Category Archives: Unemployment

Trawling for Help: Fishing Losses Illustrate Spill’s Effect on Louisiana Seafood Sector

By | Bio | Published: May 24, 2011

How have fishermen been faring since the BP oil disaster? Like so much else along the Gulf Coast, it depends on whom you ask.

On the one hand, there are signs that the outlook for the region’s marine industries is brightening. Revenues have rebounded at many seafood restaurants in New Orleans, and with Memorial Day fast approaching, anglers and boat charterers have been gearing up in earnest for the start of southern Louisiana’s summer fishing rodeos.

On the other hand, when we consider the deep decline in dockside sales that occurred in the immediate aftermath of last year’s spill, we see that the men and women who earn their living catching and processing fish from the Gulf of Mexico face a steep path to economic recovery.

Crab and Shrimp Case Study

The Times-Picayune ran an excellent article last month about how the value and quantity of Louisiana seafood hauls changed during and after the spill. The author of the story, Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, referenced landing data from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF).

Unsurprisingly, Alexander-Bloch found that 2010 was not a banner year for fishing receipts. Comparing last year’s values against those from 2006 through 2009, he noted that 2010 fishing tonnages were lower than the baseline averages from the ’06-’09 reference period. Values declined as well, though the extent of revenue drops varied by seafood type.

We took his analysis a step further and looked at how monthly returns changed after the Deepwater Horizon explosion. We focused on the tonnages and landed values for two of the more valuable species (crab and shrimp) during the nine months after the disaster (May 2010 – January 2011). We would have extended our study further, but we didn’t have data for February 2011 through the present.

Scanning through the graphs, we saw that dockside receipts for crabs and shrimp fell and then rose in the months following the spill. Compared to the May-January average for 2006 – 2009, we found that the cumulative landed value of shrimp ($96, 970, 471) was 28.40% less than the ’06-’09 baseline ($135,439,596). For crab catches, the May ’10 – Jan ’11 total of $22,196,790 was 22.09% less than the ’06-’09 baseline ($28,490,806). You can see how the values compared month-to-month in the below charts.

Sources: Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF); The New Orleans Times-Picayune

What was the reason for the declines? It seems that they stemmed largely from precautionary fishing restrictions implemented by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shortly after the disaster.

The Coast Guard first reported sightings of oil sheen near Louisiana’s coast about a week after the April 20, 2010 explosion of Deepwater Horizon. Several days later, in a move welcomed by the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, NOAA announced that seafood harvesting would halt for ten days in waters that had been severely impacted by the spill. By June, about 88,500 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico had been closed to seafood harvesting.

This no-go fishing zone shrank dramatically after the Macondo well was capped, and shrimp hauls began to climb sharply from their summer low as trawlers returned to the Gulf. Crab catches continued falling for several more months before tonnage numbers reversed course.

Fishing for a Lifeline

Behind these economic losses were lost paychecks, late mortgage payments, and shattered hopes. More than a year after the disaster, promotional boards all along the coast are still struggling to champion their products and maintain the momentum of the seafood sector’s recovery. Lawsuits by local groups and angry grumblings about the pace of payouts betray the real hardship stalking workers in a region that had ridden out the recession pretty well before the spill. Despite the money that’s already been awarded to fisherman and others affected by the spill, there is still plenty of want in the coastal counties and parishes of this region.

That’s why we need to look at ways to generate jobs with long-term potential for residents of the Gulf Coast. One such project could involve putting people to work on restoration initiatives. Many fishermen already take on temporary jobs in other sectors throughout the year, so transitioning to work at home elevation sites or rehabilitated cypress swamps might not be a huge leap for them. Furthermore, these men and women understand the natural habitats of this region, and they could offer invaluable insight on how best to manage freshwater, saltwater, and brackish habitats as the region copes with oil spill recovery and the ongoing floods from the Mississippi River. These efforts would provide workers with an opportunity to protect and preserve their treasured environment for their children and grandchildren.

The Gulf Coast’s fishermen will need support from their state capitals and from Washington to implement policies that will restore damaged coastlines and repair fishing grounds affected by the spill. This complex task could be helped along immensely with Clean Water Act penalties from the companies that harmed the Gulf (and its fishing industry) in the first place.

Shouldn’t our country make every effort to turn this vision into a reality? Makes sense to us.

Also posted in BP, BP Oil Disaster, Deepwater Horizon, Fish, Targeted Jobs | Leave a comment

For Richer? No, for Poorer: Statistics Reveal Post-Spill Slowdown in Coastal Louisiana Job, Wage Growth

By | Bio | Published: April 20, 2011

Source: Flickr (matt coats)

During the run-up to the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, you probably read an article or two detailing the questionable use of BP’s money by elected officials on the Gulf Coast. Sensational stories about county officers rewarding themselves and their cronies with bloated contracts and shiny new gadgets during and after last year's spill appeared in The Washington Post and dozens of other newspapers. 

Should we be surprised or shocked by these revelations?  Show us a disaster, and we will find you egregious examples of profiteering in its wake.  It is naïve to suggest that the BP oil disaster, occurring in a poor region with a troubled history of malfeasance, would have been any different. 

