Daily News Digest February 1, 2022
Humanity Will Not be Covid Free, Until the Vaccines are Free For the Whole World Another New Varient Covid Has Appeared! Unless the whole world is vaccinated, the pandemic will never ednd! If today’s capitalism had theintegrity of Joneas Salk, 70 years ago or the Cuban Revolution today, the pandemic would be over!
Explainer: Scientists On Alert Over Rising Cases Caused by Omicron Cousin BA.2 Globally, BA.1 accounted for 98.8% of sequenced cases submitted to the public virus tracking database GISAID as of Jan. 25. But several countries are reporting recent increases in the subvariant known as BA.2, according to the World Health Organization. In addition to BA.1 and BA.2, the WHO lists two other subvariants under the Omicron umbrella: BA.1.1.529 and BA.3. All are closely related genetically, but each features mutations that could alter how they behave. The highly transmissible Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus – the most common form of which is known as BA.1 – now accounts for nearly all of the coronavirus infections globally, although dramatic surges in COVID cases have already peaked in some countries. Scientists are now tracking a rise in cases caused by a close cousin known as BA.2, which is starting to outcompete BA.1 in parts of Europe and Asia.
Image of the Day:
Jim Crow Laws are Back in Georgia!
Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Ws Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 5 Years Ago and Did Nothing!: Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading Racism, War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The future of Humanity Is Now At stake!
Since World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, there have been perpetual wars for perpetual peace, this Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”, is Still True for Today’s World!
During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1.Austerity,2. Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3. The Iron Heel! For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel! Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!
Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World!
Always Remember: That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing, the United States Capitalist Austerity Program. — The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!
Democracy?: As the Capitalist Robber Barons Steal from the 99%, Only the 1% Voted For Austerity! The 99% Should Decide On Austerity — Not Just The 1%, Who Profit From Austerity!! Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.! Socialism Means True Democracy, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!
Quotes of the Day:
Sandra Steingraber: A ruptured gas line sent the smell of natural gas spewing into the community, a mix of homes and businesses.” Neglected infrastructure and a dangerous energy system=10 Injured in Bridge Collapse in Pittsburgh’s Frick Park
Videos of the Day:
URGENT! New oil spill in Ecuador on the banks of the Coca river, in what appears to be a new rupture of the @OCPEcuador pipeline. Over 27,000 Kichwa living downriver still suffereing impacts of massive April 2020 oil spill. Government & courts did nothing. This is the result
USA vs China Whose Economy is Winning Michael Roberts, Michael Hudson, Mick Dunford and Alan Freeman discuss the qeopolitical battle of the 21st century between the US and China – and the relative strengths of each.
United States:
The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Reublicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War! Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich. Tax the Rich! — They Can Afford to Pay!
U.S. Politicians Spend Their Time Papering Over the Social Problems Caused by Profit-Driven Capitalism The declines of U.S. capitalism and of its imperial position provoke fear among its mainstream politicians. Their response, in large part, has been to deny that any such decline is happening. These politicians do this partly by acting as though the U.S. remains in the globally dominant position it occupied in the second half of the 20th century. Thus, to maintain this illusion, they start wars in the Middle East, maintain military bases in dozens of countries, intervene in other countries at will and describe the U.S. as the global guarantor of peace, security, and democracy. Yet these U.S. politicians also sense what the population feels: that decline of capitalism and U.S. hegemony is actually happening. So repeated denials, while comforting the citizens of the country, do not suffice to control popular opinion and thereby common sense. Mainstream politicians in both Republican and Democratic establishments work to anticipate and deflect these popular feelings at any chance that they might evolve into a systemic critique. These politicians, who have seen the critics of U.S. capitalism grow in number and become increasingly vocal over the last decade, are slowly turning popular feelings relating to the decline of capitalism into anti-capitalism. The critics, meanwhile, blame capitalists and their established systems for this decline.
DisasterCapitalism: US Would’ve Halved Winter Covid Hospitalizations If It Matched Europe’s Vax Rate “Vaccine misinformation and anti-science have serious consequences,” said one infectious disease expert in response to new analysis.
Covid Death in the United Staes Tops Nine Hundred Thousand!
