‘Where Y’at on Climate Justice?’: A Green New Deal Scorecard for Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District
The Green New Deal is More than a Campaign Slogan.
Climate change is one of the greatest crises humanity has faced. It is also one of the greatest opportunities. We have a chance to save our planet, our country, our state and our communities, and transform our economy away from extracting natural resources, and towards investment in people. But to do so, we need to elect true Green New Deal Champions.
The Sunrise Movement is a youth-led organization that fights for a federal Green New Deal that will create millions of good-paying, equitable, environmentally-conscious jobs and environmentally conscious and equitable communities. As the New Orleans hub of the Sunrise movement, we’re taking up this work by creating the ‘Where Y’at on Climate Justice?’ Candidate Scorecard. Originally, we had conducted weeks of candidate interviews, surveys, and research on the frontrunners for the special election for Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District to investigate if we wanted to endorse a candidate outright. Ultimately, we came away from this process with more questions than answers. A primary question of ours has been, “How do we know a candidate is supporting the Green New Deal beyond a nominal mention?”
It’s easy for candidates to “support” the Green New Deal in word while their actions and track record are opposed to its true transformative nature. ‘Where Y’at on Climate Justice?’ scores candidates out of five Sunrise Movement logos on our “Green New Deal Trustworthiness” Scale. A maximum score of five logos signifies a candidate meets all of our rigorous criteria to be a true Green New Deal Champion.
Lastly, we know that we can’t have covered all relevant pieces of information in this scorecard. We are a volunteer-run organization of young people that is developing a democratic process for endorsement and for expressing our political analysis as a unified hub. We highly encourage reactions, suggestions, and discussion in response to this guide.
If you are interested in our work and would like to join us, please fill out our interest form or come to one of our weekly Thursday night Sunrise Social Hours at 5:30pm.
Our surveys are open to be read for full transparency and further education. Some other candidates than the frontrunners completed our survey. Troy Carter did not. If you live in Louisiana and are unsure of your district or your polling place, please visit the LA Voter Portal.
About Louisiana’s District 2
District 2 is a majority Black congressional district that runs from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, following the Mississippi River, and includes parts of or the entirety of 10 Parishes: Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Jefferson, Orleans, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, and West Baton Rouge. District 2 is on the frontlines of the climate crisis because of it’s proximity to the coast and with its legacy of an extractive dirty energy economy. Major petrochemical build out and pollution in the River Parishes has infamously given this region the title of Cancer Alley or Death Alley because of its cancer rate being 50% higher than the national average and its high prevalence of other terminal illnesses. It’s undeniably clear that the legacy of slavery and racism lives on in Cancer Alley, where petrochemical plants have replaced many former plantations. Residents of District 2 have been exposed to toxic levels of pollutants from oil, gas, Superfund sites, and chemical plants for decades while living in the remnants of the legacy of slavery. It is long past time our local government and Congressional representatives to fight against this blatant environmental racism while pushing for reparations and a livable and dignified way of life for all Louisiana residents.
The Green New Deal Trustworthiness Scorecard & How We Graded the Frontrunners
In order to best score each major candidate’s ‘Green New Deal Trustworthiness’, we created a 4 part rubric on which to score each candidate. We chose the categories based on our movement’s goals in passing a Green New Deal, conversations with movement partners across the LA-02 congressional district, and what our members believe is necessary for combatting the climate crisis and creating a future where everyone can thrive in New Orleans and beyond. We then scored the major candidates in each category out of 5 based on their answers to our survey, research, and interviews we’ve had with candidates. The categories are:
Green Economy: How supportive candidates are of a Federal Jobs Guarantee; good-paying union jobs in clean energy and a green economy; guaranteed housing; and a minimum wage above $15/hour, recognizing that the $15 is a compromise but $24/hour is the goal to match inflation.
Racial and Environmental Justice: How candidates are planning to address racial disparities in environmental issues, specifically in areas such as Cancer Alley, Gordon Plaza, Formosa, and coastal communities that have been displaced; and their support of universal healthcare, defund the police and redirecting funds to GND programs, and reparations.
Commitment to a Green New Deal: Whether the candidates have signed pledges or given verbal support to the Green New Deal and to not taking money from the fossil fuel industry; and what the candidate’s track records are with environmental issues.