However, it’s equally naïve to assume that things are now hunky-dory for everyone on the Gulf Coast. A year after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, we do not see legions of “spillionaires” sunning themselves on the region’s sandy white beaches.  Instead, we see thousands of dispossessed fishermen, service workers, and everyday people trying hard to make ends meet in a difficult economy.  We see people sweating in ever-longer unemployment lines and find their families avoiding trips to the beach, for fear of scaring youngsters with searing images of tar balls and rotting dolphin carcasses washing ashore. 

Lest you think we’re playing sad violins without statistics to back up our statements, take a look at the latest labor market report for the Mississippi River Delta.  This region bore the brunt of the oil disaster last summer, so it’s instructive to see how things have changed there in recent months.  When we compare workforce statistics from February 2010 against those for February 2011 (the most recent available), we find evidence that things have not improved for the average worker in that section of the spill zone.  

If anything, they’ve gotten worse. 

Trickling Down to Whom? 

Before the Deepwater Horizon explosion, Louisiana’s economy had been performing relatively well, with steady rates of labor participation and healthy wage growth despite the downturn.

Yet between February 2010 and February 2011, the unemployment rate in the nine parishes of the combined New Orleans and Houma Metropolitan Statistical Areas jumped more than one percent, while the national unemployment rate for civilian workers fell by nearly one percent. 

The increase in joblessness was alarming because of its magnitude and its scope. Unemployment rates rose by 0.9% or more in every one of the seven parishes in the New Orleans Metropolitan Area (Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. Tammany). Similar jumps in unemployment were observed in the two parishes of the Houma Metropolitan Area (Lafourche and Terrebonne). 

In Plaquemines Parish, one of the hardest hit sections of coastal Louisiana, the rate of unemployment surged from 5.9% to 8.4% between February 2010 and February 2011, equivalent to a 42.4% jump in the jobless rate. In another wetland parish, St. John the Baptist, the February 2011 unemployment rate (10.5%) stood a full percentage point higher than the national average of 9.5%. 

Changes in parish-level unemployment between February 2010 and February 2011. In the top graph, the two parishes furthest left form the Houma Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), while the remaining seven form the New Orleans MSA. In the bottom graph, increases in unemployment are shown on an inverted scale. Over the twelve-month period, the regional unemployment rate rose nearly 18%, surging from 6.4% to 7.5% (Sources: Louisiana Workforce Commission, U.S. Census Bureau)

We also see that in the energy sector – source of some of the highest paying jobs in the Mississippi River Delta – employment either held steady or dipped slightly in the months after the spill.  The New Orleans Metropolitan Area reported 100 fewer workers in “oil and gas extraction,” with employment falling from 7,600 workers (February 2010) to 7,500 workers (February 2011).  Similarly, in the Houma metropolitan area, the number of people employed in “support activities for mining” (i.e., servicing rigs and fuel facilities) fell from 4,900 in February 2010 to 4,700 one year later. Related sectors such as shipbuilding also have taken a hit, with the number of New Orleans area workers engaged in boat construction falling by 500 (equivalent to 8.3% of the Feb. ’10 workforce) since last winter. 

The weakening job market has been mirrored by a worsening situation on the salary front.  Across much of the nine-parish region, weekly wages for workers have flat-lined since the BP oil disaster.  In the New Orleans metropolitan area, workers’ earnings barely budged between February 2010 and February 2011, with average weekly take-home pay moving from $824.33 to $826.19, an increase of $1.86.  This miniscule growth in average compensation (0.2%) was about 1/10 of the increase in Consumer Price Index (2.1%) over the same period, suggesting that workers’ pay was not keeping pace with inflation. 

These numbers only tell the part of the story for one section of the spill zone.  If we were to examine unemployment (and underemployment) throughout the entire Gulf Coast, we would likely find even more evidence of the deleterious impacts wrought by the Deepwater Horizon disaster and its sticky aftermath.  While the “gusher of money” spewing from BP may have improved the financial situations of a relatively small number of politically connected residents, these broader statistics show that the wealth has not been trickling down to average folks in the region. 

Show Them the Money 

The “spillionaire” articles have prompted much-needed conversations about accountability and public spending in government chambers along the Gulf Coast.  We too believe that strict oversight will be needed to ensure that legal fines, Clean Water Act penalties, and other payments are directed towards efforts that will restore the environment and improve economic conditions for all affected by the spill. 

However, the fact remains that the lingering problems plaguing oil-soaked wetlands and ocean bottoms damaged last year will not be solved without money from the parties that were responsible for this catastrophic event.  We hope that lawmakers across the country will look past the screaming headlines and recognize this salient fact as they debate the fate of those funds in the weeks to come.

Also posted in Analysis, BP, BP Oil Disaster, Deepwater Horizon, Oil Spill | Leave a comment

What Could the Oil Spill Commission Report Mean for Restoration Work in Louisiana?

