Infrastructure Investments and the Obama Recovery Plan

Infrastructure investments make up a significant part of the Obama administration’s recovery plan, and they will act as a powerful engine of job creation. But our national infrastructure currently supports traditional transportation and energy systems, with highways, bridges, antiquated power grids, and fossil fuel pipelines. While repairs and expansion to these are crucial, at the same time we must make serious commitments to clean-energy infrastructure initiatives. We also need to weigh the benefits of infrastructure investments against spending on education and health care, and address concerns that infrastructure investments favor the construction industry, where employment has long been dominated by white males. In this column for New Labor Forum, Robert Pollin describes how a long-term plan for economic and environmental stability will need to balance these variables, and combine the priorities of restoring our traditional public infrastructure, transforming it to support a clean-energy economy, and promoting job creation which provides for equity and opportunity for all.