Cheryl Wasserman, “Biden Should Go Big on Infrastructure in the First 100 Days"

Cheryl Wasserman, a former EPA employee and current president of the Environmental Governance Institute International, calls on the Biden administration to repeal Trump-era restrictions on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA); invest in America’s infrastructure with green energy technology; and reinstate higher taxes on the wealthy for future Americans. The United State’s lack of investment in infrastructure has negatively affected the economy and public health, according to Wasserman. Lead-contaminated water systems are detrimental to brain development, for example, and dated wastewater treatment systems inflict gastrointestinal problems and pollute aquatic ecosystems. It is critical that NEPA’s original purpose—the requirement that federal agencies seek better alternatives to their missions, cooperate with each other along with tribal, local, and state governments, and conserve and optimize our limited natural resources—be reinstated to guide large investments in infrastructure.