Operation 1-1-1 is a campaign pushing policymakers to support environmental restoration in local communities in states surrounding the Gulf Coast such as Florida, Alabama, Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. It provides a platform or forum for business owners, fisherman, all coastal residents, and any supporters of a cleaner coast to share stories and ask for help from these policymakers directly. The campaign is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, a group that promotes lasting environmental and economic growth, who previously invested $91 million in environmental initiatives in 2012.
The reason this campaign is so important is because the Gulf States are in the process of receiving millions of dollars from fines due to the 2010 oil spill. The Walton Family Foundation is using this campaign to attempt to have those millions of dollars allocated towards the restoration of the Gulf. The restoration will produce many jobs, help businesses around the coast, and boost the economies of the five states.
I believe this campaign is a great idea and the principles behind it make a whole lot of sense. The Yahoo article states that the Gulf Coast environment is the “backbone” of the region’s economy. The pristine beaches and marine life brings in thousands of tourists which generate $2 billion in spending each year in Mississippi alone and 18% of Mississippi Coast jobs are related to tourism. This shows how much of the economy in these states rely on tourism and with restoration of these areas tourism will increase and therefor cause the economy to grow.
Besides tourism the Gulf Coast produces around 40 percent of seafood to the lower 48 states of the U.S and brings in $41 billion in recreational fishing (Yahoo, 2013). With restoration these figures will be maintained or improve which will also cause the economy to grow. I think all or most of the fine money should be put towards restoration of the Gulf Coast also because the fines are from damage done to the Gulf in the first place.
--Dan Mazzone
