Natonal Academies By Sara Frueh
July 18, 2022
A new National Academies initiative aims to help regions, states, and cities in the U.S. make the most of new infrastructure investments
The bipartisan infrastructure law passed by Congress is poised to infuse $1.2 trillion over the next decade into a vast array of projects, from mending bridges and replacing lead water pipes to expanding broadband and deploying electric vehicle chargers nationwide. “It’s an opportunity that we haven’t seen in a generation or two,” said Micah Lowenthal, a senior program director in the National Academies’ Policy and Global Affairs Division. Despite the huge injection of funding, however, there’s not enough money to do every infrastructure project that would benefit regions, states, and communities, Lowenthal said. They will need to make choices about what projects to pursue — and try to coordinate their efforts in ways that maximize the impact of their investments. Lowenthal saw a way for the National Academies to help — by using the institution’s ability to bring together stakeholders from many sectors, along with its access to experts in science and engineering. “The Academies are uniquely well suited to do this, drawing on the expertise in infrastructure, in various kinds of stressors on infrastructure — including climate change, other environmental factors, social change — and the fact we can convene people on neutral ground to discuss the issues.”
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