
Roads and Rails: In Conversation with America’s Infrastructure Czar

We just do a terrible job in this country of giving ourselves the freedom to say, we made a mistake.
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Before signing the $1.2 trillion dollar Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, President Biden put Mitch Landrieu in charge of executing its vision. In this role, the former New Orleans mayor oversees the biggest investment in American infrastructure in generations. With promises of generating millions of high-paying jobs, fixing supply chains, and repairing America’s roads and rails, how are things going seven months after this bipartisan act was signed into law? How does environmental justice and the protection of children factor into planning? What potential is there for clean energy and climate resilience? And how far can this new funding take us toward broadband internet for all?
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