By | Bio | Published: February 9, 2011

Deep Water ≠ Light Reading: At 380 pages, the Oil Spill Commission report offers an in-depth discussion of the 2010 disaster in the Gulf. One of the challenges facing Congress and the White House in 2011 is how to implement the report's recommendations, including ones that are pertinent to the health and survival of Louisiana's wetlands (Source: Oil Spill Commission)

Shortly after the Oil Spill Commission published its latest report to the President on January 11, the Environmental Defense Fund and seven other non-profits released a statement encouraging Congress to act on one of the report’s key recommendations.

The groups urged the Republican-led House and the Democratic-led Senate to unite behind proposals to direct 80 percent of the Clean Water Act (CWA) penalties assessed on parties responsible for the spill towards Mississippi River Delta restoration.  This theme was soon picked up on other blogs, and its message was echoed in timely editorials published later that week in The New Orleans Times-Picayune, The Economist, and The New York Times.

Given the broad base of local support for Gulf Coast restoration, and the shared opinion that oil spill penalties should support this initiative, it would make sense for a significant portion of the responsible corporations’ CWA fines to go towards rehabilitation of regions affected by the spill.  However, as Louisiana and its neighbors continue along the uneven path towards recovery, the question on many minds is how soon this environmental restoration funding–via CWA fines from BP, Transocean, and/or Halliburton–will translate into economic benefits for the people of the Gulf Coast.

And of those benefits, one could not come soon enough: jobs.

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times

At first glance, the employment issues facing Louisiana might not seem severe. That's because by some metrics, the state is doing far better than its peers.

Louisiana netted 19,200 new non-farm jobs between October 2009 and October 2010, while the United States as a whole eeked out a gain of 35,000 over the same period, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the two years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the commodity and stock price slumps that followed, Louisiana’s unemployment rate has consistently remained below the national average.  In addition, the announcement of new factory openings and impending trade deals last summer was seen as evidence of the Louisiana economy’s resilience to recessionary shocks.

However, when you delve deeper into the numbers, you find that things are far from perfect in the Pelican State.  Especially worrisome are recent developments in Louisiana's employment indicators.  Louisiana was one of only 16 states to report an increase in unemployment between October 2009 and October 2010, and while the national unemployment rate fell slightly from 10.0 percent in November 2009 to 9.8 percent in November 2010, the state's unemployment rate rose from 7.3 percent to 8.2 percent during the 12-month period.  These numbers show that the gap between joblessness in Louisiana and unemployment in the rest of the United States is narrowing. In other words, they suggest that the job market in the Pelican State is worsening at the very moment when the job market of the nation-at-large is improving.

The wetland parishes have not escaped the economic pain.  In the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner metropolitan statistical area – home to most of the Mississippi River Delta’s residents – every one of the seven parishes reported an increase in unemployment between November 2009 and November 2010.  The jobless rate in Orleans Parish surged from 8.1 percent to 9.8 percent, matching the national average.

One of the factors behind the recent uptick in unemployment was the BP oil disaster.  The effects of the Gulf oil spill appear to have been concentrated in the coastal parishes that were impacted earliest (and longest) by subsequent fishery closures and deepwater drilling moratoriums.  These events idled thousands of workers, putting a chill on the economy of southern Louisiana.  While the disaster itself created unexpected windfalls for some residents, many workers, especially those in the fishing and fossil fuel sectors, wonder if a return to pre-spill normalcy is possible now or in the near future.

Problems in Plaquemines Parish

As an example, consider the experience of Plaquemines Parish.  The finger-shaped parish, which includes the southernmost sections of Louisiana, extends into the Gulf of Mexico.  Given its lengthy coastline, the thinly-settled peninsula is economically dependent upon the riches that lie within and beneath its surrounding waters.

In 2009, Plaquemines Parish ranked fourth (behind the more heavily populated Terrebonne, Lafourche, and Jefferson Parishes) in the percentage of state commercial fishing licenses held by its residents.  That year, Plaquemines Parish issued 811 licenses to commercial oystermen and shrimpers, who in turn provided business for dozens of bait shops, restaurants, refueling depots, and repair stations dependent upon the fishing industry.  The parish also was an important supply point for offshore oil platforms, providing hundreds of jobs in catering and transportation for residents of Venice, Pointe à la Hache, and other ports.

Plaquemines Parish was one of the first places where oil from the Deepwater Horizon hit land.  Oil sheen was reported in East Bay and West Bay on May 7, and tar balls began washing ashore near South Pass on May 12, less than a month after the April 20 Macondo well explosion.

In the months that followed, temporary work from the Vessels of Opportunity Program and other cleanup projects helped to reduce the impact of the spill on employment in the parish, while the influx of journalists, spill voyeurs, and others provided steady business for companies situated near the spill zone.  Anecdotal evidence of an unexpected boom in Plaquemines Parish was borne out by ballooning sales tax revenue, which increased 80 percent year-on-year between June 2009 and June 2010.

