skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Groups Say FL Coasts Need Federal Dollars to Mitigate Storm Impacts

play audio
Play

Tuesday, June 29, 2021   

TAMPA, Fla. -- Environmental groups are urging federal lawmakers to allocate $10 billion in the upcoming infrastructure package for coastal restoration projects to prevent flooding and bolster the economy.

The move would have a big impact on Florida, where tidal flooding has increased by 352% since 2000.

More than 100 groups have signed a letter in support of funding for coastal projects in the American Jobs Plan.

Jean Flemma, director of the Ocean Defense Initiative and co-founder of the Urban Ocean, noted Florida is an area that needs these projects to start now.

"Florida is 'ground zero' for sea-level rise, and storms that are increasing in intensity and severity," Flemma stated. "Implementing coastal-restoration projects that provide that natural buffer against storms and rising seas will be incredibly important."

A University of California-Santa Cruz report found Florida mangroves prevented $1.5 billion worth of flood damage during Hurricane Irma in 2017.

Flemma pointed out 18 of the 34 coastal states have identified more than $6 billion worth of projects they would undertake if they had the funding.

Projects would also create jobs in a wide range of industries, Flemma explained.

"Everything from engineers, to work in shoreline stabilization, marine debris removal, even landscape architects, and people that are going to actually go in and do the work, planting seagrass or restoring a wetland," Flemma outlined.

Coastal-restoration projects backed by stimulus money created around 15 jobs for every million dollars of investment, according to a 2017 analysis from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Nicolas Lama, youth leadership council member for EarthEcho International, said it is vital to bolster coastal resilience efforts in Florida, not only to create jobs, but to mitigate climate change.

"The reality of the climate crisis in our state is, it's not some far away issue, it's one that Congress needs to take action on now," Lama asserted. "We stand to lose so much from climate change here in Florida. And young Floridians like myself are worried about the future of our state."

According to NOAA, there were a record-breaking 30 named storms in the 2020 hurricane season, 14 of which became hurricanes.

Disclosure: Ocean Defense Initiative contributes to our fund for reporting on Oceans. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021