Holding Polluters Accountable & Keeping Community Safe: How willing candidates are to hold corporations accountable for environmental disaster and damage, addressing pollution cleanup and monitoring, ensuring community safety from pollution, and stopping petrochemical expansion in District 2.
Green Economy & Building a Just Future
A Green New Deal champion will advance a green economy by creating millions of good-paying, union jobs through a Federal Jobs Guarantee and providing a just transition for workers most affected by the climate crisis. Components of a just transition include supporting a $15 minimum wage while understanding that $15 is a deep compromise, a strong commitment in support of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) to ensure no worker is left behind, and advocating for everyone’s right to a home.
Gary Chambers Jr.
Chambers loudly supports implementing a Federal Jobs Guarantee, and he mentions the need for Louisiana to break away from the oil and gas industries in his campaign announcement video. In our survey and subsequent interviews with him, Chambers responded that he supports at least a $15 per hour living wage and believes that $21 per hour is a thriving wage in LA-02. We’re encouraged to see that he also supports a Universal Basic Income (UBI) and rent control measures to expand affordable housing. During his 2010 State Senate campaign, Chambers supported allowing local governments to set their own inclusionary zoning policies to save a share of new construction for low- and moderate-income workers. Unfortunately, his policy platforms outlined on his website do not mention guaranteeing housing to all. Though he is lacking in stronger housing policies, from the moment he declared he was running, Chambers has clearly been the most outspoken and uncompromising candidate in support of working people of Louisiana and a green economy.
Karen Carter Peterson
Peterson is a union advocate and supports ensuring low-income communities of color are at the forefront of a just transition, according to her CADA survey response. In our survey, Peterson emphasized her support for the FAMILY Act guaranteeing paid leave, but she said she cannot fully support a Federal Jobs Guarantee at this time, which is a big disappointment. She supports raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2025 and the Paycheck Fairness Act to ensure equal pay, but does not go further to outline a thriving wage. Also in response to our survey, Peterson shows clear hesitance UBI, stating it is an “option to consider” but believes other economic issues, like the minimum wage, should be prioritized. She takes a strong stance in committing to ending houselessness using a housing-first approach, and she supports utilizing tax credits and guaranteed Section 8 benefits to those qualified in an effort to increase the supply of affordable housing and address the economic and racial inequities of housing markets. She earned a 3.5 because, though she supports certain measures such as the $15 minimum wage and equal pay, many of her proposals are too watered down to meet the economic and existential crisis of our time.
Troy Carter
Our main reason for a low score here — Carter is not talking about just transition in Louisiana, and not having a plan is NOT an option. Carter supports increased “funding for a national job-training program to retrain displaced workers or teach skills needed in today’s job market” without specifically mentioning green jobs on Vote Smart. In the Power Coalition survey, Carter voiced support for a $15 minimum wage tied to Consumer Price Index, but we did not find any information about his stance on a Universal Basic Income. We found that Carter supports housing assistance for welfare recipients, and he authored a bill at the request of Mayor Cantrell to create a constitutional amendment to allow tax exemptions for those in affordable housing in New Orleans, which is nice. Overall though, we are struggling to get clarity on Carter’s policy proposals because his platform lacks substance around a Green Economy.
Environmental and Racial Justice
Environmental justice is racial justice. This rings true for LA-2 which is over 62% Black. Issues facing rural residents in District 2 include ongoing petrochemical expansion (read Formosa Plastics) in the River Parishes aka “Cancer Alley” or “Death Alley” due to having cancer rates that are 50 times higher than the national average because of the air pollution of industry. Formosa’s expansion would double the toxic air emissions in St. James Parish. In New Orleans, we have Gordon Plaza, a subdivision marketed as affordable housing for Black New Orleanians that was built on a toxic landfill that is causing high rates of cancer amongst residents. We are prioritizing candidates who are unapologetic in their commitment to stopping further petrochemical expansion in the District and fighting for a fair & just relocation for Gordon Plaza, those who are supporting fence line and directly impacted communities, as well as those who are championing policies that address the intersectional nature of combating racial inequities (think policing, reparations, healthcare, etc).
Gary Chambers Jr.
