NEW ORLEANS — President Elect Joe Biden and President Trump have different takes on climate change and its impacts.
Joe Biden has come up with a Climate Change plan that can determine the story of the environment and the future of Louisiana.
"What we are seeing in the Biden plan is the connection between the pollution that drives the climate crisis we have here in New Orleans with a record number of hurricanes being the bulls eye throughout the summer, throughout the Fall," Monique Harden, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice.
Officials said the plan may have two positive factors for fighting climate in the early days of Joe Biden's administration.
"The first thing Joe Biden says he is going to do is he is going to rejoin the Paris climate accord and he also has some aggressive plans to the make the country carbon neutral by the middle of the century." Edward E. Chervenak, Director of UNO's Survey Research Center said.
Sources like the New York Times said the Trump Administration erased or loosened nearly 100 rules and regulations on pollution in the air, water and atmosphere.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said the state made progress in fighting coastal erosion, subsidence and sea level rise.
"With the projects on the books right now and the ones over the remainder of my term, when those projects are complete we will be generating more land in Louisiana than we are losing and that will be the first time that's been the case in a very long time," Edwards said.
A major part of president-elect Biden's plan is wanting to transition from the oil industry to invest in green alternatives, but that brings concern for many because funding for many coastal restoration projects come from the Gulf of Mexico energy security act, which directs a portion of oil and gas revenue to protect public land.
"We have recreated thousands of acres of marsh through these partnerships. It's just another reason that we have to find a balance," President Archie Chaisson, Lafourche Parish President, said
While jobs in the traditional energy sectors may gradually go down,
energy experts believe there will be jobs growing in other sectors like solar, wind and hydrogen.
"We'd like to see more of that kind of investment because it makes us stronger in the end and makes our communities more viable and sustainable," Harden said.
