By Cliff Montgomery – June 23rd, 2013
The U.S. needs to invest at least $3.6 trillion in its infrastructure by 2020 if the country is to avoid an inevitable and dangerous decline, according to a recent report from The American Society of Civil Engineers.
The Society has released its 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure – it has given the U.S. an overall grade of D+. The engineers are quick to point out why the country must do better.
“Infrastructure is the foundation that connects the nation’s businesses, communities, and people, driving our economy and improving our quality of life,” the Society declared in its report.
“We know that investing in infrastructure is essential to support healthy, vibrant communities. Infrastructure is also critical for long-term economic growth, increasing GDP, employment, household income, and exports,” stated the Society.
“The reverse is also true – without prioritizing our nation’s infrastructure needs, deteriorating conditions can become a drag on the economy,” stated the report.
“For the U.S. economy to be the most competitive in the world, we need a first class infrastructure system — transport systems that move people and goods efficiently and at reasonable cost by land, water, and air, transmission systems that deliver reliable, low-cost power from a wide range of energy sources, and water systems that drive industrial processes as well as the daily functions in our homes,” continued the engineers.
“Yet today, our infrastructure systems are failing to keep pace with the current and expanding needs, and investment in infrastructure is faltering,” stated the study.
Federal officials already have acknowledged the essential truth of these findings – at least to themselves.
Every year, the Department of land Security releases its National Risk Profile. A draft version of its 2011 edition – which, though unclassified, was for unknown reasons deemed “For Official Use Only” – recently was obtained by the government watchdog Public Intelligence.
America’s “aging infrastructure” may have a “potentially significant impact” on this country’s security and economic well-being, stated the 2011 National Risk Profile draft.
The Profile draft further pointed out that an “unusable, ineffectual, and deteriorating critical infrastructure” puts the “entire United States” at great risk, and added that continued poor maintenance will at some point “affect all critical infrastructure sectors and ultimately reduce or erode their capacity and lifetimes in unexpected and unpredicted ways.”