The Real Enemy!
Political Leaders Use “Personal Responsibility” to Justify Needless COVID Deaths For all his campaign promises, Biden has failed to set up a multilevel systemic public health response to COVID. From the federal mask recommendations suspended in May to White House COVID coordinator Jeffrey Zients’s December pronouncement that the unvaccinated are to blame for “the hospitals you may soon overwhelm,” the Biden administration has organized its COVID response around an ethos of personal responsibility. COVID is spun as a pandemic of the unvaccinated even as the vaccinated can also spread the virus. Vaccines and their boosters, importantly protecting the vaccinated from hospitalization and death, appear nothing of the public health silver bullet they’ve been positioned to be, presently offering only 10 weeks’ protection against symptomatic infection with the now circulating Omicron variant.
Georgia Mail Ballot Restrictions Disenfranchised 45 Times More Voters Last Year Due to a voter suppression law that was passed by Republicans in Georgia last year, the rate of voters in the state who didn’t vote after having mail-in ballot applications rejected increased 45-fold, according to a new analysis by Mother Jones. During Georgia’s municipal elections in 2021, mail-in ballot applications were rejected at a rate that was four times higher than during the 2020 election. Officials rejected a record rate of 4 percent of absentee ballot.
Fascism’s “Legal Phase” Has Begun. Threats of White Vigilante Violence Are Real. When Republicans blocked the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act on January 19, 2022, they removed the last safety net preventing the U.S.’s plummet toward authoritarianism. As a result, we are at this moment in a state of free-fall, the culmination of a state-level legislative and enforcement landscape that directly mirrors Jim Crow — or as fascism scholar Jason Stanley recently put it, “America is now in fascism’s legal phase.” Although we do have ways of fighting back, the situation is dire. We often hear that the U.S.’s founding documents, courts and institutions make it immune to despotism, but this claim is simply false and erases our country’s troubling history with white supremacy — one the GOP is poised to reinvigorate. During Reconstruction, for example, Louisiana experienced dozens of coups and massacres at both the local and state levels. These escalated after white supremacists refused to concede defeat in the state election of 1872, opting instead to set up a shadow government under losing candidate John McEnery. The paramilitary arm of the shadow government — the White League — tried (and failed) to oust the legitimate governor and his allies in the “Battle of the Cabildo” in 1873. Instead of arresting and prosecuting the conspirators, state and federal officials allowed them to plan their next coup, which successfully toppled the state government in the “Battle of Liberty Place” in 1874.
US Overthrow of Democracy in Burkina Faso: Another U.S.-Trained Soldier Stages a Coup in West Africa The leader of a coup in Burkina Faso is the latest in a line of U.S.-trained soldiers who overturned civilian leaders. EARLIER THIS WEEK, the military seized power in Burkina Faso, ousting the country’s democratically elected president, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré. The coup was announced on state television Monday by a young officer who said the military had suspended the constitution and dissolved the government. Beside him sat a camouflage-clad man whom he introduced as Burkina Faso’s new leader: Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the commander of one of the country’s three military regions. Damiba is a highly trained soldier, thanks in no small part to the U.S. military, which has a long record of training soldiers in Africa who go on to stage coups. Damiba, it turns out, participated in at least a half-dozen U.S. training exercises, according to U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM.
Crumbling Infrastructure &Differed Maintence — Infrastructe: What We Know About the Fern Hollow Bridge’s Condition Before The Collapse Before its collapse Friday morning, the Fern Hollow Bridge in Point Breeze shared the same designation with more than 200 bridges in the Pittsburgh region and among 45,000 bridges in the United States: Structurally deficient. That’s one in three bridges nationally that have major issues even though they remain open. Pennsylvania, along with West Virginia, is among the five states that have the most structurally deficient bridges. And Allegheny County and Pittsburgh, the City of Bridges, often rank high in the highest number of structurally deficient bridges. The National Bridge Inventory from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association identified 230 bridges in the 17th Congressional District as structurally deficient, which means that at least one part of the bridge had been recognized as in either poor or worse condition. That’s slightly more than one out of every 10 of the bridges here. But it’s not alone: According to ARTBA’s report in 2020, 14.6% of bridges in Pennsylvania are structurally deficient. It would cost $20.7 billion to make all the needed repairs on bridges in Pennsylvania alone, according to Pennsylvania Department of Transportation estimates.
