Thursday, July 1, 2021
President Joe Biden proposed the largest investment in American infrastructure since World War II at the end of March, introduced by Mike Fiore, a member of Pittsburgh Local 29. Four weeks later he renewed his call for the $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan from the House floor, again with the IBEW at the heart of his pitch.
"The American Jobs Plan will put engineers and construction workers to work building more energy efficient buildings and homes. Electrical workers, IBEW members, installing 500,000 charging stations along our highways so we can own the electric car market," he said. "For too long we've failed to use the most important word when it comes to meeting the climate crisis: Jobs. Jobs. Jobs."
Over the last few decades, the American economy has boomed creating virtual things: the internet, logistics, housing bubbles and banking innovations. But all of that is built on the real world: ports, roads, fiber optic cables and transmission lines. And that real world has been crumbling, year after year, president after president.