Green New Deal in the Delta

Abolition & Industrial Transformation

The Abolition & Industrial Transformation Department was created under the DRA to manage the disassembly and rehabilitation of sites used for incarceration, fossil fuel collection, and corporate farming as part transitioning from extractive industries to a Green New Deal economy.

The Abolition & Industrial Transformation Department was created under the DRA to manage the demands of transitioning from extractive industries to a Green New Deal economy. Through the department’s Infrastructure Decommissioning and Adaptive Reuse (IDAR) program, both urban and rural populations will experience economic and health benefits including quality jobs, reduced exposure to environmental hazards, and a shared opportunity to design a stronger nation.

The goal of IDAR is to eliminate dependence on extractive industries while providing financial resources, network support, and transparent dialogue to implement GND projects. Examples of government backing may include design, development, and maintenance funding, creating partnerships to achieve federal Supplier Diversity goals, access to a national pool of IDAR project stakeholders also converting to a GND economy, and more. The IDAR will conclude once all classified extractive sites are sufficiently funded or received wide-spread support to ensure the project’s completion.

Community Resilience & Mobility

The Community Resilience & Mobility Department was created under the DRA to manage the ongoing migration from areas impacted by increasing threats of climate change, as well as the associated social, environmental, and economic impacts.

As temperatures and water levels continue to rise, Delta residents are more likely to migrate northward to safer ground. The Community Resilience & Mobility Department was created under the DRA to manage the demands of relocating residents and providing housing and employment while maintaining the existing sense of community. The department’s three major programs – Migration Support, Job Training & Placement, and Memory & Memorials – will facilitate the movement of both rural and urban populations to a life of greater stability and prosperity, while preserving connections with their home community. Although migration will not be mandated, participants in these programs will experience comprehensive benefits including housing, training for and placement in quality jobs, reduced exposure to natural and environmental hazards, and robust communal bonds.

With assistance from the Rivers and Coasts department, the Community Resilience & Mobility department will proactively assist in the relocation of communities that will be impacted by the Freeing the Mississippi program. The goal of the Migration Support program is to identify safe and prosperous locations within the Delta and provide transportation for families and communities to these areas projected to be less impacted by climate change. Participants will be given agency over the process by choosing their destination from a range of options, and housing will be provided in the selected location. The goal of the Job Training & Placement program is to provide education, training, and placement in quality jobs to enable economic security that also boosts the local economy. Lastly, the Memory & Memorials program recognizes the importance of social and psychological ties to the historic community and provides both physical and non-tangible monuments of remembrance.

Rivers & Coasts

The Rivers and Coasts Department was created under the DRA to manage the demands of a just, equitable, rapid, and rigorous scaling of protective wetlands, wetland carbon sinks, and pollution-mitigation as called for in the Green New Deal.

The DRA is tasked with managing the extensive water resources under its purview, ensuring a cleaner, healthier, and more resilient Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico in partnership with the Midwest. A significant mandate has been the requirement for creation of numerous natural aquatic carbon sinks by 2030. The Rivers and Coasts Department was created under the DRA to manage the demands of a just, equitable, rapid, and rigorous scaling of protective wetlands, wetland carbon sinks, and pollution-mitigation as called for in the Green New Deal. With assistance from the Abolition and Industrial Transition department, the DRA has pioneered a program to create up to 300,000 acres of wetlands by Freeing the Mississippi -- loosening the choke hold of levees and flood infrastructure while still protecting residents. Thanks to the Free the Mississippi program, urban and rural populations will experience health and economic benefits including quality jobs, better hunting and fishing outcomes, cleaner drinking water, and the satisfaction of showing that the Delta can punch above its weight when it comes to decarbonizing the nation.

The goal of Free the Mississippi is to give more room for the Mississippi to create wetlands that will act as kidneys, cleaning the water for the benefit of all. All land agreements will be negotiated with owners and specific care is being taken to keep from uprooting communities which have already suffered degradation in the region. Examples of government backing may include market rate purchases of land, deconstruction and reconstruction of levees at a greater distance from the river edge, wetland restoration and wetland creation expertise and assistance, and maintenance funding, as well as the boost to agriculture yields created by the ecosystem services. The program will look to enhance community partnerships to fulfill federal Supplier Diversity goals, access to a diverse roster of experts in agriculture and wetland-adjacent industry, and more. Once all levees marked for setback have been reconstructed at greater distance and all wetlands have been monitored for 20 years to ensure appropriate stability and health, the program will conclude.

Free the Mississippi's exemplary projects include the Coahoma County Wetland Education Center & Levee Work Camp Memorial and the Louisiana Sugar Cane Farmers' Union Project for Wetland Conversion. The program has enabled local communities to actively participate and holistically benefit from the improvement of the Delta region and the nation through freeing the River from its restricting levees and allowing the river to create the wetlands needed to reach our nation's decarbonization goals.