Via our Candidate’s Survey, Chambers publicly and unapologetically opposed any expansion of petrochemicals in LA-2. Additionally, he has committed to advocating for funding to support those impacted by living on or near SuperFund Sites (Think Gordon Plaza). Chambers also has been consistent on a number of issues that will combat racial inequities and the harm inflicted upon Black communities and other communities of color in LA-2. He has given unequivocal support for advancing reparations legislation. Additionally, he has been a loud and outspoken supporter of Medicare 4 All. On our survey, he said he supported defunding the police, but unfortunately has backpedaled that for a strange reformist “Smart Funding” of police proposal outlined on his website, which knocked him down to 4.5.
Karen Carter Peterson
KCP has gone on record stating that she does NOT oppose expansion of petrochemical facilities in LA-2. Her position is that each new facility proposal should be examined on a “case by case” basis. Important to note that KCP has not come out against the Formosa plastics site that is seeking to be located in St. James Parish. This facility has been heavily opposed by environment activists in the community and the United Nations recently condemned it as environmental racism. We wonder if Peterson can’t come out against the most egregious and harmful plant being proposed, how can we possibly count on her to truly fight for environmental justice in Cancer Alley? On policing, she opposes defunding the police. In October of 2020, KCP along with fellow candidate, Troy Carter, sponsored Senate Resolution 54 which was written to “express wholehearted support for law enforcement and police departments and reject any notion to defund law enforcement or police departments in Louisiana”. Big disappointment. Regarding reparations, KCP has stated that she’ll support a bill to “examine” the issue of reparations and that she would support a reparations bill, provided that she reads it first. As far as M4A, her website changed from “work towards” to “fight for” so maybe she finally got the message? We’re not totally convinced.
Troy Carter
Carter was recently asked about his support for a GND by one of our Sunrise members at a recent event and he described it as a “great framework” that needs “tweaking.” He has also gone on record questioning President Biden’s moratorium on oil & gas expansion in the Gulf of Mexico stating “There are a lot of moving parts, and while we should definitely aspire to lessening our dependence on fossil fuels, we should do so in a very respectful and timely manner.” Things we don’t find respectful are Exxon covering up the conclusive research they found on climate change in the 1970s and 118,000 oil and gas workers losing their jobs this year with no safety net in the renewable economy. We haven’t found any public statements regarding his positions on Formosa Plastics, which isn’t comforting. Carter has spoken out in favor of marijuana legalization and reparations. While these are positives, we have a great deal of pause of Carter’s continued support of law enforcement and his lack of support for M4A.
Commitment to a Green New Deal
We want to determine whether or not candidates, once in Congress, will enact a Green New Deal in which we have clean air, drinkable water, a livable future and the capacity to thrive.
Gary Chambers Jr.
Chambers has publicly expressed support for a Green New Deal multiple times and was the first candidate to do so. He has also publicly promised to not take money from fossil fuel executives. However, confusingly, he has not officially signed the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge or Green New Deal pledge after we were in contact with his campaign, and asked him to sign them multiple times. Chambers’ website does provide detailed policy suggestions for how he would implement a Green New Deal in LA-02.
Karen Carter Peterson
Peterson published a video of her signing the Green New Deal and No Fossil Fuel Money pledge on her Twitter. We’ve appreciated this public support, however, we’re concerned that her vision for a Green New Deal doesn’t include a moratorium on petrochemical buildouts. Instead, Peterson suggests approving buildouts on a case-by-case basis.
Troy Carter
Carter has signed the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge within the last few days, however has not shared this on his platform (a requirement for the pledge), and has waffled in his support for the Green New Deal. He said he supports the Green New Deal in Power Coalition’s survey, but as mentioned above, failed to give a straight ‘yes or no’ answer when a member of Sunrise New Orleans publicly asked him if he supported the Green New Deal. While he has tweeted in support of Cancer Alley, his policy suggestions lack concrete proposals except for a moratorium on petrochemical buildouts…which does not align with his previous comments on Biden’s moratorium proposal. So which is it?.
Holding Polluters Accountable & Keeping Community Safe
A Green New Deal Champion faces the unconscionable damage that has already been done, the violence that is enacted daily on the lives of Louisiana residents — all in the name of maximum profit for petrochemical companies. This grave reality calls for everyone with power to boldly and creatively wield the tools they have to address this damage and take on petrochemical interests — directly and indirectly. The best candidate for this seat will have the backbone to work toward the end of petrochemical expansion in the River Parishes. The best candidate will take meticulous care to ensure that environmental disasters are immediately communicated about and swiftly dealt with. The best candidate will have the integrity to hold perpetrating companies accountable through enabling legislation, the current power of law, and the megaphone that their federal position allows them. A Green New Deal Champion must not stop making noise and advocating for the addressal of marginalized communities experiencing deadly environmental racism, and the gutting of local budgets by corporate tax evasion.
