{"id":339887,"date":"2010-02-19T11:02:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-19T16:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/restorationandresilience\/?p=100"},"modified":"2010-02-19T11:02:00","modified_gmt":"2010-02-19T16:02:00","slug":"fighting-back-a-wave-of-unemployment-coastal-louisiana-needs-federally-funded-restoration-jobs-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/339887","title":{"rendered":"Fighting Back a Wave of Unemployment: Coastal Louisiana Needs Federally-Funded Restoration Jobs Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unlike storm surges\u00a0and hurricanes\u00a0in the state's\u00a0recent past, the rising tide of joblessness\u00a0sweeping through coastal Louisiana<\/a> is not a natural disaster. Nonetheless,\u00a0the effects of this crisis\u00a0are equally pervasive, and its resolution demands equally urgent\u00a0attention at the state and federal levels. At Restoration and Resilience, we believe that cutting unemployment and curbing wetland loss are complementary strategies for southern Louisiana. To that end, we strongly urge framers of the impending Congressional jobs bill<\/a> to include substantial grants for restoration projects in coastal Louisiana.<\/p>\n

Nearly five years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,\u00a0Louisiana is \u201cfortunate\u201d to post a state unemployment rate, at 7.2% in December 2009<\/a><\/span>, that is far lower than the national average of 9.7%. However, this statistic ignores widespread reductions in Louisiana workers\u2019 hours<\/strong>, which have cut take home pay for\u00a0many households. In addition, as post-Katrina federal funding runs out, there are indications that impending budget cuts<\/a> at the municipal and state levels will translate into higher rates of joblessness in coastal Louisiana. Taken together, these cutbacks, along with a pronounced slowdown in post-Katrina reconstruction, have contributed to rising unemployment in southern Louisiana.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Unemployment<\/a><\/p>\n

Unemployment in Louisiana’s metropolitan areas, Fall 2009 (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Despite indications that the national unemployment rate is finally falling<\/a>, the rate of joblessness in Louisiana remains on the upswing<\/strong>. In all\u00a0eight of the state\u2019s metropolitan areas, unemployment rose by half-a-percentage point or more between November and December 2009.<\/p>\n

Coupled with the continued erosion of Louisiana\u2019s coastal marshes at a pace of 1-3 square miles a month, the state\u2019s economic (and ecological) challenges demand attention from a targeted jobs program in coastal protection<\/strong>. While we applaud the Obama Administration for including $35.6 million for Louisiana wetland projects in the FY 2011 budget<\/a>, we believe that substantially more funding is needed to implement the sort of comprehensive restoration program that will generate jobs now.<\/p>\n

CWPPRA projects<\/a> lingering in the engineering and design phase could be expedited with targeted money to supplement state funding. For example, construction of box culverts, collecting ponds, and sediment channels in the proposed Maurepas Swamp restoration<\/a> could potentially generate hundreds of jobs<\/strong> for builders, machinery operators, and sub-contractors in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans metropolitan areas. In addition, reforestation of\u00a0the estimated 36,000 acres of restored\u00a0marsh could employ dozens more. Inclusion of restoration projects like Maurepas Swamp in the Build America Bonds (BABs) program<\/a> could be one step towards expediting funding for wetland protection and job creation.<\/p>\n

Jobs were the centerpiece of the President\u2019s State of the Union address<\/a>, and they have become the center plank of both Republican and Democratic campaigns<\/a> in this election year. Representatives from both parties should come together to support a jobs campaign that prioritizes work in sustainable sectors like coastal restoration. This work will help to reduce the rate of joblessness in Louisiana, and bolster the state\u2019s defenses against natural\u00a0disasters\u00a0for\u00a0years to come.<\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unlike storm surges\u00a0and hurricanes\u00a0in the state's\u00a0recent past, the rising tide of joblessness\u00a0sweeping through coastal Louisiana is not a natural disaster. Nonetheless,\u00a0the effects of this crisis\u00a0are equally pervasive, and its resolution demands equally urgent\u00a0attention at the state and federal levels. At Restoration and Resilience, we believe that cutting unemployment and curbing wetland loss are complementary strategies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4273,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-339887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4273"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339887\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}