Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer gave a rousing opening keynote at the APA National Planning Conference in Las Vegas yesterday morning. The focus was on the need for national infrastructure investment, and the vision that he provided was encouraging.
Blumenauer called for a comprehensive plan for our century that would place more investment on infrastructure, including better roads and bridges, aviation, the electrical grid and “green” infrastructure. He said the effort must go far beyond fine tuning, because our infrastructure is literally falling apart. He also said that we’re losing the infrastructure battle, with other countries spending far more on infrastructure that’s tied heavily to economic performance. The figures he quoted are that the U.S. is spending 3% of GDP, while China spends 6%, the European Union spends 5% and India spends 4%.
Blumenauer called for a return to rail, particularly in light of the fact that a full 1/3 of air travel in the United States is for distances of 350 miles or less. A return to rail would give us back road capacity, would revive central cities and would improve airport congestion.
There were a number of other infrastructure related issues covered, including:
- The need for a Water Trust Fund to help us deal with the water and wastewater crisis that’s looming in America
- Bicycle legislation that would encourage and increase the safety of bicycle trips
- A Climate Safe Communities Act that would focus on reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and place value on trips not taken
Blumenauer is working with the Lincoln Institute and others on an America 2050 plan to address these and other issues. A prospectus of the plan can be downloaded here.
