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**JUNE 22, 2022**
Kuttner on TAP
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**** Build Back Better Is a Pittance
Floods, fires, droughts, and the increasing uninhabitability of much of
the American West demonstrate that we should be spending a great deal
more.
The coverage of the January 6th Committee, the impending reversal of
**Roe**, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, $5-a-gallon gas, and gun
massacres have knocked the devastation of the West off the front pages.
But the climate crisis that is upon us right now is the most terrifying
of all of these.
Take the case of New Mexico. Unprecedented wind-driven fires east of
Santa Fe destroyed over 300,000 acres. The fire burned so hot that it
killed bacteria that are part of the usual process of recovery of the
soil. That in turn means rainwater runs off at a pace that leads to
flooding and contamination of drinking water.
Elsewhere in the West, water levels are so low
that they threaten not only the supply of water for drinking and bathing
but the viability of hydroelectric dams. The interaction of floods,
fires, and droughts is only going to get worse.
Climate activists have long called for increased public investment to
accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon economy. The blockage of
Build Back Better means that nothing like adequate investment is
forthcoming.
But the news out of the West suggests something even more urgent. We
need massive public investments to restore a measure of resilience in
the face of damage already done, right now.
Systems need to be rebuilt. People need to be resettled. A new kind of
society needs to develop that can coexist with a natural environment
already ravaged, even as we help that environment to heal and shift to a
more sustainable energy future.
And of course it isn't just the West. The great coastal cities of the
East will need massive public investments to adapt to sea level rise and
inevitable storm surges.
Before too long, the kind of public outlay being debated in 2021-2022
will seem like chump change, and citizens of both parties will be
clamoring for a lot more.
Won't that mean a massive diversion of funds and a reduced standard of
living? Maybe not.
The last time America spent huge sums on a collective enterprise was
during World War II. We spent about one-third of GDP making war. But
even though most of that output was blown up, at the end of the four
years of war, there had been so much development of new technology that
GDP was 50 percent higher than when the war began.
That was a war for survival. So is this one.
~ ROBERT KUTTNER
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The Fed Is Crushing Investment Right When We Need It
Interest rate hikes are damaging the ability to take needed steps in our
economic future. BY DAVID DAYEN
Shipping Carriers Are Making a Killing on Food Aid
An old rule to protect U.S. carriers drives up the cost of food aid, and
fails to help the domestic ship industry. BY LEE HARRIS
Philadelphia Art Museum Workers Struggle for a Contract
Two years after winning a union vote, workers are still negotiating with
the cultural icon. They're raising the pressure on management. BY
RAMENDA CYRUS
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