Leader of the pack: The chart above illustrates the important role that fishing played in the pre-spill economy of Plaquemines Parish (Sources: Louisiana Workforce Commission, Plaquemines Parish Government)

Now the cameras have departed, and with them thousands of media personnel.  Since tourism has not yet rebounded to its pre-spill levels, the motels, hotels and restaurants in Plaquemines Parish are struggling to attract clients.  Besides the service sector, other industries critical to the economy of southern Louisiana – including fishing and energy extraction – remain in tough shape.  The sluggish recovery from the deepwater drilling moratorium has idled dozens of oil industry workers, while oystermen and shrimpers in coastal communities have faced shrinking demand for their catches amid a consumer backlash against Gulf Coast seafood.

Requiem for a bream: Several months after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, this dead fish was photographed in an oil-slicked stream near Pointe à la Hache, the seat of Plaquemines Parish (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Unsurprisingly, the distribution of funds from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) has not been enough to prevent real hardship from stalking the villages and hamlets of Plaquemines Parish, creating a surge of anger and desperation among workers with few alternatives to their pre-spill careers.

What will happen to these people?  What sort of training and development programs could be established to create opportunities for residents of Plaquemines Parish?  And how could these short-term opportunities be structured to improve the long-term health of southeastern Louisiana’s economy? 

The recovery of Plaquemines Parish could be helped along by post-spill legislation and its effect on long-delayed wetland protection projects.  If billions in oil spill penalties are used to expedite environmental rehabilitation in southeastern Louisiana, the swamp could replace the sea as the engine of economic growth in Plaquemines Parish.

The Economic Potential of Environmental Protection

Many of the areas coping with an increase in unemployment are the very places that would benefit most from an expedited program of coastal rehabilitation in southern Louisiana.  As a result of its location along the lowest reaches of the Mississippi River, Plaquemines Parish would be a major site for initiatives to rebuild and restore Louisiana’s deltaic wetlands.

Several of the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) projects authorized by Louisiana’s Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration (OCPR) are sited in Plaquemines Parish.  They include the Medium Diversion at Myrtle Grove, the Medium Diversion at White Ditch, the Barataria Basin Barrier Shoreline Restoration, and the Modification to the Caernarvon Diversion.  These public works projects will restore natural habitats critical to bird populations and aquatic life.  In addition, the wetlands and barrier islands they will create shall serve as natural components of the region’s flood defense system. 

The work will be expensive, but these investments will pay dividends by providing a new lease on life for southeastern Louisiana.  The LCA initiatives, in concert with other plans for coastal restoration and flood protection in southern Louisiana, could create tens of thousands of jobs for people throughout the Pelican State.

Hands-on Work at Hopedale: A construction crew installs flapgated culverts at a hydrologic restoration project site in St. Bernard Parish (Source: Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration)

If we reference the U.S. Army Corps Chief of Engineers’ project cost estimates for the White Ditch Diversion ($91.5 million) and the Barataria Basin Barrier Shoreline Restoration ($248.6 million), and use a jobs/spending ratio of 9.45 full-time equivalent (FTE) job-years per $1 million from our Central Wetlands Unit analysis, we can conservatively estimate that these two projects alone would create (91.5 + 248.6) * 9.45 ≈ 3,214 full-time jobs in Louisiana. If we instead use the respective spending caps (150 percent of projected cost) to estimate the price tag for these initiatives, and reference the Economic Policy Institute’s job/spending ratio of 20.3 FTE job-years per $1 million for environmental work, then we could say that, at the high end, the Barataria Basin Shoreline Restoration and the White Ditch Diversion would generate (1.5 * (91.5 + 248.6)) * 20.3 ≈ 10,356 full-time equivalent positions in Louisiana.  Inevitably, many of these jobs in construction, landscaping, engineering, and project management would go to residents of Plaquemines Parish, creating new opportunities for its 20,000 residents.

Regional leaders recognize that these efforts are important for the future of Plaquemines Parish and its neighbors.  Parish President Billy Nungesser, who was appointed to the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) in 2009, has stated: “Our coastal plan is our economic development plan.  Failure is not an option.”

We agree.  The comprehensive restoration of southern Louisiana’s wetlands will demand consistent input from visiting planners, engineers, and consultants, providing a new client base for the state’s service sector.  Restored wetlands will provide resilient new habitat for aquatic life, improving the health of important fisheries in the Gulf and supporting the long-term recovery of Louisiana’s marine industries.  The flood protection afforded by buffering swamps and marshes will keep communities and infrastructure sheltered from storm surges and floods, allowing southeastern Louisiana to remain an active hub of America’s offshore energy industry.

To us, the case is clear, but the important decisions now lie with Congress and the President.  They have the power to make restoration funding a priority this calendar year. We hope that the House will act soon on recent legislation from Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) to direct Clean Water Act funds towards marsh and swamp restoration on the Gulf Coast.  Failure to move now on post-spill penalties for wetland rehabilitation would be a bad break for Louisiana, its beleaguered environment, and its battered economy.

