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A once-every-four-years report card on the upkeep of America’s infrastructure gave it a C grade on Tuesday, up slightly from previous reports, largely due to investments made during former President Joe Biden’s administration. The report from the American Society of Civil Engineers, which examined everything from roads and dams to drinking water and railroads, warns that federal funding must be sustained or increased to avoid further deterioration and escalating costs. We have seen the investments start to pay off, but we still have a lot of work to do out there, said Darren Olson, chair of this years report. He said decrepit infrastructure from poor roads that damage cars to delayed flights to power outages that spoil groceries hurts people and the economy. By investing in our infrastructure, were making our economy more efficient, were making it stronger (and) were making ourselves globally more competitive, he said. Its especially critical that infrastructure can handle more extreme weather due to climate change, said Olson, noting hurricanes that devastated the East Coast and parts of Appalachia last year. The U.S. saw 27 weather disasters last year that cost at least $1 billion, second-most since 1980. The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided $550 billion in new infrastructure investments, but is set to expire in 2026. Another $30 billion came from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, including for projects focused on clean energy and climate change, the engineering group said. President Donald Trump’s administration has targeted some of Bidens green policies. Public parks improved to a C-minus from a D-plus, for example, thanks in part to significant investments over several years. Recently, however, the Trump administration moved to slash National Park Service staffing. In 2021, the U.S. earned a C-minus overall. The investments made since then are just a fraction of the $9.1 trillion that the civil engineers group estimates is needed to bring all of the nations current infrastructure into a state of good repair. Even if current federal infrastructure funding were maintained, there still would be a $3.7 trillion gap over a decade, according to the report. The bill to upgrade and maintain the nations roughly 50,000 water utilities, for example, is $625 billion over the next two decades, according to the federal government. The grade for drinking water was C-minus, unchanged from four years ago. Many communities already struggling to maintain old, outdated drinking water systems also face new requirements to replace lead service line s and reduce per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, collectively known as PFAS. The bipartisan infrastructure bill helped complete or start a lot of really important projects, said Scott Berry, director of policy and governmental affairs at the US Water Alliance. But the gap has widened so much over the last couple of decades that a lot, lot more investment is going to be needed. The bill also provided billions to help the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers upgrade inland waterways, which move roughly $150 billion in commerce every year, improving the grade from a D-plus to a C-minus. Barges on the Mississippi River, for example, carry enormous amounts of coal, soybeans, corn and other raw materials to international markets. But critical infrastructure like locks and dams many built more than a half-century ago and requiring regular maintenance and repair is often invisible to the public, making it easy to neglect, said Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition. And when big projects are funded, it too often comes in stages, he said. That forces projects to pause until more money is appropriated, driving up costs for materials and labor. If we really want to make the taxpayer dollars stretch further, you have got to be able to bring a greater degree of predictability and reliability in how you fund these projects, he said. The report’s focus on engineering and money misses the importance of adopting policies that could improve how people use and pay for infrastructure, according to Clifford Winston, a microeconomist in the Brookings Institutions economic studies program. You fail to make the most efficient use of what you have, said Winston. For example, he noted that congestion pricing like that recently adopted by New York City charging people to drive in crowded areas places the burden on frequent users and can pressure people to drive less, reducing the need for new bridges, tunnels and repairs. Roads remain in chronically poor shape, receiving a D-plus compared to a D in the last report, despite $591 billion in investments since 2021. Two categories, rail and energy, received lower grades. Disasters like the derailment of a train carrying dangerous chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, in 2023 lowered rails previous B mark to a B-minus. The energy sector, stressed by surging demand from data centers and electric vehicles, got a D-plus, down from C-minus. Engineers say problems in many sectors have festered for so long that the nation must figure out how to address the shortcomings now or pay for them when systems fail. On Wednesday, a delegation of engineers will visit Washington to talk to lawmakers about the funding impacts and the importance of continuing that investment, said Olson, who said the needs are a bipartisan issue. When we talk about it in ways of how better infrastructure saves the American family money, how better infrastructure supports economic growth, were really confident that … there is strong support, he said. ___ The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Tammy Webber and Michael Phillis, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