Environment —Ecosocialism or Ecocide!
US judge Blocks Sale of Gulf of Mexico Drilling Leases Over Climate Concerns Federal judge rules that Biden administration did not properly consider the leases’ impact upon the climate crisis A US federal judge has blocked a highly controversial sale of oil and gas drilling leases across 80m acres of the Gulf of Mexico, ruling that Joe Biden’s administration did not properly consider the leases’ impact upon the climate crisis. The decision, handed down by the DC court late on Thursday, represents a landmark victory for environmental groups that had sued the government to prevent what was the largest ever auction of oil and gas leases in the gulf’s history.
Civil Rights/Black Liberation:
Labor:
USA: r/AntiWork and the Need For Revolutionary Organization We live in tumultuous times. In the midst of a pandemic, workers are putting their health and lives at risk for peanuts while the bosses rake in record profits. For almost two years, employees have been expected to drone on as loyal worker bees with zero regard for their health. Meanwhile, homelessness and rent, hunger and food prices, natural disasters, and fuel prices continue to rise, and meager wage rises are gobbled up by inflation. Such conditions are volatile and unsustainable. A poll by Gallup published last September found that support for unionization is at its highest in America since 1965. The following month, “Striketober” swept the country, with roughly 25,000 going on strike. On the other hand, unorganized workers have begun to walk away. 4.5 million workers quit their jobs in November alone. Signs along the lines of “Closed because nobody wants to work” have become commonplace across the country. All of this represents the beginnings of a significant shift in the consciousness of the working class. Given the cowardly class collaboration of the labor leaders, American workers have for decades been atomized without a space to discuss the quickly changing conditions. But nature abhors a vacuum, and the class struggle demands a platform to express itself. A part of this vacuum is being filled by r/AntiWork, a subforum hosted on the online forum Reddit. Since the beginning of the pandemic, r/AntiWork’s membership has experienced explosive growth, going from 100,000 members in March 2020 to 200,000 by the end of that year to just over 1.7 million in late January of this year.
Economy:
The New York Fed Has Quietly Staffed Up a Second Trading Floor Near the S&P 500 Futures Market in Chicago On January 11, Simon & Schuster released a new book on the Fed. It’s written by bestselling author and business reporter, Christopher Leonard. The title leaves little doubt about what the author has set out to prove: The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy. For those of us who have been scrutinizing the trading operations of the New York Fed for decades, with the appropriate amount of skepticism that is inexplicably missing among the mainstream press, Leonard delivers a bombshell on page 242. Leonard writes: “The conference room in the New York Fed was located just off the main trading floor, and its doors were open during meetings so people could quietly go in and out. The room was anchored by a large table, with a couch along the wall for staffers to sit with their laptops open and take notes. There was a set of large digital monitors hanging on one wall, one of which provided a live video feed from an eerily identical room in Chicago, in a Fed satellite office near the important Chicago Mercantile Exchange.”
World:
Debt Exploitation of Puerto Rico!: New Puerto Rico Debt Plan Is a False “Solution” Crafted to Benefit Capitalists On January 18, Judge Taylor Swain of New York’s Southern District confirmed Puerto Rico’s eighth amended Plan of Adjustment (POA), setting into motion the closure of the largest municipal debt restructuring deal in the history of the United States. The POA modifies approximately $33 billion of the central government’s debt as part of Title III — the bankruptcy-like process established under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) — which has already cost Puerto Ricans $1 billion. Since its announcement, the POA has been touted as putting an end to five years of brutal structural adjustment. For instance, Natalie Jaresko, executive director of the unelected Financial Oversight Board that has dictated Puerto Rico’s finances since 2016, celebrated the POA as a “new chapter in Puerto Rico’s history.” Gov. Pedro Pierluisi suggested that while the POA is “not perfect,” it ultimately protects Puerto Rico’s vulnerable public sector. In contrast, a multisectoral coalition of teachers, labor, pensioners, students and activists expressed immediate rejection of what they call the “plan del tumbe” (the shakedown plan). These groups have long been demanding a comprehensive debt audit, calling attention to the POA’s everyday implications, and resisting its confirmation by mobilizing online, in the streets, the legislature and the courts.
