Unemployment among America’s young people is unacceptable, particularly among recent high school, college and postgraduate graduates. We risk losing a generation if they cannot find meaningful employment. Many explanations are offered: artificial intelligence replacing workers, jobs moving offshore and changes brought about by the Internet.
But another problem receives far less attention: America has important work that desperately needs to be done, and much of the federal funding needed to do it has already been authorized.
Federal investment has historically created enormous employment opportunities. From the Interstate Highway System to the Apollo program. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter and a bipartisan Congress approved the Public Works Employment Act (PL 95-28), providing federal funding for public infrastructure. New Hampshire projects included the Victory Parking Garage in Manchester and municipal facilities in Nashua and many cities and towns across the state.
Currently, billions of dollars associated with previously authorized federal programs remain delayed, or frozen. The U.S. Government Accountability Office identified $33.6 billion and 2,528 awards associated with the Inflation Reduction Act programs that had yet to reach grantees. Billions more in transportation funding have been under review. Meanwhile, approximately 300,000 federal workers and contractors reportedly have been fired or left government service, adding experienced workers to an already difficult employment market.
Using approximately $64 billion as a rough estimate of delayed project spending illustrates the potential employment impact. Applying a Federal Highway Administration rule of thumb indicates that $64 billion produces an estimate of 832,000 jobs. This is not a precise forecast because the programs and labor requirements differ considerably, but it demonstrates how consequential federal investment can be.
Beyond releasing existing funds, America has enormous long-term infrastructure needs capable of providing employment for decades.
One is the Colorado River.
The river supplies water to more than 40 million people and supports agriculture and the food supply of the entire nation as well as hydroelectric generation throughout the Southwest. After more than two decades of severe drought, flows and reservoir levels have fallen dramatically, threatening water supplies, irrigation and electricity generation.
Conservation must remain part of the solution, but we should seriously study large-scale water-transfer alternatives. One possibility is capturing otherwise destructive floodwater from portions of the Mississippi River basin and transferring it west through pipelines and intermediate storage reservoirs to the Colorado River system.
Such a project would be extraordinarily complicated and expensive, but it would also employ thousands of people for decades while addressing a critical national water problem.
A second priority is extreme weather mitigation and rebuilding.
Floods, hurricanes, storm surges, tornadoes and wildfires repeatedly destroy American communities. The Los Angeles wildfires alone destroyed more than 15,000 homes, while hurricanes and floods have damaged thousands more. Yet no single federal source provides a comprehensive nationwide total of homes destroyed or seriously damaged.
We need a National Extreme Weather Mitigation and Rebuilding Program, led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with states, municipalities and private contractors.
The Corps could update flood-risk maps, identify vulnerable communities and develop mitigation projects such as reservoirs, dikes and alternate floodways. Regional rebuilding centers could coordinate contractors, materials, supply chains and reconstruction.
America will also need a much larger skilled workforce. Training should be expanded in carpentry, electrical work, plumbing, HVAC, heavy-equipment operation, engineering, architecture and construction management. Recent disasters have already strained local labor and supply chains. To help Harvard University has recently committed to a $500 million program to expand the capabilities of nonprofit organizations committed to increasing the number of people trying to enter the building trades.
Disaster recovery and rebuilding will require a new Extreme Weather Disaster Fund, modeled partly on Superfund, to combine federal and state resources with insurance industry contributions. Insurers would continue meeting their contractual obligations, while shared funding could reduce uncertainty and help prevent escalating disaster costs from destabilizing the home insurance market.
Although construction labor is emphasized, these projects will require a range of skills. These jobs include: engineering and architecture, project management, environmental scientists, clerical and administrative, lawyers and legal assistants, public information, as well as comparable jobs in the federal, state and local government.
These proposals should not be dismissed as government programs created merely to provide employment.
The work already needs to be done.
Our water supplies need protection. Disaster-stricken communities need rebuilding. Our electrical grid, transportation systems, housing and public infrastructure need modernization.
America has accomplished extraordinary things through public investment — from highways and environmental cleanup to space exploration.
Instead of asking where young Americans will find jobs, perhaps we should ask: Why aren’t we putting them to work solving the problems America already needs to solve?
It is time to restore that national focus and give the next generation both the work — and the future — they deserve.
Dr. Michael Sills was the Chief Engineer of the New Hampshire Environmental Agency for nearly 30 years, overseeing the Super Fund, RCRA Solid & Hazardous Waste program, and Emergency Spill Response functions. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and is currently focused on global warming issues facing the planet.