• underisk
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    1 year ago

    He waived environmental protections with executive powers to expedite the process. He isnt just passively letting this happen because his hands are tied.

    • hedgehog@ttrpg.network
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      1 year ago

      Would those environmental protections have allowed the wall to simply not be built, or would they have just delayed it, costing even more money for environmental reviews, changed plans, etc., when a government shutdown is imminent?

      That’s a real question, to be clear, and not one the article answered one way or the other.

      • underisk
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        1 year ago

        Even if it were the case, as they said the budget is already allocated. Why not make them waste as much of it as possible paying for stuff that isn’t building the wall that everyone knows is useless? Making it look like even more of an expensive boondoggle seems like a better strategy than paving the way through federally protected lands.

        And that’s setting aside the costs of maintaining what gets built or what it would cost to remove the wall at some point.

        • crusa187
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          1 year ago

          Excellent points. This is completely braindead policy on Biden’s part. The reality is he wanted to give this money to the contractors building the wall, and it’s pathetic crony capitalism per usual.

      • los_chill@programming.dev
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        1 year ago

        Genuinely curious why he couldn’t go ahead and fund the wall, allow existing environmental law to block it, take that back to congress and say this project is illegal and now it is up to congress to repurpose funds.

      • underisk
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        1 year ago

        He has to utilize executive fiat to circumvent normal environmental regulation procedures? What exactly do you think would happen if he didn’t?