years to deal with any remaining [upgrading] train brake issues and did nothing.
Buttigieg is prioritizing other issues. On Monday, he suggested there are too many white people working in construction.
From the start of Pete Buttigieg’s time as head of the Department of Transportation, he’s failed. He was MIA when hundreds of ships couldn’t dock, leading to the supply chain crisis. He was also MIA during the critical train workers’ dispute, which could have led to a crippling strike.
In recent months, he failed to prepare for major outages that left millions stranded in airports across America. There have been massive cancelations and other problems in December, January, and February.
Credit to Breitbart...my summary and take on several articles.
Key Takeaways:
Federal lawsuits have been launched over the toxic train derailment.
Fifty cars were derailed; some released toxic material into the surrounding area.
Biden’s Department of Transportation chief once again appears MIA.
As I understand from responsible reporting, NS had a system that checked bearing temperatures along the route (more frequent that other lines). The last device that measured bearing temperatures showed a high temperature 253 degrees (if I remember correctly). For whatever reason, the message didn't get back to the train crew in time to stop and resolve the problem. Ergo, while NS is as fault, they were responsible and the DoT had nothing to do with it.
Buttigieg is wrong and typically blaming someone else to avoid any tarnish. Any belief that DoT or any government agency is around to help is a false belief. While I have concerns about NS, at least is appears to be stepping-up to the problem and create a solution. Giving residents (not households) $1,000 per person is a start. Spending (an estimated) $1 billion is more commitment that the Feds would commit (they're committing taxpayer money anyway).
It's time for US Citizens to wake-up and smell the mess; the Government is not here to help us (paraphrase of Reagan's famous - and true, statement).
Hi Vaughn,
Are you no longer on LinkedIn?