Our problems require our solutions

The idea that challenges will resolve themselves in the long run is a comforting one.

And sometimes it seems plausible.

Even though the state legislature voted this year to advance a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, there’s hope that equal marriage rights will be instituted on a national level in the near future.

The distress of losing a single legislative battle is therefore mitigated by the promise of an imminent reversal.

On other occasions, however, it would be irresponsible to deny that we alone are responsible for creating the society we want to enjoy.

Two ongoing infrastructure projects question whether Indiana is doing enough to plan a successful future.

The construction of I-69 between Evansville and Indianapolis has attracted substantial attention and criticism for years.

According to Indiana Economic Digest, the construction of the segment from Indianapolis to Martinsville alone will cost an estimated $1.3 billion.

That adds up to several billion dollars that will not be spent to create 21st century forms of transportation.

To be sure, high-speed rail is expensive: California’s extensive plan was projected to cost $43 billion.

But if Indiana had saved a few billion dollars for rail construction in lieu of constructing another highway, the state would have provided an initial investment toward having a smaller public transit system of our own.

Additionally, plans to build a new coal gasification plant in southwestern Rockport, Ind., have prompted a negative response from environmental groups.

Concerned local residents and environmentalists are skeptical of the plant owner’s claims that the gasifaction process will render high-sulfur coal, a truly clean product.

While some see the proposed coal plant as a solution to a region’s unemployment problem, we would do well to keep in mind the alternative of creating many other jobs in far cleaner forms of energy generation.

The Huffington Post recently labeled Indiana the second “least green” state in the United States.

This unglamorous distinction suggests the time has arrived to phase out our reliance on coal for energy generation.

The most sensible path is shifting to renewable sources of energy that currently generate a mere 0.7 percent of the power our state consumes.

These two examples illustrate that our responsibility to take the best course of action is especially great when it comes to infrastructure.

Transportation and energy generation projects last decades, divert funds from other projects and have broad impacts on the way we live.

They are too important to leave to chance.  

­— wallacen@indiana.edu