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Flint's Water Crisis

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With the upcoming presidential election, this year there is one very unnerving fact that has received overwhelming bipartisan recognition; America has a serious problem with infrastructure and something must be done. Across the country, dams, roads, sewage systems and bridges were built with Works Progress Administration funds in the 1930s. Seventy years later, they are in despair. As a nation, we must address Americas’ failing infrastructure and close the ever-increasing infrastructure deficit before the backbone of America crumbles right under our own two feet. To do so U.S. policymakers must act now to raise funds, without increasing our national debt. No intervention by the government will lead to a continuance of deteriorating the health …show more content…

The problem has become too big to ignore, and it is only going to get worse. This is evident with the recent events encompassed in the Flint Michigan water crisis. Flint’s water infrastructure has reached a crisis point, as residents cope with high levels of lead pollution and questions mount over contamination and negligent oversight. Aiming to cut costs in a state of financial emergency almost two years ago, the city began drawing water from the local Flint River rather than continuing to depend on traditional sources linked to Detroit, almost immediately leading to a variety of health and environmental concerns (Brookings). A combination of factors, of course, have contributed to Flint’s crisis—including lapses in state monitoring—but the aging and deteriorating condition of the city’s water infrastructure plays an enormous role. As Flint emerges from its current water crisis, it offers a cautionary tale to several other aging cities nationally. While extreme and unique in some ways, Flint reveals broader infrastructure concerns that demand …show more content…

Every family, every community, and every business needs infrastructure to thrive (ASCE). It is evident that we are dependent on our nation’s infrastructure, but as Andrew Soergel, an economy reporter at U.S. News states, “We need to stop talking about infrastructure as simply an engineering prospect and more as an economic one.” He’s right as infrastructure projects currently make up a vast part of our economy, nearly 11 percent of the American workforce today is employed directly in infrastructure sectors (USNEWS). In a report on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Congressional Budget Office wrote that, “Spending on infrastructure created the second-most economic activity for each dollar spent.” This power comes from the strong economic activity that is generated by the direct hiring of workers to build the needed infrastructure, as well as the boost from the increased spending of those newly hired workers. National Editor of Forbes magazine Robert Lenzner estimates that long-term infrastructure investment programs are bound to create 23,000 jobs for every $1 billion of investment. This will help lower unemployment and raise GDP. The long-term health of the economy is also helped by strong public infrastructure because it helps to boost the productivity of workers and businesses in the private sector. Well-maintained roads, for example, allow

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