Recently discussed energy topics being bandied about are primarily focused on Cap and Trade stuff. Of course, another complicated idea coming out of DC. One where WE have no control, yet friends of "those in power" are taken care of, ahem, GE for instance. Notice how the Dems cleverly removed offshore drilling, etc off the table? They are a clever group aren’t they? But do they have the best interests of Americans or their party? I guess the same could be said for Republicans and their special interest groups as well. Anyhow, here to talk about something that is analogous to Cap and Trade, but vitally more important. The whole Cap and Trade is a smoke screen for power control by Dems, but on to my real subject infrastructure. About 50 billion of the 787 billion dollar stimulus package is designated for infrastructure. What about the campaign of President Obama where he talked about our infrastructure, yet all he allows for is a measly 50 billion?
Most experts feel that it would take 2.2. trillion just to get us back up to speed, and that does not include new projects. I don’t know if enough people are aware of this impending storm brewing. I guess 110 bridges need to collapse, or a power grid shuts down for weeks or a month.
Our population continues to grow and the system we created 40-50 years ago was not designed to handle all this weight, both figuratively and We have had several opportunities in the past, but it seems those in DC are too interested in “pet” projects that take care of their contributors. Look over mankind’s history all great civilizations existed in power due to their infrastructure. Here is a useful quote that should cause you to pause and hopefully take heed. "Spain invests roughly 5% of GDP in infrastructure, whereas the US invests in the range of 1%; for Spain, 60% of the investment is generated at the local level, and in the US 70% of investment comes from states and municipalities. If the US were to invest in infrastructure at Spain's rate we would be investing $750 billion this year, rather than the $120 billion estimated (as against $150 billion in 2008)." - Norman F. Anderson, President & CEO CG/LA Infrastructure.
Source: http://www.cg-la.com/graphoftheday?start=14.
Here is another quote, “China spends 9 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on infrastructure and India budgets 3.5 percent … while aiming to increase its allocation to 8 percent. By comparison, the United States budgets $112.9 billion or just 0.93 percent of its GDP, and sidesteps the reality of a ballooning $1.6 trillion deficit for necessary upgrades over the next five years.”
—Infrastructure 2007: A Global Perspective
For more on these thoughts.
Source: http://www.architectmagazine.com/content.asp?articleID=652494§ionID=1006.
Yes, there are other very important topics to take care of as well, but if we allow this to fall any further then we will assuredly pay a steep price. I don’t know about you folks, but we (socially and politically) have see-sawed enough in this country: Social Security, Health Care, Infrastructure, Immigration, Education, you name it, we are headed toward S*** Creek. The rubber is meeting the road and I don’t know if we’re prepared to deal with it. Al Qaeda doesn’t need to do anything really all they need to do is sit back and watch us destroy ourselves. The old maxim is true, “A house divided cannot stand.” And if we don’t get our act together the house (USA) is going to go down fast.
If you are interested in the actual stimulus money distribution, here is one site:
http://www.project.org/info.php?recordID=151.
Don’t let this one fool you despite its title of progressive. Sometimes we can all agree on something. The author makes some very good points about a private style AIB (American Investment Bank) that can sustain projects, invest and create profits to the investor.
http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=450020&subsecID=900200&contentID=254788.
I would be interested to hear thoughts on this. Thanks for your time.
