State Infrastructure Report Card

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released its 2001 Report Card for America's Infrastructure in which the nation's infrastructure received a cumulative grade of "D+" for twelve infrastructure areas. Causes for such a dismal grade include: explosive population growth and school enrollment which outpace the rate and impact of current investment and maintenance efforts; local political opposition and redtape which stymie the development of effective solutions; and the growing obsolescence of an aging system -- evident in the breakdown of California's electrical generation system and the nation's decaying water infrastructure.