During an interview with Maine Public Radio’s “Maine Calling” on Monday, Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) said that Democrats, at a time when government agencies and initiatives are being attacked, “instead of just saying, there [are] no problems with any of them and defending every penny that gets spent or every job that exists, I think we should acknowledge that there’s been ineffectiveness out there and that that’s not okay and we should be a party who wants to show that we can sweat the small details and get it right” and stated when he and other members of Congress from rural areas try to draw attention to the impact of regulations to fix them, “we get a lot of eyerolls.”
While discussing [relevant remarks begin around 12:25] the impact and effectiveness of regulations regarding devices on diesel engines, Golden stated that “those types of details matter a lot, my colleagues and I in Congress who are from more rural parts of the country and are Democrats will often talk about paying attention to these sorts of details and then trying to do something about them, and, frankly, we get a lot of eyerolls.”
He added, “I can picture that some of the people listening are saying, like, so what, Jared? Like, that is really important, climate change is a real threat and we should do things that we can do to reduce emissions, and I agree with them. But I also think that we have to be a party, not just elected officials, but those who are just members of the party, who care about the details and showing that government can be efficient and effective and that we don’t want to spend money on ineffective outcomes. And so, when loggers are saying, okay, yes, this reduces emissions a little bit coming off of the operations of our equipment, but it takes a special kind of fuel, which isn’t readily available, which is resulting in long supply chains, and, sometimes, causing work stoppages on our side, you’re hitting us economically, but it’s also questionable if you’re even reducing emissions because of that long supply chain and they’re — they actually want to know, like, they’re willing to work with us. I hear this from the lobstermen, too, it’s like, there’s a willingness to work with people and with government on regulations to solve problems, but not if they aren’t proven to be effective. No one wants to sacrifice for nothing. And I think we should pay attention to those details and really care about it.”
Golden continued, “And, at a time when there is a big assault on many a federal agency and department and program, instead of just saying, there [are] no problems with any of them and defending every penny that gets spent or every job that exists, I think we should acknowledge that there’s been ineffectiveness out there and that that’s not okay and we should be a party who wants to show that we can sweat the small details and get it right and demand that the government get it right as well and that we believe that it’s possible that it can.”
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