google. com
The right USD1-trillion infrastructure plan for America
Democrats and President Trump both want to improve the nation’ s infrastructure. To do so, the key would be to prioritise the needs of the people and the environment— not the pockets of investors and industry CEOs.
American cities and towns have a major problem. They rely on ageing and crumbling bridges, water and sewer systems, power plants, and electricity grids that cannot meet today’ s needs, much less tomorrow’ s.
They have ignored the existing infrastructure and, as a result, tens of millions of Americans drink water contaminated by deteriorating pipes or outdated treatment plants, and many more get their water from systems operating well past their safety limits. Almost everyone knows of roads, bridges, and public buildings in their communities that are crumbling. Almost everyone faces the uncertainty of power failures as the frequency of extreme storms increases. These are life-threatening issues.
Any new infrastructure plan should:
• Reinvest in the communities and reduce the gap between the richest and the poorest to provide all people the opportunity to live vital and healthy lives.
• Invest in a twenty-first century clean energy infrastructure that emphasises power from renewable sources, energy efficiency, and improved service.
• Support the construction of resilient systems that are sited, designed, and built to tolerate increasingly frequent instances of extreme weather, including damaging storms, floods, droughts, and heat waves.
• Eliminate lead in the nation’ s drinking water systems and ensure the delivery of safe and affordable water from the source to the tap by 2030.
• Protect the natural resources and wildlands for the future, recognising their importance to the nation’ s legacy as both environmental and recreational assets.
18 Water Sewage & Effluent March / April 2017