Residents of East Palestine, Ohio and much of the surrounding area remain quite concerned in the aftermath of a toxic train derailment more than two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is handling it in a familiar bureaucratic way and the media will help frame the situation for this administration:

Ah yes, a “sharply worded letter” should contribute to the solution (that combined with a Biden visit to Ukraine):

Naturally Buttigieg’s letter to the company reserved some blame for the previous administration:

That’s right, Buttigieg’s “sharply worded letter” invoked Trump:

The secretary said he will be laying out new steps for companies to improve safety and plans to urge Congress to raise the cap on fines for those that violate regulations. He also rebuked Norfolk Southern and the industry writ large for their opposition to more stringent safety rules.

“Rather than support these efforts to improve rail safety, Norfolk Southern and other rail companies spent millions of dollars in the courts and lobbying members of Congress to oppose common-sense safety regulations, stopping some entirely and reducing the scope of others,” Buttigieg said, specifically noting the Trump administration’s repeal of a 2015 rule that mandated the use of electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes on train cars.

The chair of the NTSB has called BS on attempts to blame Trump for a train wreck two years into the Biden presidency:

That of course won’t stop the Biden administration from trying to deflect any and all blame.

Related:

Transportation Secretary Buttigieg asks us to remember that trains derail all the time

Pete Buttigieg uses toxic OH derailment to remind us about other great work his dept is doing

Ilhan Omar and Ted Cruz AGREE on need for East Palestine, OH inquiry and Pete Buttigieg can’t DEEEAL

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