Education, Health, and Welfare:
The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who pass universal healthcare for themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers to be, a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People Vote on Healthcare!
Many “Parent” Groups Opposing Masks and CRT Are Actually Driven by Dark Money Thousands of events take place across the U.S. annually in the last week of January for “School Choice Week,” organized by a self-described “nonpartisan, nonpolitical public awareness effort” group. In truth, National School Choice Week — which has been taking place every year since 2011 — has been bankrolled by right-wing special interests, and its local events are mostly organized by schools and organizations that support diverting public education dollars to private alternatives. public school policies while advancing the agenda of their (largely undisclosed) funders.Staffers from such organizations as “Moms for Liberty,” “Parents Defending Education” and the “Independent Women’s Forum” have been featured in right-wing media as “concerned parents” attacking public schools without disclosing their positions in dark money-funded organizations. Among those most vocal in celebrating this School Choice Week — for which 26,000 events are slated to take place across 45 states — are a new wave of “parent” groups, deployed to make it appear there is wide opposition to public school policies while advancing the agenda of their (largely undisclosed) funders.
The latest United States Infrastructure Report Card: America’s Infrastructure Scores a C- — With global warming increases causing floods, Drought. Fires, and other types of extreme weather, Living near waterways is aa extreme hazard! Also, This Report Card Doesn’t take into account Maintenance and of th US’s aging and corroding nuclear plants and c nuclear waste storage!
- There is a water main break every two minutesand an estimated 6 billion gallons of treated water lost each day in the U.S., enough to fill over 9,000 swimming pools.
- There is a water main break every two minutes and an estimated 6 billion gallons of treated water lost each day in the U.S., enough to fill over 9,000 swimming pools
- There are 30,000 miles of inventoried levees across the U.S.,and an additional 10,000 miles of levees whose location and condition are unknown.
Bridges C:
There are more than 617,000 bridges across the United States. Currently, 42% of all bridges are at least 50 years old, and 46,154, or 7.5% of the nation’s bridges, are considered structurally deficient, meaning they are in “poor” condition. Unfortunately, 178 million1 trips are taken across these structurally deficient bridges every day. In recent years, though, as the average age of America’s bridges increases to 44 years, the number of structurally deficient bridges has continued to decline; however, the rate of improvements has slowed. A recent estimate for the nation’s backlog of bridge repair needs is $125 billion. Estimates show that we need to increase spending on bridge rehabilitation from $14.4 billion annually to $22.7 billion annually, or by 58%, if we are to improve the condition. At the current rate of investment, it will take until 2071 to make all of the repairs that are currently necessary, and the additional deterioration over the next 50 years will become overwhelming. The nation needs a systematic program for bridge preservation like that embraced by many states, whereby existing deterioration is prioritized and the focus is on preventive mainten
Dams D:
There are over 91,000 dams1 in the country that serve many purposes. Dams are classified by hazard potential. A high-potential hazard-potential rating does not imply that a dam has an increased risk for failure; it simply means that if failure were to occur, the resulting consequences would likely be a direct loss of human life and extensive property damage. Over the last 20 years, the number of high-hazard-potential dams has more than doubled as development steadily encroaches on once rural dams and reservoirs.2 Although the number of high-hazard-potential dams has increased, the overall percentage of these dams protected by an Emergency Action Plan has increased as well. As of 2018, 81% of such dams had a plan on file, up 5% from 2015. Unfortunately, due to the lack of investment, the Association of State Dam Safety Officials estimates the number of deficient high-hazardpotential dams now exceeds 2,300.3 Meanwhile, approximately 3% of dams supply households and businesses with hydroelectric power, and many of these dams are privately owned by utilities and follow a rigorous operations and maintenance schedule.4
Drinking Water C-: Our nation’s drinking water infrastructure system is made up of 2.2 million miles of underground pipes that deliver safe, reliable water to millions of people. Unfortunately, the system is aging and underfunded. There is a water main break every two minutes and an estimated 6 billion gallons of treated water lost each day in the U.S. enough to fill over 9,000 swimming pools. However, there are signs of progress as federal financing programs expand and water utilities raise rates to reinvest in their networks. It is estimated that more than 12,000 miles of water pipes were planned to be replaced by drinking water utilities across the country in the year 2020 alone. In 2019, about a third of all utilities had a robust asset management program in place to help prioritize their capital and operations/maintenance investments, which is an increase from 20% in 2016. Finally, water utilities are improving their resilience by developing and updating risk assessments and emergency response plans, as well as deploying innovative water technologies like sensors and smart water quality monitoring.
