From the Editor William C. Vantuono
Elaine Chao: Shades of the “Doledrums” or a good choice?
P
resident-elect Donald Trump has named Elaine Chao as his choice for U.S. Transportation Secretary. Chao does have fairly solid transportation credentials, at least from a political standpoint. She’s a former Deputy Transportation Secretary. Interestingly, she has been married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) since 1993. Sound familiar? Remember Elizabeth Dole, Reagan Administration Transportation Secretary from 1983 to 1987? Her husband is former Sen. Bob Dole, Majority Leader from 1985-1987. At DOT, Chao would have a principal role in helping Trump get an infrastructure spending bill passed through Congress and start governmentbacked projects, “a role likely to be complicated by her relationship with McConnell, who will also be a critical player in any infrastructure bill negotiations,” according to a CNN report. Let’s take a look at Chao’s career in government. She served as Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush from 2001 through 2009, the longest tenure in the position since World War II and the only Bush Cabinet member to serve all eight years of his Presidency. She was also the first Asian-American woman to serve in a Cabinet position. According to The New York Times, “While enjoying the praise and admiration of her colleagues, she also invited scorn from organized labor, whose leaders accused her of being too cozy with business interests.” Chao also served as Deputy Secretary of Transportation under President George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1991. In 1986, she became Deputy Administrator of the Maritime Administration. From 1988 to 1989, she served as chairwoman of the Federal Maritime Commission. After she left the Bush Administration in 2009, Chao “remained quietly active in politics,” said The Times. “She has always been a close and, by many accounts, savvy adviser to her husband, immersing herself 2
Railway Age
December 2016
in even the most minute details of his campaigns, like who had donated and who had not.” Chao is a Distinguished Fellow at the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation, whose retired economist Ron Utt is a member of Trump’s transition team, advising him on transportation. Railway Age Contributing Editor Frank N. Wilner describes Utt as a person “among whose favorite piñatas was Amtrak public subsidies” (see Watching Washington, p. 18). Chao was born in Taiwan, and moved to the U.S. as a child with her family. She is the eldest of six daughters. Her parents are Ruth Mulan Chu Chao, a historian, and Dr. James S.C. Chao, who began his career as a merchant mariner and later founded Foremost Shipping, a successful shipping company in New York. Here’s an interesting factoid: In January 2015, Chao resigned from the board of Bloomberg Philanthropies, which she had joined in 2015, reportedly because of its plans to significantly increase support for the Sierra Club’s “Beyond Coal” initiative, a campaign to promote renewable energy. Beyond Coal has received at least $80 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies. According to the Capitol Hill newsletter Politico, early in the George W. Bush Administration, an energy task force convened by (Vice) President Dick Cheney advocated the construction of 200 new U.S. coal plants. Beyond Coal prevented 170 of the 200 plants from being built. So, it follows that at DOT, Chao could carry out Trump’s purported desire to reverse (among other Obama initiatives) restrictions on coal-fired electricity generation plants. Put another way, from the railroads’ perspective: “Elaine likes coal. We like coal. The Sierra Club dislikes coal. Elaine dislikes the Sierra Club. Therefore we like Elaine.”
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