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A Real Stimulus Plan: Meeting The Challenges Not Yet Met
By JAMES G. WILES, For The Bulletin
Before an aortic thrombosis robbed my father of his mind, Dad spoke often of the great engineering and architectural challenges facing the United States.
Born in 1910, my father belonged to a generation of American engineers who saw opportunities where others saw problems. Indeed, in the early 1930s, around the world, the engineer was seen as the “man of the future.” Wasn’t the president himself an engineer?
As a young mining engineer, Dad worked on Boulder Dam, Grand Coulee Dam and the San Francisco Bay Bridge doing tunneling. Later, he specialized in hydrology and “water problems” in deep, hard rock mines. As a result, my father was dazzled by the challenge presented by Hurricane Katrina’s destruction of New Orleans, a city he and my mother had known and loved.
“Jim, it’s the career opportunity of a lifetime,” he would say. “Think of it. A chance to redesign and rebuild a major American city. That kind of thing may never happen again.”
That, of course, is not happening. In fact, not much at all is happening in terms of the major engineering opportunities around the United States today. Besides New Orleans, consider the following:
Ground Zero. The World Trade Center is not being rebuilt and has not even begun. Undoubtedly, this has something to do with the poisoned politics of New York City and New York State. However, eight years does seem like a long time.
Here’s an idea. When the bell tower in the Piazza San Marco in Venice suddenly collapsed in the early 1900’s, the city fathers decreed it would be rebuilt “como era, dove era,” meaning “where it was, as it was.” Why can’t we do the same, while applying everything science and industry around the world has learned in the last 40 years about designing and constructing super-tall structures?
Air transportation. With the possible exception of Charlotte, N.C., U.S. international airports are not up to global standards in terms of designs or services. Some – JFK and Dulles, for instance – are, like the space shuttle, relics of the 1960’s and ‘70’s, complete with 1970’s technology. Our air traffic control is outdated and soon-to-be obsolete as well. How do we compete internationally when the first thing a foreign visitor sees when he lands here is an embarrassing anachronism compared to the terminal he just left in his own country?
Rail transportation. There is, theoretically, several billion dollars in the new stimulus bill for high-speed rail. However, what's really needed are more tracks and more conventional trains, as well as light rail. At some point, Amtrak could be spun off.
Also badly needed are more rail freight lines and more modern and more secure U.S. port facilities. The present economic downturn is masking how serious this problem is. No one’s doing anything about that.
Rebuilding and expanding the electric grid. The only reason the U.S. has not experienced major, recurring power blackouts in the last two years is because of the Great Recession. When the economy recovers, the inadequacy of our antiquated grid will be obvious. Again, nothing is being done.
Nuclear power. Having last week derailed the U.S. coal industry’s plans to expand coal mining, the Obama Administration seems determined to prevent any new nuclear power plants from being built either. Such has been the pattern – under both parties – since the Three Mile Island accident 30 years ago.
A whole new generation of nuclear power technology has grown up abroad since then. While President Obama is willing to let the Iranians build nuclear power plants, his administration strenuously opposes letting Americans do so. At the same time, Washington has done nothing to open up offshore drilling. A serious U.S. energy crisis is as inevitable as the rising sun.
Manned space flight. While President Obama has appointed a panel to advise him, I expect no action. Sending Americans back to the moon and launching inter-planetary exploration would inspire young Americans, lead to innovations that would ripple across technology and encourage engineering and technological education.
7. Supersonic transportation (SST). Since the Democrats killed the SST in the early ‘70’s, once again, new generations of avionic technology have grown up. America could be a world leader in this field, shrinking our globe and stimulating trade and economic growth.
All of these projects would inspire. All would create hundreds of thousands of good, high-paying jobs. All would drive a new generation of American engineers and technology, encouraging science education in the United States. All have no chance of occurring in Barack Obama’s America. As Robert Frost knew, sometimes the road not taken makes all the difference.
All the above sounds like a pretty good economic stimulus plan to me.