Also posted in BP Oil Disaster, Deepwater Horizon, Green Jobs, Oil Spill, Regional Economic Development, Targeted Jobs, The White House, Wetlands | 1 Response

The Well Is Dead, But Its Legacy Lingers

By | Bio | Published: September 20, 2010

Six thousand feet under: The Transocean Development Driller II at work on a relief well near the Deepwater Horizon site. After several weeks of boring deep beneath the Gulf, the Transocean driller successfully completed its work this weekend, with the ruptured well plugged at its source. However, challenges remain for the communities and companies that were impacted by the Gulf oil spill (Source: Associated Press)

Early yesterday morning, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (formerly known as the Minerals Management Service) formally declared an end to the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.  Nearly five months to the day after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, and two months after a temporary cap was fitted over the well, pressure tests at the Macondo 252 site confirmed that a cement seal over the well was holding.  These tests indicated that the undersea gusher had been “killed,” meaning there was minimal risk of it spewing more oil and gas into the Gulf of Mexico.

We’re as happy as anyone that the well at the Deepwater Horizon site is no longer posing an immediate danger to the waters and wetlands of southern Louisiana. However, we think it’s premature to say that the BP oil disaster, which released more than 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, has reached its endpoint.  While the well is dead, it has left industries and livelihoods on life support in its wake.  Controversial decisions about drilling moratoriums and fishery closures have engendered fierce debates about the balance between environmental protection and economic activity in this section of America’s Energy Coast.  We feel that there is still a pressing need for BP to work with local officials and community leaders to ensure that a healthy and vibrant ecosystem can coexist with the fossil fuel sector in coastal Louisiana. Because this region is so important to our domestic energy and transport needs, this effort may demand a national commitment to fully support comprehensive restoration of the Gulf Coast.

We aren’t the only ones who share this opinion.  Along with EDF’s coastal Louisiana program, our friends in the organization’s Oceans program have been blogging about the need for sound scientific investigation into the status of the Gulf of Mexico and its marine life.  The editorial board of The New York Times has also weighed in on the subject, and this morning, in an interview with CNN, former Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen stated that cleaning up the Pelican State's marshes and beaches will be a long, drawn-out process.

To effectively deal with the damage from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the people of Louisiana will require input and advice from many stakeholders, including the major oil companies that have operated in their state for decades.  Let’s hope that the death of the Deepwater Horizon well marks the birth of a new phase of honest dialogue and consensus building about safe oil exploration in coastal Louisiana.

Also posted in BP Oil Disaster, Chemicals, Deepwater Horizon, Oil Spill, Wildlife | Leave a comment

Roads, Railways, Runways…and Restoration: The Case for a Swamp Stimulus

By | Bio | Published: September 17, 2010

Highways and bayou-ways: Sections of I-310 span a stretch of cypress swamp near New Orleans International Airport. This spur route of Interstate 10 is part of an extensive transit network that makes coastal Louisiana a hub of transportation and commerce. As Congress debates whether or not to fund proposed renovations to the highways, runways and railways of southern Louisiana, some are left wondering whether the swamps and marshes of this wetland region will get a shot of stimulus as well (Source: HDR Creme (digicam))

As unemployed people across the country marked another unhappy Labor Day on September 6th, the White House announced a set of initiatives aimed at getting some of these jobless Americans back to work.  President Obama asked Congress to approve at least $50 billion in spending for improvements to “roads, railways, and runways.” Speaking to audiences in the recession-battered Rust Belt, the president described the public-works program as a proposal with two goals: renewing America’s worn-out infrastructure and resuscitating its sputtering economy.

Given the fact that 14.9 million people are out of work and millions more are underemployed in their current roles, the bleak jobs picture demands immediate attention from both parties in Washington. A $50 billion investment in conventional infrastructure may (or may not) be enough to kick-start job growth on its own. However, we think that the stimulus proposal weaving its way through Congress would pack a bigger punch if it were coupled with support for a sustainable, labor-intensive sector: wetland restoration.

Along with a program for transportation investment, the Obama Administration and Congress should provide dedicated funding for restoration of coastal wetlands.  These green spaces buffer much of America’s transportation network from storm disruptions by shielding airports, highways, and rail stations from flood damage.  A program to restore these critical components of our "horticultural infrastructure" could breathe new life into the moribund labor market, and should be part of the proposed legislation taking shape in Washington.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

The recent proposal from President Obama calls for the renewal or reconstruction of 150,000 miles of roads, 4,000 miles of railways, and 150 miles of runways during the next six years.  Some of that investment likely will be geared towards the Gulf Coast, which is an important center for freight and passenger transport.

(Click to enlarge) A map of major road, rail, and air facilities in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge metropolitan areas (Source: Port of South Louisiana)

The ports, airfields, highways, and rail facilities of coastal Louisiana are part of a web of transit networks linking New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and other parts of the central Gulf Coast with the rest of the country.  Looking at the 48 contiguous counties from Galveston Bay in Texas to Mobile Bay in Alabama, researchers from the U.S. Department of Transportation noted that the region has 17,000 miles of major highways, four of the top five tonnage ports in the United States (South Louisiana, Houston, Beaumont, and New Orleans) and more than 60 public-use airports.  The region is one of only four places in the United States where railcars between the eastern and western halves of the country can be exchanged.  In addition, important components of the United States’ oil and gas infrastructure, such as Henry Hub, lie in this corridor, which handles nearly two-thirds of all U.S. oil imports.

