NDN Applauds Emanuel's Comments on Importance of Green Infrastructure, Will Support Administration's Efforts

Submitted by Jake Berliner on 11/21/08

On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that President-elect Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff-designee Rahm Emanuel "promised that a major economic stimulus would be 'the first order of business’ for Mr. Obama when he takes office Jan. 20. The focus of spending will be on infrastructure, specifically 'green infrastructure.'"

According to Congressman Emanuel's statement, this green infrastructure will include mass transit, modernizing the electrical grid, and universal broadband Internet access, all of which NDN has been arguing should be included in the next Administration's agenda. NDN strongly supports this policy direction and will work with Members of Congress in support of this agenda.

NDN has long been a strong and vocal advocate of a clean infrastructure stimulus because of its ability to create jobs and stimulate the economy in the short term while also creating a basis for future prosperity.

NDN Green Project Director Michael Moynihan first articulated the vision of clean and green infrastructure in his 2007 paper, Investing in Our Common Future: U.S. Infrastructure.

As Moynihan wrote more than a year ago, America needs "a GREEN Act requiring that federal infrastructure and buildings...not only address issues like global warming but also establish American leadership in green technologies of the future." Wrote Moynihan, "Only by working together can Americans reverse the decline in infrastructure that is eroding our present economy and make the forward-looking public investments needed to ensure future prosperity." To that end, NDN has proposed a number of green stimulus measures including a clean infrastructure bank, modernization of the electrical grid, support for mass transportation, and greater broadband access.

Recently, Moynihan, NDN Globalization Initiative Chair Dr. Robert Shapiro, and NDN President Simon Rosenberg have authored a number of essays and analyses on clean infrastructure and clean technology:

Additionally, earlier this week, NDN hosted a Capitol Hill forum entitled, "A Vision for a Modernized Electric Grid: Clean Infrastructure for a 21st Century Economy," with U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee and Earl Blumenauer, FERC Commissioner Wellinghoff, and other energy experts. Click here for video and photos of the event.