Under the new bill, Florida could have roads made of phosphogypsum, a material known by the EPA to contain a “potentially cancer-causing, radioactive gas,” that’s the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S.
This reads like a headline from some Superman-Comic where Lex Luthor was elected governor.
What’s his reasoning? No way anyone could know the facts and be okay with this.
Financial support from the corporations that can now sell their radioactive waste to the Florida government instead of paying for it to be properly disposed of.
This is going to kill so many road workers.
I would need someone from Florida to weigh in, but usually these kind of “pro-infrastructure” bills that obviously have social costs such as cancer-inducing materials are usually reserved for ahem specific neighborhoods. I’m surprised to hear (not read because the article wouldn’t expand for me on that webpage) that this would be tested at a facility as usually big corps don’t want to do anything to actively kill their poor workforce, but I guess they’re following the Amazon “the poors are expendable” warehouse model of labor management.
My guess is that his reasoning goes like this: “I’m a cartoon-evil piece of shit. Is there anything I can do to make things worse for real people? Cancer roads? Hey, that’s great!”
I feel like a public comment should be required for Bill signing. I know it isn’t. Just at this point, definitely feels like it should be.
I like the idea but I doubt it would work. Unless you want all laws signed with the comment:
bug fixes and stability improvements
This is far more good faith than Florida Republicans deserve at this point, but I can at least imagine the possibility that there is a way to use phosphogypsum in a way such that the produced Radon is trapped or released in such small and limited quantities that it poses no significant risk to human health.
Now, do I think there’s a chance in hell that’s actually what’s going to happen here? Not at all.
it’s a common byproduct of certain industries like fertilizer production
basically you’re turning a waste product into building material so it’d be pretty cheap. you can build cheaper roads, so the state government can in theory save money
in addition, it’s more or less a handout to the companies that produce this waste product because they will now have a brand new product to sell whereas before they would be paying to get rid of it
obviously it’s dangerous - the EPA only allows the use of it with approval. although the law states that the florida department of transportation needs to be a study to make sure it’s safe and they have until april 1st, 2024
then after that it would need to be approved by the EPA, which includes all sorts of technical analysis and study that needs to be publicly released and there’s also a period of public comment
personally? i’m a floridian and hate desantis and i don’t think this bill is that big of a deal. it’s not like they’re gonna start using this stuff tomorrow. they’re going to try and see if they can find a safe way to use it. in my opinion, if there’s a waste product we can use as building material and we can determine it won’t cause harm to people or the environment… why shouldn’t we use it?
it’s cheaper for the taxpayers and we send less shit to the waste dump
of course, this is all assuming that the checks and balances of the FDOT study & EPA approval are all in good faith. if that’s hijacked by corporate interest then I don’t know anymore
You had me until this part:
personally? i’m a floridian and hate desantis and i don’t think this bill is that big of a deal.
Key passage in your post:
in my opinion, if there’s a waste product we can use as building material and we can determine it won’t cause harm to people or the environment… why shouldn’t we use it?
This is troubling because the general trend for SCOTUS and for specific state legislations, such as Florida, is that they move forward with harmful activities despite the demonstrated harm it could causes humans or the environment. SCOTUS has started really going after dismantling the EPA and taking the teeth out of its policies, so when you mention that all of this testing and proof needs to be completed within a year, that’s really just a comment on how little oversight the EPA may still have by the time there’s a moment of reckoning for this safety study.
the study by the FDOT needs to be done within the year, then it triggers the EPA part
I support this with the caveat that it’s safe. I’m not really sure what the controversial thing about that statement is. Of course I don’t fully trust the EPA. the FCC had a public comment period for the killing of net neutrality and we all know how much BS happened there. but having said that I’ve worked with the FDOT professionally for a long time and they have decent people working for them.
florida’s not some backwards shit hole there are open minded progressive people in places of power. it’s just taken a swing towards the loonies with desantis
again - if it’s safe i support it. if our checks and balances work out, this isn’t a bad bill. if you’re right and the EPA just floats this thing regardless of the damage then OK you’re right I’m wrong
Radioactive roads could power the cars using them without the greenhouse gas emissions of fossil-fuel cars; combined with the self-driving car technology on the horizon, it’s a far-sighted vision of the future that Ron Desantis should be applauded for - the one catch is every person who uses the roads is dead from cancer, but it’s still a wonderful vision…just hope he doesn’t use the roads while visualizing because he will lose his vision because of the radioactivity.
Isn’t this guy trying to run for president? We need to understand how much worse things can get
Yup the one who wants to either get rid of the IRS and the departments of Education, Energy and Commerce entirely or to use them to “push back against woke ideology and against the leftism that we see creeping into all institutions of American life.” See this thread
I saw one article on that. What I did not see is any form of actual plan. Was he asked what happens to Trademarks and Copyrights? What happens to nuclear waste? I am sure all the businesses in the country will love the idea of getting rid of the Department of Commerce, which includes copyrights and trademarks.
Imagine an oil tanker explodes on the road after an accident and burns for a long period of time, melting the road and releasing tons of radioactive toxic smoke… But that’ll never happen right