A.G. Gancarski
The Joe Biden administration’s highway emission standards aren’t getting any traction with Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Speaking in Tampa, DeSantis complained about benchmarks that can qualify states for federal dollars, explaining that to “change your behavior to get crumbs from the federal government” is not “something that you want to do.”
“They did this infrastructure bill, and you get the bill and they try to give you money. But then you’ve got to jump through all these hoops,” DeSantis said. “I have to monitor tailpipe emissions for Florida drivers. I am not doing that. I’m not doing the woke roads. I’m not doing any of that.”
The Governor has talked about tailpipe emissions and so-called “woke roads” before.
He previously pledged to Floridians that he didn’t want to “police your tailpipe” during another soliloquy about federal funding conditions after the state rejected $320 million of conditional federal money requiring emissions testing in 2023.
In 2024, while targeting the Biden administration’s “weaponization of transportation dollars,” DeSantis rolled out a portal called Roads are not for Politics that he said spotlighted the “underhanded tactics” the Democratic President uses to “shoehorn” so-called “social justice initiatives” such as diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory into transportation allocations. The Governor blasted the Biden administration for attempting to “push an ideological agenda” with federal funds.
DeSantis targeted Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who said the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework would address “racism that went into those design choices” of 20th century highways that divided many major cities and destroyed neighborhoods.
“In 2022, Biden’s Secretary of Transportation launched a $1 billion transportation project that he said would combat ‘racist roads.’ And I’m thinking, like, everyone drives our roads. We’re not doing, I don’t know where you’re getting that (we’re) trying to do (that),” DeSantis said, taking another shot at remarks he’d previously condemned for representing the “woke-ification of federal policy.”
8 comments
Paul
May 20, 2025 at 11:28 am
Poor guy. Look at all the hoops he jumped through laundering $10 million through Hope Florida…
R Russell
May 20, 2025 at 4:25 pm
What’s your point, Mr. Editor?
R Russell
May 20, 2025 at 4:25 pm
What’s your point, Mr. Editor?
Victoria Olson
May 20, 2025 at 4:56 pm
Can someone please explain how roads can be “WOKE”?
Bill Pollard
May 20, 2025 at 7:38 pm
I just have to shake my head at so much of the stuff this man says. Woke roads! What foolishness.
wake up
May 21, 2025 at 8:21 am
Sickening how Rona has twisted “woke” into something bad. I can think of many 4-letter words to describe him. He does look cute in his white rubber boots however pretending to care about us.
Mme DoGood
May 21, 2025 at 4:47 pm
The reality is that in Florida people (including children) are exposed to higher levels of tail pipe emissions than other states as they do not enforce maintenance and inspections for vehicles. Next time you’re behind a truck spewing black smoke, don’t believe that is normal. It’s not. Ron just doesn’t want people to know that they are being poisoned.
Michael K
May 22, 2025 at 8:02 am
I was parking at a grocery store when a big black pickup truck with vertical tail pipes roared in next to me. The guy came out and bragged about the black smoke his truck spews – and asked what I thought about that. I told him I thought it was disgusting – especially as a cyclist who does not like to breathe toxins. When I returned to my car – it had been keyed on the driver side.
Seems like these are the people our governor is appealing to.
Comments are closed.