This same hypocrisy exists when families and communities that have already benefited from publicly funded education then oppose paying more taxes to support schools once their children have graduated. Similarly, after wearing our infrastructure into neglectful disrepair, many of us bristle at paying to refurbish it for the next generation. And just as we’ve enjoyed the bounty and beauty of the land and waterways, many citizens support the president’s policies that rolled back rules governing coal-burning power plants and eased restrictions on energy companies governing leaks of methane to lower our short-term energy costs.