Rebuilding and Renewing America PDF Print E-mail

2008 was the bicentennial of the Gallatin Plan (1808) and centennial of the Roosevelt Plan (1908), which guided America’s infrastructure investments in the 19th and 20th centuries. These plans set the stage for two centuries of transportation advances, infrastructure investment and environmental protection.  Today we need a new plan to rebuild and reinvest in America.

A New National Plan
Helping Communities Combat Climate Change
A Water Trust Fund
Reinstating the Superfund tax
Related Articles

A New National Plan

2008 marked the bicentennial of the Gallatin Plan, crafted by President Jefferson’s Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin, to develop the infrastructure needed by our fast-growing nation. This plan built on President Washington’s vision of connecting the interior settlements to the markets and ports of the East Coast with a network of roads and canals.

One hundred years later, President Theodore Roosevelt invited every state and territorial governor to join members of his Cabinet and Congress, professional organizations, and government bureaus in a National Conference at the White House to plan for the infrastructure needs for the 20th century.  This conference laid the groundwork for many of the critical investments initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to jumpstart the nation’s recovery from the Great Depression.

A new national vision and plan is necessary to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

In the 110th Congress, Representative Blumenauer has introduced H.R. 5976, to establish a Commission on Rebuilding America for the 21st Century. This bill would create a commission of 17 members appointed by Congress, the Administration, and State and local governments.  The commission will synthesize existing reports to identify challenges and needs; commence a thorough set of public hearings on infrastructure conducted in not fewer than 50 Congressional districts across the United States to ensure geographic and demographic representation; and articulate a national vision for infrastructure investments including specific recommendations and a set of model principles to inform future infrastructure investments.

Helping Communities Combat Climate Change

Our country’s commitment to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions will require significant changes to our communities. The federal government can and should be a partner in this effort, through a variety of ways, including investing in transportation alternatives, providing incentives for affordable housing choices and better community design, and funding innovative pilot programs that add community value while reducing greenhouse gases. Congressman Blumenauer is introducing legislation to help communities address global warming through design and transportation improvements.

Read more about this legislation here .

A Water Trust Fund

Our nation’s water infrastructure needs have grown while funding for clean water has declined.  The overall federal government contribution to total clean water spending has shrunk from 78% in 1978 to 3% today. The GAO, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Water Infrastructure Network, have estimated that the nation faces a growing water infrastructure funding gap of between $300-500 billion between what is currently being spent and what must be spent over the next 20 years in order to upgrade our aging water infrastructure.

In order to meet the water infrastructure needs of our nation, Congressman Blumenauer is proposing draft legislation to create a Water Trust Fund. The mission of this trust fund is to provide a deficit-neutral, consistent and fire-walled source of revenue to states to support the replacement, repair, and rehabilitation of clean and drinking water infrastructure.

Read more on Congressman Blumenauer's Water Protection and Reinvestment Act .

Reinstating the Superfund tax

The Superfund was designed in 1980 to provide money to cleanup sites where the responsible party was out of business or could not be identified. Before it expired in 1995, the money for the Superfund came through taxes on the polluters themselves. However, Congress has never reauthorized the tax, making the burden of funding cleanups of toxic waste sites fall on the shoulders of taxpaying Americans. It is time to make public health, not protection for polluters, a priority. With the reinstatement of the Superfund tax, the stable funds generated would ensure that cleanup efforts at large sites can be properly maintained, and the EPA would have more power to recover costs from liable parties in cleanups.

Why should the Superfund tax be reinstated?

  • Companies should clean up their own waste.
  • It is unfair to pass the burden onto taxpayers, who bear no responsibility.
  • Without reauthorization, millions of Americans will be needlessly exposed to toxic waste while industries escape $1 billion in pollution taxes.
  • Polluters should pay for any efforts that are needed to address the problems they create.
  • It’s time to put the burden back where it belongs: on polluters.

Download Congressman Blumenauer's Superfund Reinvestment Act One Pager.

Related Articles

  • November 12, 2010 - Blumenauer Presents to the Superfund Research Program

    Congressman Blumenauer spoke this week before members of the OSU Superfund Research Program (SRP) in Portland. Superfund was designed to help with the cleanup and rehabilitation of polluted lands and waterways. The SRP, authorized in a 1986 amendment to that law, is tasked with finding advanced techniques for detection, assessment, and evaluation of effects on human health of hazardous substances, methods and technologies to detect hazardous substances in the environment, and basic biological, chemical, and physical methods to reduce the amount and toxicity of hazardous substances.


  • October 22, 2010 - Rail~Volution Founder Rep. Blumenauer Welcomes Conference Back To Portland

    Congressman Earl Blumenauer inspired more than 1200 planners, transportation professionals, elected officials, civic leaders and livable community advocates as he opened the 16th annual national Rail~Volution Conference with a stirring Keynote address.


  • October 4, 2010 - Blumenauer Announces $9 Million to Replace Aging Commuter Buses

    Funding Will Ensure Portland Area Public Transportation Remains a Model for Nation PORTLAND – Today, Congressman Earl Blumenauer announced that the Department of Transportation has awarded a total of $9 million to Oregon agencies to replace and upgrade their fleets of commuter buses. $6 million will go to Tri-Met for Portland area buses and $3 million will go to the Oregon Department of Transportation Transit Division for rural bus routes.


  • September 10, 2010 - Congressman Blumenauer Hosts Rebuilding and Renewing America Summit II

    Congressman Blumenauer, in conjunction with the Port of Portland and Portland State University, presented the second Rebuilding and Renewing America conference [VIDEO]. The conference, featuring panelists and participants from across the state, focused on three major issues: cleaning up the Portland Harbor, energy transmission, and the development of a new bridge and transportation plan for crossing the Columbia River. A variety of interest groups and stakeholders were invited to make presentations, from non-profit groups, environmental and community activists, business, labor, and elected officials. The conference was opened with comments from PSU President Wim Wiewel, Bill Wyatt of the Port of Portland, Congressman Blumenauer, and Oregon House Speaker Dave Hunt. A keynote address was delivered by Matt Rose, President, Chairman, and CEO of BNSF.


  • September 7, 2010 - Blumenauer Declares President Obama’s Infrastructure Investment Plan a Boon for Livable Communities

    Blumenauer: “Renewing and rebuilding America is the best way to get our workers back on the job and fuel our economic recovery.” Washington, DC – President Barack Obama yesterday laid out a multi-year infrastructure investment plan. The $50 billion plan, which will be paid for by ending wasteful tax breaks for big oil companies, addresses many of the urgent priorities laid out by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, including rebuilding our nation’s roads, railways, and bridges.


 
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