Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Infrastructure as Economic Stimulus

Infrastructure is an issue that merits attention. We must re-vamp our electrical distribution infrastructure to accommodate wind and solar power generation. We must establish infrastructure for ethanol -- pipelines, rail cars and truck transport. With hydrogen fuel for automobiles on the horizon, we need to look at establishing an infrastructure to distribute and retail that fuel. Natural gas powered vehicles also need filling stations. Our highways are in need of attention -- especially many of our bridges which are aged. The extreme growth of metropolitan areas such as Austin, Texas, have left a gap in the road system of those cities. We need port terminals for LNG offloading and for receiving oil that hopefully will soon be pumped on the outer continental shelf. We need new rail and high-speed transit facilities. And the list goes on.

Texas currently has a budget surplus created by the growth in the economy and from high oil prices. It needs to go into some form of revolving fund for infrastructure. Now, even some Democrats are "getting it" as far as infrastructure goes. Construction requires workers. Workers spend money. That stimulates business. Business works more efficiently when infrastructure is in place to move energy to where it is needed. It all works together to fuel our economy which generates more taxes -- even at lower rates. Let's stimulate the economy by spending money on infrastructure.

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