President-elect Barack Obama, in his weekly address, announced the
largest public works program since the interstate highway system
development fifty years ago. Responding to a deepening recession and
the release of some seriously grim unemployment numbers yesterday, Mr.
Obama pushed for both old tech jobs (sewer systems, roads, bridges,
etc.) and new tech (greening of government buildings, IT development in
the health care segment, expanding broad band capability, etc.).
A
big part of (the program) will be public works spending, particularly
on projects aimed at conserving or expanding energy supplies and
cleaning up the environment. “We will create millions of jobs by making
the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since
the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s,” Mr. Obama
said.
He did not estimate how much he would devote to that purpose, but when
he met with the nation’s governors last week, they said the states had
$136 billion worth of road, bridge and other projects approved ready to
go as soon as money became available. They estimated that each billion
dollars spent would create 40,000 jobs.
A
substantial part of the proposed economic package will go toward
creating so-called green jobs, those that benefit the environment or
save energy. That part of the package could run as high as $100 billion
over two years, according to an aide familiar with the discussions.
A blueprint for such spending can be found in a study financed by the
Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts
and the Center for American Progress, a Washington research
organization founded by John D. Podesta, who is a co-chairman of Mr.
Obama’s transition team.
The study, released in November after months of work, found that a $100
billion investment in clean energy could create 2 million jobs over two
years. (Link)
Putting more meat on the bones of the proposal, Mr. Obama said his administration would concentrate on five major areas:
—ENERGY: “[W]e will launch a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient. Our government now pays the highest energy bill in the world. We need to change that. We need to upgrade our federal buildings by replacing old heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs. That won’t just save you, the American taxpayer, billions of dollars each year. It will put people back to work.”
—ROADS
AND BRIDGES: “[W]e will create millions of jobs by making the single
largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the
creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s. We’ll invest your
precious tax dollars in new and smarter ways, and we’ll set a simple
rule – use it or lose it. If a state doesn’t act quickly to invest in
roads and bridges in their communities, they’ll lose the money.”
—SCHOOLS: “[M]y economic recovery plan will launch the most sweeping
effort to modernize and upgrade school buildings that this country has
ever seen. We will repair broken schools, make them energy-efficient,
and put new computers in our classrooms. Because to help our children
compete in a 21st century economy, we need to send them to 21st century
schools.”
—BROADBAND: “As we renew our schools and highways, we’ll also renew our
information superhighway. It is unacceptable that the United States
ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption. Here, in the country
that invented the Internet, every child should have the chance to get
online, and they’ll get that chance when I’m president – because that’s
how we’ll strengthen America’s competitiveness in the world.”
—ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS: “In addition to connecting our libraries
and schools to the Internet, we must also ensure that our hospitals are
connected to each other through the Internet. That is why the economic
recovery plan I’m proposing will help modernize our health care system
– and that won’t just save jobs, it will save lives. We will make sure
that every doctor’s office and hospital in this country is using
cutting edge technology and electronic medical records so that we can
cut red tape, prevent medical mistakes, and help save billions of
dollars each year.” (Link)
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