The last Democratic governor of Florida — more than three decades ago — signed a law in Florida that would initiate the largest environmental restoration effort in American history. In the 30 years since, it’s the Republicans in Florida…
Page A10From§Eachthe coffee break edition — 31 August 2026
Trump administration insists D.E.I. bike paths exist as Florida Republicans deliver on a Democrat's environmental promise.
As it ran on the front
Let's clear up the bike path business first, because it's gotten out of hand. The question being asked is whether D.E.I. bike paths exist, as if that's a controversial question, and the administration's answer, on the record, is yes. I want to be clear that 'yes' is not an admission of anything, it is simply a factual confirmation that a category exists in a database somewhere, and the existence of a category is not the same as — is not the same as endorsing the category, which, if I'm being honest, I'm not sure the administration is endorsing, I think they might just be listing it. I'll have to get back to you on whether we're for it or reporting on it. Those are different things. I believe they're different things.
Now, on the Florida matter — and I say this with real enthusiasm, because this is a genuine win — Florida Republicans have delivered on an environmental promise that, yes, originated decades ago with a Democrat, but ownership of an idea expires, that's just how policy works, whoever finishes the job gets the ribbon-cutting, that's not partisan, that's construction. I don't think it's fair to call this an about-face on the environment generally, I think it's fair to call it a completed project, and completed projects don't need a paternity test.…
…(cont) I do want to note, since I'm required to be thorough, that these two stories ran the same week: one where the administration confirms a diversity-linked category exists inside a program it otherwise criticizes, and one where the same political party takes credit for an environmental promise it otherwise criticizes. I'm told that's called having it both ways. I'm told I'm not supposed to call it that on air. So I'll just say: the administration is comfortable listing D.E.I. bike paths as real while dismissing D.E.I. as a concept, and comfortable claiming an environmental win while dismissing environmentalism as a concept, and if you can hold both of those in your head at the same time without it hurting, congratulations, you're qualified for my job.
“One party spends the week insisting bike paths are secretly diversity programs, then turns around and cashes in on an environmental promise a Democrat made decades ago because it finally polls well. They'll fight the label right up until the label's useful.”
“These are not D.E.I. bike paths, they are infrastructure, full stop, infrastructure that happens to — the report specifically says the administration confirmed it, I didn't write the headline — and as for Florida, a promise kept is a promise kept regardless of whose administration originally — did I just credit a Democrat? Strike that.”
The receipts
The administration has revoked funding for bike paths, and encouraged removing some. A cycling advocate said it is playing on the idea of “that dork on a bike.”
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.