James Wiles is a Philadelphia lawyer. He can be reached at jwiles@thebulletin.us
Born in 1910, my father belonged to a generation of American engineers who saw opportunities where others saw problems. Indeed, in the early 1930s, around the world, the engineer was seen as the “man of the future.” Wasn’t the president himself an engineer?
As a young mining engineer, Dad worked on Boulder Dam, Grand Coulee Dam and the San Francisco Bay Bridge doing tunneling. Later, he specialized in hydrology and “water problems” in deep, hard rock mines. As a result, my father was dazzled by the challenge presented by Hurricane Katrina’s destruction of New Orleans, a city he and my mother had known and loved.
“Jim, it’s the career opportunity of a lifetime,” he would say. “Think of it. A chance to redesign and rebuild a major American city. That kind of thing may never happen again.”
That, of course, is not happening. In fact, not much at all is happening in terms of the major engineering opportunities around the United States today. Besides New Orleans, consider the following:
Ground Zero. The World Trade Center is not being rebuilt and has not even begun. Undoubtedly, this has something to do with the poisoned politics of New York City and New York State. However, eight years does seem like a long time.
Here’s an idea. When the bell tower in the Piazza San Marco in Venice suddenly collapsed in the early 1900’s, the city fathers decreed it would be rebuilt “como era, dove era,” meaning “where it was, as it was.” Why can’t we do the same, while applying everything science and industry around the world has learned in the last 40 years about designing and constructing super-tall structures?
Air transportation. With the possible exception of Charlotte, N.C., U.S. international airports are not up to global standards in terms of designs or services. Some – JFK and Dulles, for instance – are, like the space shuttle, relics of the 1960’s and ‘70’s, complete with 1970’s technology. Our air traffic control is outdated and soon-to-be obsolete as well. How do we compete internationally when the first thing a foreign visitor sees when he lands here is an embarrassing anachronism compared to the terminal he just left in his own country?
Rail transportation. There is, theoretically, several billion dollars in the new stimulus bill for high-speed rail. However, what's really needed are more tracks and more conventional trains, as well as light rail. At some point, Amtrak could be spun off.
Also badly needed are more rail freight lines and more modern and more secure U.S. port facilities. The present economic downturn is masking how serious this problem is. No one’s doing anything about that.
Rebuilding and expanding the electric grid. The only reason the U.S. has not experienced major, recurring power blackouts in the last two years is because of the Great Recession. When the economy recovers, the inadequacy of our antiquated grid will be obvious. Again, nothing is being done.
Nuclear power. Having last week derailed the U.S. coal industry’s plans to expand coal mining, the Obama Administration seems determined to prevent any new nuclear power plants from being built either. Such has been the pattern – under both parties – since the Three Mile Island accident 30 years ago.
A whole new generation of nuclear power technology has grown up abroad since then. While President Obama is willing to let the Iranians build nuclear power plants, his administration strenuously opposes letting Americans do so. At the same time, Washington has done nothing to open up offshore drilling. A serious U.S. energy crisis is as inevitable as the rising sun.
Manned space flight. While President Obama has appointed a panel to advise him, I expect no action. Sending Americans back to the moon and launching inter-planetary exploration would inspire young Americans, lead to innovations that would ripple across technology and encourage engineering and technological education.
7. Supersonic transportation (SST). Since the Democrats killed the SST in the early ‘70’s, once again, new generations of avionic technology have grown up. America could be a world leader in this field, shrinking our globe and stimulating trade and economic growth.
All of these projects would inspire. All would create hundreds of thousands of good, high-paying jobs. All would drive a new generation of American engineers and technology, encouraging science education in the United States. All have no chance of occurring in Barack Obama’s America. As Robert Frost knew, sometimes the road not taken makes all the difference.
All the above sounds like a pretty good economic stimulus plan to me.
James Wiles is a Philadelphia lawyer. He can be reached at jwiles@thebulletin.us
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