Energy C-:
Our nation’s drinking water infrastructure system is made up of 2.2 million miles of underground pipes that deliver safe, reliable water to millions of people. Unfortunately, the system is aging and underfunded. There is a water main break every two minutes and an estimated 6 billion gallons of treated water lost each day in the U.S. enough to fill over 9,000 swimming pools. However, there are signs of progress as federal financing programs expand and water utilities raise rates to reinvest in their networks. It is estimated that more than 12,000 miles of water pipes were planned to be replaced by drinking water utilities across the country in the year 2020 alone. In 2019, about a third of all utilities had a robust asset management program in place to help prioritize their capital and operations/maintenance investments, which is an increase from 20% in 2016. Finally, water utilities are improving their resilience by developing and updating risk assessments and emergency response plans, as well as deploying innovative water technologies like sensors and smart water quality monitoring.
Roads D: America’s roads are critical for moving an ever-increasing number of people and goods. However, these vital lifelines are frequently underfunded, and over 40% of the system is now in poor or mediocre condition. As the backlog of rehabilitation needs grows, motorists are forced to pay over $1,000 every year in wasted time and fuel. Additionally, while traffic fatalities have been on the decline, over 36,000 people are still dying on the nation’s roads every year, and the number of pedestrian fatalities is on the rise. Federal, state, and local governments will need to prioritize strategic investments dedicated to improving and preserving roadway conditions that increase public safety on the system we have in place, as well as plan for the roadways of the future, which will need to account for connected and autonomous vehicles.
Hazardous Waste D+:
There are an estimated 35 million tons of hazardous materials managed annually in the United States. In general, there is adequate capacity for the treatment and disposal of these materials through the year 2044. However, progress toward mitigating legacy sites where hazardous waste was produced and improperly disposed of has stalled. There are approximately 1,300 Superfund sites where cleanup activities are either incomplete or not yet begun, roughly the same number as four years ago. Meanwhile, the Superfund budget has remained essentially flat at around $1.1 billion over the last 10 years. The two other hazardous waste programs — one for brownfields and one for hazardous waste regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act — are also in a steady state. In general, grant funding for the Brownfields Program has increased, but the program is still oversubscribed, with just 30% of applicants receiving funding. Meanwhile, resilience is a growing concern at many hazardous waste sites. Around 60% of all nonfederal Superfund sites are located in areas that may be impacted by flooding, storm surge, wildfires, or sea-level rise related to climate change effects.
Levees D:
Seventeen million people across the nation live or work behind a levee. Levees protect critical infrastructure systems, $2.3 trillion of property, 4,500 schools that collectively enroll over 2 million students, and a range of industries. The National Levee Database contains nearly 30,000 miles of levees across the U.S., and current estimates identify up to 10,000 additional miles of levees outside of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) portfolio whose location and condition are unknown due to complex and varying local ownership. The USACE estimates that $21 billion is needed to improve and maintain the moderate to high-risk levees in its portfolio, which represents only about 15% of the known levees in the U.S. As more extreme weather events result in increased flooding, such as the $20 billion in damages caused by flooding in the Midwest during the spring of 2019, it is now more important than ever to have a complete inventory of the nation’s levees and to equip communities with tools and resources to mitigate flood risk and make necessary repairs.
