The System is Down

By Luke Lorenz
Apr 21 2015 |
A steelworker makes pipe and tube for natural gas exploration.

Infrastructure vulnerability puts American safety and economic advancement in jeopardy.

Not long after a power disruption left much of Washington D.C. in darkness, the Department of Energy released its Quadrennial Energy Review on the state of America’s energy infrastructure. Its grave concerns and dire assessments present a clear call to action in the interest of protecting the most prevalent necessity in modern American life. The warnings, which emanate throughout the report, should be of no surprise as they echo the alarms sounded by similar reports over the past ten years. This vulnerability puts our safety and economic advancement in jeopardy.

The U.S. has become a leader in energy production, but our progress is mired by an infrastructure system that is woefully inadequate. The long veins of oil and natural gas, which stretch across the country, require a proficient circulatory system. Years of inaction have left our nation’s vital energy systems in poor health.

Our power grids cannot effectively accommodate alternative energy sources. Every segment of our economy, every business, and every household require efficient and reliable channels for the distribution of energy in order to function in the modern world.

Additionally, the security implications related to our energy infrastructure are more acute today than they have ever been. Tom Ridge, former Secretary of Homeland Security, referred to our energy infrastructure as America’s “soft underbelly” in a report published by the Alliance for American Manufacturing. This aging and outmoded system presents a clear target to our adversaries. It also creates an extraordinary liability in the event of severe weather, which is expected to only increase in frequency. We should be investing now, rather than reacting later.

The benefits of addressing this issue are extensive. Modernized electric grids and pipeline systems are essential to a resurgent American economy, national security, and resiliency in the event of disaster. In addition to the creation of jobs, an advanced grid system could enable the increased use of renewable energy sources produced in America. Congress has yet to reach a solution in regards to this most critical of concerns. Significant effort is needed to address this fundamental issue which impacts every aspect of American enterprise, and Washington needs to grasp the reality and severity of the situation.