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I enjoy speaking with business groups throughout Nebraska as I’ll be doing in December. They understand that the best way to stimulate the economy is to stimulate business activity, which then increases employment.
I’ll be talking with business people about a second stimulus plan being discussed in Washington to jump-start our faltering economy that would include investment in infrastructure. While Nebraska’s unemployment is not as high as in many other states, it is rising. Investment in infrastructure will help create jobs in all 50 states.
Infrastructure Equals Economic Stimulus
Infrastructure funding is sorely needed across our state to build or repair streets, bridges and highways. Earlier this year, I led the effort in the Senate to double the amount of economic stimulus funding for “ready-to-go” infrastructure projects – the Senate unanimously adopted my amendment to increase funding from $3.5 billion to $7 billion.
According to the Department of Transportation, every $1 billion in infrastructure investment creates more than 40,000 jobs.
It's two for the price of one: spending to create jobs while investing in much-needed infrastructure at the same time. Building or replacing infrastructure puts a lot of people to work. It includes all the construction and engineering firms that specialize in public works projects. That includes the suppliers of concrete, steel, heavy equipment and manpower that go into the construction.
Infrastructure is More Than Roads and Bridges
Besides roads and bridges, infrastructure can also encompass schools, parks, levees, electrical grids and utilities, water and sewer systems, energy pipelines, and solar and wind projects. It's a vast foundation of our society and one that's aging. A study by the American Society of Civil Engineers estimated $1.6 trillion is needed to get the country's bridges, roads and other systems up to acceptable levels
Building Nebraska’s Energy Infrastructure is Important
Congress is expected to consider a new economic stimulus plan soon and President-elect Obama also has proposed a sizable stimulus plan. Both are expected to include additional investment in infrastructure. Whatever we do back in Washington, I want to make sure it’s more than only a one-time investment.
Our current economic slump is a serious challenge, but it also presents a tremendous opportunity to chart a better future. One idea is to invest in an “energy superhighway” that expands our broadband infrastructure to build up the “silicone prairie, or that lays down the backbone of a new energy grid to deliver power from the plains to the coasts.
Nebraska is blessed with energy resources, including wind, biofuels, solar, nuclear and natural gas. Building the infrastructure to sell this energy to markets outside the state makes sense. In wind energy alone, a U.S. Department of Energy study showed that boosting production of our electricity from wind to 20 percent by 2030 could generate $8.9 billion in revenue for Nebraska, and create 26,000 construction and 3,600 long-term jobs. That’s a real windfall!
There are other opportunities. For example, ranchers could earn an additional $200,000 a year by leasing land to erect 20 wind turbines. Farmers who build bio-digesters, or install solar panels on their property could sell their energy back to the electricity grid. They could turn their energy bills into energy paychecks.
This is the kind of smart, job-creating infrastructure investment I think will benefit Nebraskans for a long time. And it is what I want to see in any new stimulus package that aims to get our economy back on track.
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