Progressive Legislation: Our Way Out of an Environmental Crisis

Human-caused climate change has been evident in Louisiana dating back to nearly a hundred years ago. Coastal land loss in Louisiana is a problem that has been observed and left unattended to since the early 1920s. Each year the size of Louisiana decreases more than anywhere in the world. And just 16 years ago 7-million gallons of oil, arsenic, and other toxic chemicals were spilled into Louisiana’s waterways during hurricane Katrina. These instances are not anomalies either, but common occurrences in Louisiana as well as throughout the Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana’s climate problems will only worsen with a lack of regulations and a disregard for environmental justice. Clearly, something needs to drastically change.

In 2018, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) and Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts introduced a 14-page resolution with over 100 co-sponsors in the House and Senate. This resolution was a non-binding call to action outlining the necessity for a Green New Deal. The phrase Green New Deal was first used in January 2007 by Pullitzer Prize-winner Thomas Friedman. He argued that it was paramount we switch to a green economy and energy grid and to do that the government would have to raise the price of fossil fuels, introduce a higher energy standard, and undertake an infrastructure overhaul. “The right rallying call is for a ‘Green New Deal,’” wrote Friedman, an obvious reference to President Roosevelt’s domestic policies during the Great Depression. “If you have put a windmill in your yard or some solar panels on your roof, bless your heart. But we will only green the world when we change the very nature of the electricity grid—moving it away from dirty coal or oil to clean coal and renewables.” But, the outlines for a Green New Deal as outlined by Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez go even farther, it tells you how we are gonna rescue the US from its climate crisis. The following are just a few things outlined by the Congresswoman and her co-sponsors beyond transitioning away from fossil fuels:

–increasing the minimum wage

–providing those who will lose their jobs with training to be hired for green energy plants

–fixing income and housing inequality

–provide adequate healthcare, affordable housing, clean water, clean air, healthy and affordable food, and access to nature, as well as economic security

–strengthening anti-discrimination and antiexploitation regulations

As one can see the resolution also tackles the idea of environmental justice, creating a green economy through an equitable lens, and providing reparations for the communities that have had to bear the full force of the current climate emergency. Communities like Louisiana.

Luckily for Louisiana, the resolution allows for states and local communities to shape a Green New Deal however they would like. The resolution is non-binding, meaning the things outlined are meant to be changed to address local and statewide issues, as well as address nationwide issues, like reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. So, though the resolution has not been passed and we have yet to address the nationwide climate issue, this does not mean that the resolution can’t be used to model state legislation. A great example of a local Louisiana politician who has seen the need for a Green New Deal is progressive Baton Rouge politician Gary Chambers. Gary Chambers ran for state congress in March 2021 and unfortunately lost in the primary. But, it is politicians like him that need to be elected in Louisiana and across the country in order to pass a Green New Deal. In Chambers’ outline of how he would implement a Green New Deal in Louisiana, he highlights how it would affect constituents in fence-line communities and “Cancer Alley” the 85-mile industrialized Mississippi River corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Chambers writes “Cancer Alley runs along the Mississippi River, which includes parts if not all of the above mentioned cities and parishes. Scholar and activist, Steve Lerner, referred to these types of areas as Sacrifice Zones. Sacrifice Zones are often “fenceline communities” consisting of low-income and/or people of color. They are considered “hot spots” of chemical pollution where residents live immediately adjacent to heavily polluted industries. Cancer Alley has more than 140 chemical factories and oil refineries.”

Furthermore, in a 2019 article on how the Green New Deal would be good for Louisiana’s coast, the author of the piece, Bob Marshall, says the following, “This resolution is the first comprehensive strategy to accomplish that by addressing our entire emissions infrastructure. By that I mean looking at eliminating or reducing every source of emissions from heavy industry to commuting, to agriculture, to the way we control the climate in our homes and buildings.”

Now one may ask “How can I ensure that a Green New Deal is established in Louisiana?”. I am glad you asked.

Elect progressive politicians. Hold conservatives and liberals that are anti-Green New Deal accountable. The most powerful thing that we can do is vote, or even run for local office. It is paramount that we go out in our local communities and be the change we wish to see.