Roads D:
America’s roads are critical for moving an ever-increasing number of people and goods. However, these vital lifelines are frequently underfunded, and over 40% of the system is now in poor or mediocre condition. As the backlog of rehabilitation needs grows, motorists are forced to pay over $1,000 every year in wasted time and fuel. Additionally, while traffic fatalities have been on the decline, over 36,000 people are still dying on the nation’s roads every year, and the number of pedestrian fatalities is on the rise. Federal, state, and local governments will need to prioritize strategic investments dedicated to improving and preserving roadway conditions that increase public safety on the system we have in place, as well as plan for the roadways of the future, which will need to account for connected and autonomous vehicles.
Solid Waste C+:
The U.S. produced approximately 268 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) in 2017, or 4.51 pounds per person per day. This is a modest increase from the 4.4 pounds of MSW generated per person per day in 2014. Overall, 53% of waste is deposited in landfills, 25% is recycled, 10% is composted, and 13% is combusted for energy. The transport and disposal of MSW remains largely funded and managed by the private sector. However, the U.S. MSW management system faces a growing number of challenges such as plateauing recycling rates, emerging contaminants found in legacy landfills, and significantly changing global markets. Funding mechanisms are needed to invest in a nationwide solid waste infrastructure system that recognizes MSW as a resource to be utilized more so than waste to be disposed
Stormwater D:
Stormwater systems range from large concrete storm sewers, roadside ditches, and flood control reservoirs, to rain gardens and natural riverine systems. While stormwater utilities are on the rise, with more than 40 states having at least one, the impervious surfaces in cities and suburbs are also expanding, exacerbating urban flooding, which results in $9 billion in damages annually. Stormwater also affects water quality as polluted runoff from pavement enters water bodies. Nearly 600,000 miles of rivers and streams and more than 13 million acres of lakes, reservoirs, and ponds are considered impaired. Federal funding, though up in recent years, averages about $250 million annually, which leaves a growing annual funding gap of $8 billion just to comply with current regulations. With few dedicated funding sources, complicated governance and ownership structures, expansive networks of aging assets, increasingly stringent water quality regulations, and concerning climate change projections, the expected performance of stormwater systems is declining. Many of the country’s legacy stormwater systems, are struggling with the high cost of retrofits needed to address urban flooding and climate change. Upgrading large networks of aging systems underneath densely populated areas carries significant costs and engineering challenges.
Transit D-:
Public transit is essential to everyday living in communities across the country, providing access to jobs, schools, shopping, healthcare, and other services while enabling equitable access and sustainable mobility options. Unfortunately, 45% of Americans have no access to transit. Meanwhile, much of the existing system is aging, and transit agencies often lack sufficient funds to keep their existing systems in good working order. Over a 10-year period across the country, 19% of transit vehicles, and 6% of fixed guideway elements like tracks and tunnels were rated in “poor” condition. Currently, there is a $176 billion transit backlog, a deficit that is expected to grow to more than $270 billion through 2029. Meanwhile, transit ridership is declining, a trend compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. Failure to address the transit revenue shortfall will only exacerbate ridership declines as service cuts mean that trip delays and reliability issues become more frequent. This stands to increase congestion, hamper the economy, and worsen air quality in the coming years.
Wastewater D+:
The nation’s more than 16,000 wastewater treatment plants are functioning, on average, at 81% of their design capacities, while 15% have reached or exceeded it. Growing urban environments signal a trend that these facilities will increasingly accommodate a larger portion of the nation’s wastewater demand. Though large-scale capital improvements have been made to systems experiencing sanitary sewer overflows, efforts have slowed in recent years. As many treatment plants and collection networks approach the end of their lifespans, the financial responsibilities for operation and maintenance will become more costly. Estimates indicate that utilities spent over $3 billion in 2019, or more than $18 per wastewater customer to replace the almost 4,700 miles of pipeline nationwide. Recently, the more prevalent use of asset management plans enables 62% of surveyed utilities to proactively manage wastewater infrastructure maintenance rather than reactively respond to pipeline and equipment failures. In 2019, though the annual water infrastructure capital investment gap was $81 billion, the sector has made strides to address current and future needs through resilience-related planning and innovations that produce profitable byproducts or cost savings from wastewater treatment. (More)