Decades of neglect and underinvestment in our infrastructure have left the links in our goods movement supply chains struggling to keep up with the rapid and persistent increase in goods movement that the pandemic has generated. Further, extreme heat waves, catastrophic wildfires, and severe drought are taking American lives and livelihoods. In the last year alone, extreme weather has cost America more than $100 billion—often hitting historically underserved groups the hardest, particularly low-income communities, communities of color, and people with disabilities.
Despite global disruptions due to the pandemic, America is moving record numbers of goods from our ports to shelves and homes. The Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, for example, which import 40% of all containerized imports into the country—are handling the most in their history, 17% more than their previous record year.
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