President Trump has promised to rebuild America; our industry can help him do it.
During the election campaign, Mr. Trump inspired those who elected him with the slogans—Make America Great Again and America First. His critics, over half of the people who voted in the election, argued that his bombastic campaign rhetoric was a cynical effort to beguile the uninformed.
Perhaps. However, since taking office, Mr. Trump has been working to stimulate the economy. Regardless of whether you agree with his environmental or social policies, an unbiased observer must concede, if only begrudgingly, that his executive decrees to date have intended to make it possible for industry, and especially the construction industry, to operate free of many of the well-intended but misguided federal regulations that have stifled economic growth.
For example, the presence of the EPA in almost every aspect of the construction industry has been reduced.
Mr. Trump has made rebuilding our infrastructure a priority, in part because this creates jobs; lots of construction jobs.
With this in mind, TIME magazine devoted its April 10, 2017 issue to a discussion of What it Will Take To Rebuild America, authored by David Drehle and other contributing authors, that examines the possibilities of rebuilding our infrastructure for the 21st century. This discussion includes articles on rebuilding our electrical grid, upgrading our water and wastewater network, building and rebuilding roads and bridges, modernizing our ports, improving our airports, repairing the nation’s locks, and upgrading the internet.
What makes these articles fascinating is that the emphasis is not just on repairing existing structures. Each section stresses the need and the opportunity to upgrade using the most advanced technologies and taking into consideration the social and environmental challenges that confront our country.
TIME’s report is a call to action, a challenge to all of us to promote these initiatives, a challenge to Congress to fund these projects, and a challenge to our industry to take part in the innovation as well as the construction of these projects.
Source—
What it Will Take to Rebuild America, David Drehle and other contributing authors, TIME magazine, April 10, 2017.
Don Wallis has more than 40 years experience in residential and commercial construction, and land development. He also has a law degree and currently teaches Environmental Law at Santa Fe Community College.
