The following is a statement by Dennis D. Truax, President, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE):
Washington, D.C. — ASCE applauds the provisions to improve energy reliability, strengthen communities and combat climate change included in the Inflation Reduction Act. Many of the initiatives in the legislation take proactive steps to address the growing impacts of climate change on the nation’s infrastructure. The investments in the Inflation Reduction Act, combined with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the recently passed CHIPS and Science Act, demonstrates Congress’ commitment to strengthen the vital systems that Americans rely on.
Energy received a “C-” grade in the 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, which cited severe weather as the predominant cause behind the country’s 638 transmission outage events reported from 2014 to 2018. Among the key recommendations to improve the grade, ASCE recommends a federal energy policy that provides clear direction for meeting current and future demands that factors in technology change, carbon reduction, renewables and distributed generation, and rate affordability. The Inflation Reduction Act addresses these recommendations at a never-before-seen scale, providing additional funding to develop transmission lines to connect to new sources of renewable energy.
While addressing energy needs was a clear goal of the legislation, ASCE also applauds elements geared towards other infrastructure assets such as additional funding for reducing pollution at the nation’s ports, expanding access to affordable transportation options, streamlining environmental reviews where appropriate, and accelerating the use of low-carbon construction materials.
We thank Congress for including future-ready infrastructure in this legislation so that communities can thrive.
About the American Society of Civil Engineers
Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 150,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE works to raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize the nation's infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices, advocates for increasing and optimizing investment in infrastructure, and improve engineering knowledge and competency. For more information, visit www.asce.org or www.infrastructurereportcard.org and follow us on Twitter, @ASCETweets and @ASCEGovRel.