Gulf South for a Green New Deal (GS4GND) is a regional formation of more than 200 organizations advancing long-existing work towards climate, racial, and economic justice in five states across the Gulf South: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida.
For years, The Alliance has been working on the national Green New Deal and is proud to be a State Hub Leader for the LA GS4GND. We are bringing in financing for grassroots and local individuals and organizations on the ground that have been doing the work but have not gotten proper funding. Rooted in bottom-up organizing and driven by frontline leadership, we move together on policy, regional action campaigns, and strategic communications. As the nation’s first formation advancing a regional vision for a just climate transition, we are committed to the realization of a uniquely Gulf South version of a Green New Deal that is anchored in the histories, realities, and power of the region. |
GS4GND has put forth a Policy Platform, outlining what a Green New Deal must look like to be successful in the Gulf South.
A Green New Deal must address the climate crisis and invest in national infrastructure through the creation of millions of living wage jobs, which will offer opportunities to heal and protect our communities and generations to come.
We must establish the projects that upgrade our failing infrastructure, restore our damaged natural ecosystems, eliminate toxic pollution and decrease greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation, energy, manufacturing and agricultural sectors.
We must establish the projects that upgrade our failing infrastructure, restore our damaged natural ecosystems, eliminate toxic pollution and decrease greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation, energy, manufacturing and agricultural sectors.
The Gulf South version of this Green New Deal vision strengthens the entire nation by starting with the US climate frontlines.
- Rural communities, farmworkers and fisherfolk must be at the forefront of planning and implementing the Green New Deal.
- Locally-owned and small businesses must be accountable to collective community visions advancing sustainable practices through inclusive and democratic processes that advance equity.
- Investments and opportunities associated with a Green New Deal must prioritize the needs and voices of those disproportionately impacted by our current social systems: Indigenous Peoples, communities of color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural communities, low-income workers, women, elderly, LGBTQ+ people, the unhoused, people with disabilities, youth, and people with criminal records.
- Multinational corporations responsible for exploited land, labor, and resources and contributing to climate change must be held accountable to workers and communities harmed by their business practices.
#LA4GNDPolicy Priorities
Louisiana 2021 policy priorities include:
- Cultivate public engagement with the Governor’s statewide Climate Initiatives Task Force: the state’s ambitious strategy to fully decarbonize by 2050
- Advance good, green jobs in renewable energy
- Advance affordable and equitable housing
Join Us! Sign Up to Get the Latest Updates
Use the button below to sign up to receive the latest updates on Gulf South for a Green New Deal.
Individuals working on these or related issues who would like to get involved with GS4GND
should email email: info@gulfsouth4gnd.org.
should email email: info@gulfsouth4gnd.org.
We Demand
Gulf South Communities face a unique reality.
Our economy, present military relevance, coastal geography, social movement history and cultural context require a tailored approach to a Green New Deal that can shift the direction of Gulf South – and ultimately our entire nation. Green New Deal legislation must be rooted in human rights, understand the rights of nature, and protect the civil rights of all who make this country great. Government agencies must recognize that a successful Green New Deal will be intersectional in nature requiring open, better and more democratic communication and solution-building practices across agencies.
Indigenous People's & Land Reparations
Recognize all Indigenous tribes of the Gulf South as sovereign nations, and follow local and Indigenous leadership regarding decisions that affect their communities and sovereign territory. Include land reform as part of reparations for Black (29), Brown, and Indigenous communities that have had their land stolen. Codify the standards for reparations provided in the Vision for Black Lives Platform. (30)
Environmental Justice & Communities Stewardship
Acknowledge the targeting of marginalized communities as sacrifice zones for polluting industries and government. Policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions must also clean up toxic lands at the same rate, with the same financial support and urgency- prioritizing environmental justice communities. Preserve and restore our natural habitats, forests, and fisheries while prioritizing vulnerable communities and locally-owned businesses by bringing them into the decision-making process
Equitable Climate Disaster Planning & Recovery (Displacement, Relocation & Gentrification)
Recognize the human right to remain both during climate disaster and during the permanent relocation processes due to climate impact. Relocation processes must be self-determined by communities and must assure the social, cultural, and economic requirements for a transitioning community to survive and thrive. Combat climate gentrification by affirmatively furthering fair, affordable and equitable housing linked to reliable public transportation. Protect home ownership by providing material resources to families--especially communities of color and other vulnerable communities - for elevating and flood-proofing homes.
