The West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA) is a left-of-center environmentalist organization founded in 1995 to address wastewater disposal reform in Atlanta. It has also purchased and protected public park spaces and nature areas. ^{1 2}

In 2019, WAWA affixed its support to a group letter sent to the U.S. Congress to promote the policy objectives of the left-leaning anti-capitalist Green New Deal. The letter advocated the elimination by 2035 of every form of energy currently in large-scale use to power industrial civilization, including an end to “market-based mechanisms” that favor carbon-free options such as nuclear power and hydro-electric dams and the burning of wood and biomass to produce power. ³

Na’Taki Osborne Jelks is the chair of the board of directors and co-founder of WAWA. ⁴ Jelks has numerous left-leaning environmentalist credentials. She participated as a training speaker with former Vice President Al Gore at one of his Climate Reality Project events. ⁵ She is also the Georgia co-chair of Climate Power 2020, a left-leaning environmentalist organization with a national advisory board that includes former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and left-leaning billionaire donor Tom Steyer. ⁶

Background

The West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA) was created in 1995 as a reaction against allegedly prejudicial waste-water disposal practices in West Atlanta. It helped preserve 400 acres of land, formed a nature center, and manages two large parks in Atlanta. ⁷

In 2008, WAWA and its partners received $179,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency to create a water pollution reduction plan for the Atlanta area. ⁸ The West Atlanta Watershed Alliance has repeatedly advocated for storm and wastewater separation projects that prevent combined sewer overflows that can pollute public water supplies. ⁹

Green New DealIn 2019, the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance affixed its support to a group letter sent to the U.S. Congress to promote the policy objectives of the Green New Deal. The letter advocated the elimination by 2035 of every form of energy currently in large scale use to power industrial civilization, including an end to “market-based mechanisms” that favor carbon-free options such as nuclear power and hydro-electric dams, and the burning of wood and biomass to produce power. The letter signatories also endorsed replacement of a market-driven economy with a “new green economy” that would be “built and governed by communities and workers,” a euphemism for radical-left political economy controlled by labor unions and left-progressive interest groups¹⁰

The Green New Deal (GND) refers to a 2019 U.S. House of Representatives resolution and various legislative proposals supported by radical environmentalist groups. ¹¹

While details of the “Deal” are unclear and frequently change, an attempt to estimate the cost of the plan that critics call a “radical, top-down, socialist makeover of the entire U.S. economy” found it could cost Americans alone upwards of $90 trillion over a ten-year federal budget window if enacted. ¹² A 2018 estimate by the World Economic Forum pegged the combined annual gross domestic product of every nation on the planet at $80 trillion. ¹³

Leadership

Na’Taki Osborne Jelks is the chair of the board of directors and co-founder of the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance. ¹⁴ Jelks has numerous environmentalist credentials including her appointment to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Environmental Justice Advisory Committee (NEJAC), which provides recommendations to the EPA regarding climate change and environmental concerns impacting vulnerable populations. ¹⁵ She participated as a training speaker with former Vice President Al Gore at one of his Climate Reality Project events. ¹⁶ While working for the National Wildlife Federation, Jelks received an award from President Barack Obama as one of “14 Champions of Change in Environmental Conservation.” ¹⁷ President Bill Clinton gave Jelks a President’s Service Award. ¹⁸

Jelks serves as the Georgia co-chair of Climate Power 2020, a left-leaning environmentalist organization. The national advisory board includes left-of-center activists such as former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D—NV), Georgia Democratic politician Stacey Abrams, Green New Deal co-author Rhiana Gunn-Wright, left-leaning billionaire donor Tom Steyer, Thomas Lopez (Climate Strike Partnerships Coordinator at the Future Coalition), and Varshini Prakash (executive director and co-founder of the Sunrise Movement). ¹⁹

IRS Status

In 2014, the Internal Revenue Service revoked the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance’s tax exempt status for not filing a tax return for three consecutive years. The status was reinstated, but as of August 2020 the IRS web page was not showing a return from WAWA since 2016. ²⁰

1. “About.” West Atlanta Watershed Alliance. Accessed August 7, 2020. http://wawa-online.org/about/.
2. Person. “The WAWA Story.” ArcGIS StoryMaps. Esri, June 27, 2020. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/51bf4b8341484de08154248f8c3ffa98.
3. “Group Letter to Congress Urging Green New Deal Passage.” Earthworks, January 10, 2019. https://earthworks.org/publications/group-letter-to-congress-urging-green-new-deal-passage/
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5. “Logistics Information for the Climate Reality Leadership Corps Atlanta Training.” Climate Reality, March 14, 2019. https://www.climaterealityproject.org/content/logistics-information-climate-reality-leadership-corps-atlanta-training.
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8. Young, Dawn Harris. “EPA Awards over $179,000 to Promote Proctor Creek Restoration.” EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, May 15, 2008. https://archive.epa.gov/epapages/newsroom_archive/newsreleases/e32ad2d6d6c9410185257d1800583fdd.html.
9. Person. “The WAWA Story.” ArcGIS StoryMaps. Esri, June 27, 2020. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/51bf4b8341484de08154248f8c3ffa98.
10. “Group Letter to Congress Urging Green New Deal Passage.” Earthworks, January 10, 2019. https://earthworks.org/publications/group-letter-to-congress-urging-green-new-deal-passage/.
11. McConnell, Mitch. Twitter Post. March 25, 2019, 5:18 P.M. Accessed August 24, 2020. https://twitter.com/senatemajldr/status/1110289975386492929
12. Holtz-Eakin, Douglas, Dan Bosch, Ben Gitis, Dan Goldbeck, and Philip Rossetti. “The Green New Deal: Scope, Scale, and Implications.” American Action Forum. February 25, 2019. Accessed August 24, 2020. https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/the-green-new-deal-scope-scale-and-implications
13. “The world’s $80 trillion economy – in one chart.” World Economic Forum. 2018. Accessed August 24, 2020. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/10/the-80-trillion-world-economy-in-one-chart/
14. “Na’Taki Osborne Jelks, IV.” Conference on Landscape Architecture. ASLA . Accessed August 7, 2020. https://www.eventscribe.com/2020/ASLAConference/fsPopup.asp?Mode=presenterInfo&PresenterID=881491.
15. “Environmental Health Professor Recognized For Lifetime Of Work In Tobacco Control Research – Georgia State University News – Faculty, School of Public Health.” Georgia State News Hub, February 26, 2018. https://news.gsu.edu/2018/02/26/enviornmental-health-professor-recognized-for-his-lifetime-of-work-in-tobacco-control-research/.
16. “Logistics Information for the Climate Reality Leadership Corps Atlanta Training.” Climate Reality, March 14, 2019. https://www.climaterealityproject.org/content/logistics-information-climate-reality-leadership-corps-atlanta-training.
17. “Nature Baby! 6 Outdoor Family Adventures (Almost) Right Outside Your Door.” KinderCare, June 2017. https://www.kindercare.com/content-hub/articles/2017/june/nature-baby-6-outdoor-family-adventures-almost-right-outside-your-door.
18. “Environmental and Health Sciences Faculty & Staff.” Spelman College. Accessed August 7, 2020. https://www.spelman.edu/academics/majors-and-programs/environmental-and-health-sciences/faculty/na-taki-osborne-jelks.
19. “Climate Power 2020 Announces Georgia Co-Chairs.” Climate Power 2020, June 16, 2020. https://www.climatepower2020.org/resources/climate-power-2020-announces-georgia-co-chairs/.
20. “IRS.gov Applications.” 403. Accessed August 7, 2020. https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/displayAll.do?dispatchMethod=displayAllInfo.