0:00

Today in Science from Wired. Everyone's

0:05

talking about Ai right now. You might feel

0:08

overwhelmed with the constant barrage of information, but

0:10

you don't want to get left behind if

0:12

you're curious about Ai and one to understand

0:14

how to implement it the next wave as

0:16

the podcast for you. The. Next wave

0:18

is your ondemand chief Ai officer giving

0:20

you the latest trends, actionable, take away

0:22

his and guidance on implementing a I

0:24

in your world. Each. Week Matt Wolf

0:27

and Nathan Lands share their insides on

0:29

a I for business leaders and introduce

0:31

other key players in the Ai space.

0:33

The Next Wave offers data backed insights

0:35

from thought leaders across industries and simple,

0:37

easy to use practical advice on how

0:39

to implement. day I subscribed to the

0:41

Next Wave. Wherever you get your podcasts,

0:44

Hey. Hey there! Did you know Kroger

0:46

always gives you savings and rewards on top

0:48

of our lower than low prices? And

0:50

when you download the Kroger app, you'll enjoy

0:53

over $500 in savings every week with

0:55

digital coupons. And don't forget fuel points to

0:57

help you save up to $1 per

1:00

gallon at the pump. Wanna. Want to save even

1:02

more? With a boost membership, you'll get double

1:04

fuel points and free delivery. So shop and

1:06

save big at Kroger today! Kroger.

1:08

Kroger, fresh for everyone. Savings may

1:10

vary by state. Restrictions apply. See

1:12

site for details. Us.

1:14

Infrastructure is broken. Here's an eight hundred

1:17

thirty million dollar plan to fix it.

1:19

Wired. Spoke with Us Transportation Secretary P.

1:21

Buddha Judge about recent grants to fix

1:23

ancient roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure

1:26

before it's too late. By. Matt

1:28

Simon. There.

1:30

Is one word that will get any

1:32

American fuming regardless of their political inclination.

1:35

Infrastructure. Pothole. Parked

1:37

roads, creaky bridges, and half baked

1:39

public transportation bind Us National A

1:41

Like the little else can. And.

1:44

That was before climate changes, coastal flooding,

1:46

extreme heat, and supercharged wildfires came around

1:49

to make things even worse. Us.

1:52

Infrastructure was designed for the climate we

1:54

enjoyed Fifty Seventy Five even one hundred

1:56

years ago. Much. Of it

1:58

simply isn't holding up and the injuring

2:00

lives in snapping supply chains. To.

2:03

Bring all those roads, railways, bridges,

2:05

and whole cities into the modern

2:07

era! The Biden Harris administration last

2:09

week announced almost eight hundred thirty

2:11

million dollars in grants through Twenty

2:14

Twenty One's Bi Infrastructure Law. The.

2:16

Long list of projects includes improved

2:18

evacuation routes in Alaska, a new

2:21

bridge in Montana, restored wetlands and

2:23

Pennsylvania, and a whole bunch of

2:25

retrofits in between. We

2:27

know that if we want to build

2:29

infrastructure that lasts for the next fifty or

2:32

one hundred years, it's got to look

2:34

different than the last fifty or one

2:36

hundred years says Us Transportation Secretary people

2:38

to judge. Wired. Sat

2:40

down with Budaj to talk about the

2:42

bipartisan appeal of infrastructure utilizing nature instead

2:44

of fighting it and the irresistible triple

2:46

pay off of getting people out of

2:49

cars and into buses and trains. The.

2:51

Conversation has been edited and condensed

2:53

for clarity. First. Question.

2:56

The. United States is a very diverse place,

2:59

climate wise. We've got all

3:01

these deserts in extreme heat, coastlines

3:03

and sea level rise, and increasingly

3:05

extreme rainfall. How. Does this

3:07

new funding go toward managing all that?

3:10

Secretary. Buddha judges Response: While.

3:13

Every part of the country is different.

3:15

Every part of the country sees transportation

3:17

systems impacted by the climates and other

3:19

threats. It. Can be wildfires, A

3:21

Can be floods, sea level rise,

3:23

mudslides, droughts, or even earthquakes. All

3:26

of these things can impact the durability

3:28

of our transportation systems, and many of

3:30

these things are getting more extreme. Next.

3:33

Question One of the more counter

3:35

intuitive consequences to climate change is

3:37

heavier rainfall. A lot of

3:39

this funding is going toward retrofitting infrastructure to

3:42

adapt to those sorts of deluge. is. What?

3:44

Are the options? Buddha judge said

3:47

in Cincinnati, for example where shoring up

3:49

retaining walls and actually installing sensors in

3:51

hills to get ahead of an issue

3:53

where a hillside caused by intense rainfall

3:56

could impact a wrote. In.

3:58

West Memphis We're investing in. Burrow

4:00

infrastructure. What's. Interesting about that case

4:02

is it's not actually the road itself.

4:05

We're investing in the wetlands around the

4:07

road to make flooding less likely. That's.

4:09

Part of how we protect supply chains that run

4:11

along. I fifty five and I forty. And.

