John Hennessy III,
P.E.
This document is intended to guide policymakers in the development of federal legislation to invest in our nation’s infrastructure. This should not be considered an exhaustive list of BlueGreen Alliance recommendations.2 The following recommendations are BlueGreen Alliance infrastructure policy priorities for legislation in the 116th Congress, which build on issues identified in the BlueGreen Alliance’s Making the Grade 2.0 infrastructure platform.
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BLUEGREEN ALLIANCE
Much of the physical infrastructure of the United States is in a state of disrepair. As documented by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in their 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, our roads, transit systems, dams, and airports need billions of dollars of investment to return them to adequacy. Our water, air, and land are threatened by aging systems designed to provide safe drinking water, handle hazardous waste, treat wastewater, and manage our solid waste. Half of our schools were built to educate the generation that is now retiring, and our electric grid is widely recognized as being incapable of meeting the needs of our changing energy system.
BLUEGREEN ALLIANCE
As the United States continues a slow but steady recovery from the recession triggered by the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008, investment is desperately needed to fuel economic growth and job creation—including modernizing large swaths of our nation’s infrastructure. Repairing the system of distribution pipelines that deliver natural gasto homes and businesses offers an opportunity to drive significant investment in our economy. Doing so will help to fix a critical part of our aging infrastructure while creating jobs and cutting global warming pollution—a winning proposition for both the environment and the economy.
BLUEGREEN ALLIANCE
Minnesota’s infrastructure systems are in urgent need of significant repair. Our state’s roads and bridges, water, waste water, transit, energy, and communication systems need increased investment to become efficient, safe, and productive for Minnesotans. Repairing Minnesota will create good jobs, make our systems more efficient and less polluting, and safeguard communities from the impact of climate change, like severe weather such as floods and droughts.
BLUEGREEN ALLIANCE
Building energy use is responsible for about 40 percent of U.S. greenhouse emissions. Residential buildings account for nearly half of those emissions, and more than 85 percent of residential emissions are attributable to the 79 million single-family homes nationwide. California is home to more than 10 percent of such properties—approximately 8.4 million. If we are truly going to achieve meaningful energy efficiency (EE) and carbon savings nationwide, we must transform the residential marketplace.
BLUEGREEN ALLIANCE
These proposed standards would reach the equivalent of 54.5 miles per gallon (mpg) and 163 grams of carbon dioxide per mile (g/mi) for the average new vehicle in 2025. Hereafter we refer to these proposed joint fuel economy and greenhouse gas pollution standards simply as “the proposed standards.” In this report, we analyze the macroeconomic impacts of the proposed standards with particular attention to the net gain in U.S. employment.
David Foster is the Executive Director of the BlueGreen Alliance, a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the green economy. From 1989-2006, Foster served as Director of United Steelworkers District 11, a 13-state region spanning from Minnesota to Washington State and Alaska. From […]
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BLUEGREEN ALLIANCE
Broadband and information communication technologies have the potential of revolutionizing energy management and economic development. With less than five percent of the world’s population, the United States accounts for about a quarter of the world’s energy consumption. A poor communications infrastructure underlies much of our wasted energy use. In order to reduce energy, new communication technologies can be an important tool to better monitor and more effectively use natural resources. Advanced communications, including a more robust wired and wireless web, will play an essential role in facilitating and integrating these technologies.
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