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Decaying Infrastructure — Fixing on Failure

If we don't maintain it, we'll only fix it upon failure.

The have-been and continue-to-be-repeated news items and opinion pieces on the dangers of our aging infrastructures. The latest one that I've read is, How A Decaying Surface Transport System Is Endangering U.S. Security And Economic Strength.

I had expected the new presidential administration to kick off their legislative priorities with a large infrastructure bill since it was a major piece of the Republican Party's platform and a recurring refrain of then-candidate Trump's rallies. Instead, we had the failed effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, and now a major push for tax cuts in order to achieve a legislative win before the end of this calendar year. 

An infrastructure bill and funding would have "had the potential" for bipartisan effort since the Democrats are as interested in the infrastructure topic as their legislative opponents from the other party. That opportunity for 2017 has passed us by.

The first year of an administration is supposed to be when major legislative accomplishments can be achieved. While there is still the potential that an infrastructure bill could be introduced and heard in both houses, my hopes for such an achievement in the next three years has gone down dramatically. 

As has been shown by Puerto Rico's electrical grid, when a system fails, you cannot snap your fingers and restore it immediately. The examples of major pieces of infrastructure that are at risk, as detailed in the linked article above, we are talking many months, perhaps years, before these could be repaired or replaced.

We are indeed, an exceptional people and nation.

Constance Douris shared the link above.

Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.