The Biden administration is discussing significant and much-needed investments in our transportation, water, and energy infrastructure. It’s about time.
The American Society of Civil Engineer’s “2021 Infrastructure Report Card” gives our nation’s energy infrastructure a C-. That’s a failing grade in my book. Last summer’s California wildfires and this winter’s Texas storms have shown us that our energy infrastructure is fragile, and with increasingly unpredictable weather, our energy infrastructure needs to be more resilient.
There’s a significant investment gap that needs to be filled in order to improve resiliency; the priority must be to improve reliability with proven technologies before taking risky green technology gambles that may not pay off and leave us in a worse place than we started.
We need to make smart choices with proven and reliable energy return on investment. After all, global investments in renewables is now over 70% of energy investments…
Going forward, we need to invest in proven, affordable energy sources. Don’t take my word for it; here’s what the American Society of Civil Engineers says:
“Preserving the nation’s energy infrastructure requires balancing the affordability and access to delivered energy products (e.g., electricity and natural gas) with maintaining reliable and resilient service as well as reducing the carbon footprint. This is readily addressed through life-cycle cost analysis, wherein technology improvements and best and sustainable practices to replace aging infrastructure can be confirmed.”
SOURCE: 2021 ASCE Infrastructure Report Card
Let’s fight climate change and reduce global carbon emissions, but let’s do it with the energy sources that have already proven their ability to do so – natural gas and nuclear. Anything is just tilting at windmills.
Ron Morano
Executive Director,
Affordable Energy for New Jersey