Most of the central Gulf Coast was formed by sedimentary deposits, and many of its communities sit near (or, in some cases, below) sea level. As such, the region is extremely vulnerable to subsidence and storm-induced floods. Together, these factors leave the central Gulf Coast susceptible to coastal land loss, which further imperils its transit network.

Out of service: After Hurricane Gustav hit Louisiana in September 2008, many railroad crossings in New Orleans, like this one near the Industrial Canal, were submerged under several feet of water (Source: China Day)

As the U.S. Climate Change Science Program noted in a March 2008 report, the continued disappearance of barrier islands, mainland shorelines, and estuarine wetlands in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama leaves onshore transportation facilities in low-lying areas of the central Gulf Coast “more [vulnerable] to inundation and destruction.”  Indeed, with 9% of the region’s roads, 27% of its railways, and 72% percent of its port facilities at elevations lower than four feet above sea level, resilient flood protection must be prioritized to protect the Gulf Coast’s transport infrastructure.

Echoing Majora Carter, Van Jones, Harry Shearer and a bi-partisan coalition of Louisiana politicians, we think that targeted investment in wetland restoration could be an engine for local job creation and an important part of hazard mitigation along the Gulf Coast.  Along with levees, wetlands can and must serve as supplementary buffers against storm surges and other threats to the Gulf Coast’s transportation facilities. In addition, we need frequent risk management assessments that acknowledge the stressors affecting regional transit, address those vulnerabilities, and adapt to changing circumstances like rising sea levels over the coming decades.  After all, what use would new railroads, roadways, and runways serve if they were subject to chronic flooding now and into the future?

How Many Jobs Could Be Generated By A "Swamp Stimulus"?

In an earlier series of posts, we summarized the potential job creation stemming from restoration of the Central Wetlands Unit, calculating that a $72 million dollar plan could create the equivalent of nearly 700 full-time jobs over a 12-year period.  This analysis yielded an employment/spending ratio (jobs per $1 million) of 9.45.

Even if you disregard recent stimulus spending, the federal government annually allocates about $50 billion for highways and transit.  If an additional $5 billion was earmarked for horticultural infrastructure restoration on the central Gulf Coast, this investment could translate into 47,250 full-time jobs.  If we used an even more generous employment/spending ratio of 20.3 jobs per budgeted $1 million from the Economic Policy Institute, the potential employment boost could be the equivalent of 101,500 jobs.

Will wetland protection alone solve America’s unemployment crisis? No. But a strategy that marries transit investment and coastal restoration could be a great (and green) way to improve our infrastructure and create desperately-needed jobs.

Also posted in Congress, Flood Protection, Stimulus, Storms, Targeted Jobs, The White House | Leave a comment

Events: $20 Billion Compensation Fund Begins Distributing Money to BP Oil Disaster Claimants, August 23

By | Bio | Published: August 23, 2010

Residents of coastal Louisiana whose livelihoods were directly affected by the BP spill can now file claims for damages through the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF), a $20 billion compensation fund that opened for business earlier this morning.

After administering the $7 billion Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund, Kenneth Feinberg has been assigned the role of reviewing billions of dollars' worth of economic claims from victims of the BP oil disaster. Funding has been provided by the energy company to cover losses sustained in fishing, tourism and other industries critical to the economy of coastal Louisiana.

Compensation and Controversy

However, the claims come with a catch. For the next six months, people claiming emergency payments will also be able to sue BP in the future. Beyond that six month window, claimants will forfeit their right to file suits against the company, a caveat that has raised alarm bells up and down the Gulf Coast.

Thirty-five offices have been set up from Texas to Florida to deal with the flood of claims expected. To learn more about the program, visit the compensation fund’s website or e-mail info@gccf-claims.com. If you would like to talk with someone from the fund, or submit your questions by fax, please call 1-800-916-4893 to speak with a representative, or 1-866-682-1772 to fax in your information.

Also posted in BP Oil Disaster, Events, Oil Spill | Leave a comment

Where Oil and Water Once Mixed: The Historic Balance Between Fish and Fuel in Coastal Louisiana’s Economy

By | Bio | Published: June 24, 2010

Logo of the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival. The annual event, held in Morgan City each summer, is scheduled to go on this year, regardless of whether or not the spill has been contained (Source: The Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival)

To Americans living far from the Gulf Coast, it might seem mind-boggling that lawmakers there would be clamoring for the six-month moratorium on offshore drilling to end. After all, each day for the past two months, as many as 4.2 million gallons of sweet crude have been gushing from the broken riser of Deepwater Horizon, sullying the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The treasured wetlands of Louisiana and white-sand beaches of nearby states are now awash with tar balls and mats of oil. About a third of the Gulf of Mexico has been closed to fishing since the beginning of the month.

Yet it was a federal judge in New Orleans who ruled Tuesday to repeal the drilling freeze, prompting immediate calls for a legal appeal by the White House and national environmental groups. It begs the question, why do outsiders see the issue so differently from those most directly affected by the oil spill?