Gary Chambers Jr.
Gary Chambers has been vocal in his community for years, and we have confidence in the integrity of his advocacy. The candidate’s website speaks to the need to “increase regulatory fines for the chemical factories and oil refineries who poison the air, water, and land of Louisiana, and has mentioned doubling down on corporate taxation to provide government services to individuals who have been adversely affected by working for these companies. In our survey, the candidate said he opposes the expansion of the petrochemical industry in District 2, and in the Prophetic Voices candidate debate and his campaign launch video, he speaks to the need and possibility for Louisiana to break our toxic relationship with oil and gas. On ensuring timely responses to environmental disasters, Chambers stated in an internal interview with Sunrise New Orleans that he’d like to have federal inspectors monitor air quality to ensure we have the data to hold plants accountable.
Karen Carter Peterson
In our survey, surveys from other organizations, and forums, Karen Peterson has agreed to fight to protect the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts from industry attacks, and to hold polluters accountable through financial consequences and strengthening legislation around data collection and transparency from companies. Additionally, she supports “protections for fence-line and frontline communities like those in Cancer Alley”, and alludes to the trend of “rubber stamping” proposals for new plant development. She supports expansion on a “case-by-case basis”, but we strongly believe that no additional plants can be built without additional harm done to front-line and fence-line communities. That to say, we wanted a stronger stance from her here.
We appreciate that KCP has used her position in the State Senate toward pollution cleanup. During that time, she worked to establish real-time monitoring and warning systems to alert first responders and neighbors of dangerous events. She has authored legislation around water quality and supported legislation addressing ongoing contamination from abandoned oil and gas wells through the state. She commits to “supporting comprehensive air monitoring in any parish or county with emitting facilities’’, and meeting with District 2 residents on this issue.
While we are thrilled to see that she uplifts environmental issues from lack of corporate transparency to plastics pollution, we are deeply worried by her exorbitantly paid position as counsel for Dentons, a transnational law firm that represents some of the biggest players in Oil and Gas on environmental cases. This is even more concerning beside her comments in the Prophetic Voice debate around lobbyists, and claims that “even if they give you a check, doesn’t mean you’re beholden to them”. There was a subsequent retraction of her information from Dentons’ website after a tweet called attention to this connection, which feels entirely sketchy. Read more in Anti-Gravity’s guide here.
Troy Carter
Unfortunately, Troy Carter has not spoken very often or with much detail during his campaign about any of these topics, and did not fill out our candidate survey. You’ll see that his scores are fairly low on our scorecard because of this — we need a Congressperson that will be proactive and vocal about these issues. For the points he has weighed in on (albeit briefly): In response to a question from the Power Coalition survey about what he will do on a national level to protect citizens of Cancer Alley, he responded that “safety of the community is paramount”, so he would immediately enforce the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, and enhance regulations to protect community health and wellbeing. As stated above, although he answered on Power Coalition’s survey that he supports a GND and a moratorium on petrochemical buildout in our District, we were disappointed to see that he did not back this up in a public forum when a member of Sunrise New Orleans asked him directly.
Links to Our Resources
Surveys
Live Debates / Interviews
Voter Guides and Profiles
VoteSMART profiles on candidates
Ballotpedia
News Sources
- Tampa Bay Times
- The Guardian- Gordon Plaza
- The Guardian-St. James Parish
- Desmog Blog
- The Advocate: Cancer Risk Data
- The Daily Advertiser
- The Lens
- Nola.com
Social Media
- Troy Carter’s Twitter
- Karen Carter Peterson’s Twitter
- Gary Chambers’s Twitter
- Youtube of Troy Carter Interview from A Million Roses
Louisiana State Records and Resources
- Louisiana State Legislature
- Louisiana State Senate Website
- Louisiana Ethics Administration Program
- Troy Carter’s Reports
- Karen Carter Peterson’s Reports
Campaign Websites
Endorsements