The Daily Think

East Palestine Ohio train derailment is not only a tragedy and a big blow to the Biden presidency, but it also represents a big opportunity for his opponents. Chief among them is Donald Trump who has already made it be known that he plans to run for president again in 2024..

Look, nobody disagrees that politicians have opinions on everything and will use local, state or national tragedies for an opportunity to have their message heard whether or not its asked for, so this train derailment tragedy (which it is) was ripe for Biden’s critics and future presidential hopefuls to respond to the current administration’s response. Not only is Biden under the microscope, but so is Pete Buttigieg as Secretary of Transportation, and Michael Regan head of the EPA. The response from all three men needs to be on point, timely, and buttoned up before the 2024 election. It has not.

Play the Blame Game. Of course, now is the time for the blame game, as Donald Trump visits the area, and hands out MAGA hats. Pete Buttigieg is blaming the Trump administration and their roll backs on train laws. Let’s look at that really quickly. The Trump administration targeted a regulation known as the Positive Train Control (PTC) rule, which was intended to prevent train accidents caused by human error or equipment failure.

The PTC rule required railroads to install advanced safety technology, such as GPS and computer systems, to automatically slow down or stop a train in case of an emergency. The regulation was first passed by Congress in 2008, following a series of deadly train accidents that could have been prevented with PTC technology.

However, implementation of the PTC rule was delayed multiple times, due to objections from the railroad industry, which claimed that the technology was expensive and time-consuming to install. Trump’s administration supported these objections and delayed the implementation of the PTC rule several times.

In 2019, the Department of Transportation, under Trump’s administration, issued a final rule that extended the deadline for railroads to implement PTC technology until the end of 2020. The administration also proposed to exempt some smaller railroads from the requirement to install PTC technology altogether.

Critics of the Trump administration’s actions argued that rolling back safety regulations for trains put lives at risk and prioritized the interests of the railroad industry over public safety. However, supporters of the administration’s actions claimed that the regulations were overly burdensome and costly for the industry.

Scrutinized response activities. Michael Regan along with Governor DeWine were in people’s homes in East Palestine, drinking the tap water trying to assure the people that everything was fine and to “trust the government.” The EPA head and the Biden administration have been trying to make more of a concerted effort after the initial derailment lead to many questioning where is the administration? As of a February 21st, they had removed 15,000 pounds of contaminated soil and nearly a million gallons of contaminated water.

There is no measuring stick for toxic spills. The only thing that can be measured in these responses is how fast they can address the current issues and play down the attacks from their proponents. There is no right answer, there is no metrics to achieve in this or any other similar toxic spills. There is only the faith and trust that our elected officials don’t let it happen again, near our families and near our important resources such as farms and drinking water. Whatever the opportunity is, Donald Trump made sure to be visible for this tragic opportunity, straight from the playbook of a presidential candidate.