Crawfish and Crude Oil

It has a lot to do with Louisiana’s long and complicated history of living with oil and water. Like engineers of some otherworldly gumbo, residents of southern Louisiana communities have cobbled together livelihoods based on crawfish and crude oil for the better part of a century. They have celebrated the wealth that fish and fossil fuels have brought to the wetland parishes, transforming a region once known for poor, backwater communities into an economic engine for Louisiana. This is the state that has hosted an annual shrimp and petroleum festival for seventy-five years, a land in which families have sent their sons to oil platforms and shrimp trawlers in equal measure for generations.

Now, the Deepwater Horizon disaster threatens both the energy and seafood industries like nothing before. The moratorium on fishing in the Gulf, coupled with the moratorium on drilling in the Gulf, have plunged the economy into chaos. Where there were once active fishing docks, boats now idle under the summer sun. Coastal communities that once catered to the needs of offshore rigs have seen businesses fold, and local tax revenues have taken a hit at a time when Baton Rouge has instituted sharp cutbacks in state spending.

(Click to enlarge) A map of the Gulf Coast by Matthew Baker, a California-based geographer. The red dots denote active oil drilling sites, the purple dot shows the site of Deepwater Horizon, and the brown shading illustrates the growth of the oil slick up to May 26 (Source: Flickr (blackpool_esri)).

To get a sense of how important fossil fuels have been to the economy of coastal Louisiana, take a look at the map (at left) of the Gulf Coast. No fewer than 3,700 drilling platforms dot the waters off Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. These rigs, which dominate the view from the shore, are connected to miles of undersea pipelines. Thousands of people work in difficult conditions every day to keep the system functioning.

Communities have not tethered themselves to the energy sector for no reason. Indeed, some have argued that Louisiana has paid a high price (in terms of environmental damage and public health outcomes) because of its fuel-intensive economy. Rather, Louisianans have worked on drilling rigs, in oil refineries and at pipeline facilities because of the huge demand for fossil fuels from people across the United States. That’s right folks, your virtually inexhaustible need for petroleum, natural gas, and petrochemicals (illustrated to fantastic effect in a chart (below right) from The Guardian) has nurtured and maintained the web of energy facilities enveloping the Gulf Coast.

A Muddled Outlook on the Future

(Click to enlarge) The chart above illustrates average daily oil consumption in 2009. Note that the United States uses more than twice as much oil each day as its nearest competitor, China (Sources: BP Statistical Review of World Energy; The Guardian)

Up until the spill, it seemed like the combination of oil and water would continue to deliver for Louisiana. The state economy, while not flying high, was not stagnating through the recession either, buoyed by steady demand for energy products and the increasing popularity of Louisiana-style seafood outside the Pelican State. Indeed, the Houma, LA metropolitan area, a major center for oil rig maintenance and fishing, registered the lowest unemployment rate in the nation (3.65%) in February 2009.

However, this “salad dressing” solution to Louisiana’s economic troubles has been shaken, stirred and upended by the explosion of Deepwater Horizon and the subsequent spill. As the harsh new reality of an oiled coast sinks in, Louisianans are facing the dilemma of questioning the oil/water balance that has defined their state for so long.

Also posted in BP Oil Disaster, Deepwater Horizon, Fish, Oil Spill | 4 Responses

Could the BP Spill Pave the Way for Green Jobs and a Sustainable Economy on the Gulf Coast?

By | Published: June 23, 2010

President Obama addresses local concerns about the effects of the Deepwater Horizon spill on fishing, drilling, and tourism in a meeting last week in Mississippi (Source: Reuters)

As oil continues to leak in the Gulf of Mexico, coastal Louisiana’s economy gets steadily worse by the day. Fishing closures are devastating the Pelican State’s seafood industry, while a controversial moratorium on drilling is taking its own toll on the Louisiana workforce.  Combined with the broader economic slowdown and its chilling effect on the labor market, this environmental disaster could trigger economic depression in the wetland parishes, especially if deficit reduction measures like cutting aid to the unemployed take precedence over sustained recovery investment on the Gulf Coast.

Economists like Paul Krugman have argued that curtailing much needed aid to the jobless will aggravate an already significant economic crisis. That's why we think the Gulf oil spill offers an unprecedented opportunity for President Obama to implement an idea he's been talking about since the campaign trail: an expansive green jobs program. In establishing one for the central Gulf Coast, the federal government could offer a hand-up, rather than simply a hand-out, to communities near the spill zone.

A Benenson Strategy Group poll of Americans confirmed that 63% of those surveyed favored a strong climate bill limiting pollution and fossil fuel emissions. Such legislation could be instrumental in securing new funding for restoration of wetlands and other areas that naturally sequester carbon.  The explosion of Deepwater Horizon and the oil spill that followed are admittedly tragic, but they may also serve as a turning point for the way business is done on the Gulf Coast. This will be especially true if they trigger significant investment in wildlife recovery and wetland rehabilitation in addition to more traditional green-collar sectors like weatherization.

According to estimates from the EPA, the proposed American Power Act could save the economy up to $312 billion dollars while also creating 540,000 new jobs over the next 20 years. If the government uses a portion of the funding in that legislation, along with some of the $20 billion set aside for BP spill relief, to create green, sustainable jobs in places like coastal Louisiana, it could go a long way towards helping the embattled ecosystem and economy of the Gulf Coast.

