Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Lawyer & Attorney : Erich P. Rapp : Kean Miller Law Firm : Serving New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Louisiana

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The State of Louisiana should view the current economic crisis as an opportunity to encourage the federal government to dramatically increase funding for coastal wetland restoration in Louisiana. Now that the federal government has done the heavy lifting on credit market and financial system stabilization, the feds will need to begin to prepare their response to the difficult economic times that  will likely follow in 2009 including a likely increase in unemployment. Regardless of whether the financial markets now stabilize, difficult economic times are likely to set in down Main St. USA for the next year or perhaps longer. 

One method of economic stimulation would be creation of a federal program to undertake 1930's WPA(1) type projects addressing environmental problems like climate change, rising sea level, loss of wetlands, ocean dead zones, etc...,  One of the most important and pressing problems that such a federal program might address is coastal land loss in Louisiana. 

The injection of those dollars into the economy would be a stimulant for business activity.  By addressing environmental problems, It would also accomplish economic and social good. The current economic crisis is not an obstacle to funding for Louisiana coastal restoration. It is instead an opportunity not to be missed.

Erich P Rapp. 

(1) The WPA was the Works Progress Administration (1935) later renamed Work Projects Administration (1939). It was a New Deal era federal program to hire workers to undertake public work projects as an economic stimulus among other purposes.