Colleagues, The op-ed has a lovely list of ideas that might be better incorporated into policy action. The problem, for me, is the all-too-catchy and not-very-useful framing in which that list is wrapped:
1. First, it seems clear to me that we do in fact need quite a lot of concrete and steel to repair and replace some of the vast (often concrete & steel) physical infrastructure societies have now and still need -- the op-ed does not explain why/how that is not still the reality (despite the title), 2. Second, Biden and the members of the US congress (like every other democratic government one can name) are not elected by ecosystems. So for me, it seems unlikely that juxtaposing the claim that ecosystems should be first priority over “knee-jerk” infrastructure ideas is either very helpful for improving policymaking and policy proposals, or based on a fair reading of what is actually in the Biden infrastructure proposal. Doubtless any existing policy and investment proposal in the real world (with existing politics and institutions) can be made much, much more sustainable or climate friendly in multiple ways, but I’m wondering what the standards are here to which real policy proposals are being held. The Biden administration does in fact view the infrastructure proposal and the climate proposal as integrated enough to allow for the climate proposal to be achieved and infrastructures to be improved. They may well be wrong, but I’d rely on empirical evidence and outcomes to make that determination, rather than disappointment that some of my favorite sustainability ideas did not yet get a paragraph in the bill. -- Stacy D. VanDeveer Chair, Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security & Global Governance Professor, Global Governance & Human Security McCormack Graduate School of Policy & Global Studies University of Massachusetts Boston www.global.umb.edu<http://www.global.umb.edu> From: Gep-Ed <[email protected]> on behalf of "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Reply-To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Date: Thursday, April 22, 2021 at 1:51 PM To: Ronnie Lipschutz <[email protected]> Cc: Rafael Friedmann <[email protected]>, Gep-Ed <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [gep-ed] RE: Opinion: We Don't Need More Life-Crushing Steel and Concrete EXTERNAL SENDER Hi All, There is a rich international literature in STS about infrastructure and material supply chains. I've done some work on this looking at precious metals. Happy to share that with anyone interested. I also replied to Debra directly that we are working on a study now on the re-imagining of the upper Mississippi River's infrastructure in the face of an altered climate. Best, Roopali On Thu, Apr 22, 2021 at 12:47 PM 'Ronnie Lipschutz' via gep-ed <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: All, This is a persisting problem in all of these analyses and plans: if something is technologically feasible, the logistics don't matter. For example, there is great enthusiasm for EVs in California, but no one seems to consider the sheer volume of things that have to happen, over what time frame and in what order. The collapse of commodity chains during the pandemic and their restoration now (there are ships in SF Bay waiting to unload because port capacity is set by normal times) illustrates that the kind of surge capacity that is required--and which will require lots of materials, too--is not in place and who is going to build it? I have not seen any academic work about this, but the military probably has done work in terms of rapid deployments (not quite the kind of infrastructures, both material and institutional, that will be needed). Best, Ronnie On Thu, Apr 22, 2021 at 10:32 AM Rafael Friedmann <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I heard a talk by the head of sustainability at Autocad about 2 years ago at a HAAS/UC Berkeley event on the future of work. She showed the daunting amounts of materials that would be used to further urbanize our growing human population by 2050. Without rethinking very deeply what Earth can provide sustainably, we will not be able to build a future that offers wellbeing to most of humanity. Your point of the need to align the lovely calls of Biden’s summit (and others) with how our economic systems are set up and the infrastructure we continue to build (vested interests means we always have too much inertia!), is right on the ball. I suspect that the reality check will need to partly come from Academia – with quick analyses (we don’t have another 20 years to spare, actually, can’t even spare one more!), coupled with social movements and the threat of product boycotts as well as financial pressure—to get the actions needed by both public and private sectors (as well as our own). Rafael Sent from Mail<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.microsoft.com%2Ffwlink%2F%3FLinkId%3D550986&data=04%7C01%7Cstacy.vandeveer%40umb.edu%7C5082a13e48534564be8908d905b74ee3%7Cb97188711ee94425953c1ace1373eb38%7C0%7C1%7C637547107142108841%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=Kv9AMhBTa5TFGsYfVyoHnXlvzuYZugkjJpcu%2BuMOQD0%3D&reserved=0> for Windows 10 From: Debra Javeline<mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2021 10:15 AM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: [gep-ed] RE: Opinion: We Don't Need More Life-Crushing Steel and Concrete Dear colleagues, Biden announced new commitments on climate action today, and it reminded me that I received not a single response to my query below about the Biden infrastructure plan. I wonder why. If the climate plans and the infrastructure plans are not integrated, how can the climate plans succeed? Is no one conducting research on the ideal infrastructure for a climate-altered planet? All the best, Debra From: Debra Javeline <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Thursday, April 15, 2021 10:36 AM To: '[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>' <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Opinion: We Don’t Need More Life-Crushing Steel and Concrete Dear colleagues, Paul Greenberg and Carl Safina have a compelling op-ed in the NYT, “We Don’t Need More Life-Crushing Steel and Concrete: The long-term needs of ecosystems should come before our knee-jerk expectations about infrastructure<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2021%2F04%2F13%2Fopinion%2Finfrastructure-biden-nature.html%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3sdOmAFMVPOp5vSgBUfgUBUP2zo4BlQ1O9pU71iEmnSYW3warBXHO5F5Q&data=04%7C01%7Cstacy.vandeveer%40umb.edu%7C5082a13e48534564be8908d905b74ee3%7Cb97188711ee94425953c1ace1373eb38%7C0%7C1%7C637547107142108841%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=ZDTTsGwstym9USU0VPYgD0J4ga5XLSEw2QgQzIiqX10%3D&reserved=0>.” Is there any scholarship related to this topic? Presumably, those focused on climate change even within Biden’s own government understand the potential harms of an infrastructure program that ignores climate issues, but is there a holistic approach, with the infrastructure people talking to the climate-concerned? And is the conversation informed by good research on what infrastructure should be rebuilt to maximize mitigation and adaptation efforts? Does such research exist? Suggestions for specific publications would be most welcome. 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To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/5099CE0B-8ED2-49D8-9935-D0EBE78BF1F4%40hxcore.ol<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgroups.google.com%2Fd%2Fmsgid%2Fgep-ed%2F5099CE0B-8ED2-49D8-9935-D0EBE78BF1F4%2540hxcore.ol%3Futm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dfooter&data=04%7C01%7Cstacy.vandeveer%40umb.edu%7C5082a13e48534564be8908d905b74ee3%7Cb97188711ee94425953c1ace1373eb38%7C0%7C1%7C637547107142148828%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=8Vgjxhkbp93QhMcZoGLx%2BS%2FZjYjfr7LSCmSzIDHoId0%3D&reserved=0>. -- A fly walks into a bar and asks, "Excuse me. Is this stool taken?" Ronnie D. 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