State, Local Governments Increase Green Spending

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Green Spending State and Local Governments

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The U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances says public spending protecting natural resources jumped from $27.7 billion in 2014 to $32.3B in 2018. These data show increased government funding of conservation and management of resources, such as fish, game, forestry, soil, water, and electric energy.

Some specific preservation programs include protection of soil and water resources, including controlling beach erosion, managing dams to prevent floods, educating the public about conservation and generating hydroelectric energy. While expenditures rose, a five-year comparison (from 2016 to 2020) showed a 5.7% decline in part-time employment and a 0.3% decrease in full-time employment.

“Environmentalists have long been pushing the government, consumers and corporations to protect our planet, promoting everything from tougher environmental standards to paperless communications and environmentally friendly products like reusable shopping sacks,” said Lynda Lee, a supervisory statistician in the Census Bureau’s Economic Management Division. “Government is stepping up. The United States just hosted a global climate change summit coinciding with Earth Day and committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50%-52% below its 2005 emissions levels by 2030,” said Lee.

The survey also details government expenditures on caring for the environment. According to the Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll, in March 2020 there were 189,668 employees in the natural resources functions of state and local governments: 83% (156,768) were full-time and 17% (32,900) part-time.

According to the American Community Survey (ACS), which shows employment data by sex, women held approximately 24% of the nation’s farming, fishing, and forestry sector jobs in 2019. It looks like reduce, reuse and recycle are here to stay and the Census Bureau is tracking all data relating to conservation. The Census Bureau’s State and Local Governments Snapshot tool provides easy access.

About Ken Zino

Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
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