Jobs, Restoration and Resilience for the 21st Century

• National Wildlife Federation
• Apr 15, 2021

Over ten million Americans are unemployed, scientists warn that we stand to lose 30 percent of our wildlife, and climate change fuels escalating fires in the West and hurricanes in the Gulf and eastern coast. We have an urgent need – and opportunity – to put more Americans to work in meaningful jobs to tackle these issues head on.

Investing roughly $200 billion in restoring our natural systems and bolstering climate resilience over five years would put more than 3.5 million Americans to work. Investments in restoration and resilience create more jobs per dollar because the work is labor intensive. A robust initiative to restore wildlife habitat, make our air and water cleaner, and communities safer can serve as a workplan for a new 21st century Civilian Conservation Corps. And land and water restoration can serve as an important part of a bipartisan blueprint to take on climate change.