Gulf South for a Green New Deal (GS4GND), a project of Taproot Earth, is a collection of more than 360 environmentalist organizations in Puerto Rico and the U.S states that border the Gulf of Mexico (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida). ¹ GS4GND promotes organizing to advocate for environmentalist policies to address climate change, including a federal Green New Deal proposal.

History

Gulf South for a Green New Deal was launched in May 2019 at the Mahalia Jackson Theater in New Orleans with representatives from 30 organizations. The original goal of the organization was to influence federal Green New Deal proposals with a Southern perspective. ²

Activities

Gulf South for a Green New Deal focuses on environmentalist grassroots organizing in the American Southeast and Puerto Rico to promote the left-of-center environmental policies to address climate change. The goal of the grassroots movement is to create environmentalist focused jobs and promote environmental sustainability and equity. ³

Gulf South for a Green New Deal is governed by six “hubs,” with one hub located in each state and territory in its network. Each hub has its own financial leadership, a policy committee, a communications committee, and an action committee that guides coordination with other hubs. ⁴

GS4GND is led by seven “core values”: to advance racial equity, acknowledge the rights of tribal nations, create jobs with high wages while transitioning to renewable energy, invest in institutions and systems to drive change, promote local control, embrace intersectionality, and respect human equality. ⁵

GS4GND annually convenes member organizations, hosts monthly regional calls, and conducts other public assemblies. Its annual convening is held at the “Gulf Gathering” hosted by Healthy Gulf since 1998. ⁶ Healthy Gulf was founded by Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund to promote environmentalism. ⁷

Policy Platform

In 2019, GS4GND crafted a Green New Deal policy platform driven by fears that the seas are rising. Policy proposals within the platform include reparations for Black, brown, and indigenous communities; combatting “climate gentrification” through funding affordable housing; creating incentives for worker cooperatives owning businesses; bans on new pipelines or drilling leases; and more. The platform demands that the costs of the policy proposals be paid by industries it claims are polluting the region. ⁸

Notable original signatories of the platform include the Southern Poverty Law Center, a controversial watchdog of extremist groups criticized for characterizing nonviolent conservative organizations as violent extremists; Alliance for a Green Economy, a left-of-center environmentalist advocacy organization based in New York; Center for International Environmental Law, a public interest law firm founded to strengthen international and comparative environmental law and policy around the world; Climate Justice Alliance, a left-of-center environmental activists group made up of associated organizations from around the world; Sierra Club, one of the nation’s oldest and largest environmentalist organizations; and Sunrise Movement, a left-of-center environmentalist advocacy organization. ⁹

Funding

Taproot Earth raised $15 million for Gulf South for a Green New Deal in 2021. The funding was intended to support a growing and durable environmentalist movement in the gulf coast states and Puerto Rico over the course of three years. The $15 million in funding was largely processed through the Gulf South for a Green New Deal Community Controlled Fund (GS4GND CCF), which itself was housed by Project South, an organizer of left-of-center support for educational, social, political, and economic issues in the southern United States. ¹⁰

Starting in 2019, Taproot Earth is the fiscal sponsor of Gulf South for a Green New Deal, calling itself GS4GND’s “anchor institution.” ¹¹ Taproot Earth is devoted to fostering environmentalist social and political movements. ¹²

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3.   “Gulf South for a Green New Deal.” Gulf South for a Green New Deal. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://www.gulfsouth4gnd.org/.
4. “State Hubs.” Gulf South for a Green New Deal. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://www.gulfsouth4gnd.org/state-hubs.
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9. “Gulf South for a Green New Deal Policy Platform (2019).” Gulf South for a Green New Deals. 2019. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://www.gulfsouth4gnd.org/_files/ugd/a491a1_637aea05b7814ad5b917daca77777118.pdf.
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