Jobs Agenda: Infrastructure
The U.S. Chamber is leading the charge to modernize and expand our nation’s transportation, telecommunications, energy, and water networks. Without proper investment and attention to our infrastructure systems, the nation’s economic stability, potential for job growth, and global competitiveness are at risk.
The Facts
- Transportation: One-third of major roads are in poor or mediocre condition, 25% of bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, and the air traffic control system faces a multiyear overhaul. If transportation networks continue to deteriorate, the Chamber’s Transportation Performance Index projects that over the next five years, the economy could forgo as much as $336 billion in lost growth.
- Energy: Successful construction of the 351 energy projects identified in the Project No Project inventory could produce a $1.1 trillion short-term boost to the economy and create 1.9 million annual jobs.
- Telecommunications: Making broadband available everywhere in America will take up to $350 billion.
- Water: 1.7 trillion gallons are lost annually via water distribution systems, costing $2.6 billion annually.
The U.S. Chamber’s Plan for Modernizing American Infrastructure
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Spur private investment and remove red tape:
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Remove the legal, regulatory, and legislative impediments to unlock upward of $180 billion in
private capital waiting to be invested.
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Remove the legal, regulatory, and legislative impediments to unlock upward of $180 billion in
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Invest in the ailing transportation and water infrastructure:
- Pass pending legislation to improve and invest in highway and transit, water, and aviation systems.
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Modernize and protect energy infrastructure:
- Streamline regulatory and licensing processes to enable industry to make investments with surety.
- Increase power transmission capacity across state lines by establishing federal siting authority.
- Make timely decisions on energy projects to avoid costly delays.
- Provide incentives and loan guarantees to encourage the use of all energy technologies.
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Update telecommunications infrastructure:
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Pursue federal policies that spur private sector investment, foster public-private partnerships,
recognize the competitive nature of today’s telecommunications market, and avoid overregulation.
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Pursue federal policies that spur private sector investment, foster public-private partnerships,
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From FreeEnterprise.com |
LATEST REPORT
PRESS RELEASES
RELATED SITES
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To raise the profile of the challenges facing the nation's infrastructure and to make the case for action, the Chamber created the Let's Rebuild America initiative. |
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The Americans for Transportation Mobility Coalition’s FasterBetterSafer Campaign is a nationwide effort by business, labor, transportation organizations and concerned citizens to advocate for improved and increased federal investment in the nation’s aging and overburdened transportation system. |
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