Sometimes, an idea is so bad that merely suggesting it is grounds for termination. This is one of those cases.
President Trump’s Interior Secretary, Doug Burgum, recently offered just one such terrible idea.
Yesterday, Burgum and Housing Secretary Scott Turner shared their brilliant idea for our current housing shortage: use federal land.
No. Absolutely not. 1,000 times no.
Stating that we are about seven millions homes short, Mr. Burgum referred to our federal lands as a tremendous asset – which is true. But they’re not just an “asset on a balance sheet,” as he describes them. These beautiful western lands – their natural state, their openness – are an asset because they are natural lands.
Don’t get it twisted – conservatives are conservationists. Connection to nature is a defining feature of Western culture.
Does that mean we are against doing anything with the land? No. It does mean that we are, or ought to be, against flooding these pristine areas with something like anything remotely approaching millions of homes. Just think about it. Seven million homes. The population of New York City is a shade over eight million. Now spread out those millions of tiny rat-infested apartments into homes. See the problem?
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Mr. Turner speaks of “tailored housing programs.” Mr. Burgum speaks of “affordable housing.” What does that mean? Section 8 housing? If there really is a severe housing shortage, and these new homes are going to be “affordable,” the demand is going to outstrip supply. Chances are, that means the new homes will quickly rise out of “affordability”. Then what?
There is plenty of land available all over the country without putting New Cabrini Green or cookie-cutter McMansion subdivisions in pristine areas. You know it will be one or the other, or both.
Mr. President, this idea need to be quietly strangled and never spoken of again. It sounds like something dopey Bernie Sanders would come up with.
