The Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy is a left-of-center, non-profit law firm and that works on climate related issues in communities located in the south of the United States. The GCCLP’s operations work through the Gulf South states of Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. ¹ It backs the environmentalist policy platform Southern Communities for a Green New Deal. ²

Overview

In 2014, the GCCLP became an independent social enterprise with its primary operations rooted in providing access to legal services for people recovering from climate-related disasters. In that same year, the organization formalized its base training curriculum rooted in left-of-center political ideas titled “Understanding Race, Power, and Privilege”. The GCCLP uses this curriculum as the foundation for its training for GCCLP fellowship programs, philanthropy, local elected officials, and its national allies. ³

The GCCLP is one of the spearheads for the left-of-center environmentalist policy platform developed specifically for the southern states called Southern Communities for a Green New Deal along with other environmentalist organizations such as Southeast Climate and Energy Network, Dogwood Alliance, Kingdom Living Temple, and Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution (G.A.S.P.). ⁴

The GCCLP also partnered with Quioveo Energy, a left-of-center tech startup who works towards developing climate affecting technology. ⁵ It also formed a partnership with Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, a left-of-center organization whose focus is working on issues relating to Indigenous peoples. ⁶

People

Colette Pichon Battle is the founder and executive director of the Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy. She manages the organization’s legal services in immigration and disaster law, was named an Obama Fellow in 2019, and was born in Bayou Liberty, Louisiana. ⁷

1. GCCLP. Accessed August 21, 2021. https://www.gcclp.org/.
2. “In the Wake of the South’s Fatal Winter Storm, over 160 Organizations Endorse Southern Communities for a Green New Deal Platform.” PR Newswire: Press Release Distribution, Targeting, Monitoring and Marketing. Last modified March 10, 2021. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/in-the-wake-of-the-souths-fatal-winter-storm-over-160-organizations-endorse-southern-communities-for-a-green-new-deal-platform-301244790.html.
3. “Theory of Change.” GCCLP. Accessed August 21, 2021.
4. “In the Wake of the South’s Fatal Winter Storm, over 160 Organizations Endorse Southern Communities for a Green New Deal Platform.” PR Newswire: Press Release Distribution, Targeting, Monitoring and Marketing. Last modified March 10, 2021. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/in-the-wake-of-the-souths-fatal-winter-storm-over-160-organizations-endorse-southern-communities-for-a-green-new-deal-platform-301244790.html.
5. “Quioveo Energy Partners with Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy to Build Tech Centering Black Communities in Climate Action.” PR Urgent News – Free Press Release and News Distribution. Last modified June 4, 2021. https://www.prurgent.com/2021-06-04/pressrelease472179.htm.
6. “Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas to Host Historic Virtual Event: Carrizo Comecrudo Tribunal For Human Rights.” Sierra Club. Last modified May 19, 2020. https://www.sierraclub.org/texas/blog/2020/05/carrizo-comecrudo-tribe-texas-host-historic-virtual-event-carrizo-comecrudo.
7. “GCCLP Krewe.” GCCLP. Accessed August 21, 2021. https://www.gcclp.org/krewe.