In some ways, we’re witnessing a repeat of what we saw after Katrina. Then, as now, people across the nation demanded movement towards definitive and responsible action on environmental issues, but after the telethons and public service announcements ended, motivation ebbed and support waned. What matters now is whether the administration can channel public demand for climate legislation and environmental remediation towards delivering a green “New Deal” to people impacted by the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Also posted in BP, BP Oil Disaster, Deepwater Horizon, Green Jobs, Oil Spill, Stimulus | 2 Responses

Could an Urban “Jobs Surge” Boost Storm Surge Protection for Coastal Cities?

By | Bio | Published: March 29, 2010

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Spring has barely sprung, but thoughts have already turned to what millions of young Americans will do this summer. High school and college-aged students could once look forward to spending their lazy, hazy vacation days working as camp counselors or doing temp work at restaurants, farms, and local small businesses. But as the recession drags on, more and more middle-aged people are competing for these positions. As a result, it’s likely that the teenage unemployment rate, already at a three-decade high, will remain elevated again this summer.

Though this problem cuts across racial and geographic lines, it is particularly acute in America’s cities and its minority communities, which are already wrestling with joblessness at levels well-above the national average. To fight this, a former mayor of New Orleans has now asked for a “jobs surge” in hard-hit urban centers to combat youth unemployment. (Funny enough, it echoes an idea we mentioned last month here on "Restoration and Resilience"). We think that this strategy should involve wetland restoration projects that will protect cities against storm surges and other natural hazards.

The Summer Jobs Surge

(Click to enlarge) 2009 average unemployment by racial background in the United States (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

In a report released last Wednesday, National Urban League President (NUL) Marc Morial, who led New Orleans from 1994 to 2002, asked the Obama Administration to devote $5 to $7 billion to an expansion of youth summer job programs. NUL estimates that this expansion could provide up to five million jobs for teenagers this summer.

Conservation work in urban wetlands would be a natural fit for a more comprehensive summer jobs program. As we’ve begun showing in our analysis of the Central Wetlands Unit restoration, employment opportunities could be available for people with little education and few advanced skills. A “jobs surge” in coastal restoration and marsh rehabilitation could provide employment for young people and protection of vulnerable infrastructure in their neighborhoods.

Not Just for New Orleans

The benefits would not just be limited to communities in coastal Louisiana. Two of the country’s five largest cities – New York and Houston – lie in the zone of Atlantic hurricane landfalls. In these areas, restored wetlands could provide valuable services like storm surge protection, carbon sequestration, and wastewater treatment.

Map of Jamaica Bay and surrounding neighborhoods in New York City (Source: Department of City Planning, New York City)

Already, Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York has allocated $115 million for rehabilitation of Jamaica Bay, a wetland area just south of John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport, one of the nation’s busiest. Jamaica Bay is an important habitat for migratory birds along the Atlantic Flyway, and provides a storm surge buffer for JFK and nearby neighborhoods like Canarsie and Howard Beach. New York City should work with organizations involved in its Department of Youth and Community Development's Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) to get teenagers from Brooklyn, Queens, and other boroughs involved in this restoration work. In a similar way, wetlands near other urban centers could be targeted for investment and summer jobs programs.

Let's hope lawmakers act fast. Otherwise, the only program coming this June to a couch near you will be a re-run of the young and the listless.

Also posted in Flood Protection, Storms, Targeted Jobs | Leave a comment

Is It Patriotic to Prop Up Your Home?

By | Bio | Published: March 15, 2010

Source: Capitol City Scaffolding & Equipment Company, Inc.

Apparently, yes. Based on a new report from the Home Performance Resource Center, home elevation and weatherization are more American than apple pie.

Or at the very least, the apples.

As noted Friday on The New York Times blog “Green Inc.”, researchers from the consulting firm Newport Partners found that a remarkably high percentage of the inputs for domestic home weatherization are produced in the United States. Using data from the 2007 Economic Census, the authors found that more than 90% of the duct sheet metal (99.4%), vinyl windows (98.4%), caulking (95.7%), and attic insulation (93.7%) used in the United States were manufactured domestically. That same year, only 91% of the apples consumed in the U.S. were grown here.

We’re not trying to take the comparison between apples and orange insulation too far, but the point remains that when it comes to home efficiency materials, “Buy American” isn’t so much a rallying cry for beleaguered manufacturers as it is a description of the status quo.

Source: Home Performance Resource Center

Given the potential synergies between home efficiency repairs and home elevation (something we’ve mentioned before on our blog), a campaign to benefit construction and bolster household resilience could also boost jobs in domestic manufacturing.

With more than one out of every fourteen Louisiana jobs in the manufacturing sector, this work would provide a stimulus for both installation contractors and industrial companies in the Pelican State. It’s all the more reason why the proposed HOME STAR program should take the logical step of including home elevation within eligible activities for weatherization grants.

Wouldn’t that be something to celebrate this Fourth of July?

Also posted in Flood Protection, Stimulus, Weatherization | 1 Response