{"id":4130,"date":"2021-04-01T09:15:51","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T13:15:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=4130"},"modified":"2021-04-01T09:16:02","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T13:16:02","slug":"infrastructure-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2021\/04\/01\/infrastructure-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Infrastructure Week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Four Year Joke<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It was the joke of the Trump Administration.  Talk about the Mueller Investigation \u2013 it\u2019s infrastructure week.  Talk about child separation at the border \u2013 it\u2019s infrastructure week.  Congress impeaches  the President for trying to blackmail Ukraine \u2013 it\u2019s infrastructure week.  Congress impeaches the President for sending thousands to \u201csack\u201d the Capitol \u2013 no, we never got to infrastructure week on that one, it was too late!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So now it\u2019s the Biden Administration\u2019s turn at infrastructure week.  And sure enough, it was almost derailed by the ongoing issue at the border. (If you foresee the issue, and try to plan for the issue, and are dealing with this issue, is it really a crisis?  By determining that the prior administration\u2019s policy was immoral, and taking \u201cthe heat\u201d for the increase in kids across the border, I don\u2019t see that as a crisis.  It is a problem that needs to be fixed, ASAP).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Falling Bridges<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are more than 47,000 road bridges in the United States that are considered \u201cstructurally deficient\u201d.  It doesn\u2019t mean they are unsafe, yet.  Structurally deficient means they are in need of renovation.  By the way, that\u2019s down from 54,000 the year before.  But we aren\u2019t fixing bridges \u2013 the Federal Highway Administration \u201cweakened\u201d the standards, moving 7,000 bridges out of the category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major interstate highway bridges have broken in Chattanooga, Minneapolis, and Cincinnati. But there are other busy bridges that \u201cfall\u201d into the \u201cstructurally deficient\u201d category:  the Brooklyn Bridge, the Memorial Bridge in Washington, DC, the San Mateo Bridge across the San Francisco Bay, and the Pensacola Bay Bridge.  And that\u2019s just about bridges (NPR<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is that important?\u00a0\u00a0Well let\u2019s make it personal. In the past few years, I\u2019ve driven across the Chattanooga bridge that is damaged, and the Brent Spence \u2013 I-75 Bridge in Cincinnati that has a hole literally burned through it.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve been back and forth over the Memorial Bridge, and the Pensacola Bay Bridge.\u00a0\u00a0And I\u2019ve driven the San Mateo Bridge too, high over the back bay waters of the San Francisco.\u00a0\u00a0I didn\u2019t know they were on a \u201clist\u201d of deficient bridges.\u00a0\u00a0I just drove.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m sure that\u2019s how the people felt in Minneapolis and Chattanooga as well, right before parts of the bridge gave way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We assume that the roads we are driving on are solid.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s not a concern as we cruise around the nation, high over the rivers and old mines in Eastern Ohio, some that have collapsed (not making that up \u2013 check out this article about abandoned mines under the I-70\/I-77 interchange near Cambridge,\u00a0FHA<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And roads aren\u2019t the only problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Energy Grid<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The manmade disaster in Texas last month, when the power infrastructure collapsed from the cold, and the water infrastructure froze, was absolutely avoidable.  The Flint water crisis (yep \u2013 that\u2019s a real crisis) where children got lead poisoning from the old pipes and \u201ccost saving\u201d chemicals, was avoidable too. Newark, New Jersey and other cities have similar water issues. And these are infrastructure problems that need to be resolved, soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the beginning of the third decade of the twenty-first century.  And still that are many rural locations in the United States that don\u2019t have high speed data service.  That might be an occasional blessing, but when it comes to education, business, and communication in our current day and age, high speed internet and data capability is no longer a luxury.  It\u2019s a necessity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here in Ohio, there are two operating nuclear power plants, one opened in 1977, the other a decade later.  That means the \u201cyoungest\u201d is thirty-four years old.  A nuclear power plant is more than a lifetime commitment, once it becomes operational the fuel and the equipment are radioactive for centuries.  Whether they supply Ohio electricity or not, they still need to be cared for.  Nationwide there are ninety-six plants that need to be maintained, working or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shape the Future<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The future doesn\u2019t just happen.  It is planned for and built in the present.  We know that the future will require energy sources that don\u2019t destroy the environment.  We know it now, and we need to plan for it now.  So the United States needs to plan for transportation and energy structures that will use the energies of the future, not depend on energy sources we know we will have to give up.  So while building highways (or rebuilding highways) is great \u2013 building them with electric vehicle energy sources is critical.  And while protecting the energy grid from freezes in Texas, and drought and fire in California, it\u2019s important to recognize that the sources for power can\u2019t depend on coal or petroleum.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the Biden plan includes things like building for the increasing number of old aged folks who will need care, and school buildings that will need to be replaced.  It\u2019s not as \u201chigh profile\u201d as roads and bridges, but just as important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInfra-structure week\u201d has been a sad joke for the past few years.  But this week, this Administration, it\u2019s a chance to build the future.  High speed trains will be a part of that future; they\u2019re energy efficient and they are cheaper than flying.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We ought to get on board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four Year Joke It was the joke of the Trump Administration.  Talk about the Mueller Investigation \u2013 it\u2019s infrastructure week.  Talk about child separation at the border \u2013 it\u2019s infrastructure week.  Congress impeaches  the President for trying to blackmail Ukraine \u2013 it\u2019s infrastructure week.  Congress impeaches the President for sending thousands to \u201csack\u201d the Capitol \u2013 no, we never got … Continue reading “Infrastructure Week”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nInfrastructure Week : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It's infrastructure week, again. 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