The resignation of United States Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Monday comes just two weeks after he announced plans to cut some 10,000 workers and billions of dollars from the agency as part of the government’s cost-cutting agenda. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has eyed privatizing the nation’s postal service. Trump’s move to give commerce secretary Howard Lutnick authority over the independent agency could be a first step in that direction. DeJoy said in a statement that while the 250-year-old U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has established “a path toward financial sustainability” and instituted “enormous beneficial change to what had been an adrift and moribund organization,” more work remained. Deputy Postmaster General Doug Tulino will temporarily head the postal service while the USPS Board of Governors looks for a permanent successor, although the USPS said there is no established timeline for DeJoys replacement. Louis DeJoy [Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images] The $78 billion-a-year agency has struggled in recent years as more Americans are replacing paper transactions with online services. However, critics say the U.S. Postal Service is a lot more efficient than is being portrayed, and privatizing it could cause a host of problems nationwide, including interrupting or delaying the crucial delivery of prescription drugs and checks, and threatening guaranteed mail-in election ballots, which have played an increasingly important role in recent presidential elections. According to those critics, the Trump administration’s meddling in the USPS’s operations could make mail-in voting more difficult for the tens of millions of American voters who used it in the last election. Those most affected would be Americans living in rural areas who depend on the mail service. Trump has repeatedly said hed like to end the practice of mail-in voting. Taking over the Postal Service just kind of opens up a whole Pandoras box of mischief, said Barbara Smith Warner, executive director of National Vote at Home Institute, a nonprofit which works to increase voters access to and confidence in mail voting. This is a way that the federal government could put a really big thumb on the scale and impact every states ability to run their own elections.” DeJoy, who headed the U.S. Postal Service since June 2020, has been a controversial figure over the last five years. The former businessman and Republican donor led the agency through the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, as well as two presidential elections that saw high turnout in mail-in ballots. Critics have said his efforts to modernize the postal service by consolidating deliveries ultimately backfired, slowing down the mail even further. He also raised prices: A first-class stamp on a standard envelope is currently $0.73, up from $0.55 when DeJoy arrived at the agency, according to CNN. A survey by the Pew Research Center last July, found the post office has a 72% approval rating, making it one of the most popular government agencies.
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E-Commerce
A painting of Donald Trump hanging with other presidential portraits at the Colorado state Capitol will be taken down after Trump claimed that his was purposefully distorted, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. House Democrats said in a statement that the oil painting would be taken down at the request of Republican leaders in the Legislature. Colorado Republicans raised more than $10,000 through a GoFundMe account to commission the oil painting, which was unveiled in 2019. Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, a Republican, said that he requested for Trump’s portrait to be taken down and replaced by one that depicts his contemporary likeness.” If the GOP wants to spend time and money on which portrait of Trump hangs in the Capitol, then thats up to them, the Democrats said. The portrait was installed alongside other paintings of U.S. presidents. Before the installation, a prankster placed a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin near the spot intended for Trump. Initially, people objected to artist Sarah Boardman’s depiction of Trump as nonconfrontational and thoughtful” in the portrait, according to an interview with Colorado Times Recorder from the time. But in a Sunday night post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he would prefer no picture at all over the one that hangs in the Colorado Capitol. The Republican lauded a nearby portrait of former President Barack Obama also by Boardman saying he looks wonderful. Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the state Capitol, put up by the Governor, along with all other Presidents, was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before, Trump wrote. The portraits are not the purview of the Colorado governors office but the Colorado Building Advisory Committee. The ones up to and including President Jimmy Carter were donated as a collection. The others were donated by political parties or, more recently, paid for by outside fundraising. The Legislature’s executive committee, made up of both Democratic and Republican leadership, signed a letter directing the removal of Trump’s portrait. Lundeen, the Republican senator who requested it, noted that Grover Cleveland, whose presidential terms were separated like Trump’s, had a portrait from his second term. Boardman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. In interviews from the time with The Denver Post, Boardman said it was important that her depictions of both Obama and Trump looked apolitical. There will always be dissent, so pleasing one group will always inflame another. I consider a neutrally thoughtful, and nonconfrontational, portrait allows everyone to reach their own conclusions in their own time, Boardman told the Colorado Times Recorder in 2019. Trump’s Sunday night comments had prompted a steady stream of visitors to pose for photos with the painting before the announcement that it would be taken down. Aaron Howe, visiting from Wyoming on Monday, stood in front of Trumps portrait, looking down at photos of the president on his phone, then back up at the portrait. Honestly he looks a little chubby,” said Howe of the portrait, but better than I could do. I don’t know anything about the artist, said Howe, who voted for Trump. It could be taken one way or the other. Kaylee Williamson, an 18-year-old Trump supporter from Arkansas, got a photo with the portrait. I think it looks like him. I guess he’s smoother than all the other ones, she said. I think it’s fine. ___ Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Jesse Bedayn, Associated Press/Report for America
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E-Commerce
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