Infrastructure

How can we make it easier to build things in the world of atoms?

Construction productivity has actually fallen over the last 50 years in the U.S. And with the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act, more than $1.5 trillion of public investment will be spent in the coming decade on climate, energy, transportation, manufacturing, and other critical areas of American infrastructure.

We need to unblock the bottlenecks to building, ensuring that public money translates into real physical infrastructure that benefits Americans.

Emerging Technology
Latest Publication
How to Build the Future of AI in the United States
Part Two of Compute in America
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October 23rd 2024
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Infrastructure
How NEPA Will Tax Clean Energy
The National Environmental Policy Act has become a barrier to environmental policy
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July 25th 2024
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Emerging Technology
Compute in America: Building the Next Generation of AI Infrastructure at Home
A new series from the Institute for Progress
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June 10th 2024
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Infrastructure
Seven Frequently Asked Questions About NEPA
Debunking common myths about the National Environmental Policy Act
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June 4th 2024
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Infrastructure Research Team

Arnab Datta
Arnab Datta
Director of Infrastructure Policy
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Aidan Mackenzie
Aidan Mackenzie
Infrastructure Fellow
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Brian Potter
Brian Potter
Senior Infrastructure Fellow
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Infrastructure
We Must End the Litigation Doom Loop
It's time for Congress to impose a time limit on injunctions.
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May 29th 2024
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Infrastructure
A Cheat Sheet for NEPA Judicial Reform
How do different reform proposals stack up?
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May 28th 2024
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Infrastructure
Moving Past Environmental Proceduralism
If the activists of fifty years ago had known what we know now, what might they have done differently?
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April 22nd 2024
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Infrastructure
How Cost Allocation Works for Transmission Lines
Why it matters, and why it shouldn't stop the clean energy buildout
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April 19th 2024
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Infrastructure
How to Be a Policy Entrepreneur in the American Vetocracy
A review of "Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better," by Jennifer Pahlka
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April 2nd 2024
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Infrastructure
How to Save America’s Transmission System
The overwhelming priority of energy policy must be making it easier to build things
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February 22nd 2024
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Infrastructure
The Policy Interventions that Could Boost Geothermal
Part Four of Hot Rocks: Commercializing Next-Generation Geothermal Energy
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December 21st 2023
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Infrastructure
Barriers to Next-Gen Geothermal
Part Three of Hot Rocks: Commercializing Next-Generation Geothermal Energy
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November 16th 2023
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Infrastructure
How Public Policy Accelerated the Shale Revolution
Part Two of Hot Rocks: Commercializing Next-Generation Geothermal Energy
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November 8th 2023
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Infrastructure
The Technological Innovations that Produced the Shale Revolution
Part One of Hot Rocks: Commercializing Next-Generation Geothermal Energy
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October 30th 2023
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Infrastructure
Hot Rocks: Commercializing Next-Generation Geothermal Energy
A joint series from Employ America and Institute for Progress
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October 30th 2023
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Infrastructure
A Grand Bargain for Permitting Reform
American energy production can be transformed, if the parties can find a deal
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September 29th 2023
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Infrastructure
No, NEPA Really Is a Problem for Clean Energy
Four reasons the arguments of NEPA defenders miss the mark
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August 17th 2023
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Infrastructure
Geothermal Energy Needs Permitting Reform
At the very least, give geothermal energy the same exemptions that oil and gas receive
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August 1st 2023
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Infrastructure
Can I-95’s Repairs Teach Us to Build Faster?
The astonishingly fast repairs to Interstate 95 offer a rare glimpse at how quickly America can build when we get out of our own way.
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July 7th 2023
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Infrastructure
Defining “Major Federal Action” in NEPA
Federal agencies need to concentrate their efforts on projects that cause considerable environmental disruption
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May 9th 2023
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Infrastructure
Environmental Assessment Reform
Allow agencies the autonomy to act as soon as they can accurately determine a "finding of no significant impact"
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May 9th 2023
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Infrastructure
Why Does Nuclear Power Plant Construction Cost So Much?
The source of clean energy shouldn't be displaying "negative learning" over time
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May 1st 2023
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Infrastructure
Time Limit on Injunctions
NEPA review needs a judicial shot clock
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April 28th 2023
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Infrastructure
“Demand Commitment Mechanisms” Can Jumpstart Long-Duration Energy Storage
A response to the DOE's request for information on advanced market commitments
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March 6th 2023
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Infrastructure
How Biofuel Mandates Raise Food and Energy Prices
Blending requirements harm consumers and the environment
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November 4th 2022
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Infrastructure
Decarbonization Won’t Require as Much Land as You Think
We can reach net zero emissions without devoting hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of land to energy farms
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October 17th 2022
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Infrastructure
Climate Relief Can’t Wait for Utopia
Wishful thinking hampers the clean-energy revolution
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October 7th 2022
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Infrastructure
How to Stop Environmental Review from Harming the Environment
Permitting reform is an opportunity to accelerate decarbonization
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September 13th 2022
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Infrastructure
Smarter Zoning for Fair Housing
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January 14th 2022
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