Philip Howard

No, absolutely not. The chances are zero that you could get approval to build a canal like the Erie Canal or to build a railroad over a mountain range. Zero. You have all these environmentalists who demand lots of review and compliance with countless different mandates created over the decades.

No, absolutely not. The chances are zero that you could get approval to build a canal like the Erie Canal or to build a railroad over a mountain range. Zero. You have all these environmentalists who demand lots of review and compliance with countless different mandates created over the decades.

And they do so from the comfort of their homes and the economy that exists only because of things that they would never permit.

And they do so from the comfort of their homes and the economy that exists only because of things that they would never permit.

You wouldn't think that expanding broadband service would raise significant environmental issues, but the way environmental law is interpreted, it does. And so you have to get environmental approvals.

You wouldn't think that expanding broadband service would raise significant environmental issues, but the way environmental law is interpreted, it does. And so you have to get environmental approvals.

And then there are all these collateral goals that are built into the laws, such as you have to give a certain amount of business to women or minority-owned businesses, you know, and things like that.

And then there are all these collateral goals that are built into the laws, such as you have to give a certain amount of business to women or minority-owned businesses, you know, and things like that.

And this accretion of requirements means that actually pushing the button to say go and having a contract, it's like a bureaucratic labyrinth of migraine proportions that takes years, years to navigate. And it's been, what, four years now? And they haven't succeeded in navigating. How typical is that? For infrastructure, certain kinds of infrastructure, it's extremely typical.

And this accretion of requirements means that actually pushing the button to say go and having a contract, it's like a bureaucratic labyrinth of migraine proportions that takes years, years to navigate. And it's been, what, four years now? And they haven't succeeded in navigating. How typical is that? For infrastructure, certain kinds of infrastructure, it's extremely typical.

I mean, building transmission lines from renewable sources in the Midwest to the cities, for example, is so onerous that people don't even propose them because there are so many different levels of approval, depending on the state, because every infrastructure project has harmful environmental consequences. I mean,

I mean, building transmission lines from renewable sources in the Midwest to the cities, for example, is so onerous that people don't even propose them because there are so many different levels of approval, depending on the state, because every infrastructure project has harmful environmental consequences. I mean,

A transmission line might go through a pristine forest or in someone's backyard, and someone will object to it. In California, one of the ways to reduce the risk of fires, of these wildfires, is to do controlled burns. But controlled burns require environmental review, and the neighbors don't want a controlled burn, or some don't. They'll have to smell smoke.

A transmission line might go through a pristine forest or in someone's backyard, and someone will object to it. In California, one of the ways to reduce the risk of fires, of these wildfires, is to do controlled burns. But controlled burns require environmental review, and the neighbors don't want a controlled burn, or some don't. They'll have to smell smoke.

So you have mitigation measures absolutely essential to the health and safety of people who live in California that aren't done because the approval process is to earners.

So you have mitigation measures absolutely essential to the health and safety of people who live in California that aren't done because the approval process is to earners.

Well, often they don't get made. When there's really a public imperative that there has to be a decision, often the process will go on for years, sometimes a decade or longer. And at some point, people kind of drop of exhaustion and they finally agree to dredge the Savannah River, this one that took 16 years. And sometimes they just give up on the projects. It just costs too much.

Well, often they don't get made. When there's really a public imperative that there has to be a decision, often the process will go on for years, sometimes a decade or longer. And at some point, people kind of drop of exhaustion and they finally agree to dredge the Savannah River, this one that took 16 years. And sometimes they just give up on the projects. It just costs too much.

No one. The law has made it so that no one has authority.

No one. The law has made it so that no one has authority.