A Failing Grade for the Nation's Infrastructure

Today, the American Society of Civil Engineers issued a report card on the nation's infrastructure. And it failed, miserably, with a D.

As a civil engineer myself, I’ve seen government on all levels fail to keep up with the needs to maintain infrastructure including roads and bridges, parks, municipal buildings, water and wastewater, and transit.

Well, there’s the report card on the right.

What’s most inexcusable is the situation with roads and bridges, where there is a dedicated user fee (the gas tax) on both the federal and state levels.

How did we get here? Is it underfunding? Is it incompetence in the agencies that manage infrastructure? Or is it the way infrastructure is owned, funded and managed in our nation?

Well, it’s a little of all of the above. Generally, the agencies blame the funding; the politicians blame the agencies. But, in the end, our national infrastructure ownership and management system is dysfunctional.

Part of the problem can be blamed on the complex nature of infrastructure ownership and management. If we listen to all the talk about the stimulus finding for infrastructure, from politicians, the media, the public, pundits, and the like, you might think it was all government-owned and funded, right?

Wrong!!!

Much of it is privately owned and operated. See the table below for some of the complexities of ownership, funding, maintenance and operation of our public infrastructure:

Take electrical power from generation to transmission lines to the distribution wires that feed your home and businesses. Almost all of the nation’s power system is privately owned. There are exceptions, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and some local municipal power companies, but chances are those power lines are owned by a private utility.

We frequently hear of the failure of the power system (e.g., lines down in storms), but it’s not just something that the federal government can throw money at. Most of it is privately owned and funded, with the government’s role as regulator. And with the levels of regulation, constructing a new power plant or transmission lines is typically at least a 10-year long project!

In the end, there are no simple answers. I will address some of these issues in future blogs.

New President with Lots to Do

Tomorrow, our new president is sworn in and his “To Do” list is endless! While there is only so much he can do in the first weeks and months, there are many urgent issues and other issues that cannot afford to be forgotten.

Economy

The stumbling economy is on everyone’s mind, but unfortunately, I don’t see anyone in government, business, Wall Street, or any think tank that actually knows what to do. Congress, Bush and Obama seem to favor a strategy of throwing money at the problem – lots of money! So far, it isn’t fixed, but, then again, the world economic order has not completely collapsed either.

The forgotten side of the issue: While everyone is looking for Wall Street and Main Street to recover, what we’re missing is what’s happing on the blue collar streets, the suburbs and inner city neighborhoods where unemployment is more problematic: what to do for those who don’t go to college and work “flipping burgers” (i.e., service sector jobs)? We now have the model of President Obama who made it via college to encourage the poor and minorities that anyone can become president. But not every student will make it to college or do well there. And the solid middle class factory jobs have largely left for overseas. Can an Obama administration develop economic policy that fosters the restoration of a blue collar sector?

Foreign Affairs

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are first to mind. But these will take time.

What is more urgent is a response to Israel’s attacks on Gaza with over 1,100 civilians dead and about 7,000 injured, many of which were children. Conveniently, Israel scheduled this reign of terror at the end of the lame duck season, with a full withdrawal coincidentally scheduled to be completed before Obama takes the oath. The new President must speak out on this issue. Yes, Israel is our alley, but sometimes you have to practice tough love with your friends.

The New Beginning: With world leader over eager to meet our new President, his inauguration marks a new beginning in international relations. The alienation and unilateralism of Bush Administration policy can be easily reversed. This opportunity should be exploited to work towards peace and stability in the Middle East and elsewhere.

The forgotten side of the issue: Large-scale violence, killings, and violations of human rights persist in Africa and Asia. While the US can’t and should not unilaterally try to solve all the world’s problems, leadership from Pres. Obama is needed to focus the global eye on these situations and let the perpetrators know the world won’t let them get away with it.

Environment and Energy

Global climate change is the biggest issue. While this is a long term effort, Pres. Obama can start by reversing the Bush Administration's ill-conceived policies and work constructively on a global basis. Connected with this issue is the need to develop new and greener energy sources, including solar, wind and geothermal.

Part of the problem has been the financial and regulatory obstacles to start-up of new energy generation facilities. The reform needed is a balancing of the environmental regulatory process with economic incentives to encourage new, innovative approaches.

For example, the BNSF railroad proposed to install wind turbines along it right-of-way east of the Sierra Nevada’s, provide it’s right-of-way to bring the transmission lines to California all in exchange for providing free electrical power for it trains. Here’s a wholly private sector plan that implements renewable power generation for use in California while also reducing the use of diesel fuel for trains (which, even using diesel, fuel have a significantly smaller carbon footprint compared to trucking. This kind of private sector innovation should be encouraged.

The forgotten side of the issue: Energy use and environmental impact can be reduced by policies that foster redevelopment of denser urban areas (e.g., brownfield redevelopment) as compared to the ongoing sprawl development that proliferates in California, Nevada, Florida, and Texas. By lessening the distances between home, work and shopping, fuel usage is reduced. Likewise, the link between “green transportation” (reducing fossil fuel consumption by use of mass transit, walking and bicycling – modes that are more effective in urban areas) and other environmental regulation must be realized in policy tweaking.

This is only a brief overview of the issues for our new President. Other topics to be covered in upcoming posts.