From a March 8 Army Corps of Engineers ports report: “Focus: How Congress should address critical need for additional port and inland waterway modernization to accommodate post-Panamax vessels.”
From the 2009 America’s Ports and Intermodal Transportation System by the U.S. Maritime Administration: “Given the complexity and size of the nation’s infrastructure requirements, the Maritime Administration believes that a coordinated development approach will help ensure that the U.S. port system can effectively and efficiently respond to the challenges of future growth in freight shipments in the coming years and support the nation’s economic and security needs.”
From Australia’s 2010 National Ports Strategy Report: “Australia needs a nationally coordinated approach to the future development and planning of Australia’s port and freight infrastructure.
From last week’s AJC ‘Port Wars’ series
Don Sweeney, a former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers economist: “If you wanted to come out with what’s best for the national economy, you’d have the corps do a multiregional, multiport study to actually identify the best bang for the taxpayer dollar.”
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.: “We’re trying to create a merit-based system where ports can make their case for funding that’s not based on the politics of the Obama administration or parochial politics.”
On the Port of Charleston: “It’s very safe to say that Lindsey Graham’s primary focus is giving Charleston the best chance she can to survive.”
Alan Essig, executive director of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute: “It’s a new world in Washington and projects like this aren’t as, quote-unquote, easy as they were in the past. . . . But this project is not just about the impact on Georgia. It has regional significance.”
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., in the AJC: “The big money will come,” he predicted. “We’ll be fully funded and it will be done in four years, the time it takes to do the dredging.”
Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan budget watchdog group: “We call it a race to the bottom.
“We have to come up with a rational and responsible approach to navigating the infrastructure needs in this country. We’re well past the time to just build whatever anybody wants.”
