The Urgency of Climate Change Calls for an Open-minded Definition of “Infrastructure” | Article

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

I think of that famous Shakespeare line whenever policymakers in Washington consume themselves in a debate over what should be considered “infrastructure” and what gets left out.

Depending on who is doing the asking and who gets to answer, of course, “infrastructure” can mean just about anything. As far as words go, it is really quite versatile.

What’s “infrastructure”? Does it matter what we call it if it gets the job done?

If you attended any of our four June Congressional briefings, you might recall that at EESI we take a pretty broad view of what counts as infrastructure. The magnitude of the challenges posed by climate change and the enormity of the consequences of inaction are good reasons to think about the big picture. In order to make an equitable transition to a decarbonized, clean energy economy, we need decarbonized, clean energy. Our energy system is big and complicated and actually flush with renewable resources. Whether we can make better use of those resources rests in large part on the capabilities of our transmission network. That sounds like infrastructure to me.

Everybody agrees that roads and bridges are infrastructure. Why not alternatives to roads and bridges like bike paths and railways? And then there are the vehicles we drive around and across that infrastructure. How and where do we fuel and charge those cars and trucks? Those elements and others will determine whether the transportation sector—currently the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions—will be sustainable or a drag on efforts to address climate change. Mobility is in a state of transition, and the infrastructure we need to move around is changing, too.

What about the buildings in urban and rural communities connected by all those roads and bridges? How can we electrify our built environment without affordable, there-when-you-need-it electricity? Can we still afford to leave so much untapped potential energy efficiency and distributed energy resources on the table? As the line separating buildings from the electric grid—the “grid edge”—blurs in favor of integration, interconnectedness, and interoperability, our ability to derive cost-effective savings will be determined more by technology and policy than semantics.

Addressing climate change is an economy-wide challenge. We already have a great number of the technologies needed to rapidly and equitably transition to a decarbonized, clean energy economy. I am not suggesting that anything about mitigating and adapting to climate change with the necessary urgency will be easy. But, we could create significant opportunities if the approach is careful and compassionate, with frontline communities, communities of color, and low-income communities centered in every effort to achieve our climate goals. We must ensure we have everything we need to support this critical transition—the infrastructure to lift up the vulnerable and marginalized—and emerge from it better and more prosperous.

Author: Daniel Bresette