Sustainable Agriculture
Transform the portions of the current U.S. agricultural system that exploit laborers through dangerous work, threatens public health, dismantles worker safety and accelerates the climate crisis. Federal financial support must redistribute unpolluted land in both rural and urban areas to historically marginalized communities and de-incentivize consolidation into mega-farms. Agricultural labor requires dignified working conditions and family-sustaining wages for all. We must subsidize healthy crops and farm biodiversity instead of monocultures. Our food system must be rooted in principles of community-based agroecology and food sovereignty.
Sustainable Fisheries
Prioritize our last major self-renewing source of food: wild capture fisheries. The ocean must be protected from pollution, including plastics and petrochemical-based fertilizer and pesticide runoff. The runoff from industrial farms is responsible for the growing dead zone found at the mouth of the Mississippi River while other harmful algae blooms are decimating our fisheries and coastal fishing communities. The ocean commons belong to us all. We must reject attempts to industrialize the ocean through factory fish farms and large scale aquaculture. The federal government must limit economic consolidation in fisheries and provide opportunities for training and economic support to historically disadvantaged communities to enter fisheries.
Updated Civil Infrastructure
Invest in critical infrastructure like levees, bridges, and drainage canals, prioritizing local communities of color for service and jobs. Ensure community and economic development decisions are informed by the science of equitable, sustainable, and resilient community practices and developed in collaboration with frontline communities.
Workers Rights
Overhaul the US labor system through the expansion of collective bargaining rights for all workers, including migrant workers and farmworkers. Support collective bargaining and repeal attacks on worker protections including the “Right to Work” and “At Will” employment laws. Create incentives to advance worker-owned cooperatives and establish eligibility processes to ensure that formerly incarcerated people play a role in a Green New Deal work force. Convict leasing and prison labor cannot play a role in an equitable economy and must be banned
Just Transition from Extractive Industries
Remediate toxic pollution to the satisfaction of the impacted community before new permits can be issued by state or federal agencies to polluting industries. Ban new pipelines and drilling leases for extractive industries on Gulf South lands and territorial waters. Prioritize abandoned oil rigs and other leftover physical oil and gas infrastructure for reuse in the advancement of renewable energy infrastructure.
Just Transition to Energy Equity
Renewable energy job opportunities and investments in new infrastructure must prioritize opportunity and access for fenceline communities currently reliant on extractive industry jobs. Low-income communities must be the beneficiaries of emerging technologies like renewables and jobs created by the Green New Deal must be accessible to everyone, including to formerly incarcerated people.
We also must use a just transition lens towards demilitarization; honoring the historic significance of the military in Gulf South communities while transitioning investment away from the military and towards job creation in regenerative local economies. In addition to transition from fossil fuels, we need a just transition away from nuclear energy that harms poor and Black communities living near facilities. The costs and burden of a fair and just transition must be paid by the industries that have polluted and poisoned communities and deliberately deceived the public about the threat their operations pose to our climate.
We also must use a just transition lens towards demilitarization; honoring the historic significance of the military in Gulf South communities while transitioning investment away from the military and towards job creation in regenerative local economies. In addition to transition from fossil fuels, we need a just transition away from nuclear energy that harms poor and Black communities living near facilities. The costs and burden of a fair and just transition must be paid by the industries that have polluted and poisoned communities and deliberately deceived the public about the threat their operations pose to our climate.
How We Got Here
Gulf South for a Green New Deal launched in May 2019 at Mahalia Jackson Theater in New Orleans, LA with more than 800 attendees formally representing more than 30 tribal nations, neighborhood associations, faith groups, student groups, and community organizations. GS4GND members developed a policy platform rooted in the values and priorities of the most impacted communities across 5 states (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida).
In 2020, Gulf South for a Green New Deal built regional movement infrastructure through regional convergences, strategic convening, and innovative spaces for collective healing and reconciliation. From October 26th - November 2nd, 2020, communities across the Gulf South declared our collective vision to local decision makers. These Gulf South for a Green New Deal declarations include Green New Deal resolutions submitted to city councils, letters and postcards to mayors, banner drops, press conferences, and more.
The October 2020 Gulf Gathering, anchored in partnership with Healthy Gulf, convened more than 120 Gulf South leaders representing organizations from all five Gulf South states over four days in order to build our plan of action for 2021.
In 2020, Gulf South for a Green New Deal built regional movement infrastructure through regional convergences, strategic convening, and innovative spaces for collective healing and reconciliation. From October 26th - November 2nd, 2020, communities across the Gulf South declared our collective vision to local decision makers. These Gulf South for a Green New Deal declarations include Green New Deal resolutions submitted to city councils, letters and postcards to mayors, banner drops, press conferences, and more.
The October 2020 Gulf Gathering, anchored in partnership with Healthy Gulf, convened more than 120 Gulf South leaders representing organizations from all five Gulf South states over four days in order to build our plan of action for 2021.