Unifying issues for a divided Congress? Try American infrastructure and energy

November 13, 2018

In the wake of a bruising and contentious midterm season—and with control of Congress now split between the parties — Americans on both sides of the political divide are wondering whether Washington can find anything to agree on in the year ahead. Our view? Sure, it can.

API and NABTU’s combined advocacy experiences demonstrate that when organizations inside the Beltway work together, there are always issues on which bipartisan consensus can be found and coalitions formed. We believe public infrastructure investment to deliver America’s energy is one of those issues.

This was evident in the 2018 election, where we saw growing agreement that our country is in the midst of an energy revolution driven by American ingenuity.  Over the last ten years, highly skilled workers and technological innovations have helped make America the world’s No. 1 producer of natural gas and oil. This is a factor in driving down costs for consumers, creating more middle-class sustaining jobs, dramatically cutting our dependence on foreign energy sources, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions to 25 year lows.  

Our public infrastructure and energy policies should know no party and bring out the maverick in politicians on both sides of the aisle. Infrastructure and energy affect every single American every single day — they are simply too important to fall victim to the same partisan calculations as with other issues.

For this reason, in the upcoming 116th Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike can take pride in America’s energy revolution, the highly trained workforce that supports it, and the local economic benefits which investment brings.

To fully realize this potential, one of the first things the new Congress must do to is to act on legislation that invests in America’s roads, bridges, and critical water and energy infrastructure...

Read entire article at The Hill


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