Build Infrastructure for the Future

The Progressive discusses why we should build infrastructure for the future. Reinventing infrastructure could reconfigure American life by heading off the worst climate impacts, while spurring job growth.

On an ordinary day, you probably don’t think much about infrastructure. You twist a knob, and clean water flows from the tap. The daily commute is uneventful. Wires transmit electricity, powering everything from dialysis machines to Netflix.

The mechanisms that enable these wonders remain—for most of us—out of sight and out of mind.

But, in twenty-first-century America, that may be changing. There are the epic failures: drinking water poisoned by lead or algaecommuter train derailments; collapsing highway bridges and pedestrian walkways. And then there are the daily frustrations, including gridlocked traffic, power outages, and rising utility rates. These failures, big and small, illuminate the dire state of our nation’s infrastructure.

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