Local Green Innovators Stand to Benefit from Legislation Introduced on Capital Hill
Forest Bradley-Wright sees the light at the end of the tunnel. And its not just because his job involves handing out a lot of energy-efficient light bulbs.
Bradley-Wright, sustainable rebuild coordinator for the Alliance for Affordable Energy is one of dozens of local rebuilding organizers who could receive funding for green job training programs if a piece of legislation introduced yesterday in Washington is passed into law.
Introduced in the U.S. House yesterday afternoon by Representatives Zoe Lofgren (CA) Joseph Cao (LA), Charlie Melancon (LA), Gene Taylor
(MS), John Conyers (MI), Barbara Lee (CA), John Lewis (GA), Peter Stark (CA), and Charlie Rangel (NY), the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act of 2009 in Washington (H.R. 2269) would create 100,000 green living wage jobs and training opportunities for Gulf Coast residents and displaced people to rebuild critical infrastructure, restore natural flood protection and increase energy efficiency. The bill intends to foster direct partnerships between federal officials and local leaders and non-profits like the Alliance that work to promote green development and infrastructure in the region.
If passed into law quickly, the $6.7 billion program could be life support for one of the Alliance’s programs, a job training program that teaches New Orleanians how to insulate houses in an energy-efficient manner. Funding for the program, which came from a post-Katrina Department of Labor National Emergency Grant, runs out at the end of June.
“The bill presents another prospect for funding,” said Bradley-Wright.
The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act was originally introduced nearly two years ago, by Rep. Lofgren. After it failed to pass in 2007, the legislation was cleared from the books. Advocates in the Gulf Coast, however, never forgot about the legislation and spent the past year and a half quietly building a broad and diverse network of grassroots support
“Nonprofit and community groups have been the heroic leaders of the citizen-led Gulf Coast recovery. The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act will efficiently allocate funds for job creation and infrastructure development, two significant recovery needs, by avoiding layers of governmental red tape and dispersing funds directly to the entities, regardless of sector, which are ready to do the work,” said Jainey Bavishi, director of the Equity and Inclusion Campaign, a coalition of organizations working on recovery across Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Bradley-Wright agrees; “In New Orleans, we’ve known, and been saying, for a long time there is a lot of work to be done, and needs to be invested in. It’s good to know they are finally hearing the drumbeat in Washington.”
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