WV infrastructure upgrade advocates stress high stakes as senators reach bipartisan deal
Article by Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette Mail, July 28, 2021
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/energy_and_environment/wv-infrastructure-...
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Wednesday finally agreed on components of an infrastructure package that would green-light $550 billion in new spending.
The agreement came as civil engineering experts and clean energy advocates earlier in the day urged an influx of federal money into West Virginia to help the state navigate its economic and topographic terrain.
“We’re hopeful … that a bipartisan bill will be adopted and enacted,” American Society of Civil Engineers Executive Director Tom Smith said. “We think it’s important for West Virginia.”
The bipartisan infrastructure deal would invest $110 billion in new funds for roads and bridges, including $40 billion for bridge repair and replacement, $55 billion in funding to replace lead service lines and address dangerous per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), $65 billion in broadband infrastructure deployment, and $73 billion in power infrastructure upgrades.
The hefty price to upgrade the nation’s infrastructure reminded Dave Meadows of Culloden, regional governor for the American Society of Civil Engineers, of the price of gas the summer he spent working in a gas station after graduating from Hurricane High School in 1970.
It was 29 cents. It’s skyrocketed since then — and so too will the costs of upgrading West Virginia’s infrastructure that state civil engineers gave an overall ‘D’ grade in the American Society of Civil Engineers 2020 report card for the state’s infrastructure, Meadows said.
“It’s going to get more expensive to repair that bridge,” Meadows said. “It’s going to get more expensive to repair the roads as we continue to go farther if we don’t start putting more money towards our infrastructure. This is across the board. It’s not just roads, it’s water, wastewater, dams. It’s our energy. It’s broadband, certainly.”
The proposed infrastructure bill would invest $7.5 billion to build a national network of electric vehicle chargers and $2.5 billion each in zero-emission buses, low-emission buses and ferries — spending the White House predicted upon announcing the bill’s framework Wednesday would drive demand for American-made batteries and vehicles, create jobs and reduce polluted air that children and bus drives breathe to and from school daily.
Delegate Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, Morgantown Mayor Jenny Selin and clean energy advocates with Moms Clean Air Force gathered in Morgantown Wednesday to call on Congress to transition to electric vehicles to protect public health and give an economic boost to West Virginia.
“I would like to ask Sen. [Joe] Manchin [D-W.Va.] and all of our leaders, just like the leaders here in Morgantown, to fight for a clean energy future where kids get off electric buses feeling ready to run,” Moms Clean Air Force field organizer Liz Brandt said, contrasting electric buses with diesel buses that emit particulate matter damaging to children’s and bus drivers’ health. Manchin and 20 other bipartisan senators hailed the bipartisan infrastructure agreement in a statement Wednesday evening.
“Reaching this agreement was no easy task — but our constituents expect us to put in the hard work and show that two parties can still work together to address the needs of the American people,” the senators said.
The fate of the legislation, which does not include a clean electricity standard or other climate goals that Democrats have prioritized for inclusion in a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package, was still unsettled and the full bill yet to be released as of press time Wednesday.
“We address it as a pace that’s kind of like, I’ll say, putting a Band-Aid on it,” Meadows said of infrastructure. “But you’re not even putting enough Band-Aids on it to heal it up. You’re putting a Band-Aid on it just to kick the can down the road. That’s what we’ve been doing, we’ve been kicking the can down the road and using these small Band-Aids. The longer we do it, the more it’s gonna cost.”
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