4:14

Then sometimes you're facing a one

4:16

two punch. In Colorado. for example,

4:18

I seventy was impacted by a

4:20

combination of fires and floods. A.

4:22

Wildfire will come through middle, undermine the

4:24

trees and route structures that hold soil

4:27

together. It'll be followed by a flood.

4:29

And then you'll be more likely to have a

4:31

mudslide which took out I seventy for an extended

4:33

amount of time a few years ago. So.

4:36

We're seeing that a lot of times. something

4:38

that as a former mayor I think about

4:40

a lot which is just the struggle against

4:42

water in the wrong places. It's. Certainly

4:44

a big part of what we have to deal

4:46

with in our transportation systems. What?

4:49

Makes nature a powerful partner here. Both.

4:51

Outside of cities as you mentioned,

4:53

wetlands being able to absorb floodwaters

4:55

and rising seas. But. Even within

4:57

cities like more, green space has been

4:59

good for reducing urban temperatures. A.

5:02

Lot of times we can incorporate natural

5:04

infrastructure into the life of the city

5:06

or the way our land use works.

5:08

And there's a real when when some

5:11

of our grants are helping with he'd

5:13

islands, for example, the California city of

5:15

Davis were were helping them effectively reimagine

5:17

the substance and the technologies around their

5:19

pavements. There. Are ways to have

5:21

cooler pavement that helps mitigate against that. From.

5:24

The days of canals, we've always

5:26

kind of mixed nature and artificial

5:28

construction to get results. In terms

5:30

of transportation, The. Smarter and more

5:32

flexible we are the better the results and the

5:34

more durable the results are going to be. Next.

5:38

Question. In what ways does

5:40

preparing for climate change in cities actually

5:42

provide opportunities to improve infrastructure and public

5:44

health? For. Instance: getting people out

5:46

of cars and into buses and trains

5:48

instead. Buddha. Judges Response:

5:51

Any. We can support active transportation or

5:53

public transit. There is a triple pay

5:56

off. There. Is an economic when a

5:58

safety when and health and invite. Mental

6:00

when. Because. These are modes

6:02

of transportation that are associated with better

6:04

public health. Whether. We're talking about

6:06

the health benefits that come directly from active

6:09

transportation or just the fact of cleaner air.

6:11

And we have more and more data now

6:14

about the impacts of air quality and how

6:16

that affects things like childhood asthma, which is

6:18

why we're funding everything from greener shipping imports

6:20

to things like bike lanes. Next.

6:23

Question: A lot of this funding is

6:26

going toward improving evacuation routes. What?

6:28

Does that say about how bad the effects

6:30

of climate change already are? How

6:32

bad is the Federal government expecting things

6:34

to get if we're investing heavily in

6:36

these options? Secretary. Buddha

6:38

Judge said what I've seen in places

6:40

ranging from Maui, the Kentucky is that

6:42

we need to make sure that those

6:45

kinds of roots are there when people

6:47

need them. And. It's also a

6:49

reminder that climate change is not an

6:51

academic exercise, nor is the reality of

6:53

it debatable anymore. There's. All kinds

6:55

of debates on what to do to stop

6:58

it from getting worse, which is another very

7:00

active area of investments here, but we also

7:02

simply have to deal with what's upon us

7:04

right now and recognize that a road designed

7:07

fifty years ago my not be the right

7:09

design for today's climate. Final:

7:11

Question. It. Doesn't matter if you're

7:14

on the coast or England in the

7:16

Us, we've all got infrastructure that's vulnerable.

7:18

Does. That give this sort of funding

7:20

bipartisan appeal. There. Can be.

7:23

I've noticed that even those who are not with

7:25

us in Congress to get this funding set up.

7:27

Are still advocating for it to come to

7:29

their states. And. Yeah, it has a

7:32

very unifying effects in terms of the threat

7:34

we all face in the resilience needs we

7:36

all share. I think about the

7:38

heat waves in the Pacific Northwest a couple

7:40

of years ago that should have been statistically

7:42

impossible, and they wound up leading to shut

7:44

downs of transit because cables were literally at

7:46

risk of melting. I. Think about

7:48

the project we're doing. Tell evade the

7:50

causeway in Miami Beach that's getting swamped

7:53

by rising sea levels. You're. Talking

7:55

about literally the opposite corners of the

7:57

continental Us united by the reality that.

8:00

Transportation infrastructure needs to adapt.

8:03

Thanks. For listening to Wired my name is

8:06

he grab a sin And for more stories

8:08

like this one, visit usatwire.com. Like

8:11

what you learned. Subscribe everywhere

8:13

you listen to podcasts and

8:15

get more science news at

8:18

wire.com/science. As.

8:25

A long time foreign correspondent, I've

8:27

worked in lots of places that

8:29

know is important to the world

8:31

as China. I'm. Jane Perlez,

8:33

former Beijing Bureau Chief of The

8:35

New York Times. Join me

8:37

on my new podcast Say Sauce

8:39

Us vs China where I'll take

8:42

you behind the scenes in the

8:44

tumultuous Us China relationship. Signed.

8:47

Say sauce whereas you get your. Podcasts,