The New York Times has posted an opinion piece advocating for some important legislation regarding our nation’s infrastructure that has been lost in light of carbon trading, Supreme Court nominations, etc. This legislation would establish a national infrastructure development bank. The bank would use its own permanent fund to issue long-term, low-rate loans and bonds for the purposes of building road, public transit, drainage, water supply, flood-control, environmental mitigation, waste treatment and disposal, power, communications, and other projects. In short, it would make it easier to create and maintain all those things, seen and unseen, that keep our world going. This would be a great thing as the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) rates almost all of these categories as a C- or lower in its annual report card due to a lack of investment. The ASCE doesn’t mention internet access, however, which is also much faster, cheaper, and more generally available in other developed countries. We have some catching up to do and this seems a good way to get there.
Tags: ASCE, civil engineering, infrastructure, New York Times
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