Motivation/Problem: Communities along the Gulf Coast routinely experience intense weather events. Acute and repetitive shocks – like the 2020 hurricane season – have a disproportionate impact on communities that are already burdened by chronic stressors such as systemic or institutional racism, poverty, environmental degradation, and health disparities. Climate change threatens to exacerbate the severity of these impacts as disadvantaged and underserved communities fall further behind in their ability to prepare for, respond to, or recover from disasters.

Goals: The Gulf Research Program’s (GRP) Gulf Health and Resilience Board (GHRB) will convene newly-appointed members of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council to discuss critical steps that are being taken or that need to occur to advance climate and environmental justice for all those who call the Gulf of Mexico region home. Audience members will gain critical insight into complex issues and learn about opportunities to equitably improve conditions in the Gulf of Mexico region, particularly within Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.

Speakers:

Dr. Robert D. Bullard
Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy, Texas Southern University and Co-Chair, National Black Environmental Justice Network

Dr. Beverly L. Wright
Founder and Executive Director, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice and Co-Chair, National Black Environmental Justice Network

Ms. Catherine Coleman Flowers
Founder, Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice

Welcoming Remarks: Dr. Alonzo Plough, Chief Scientist and Vice President, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Co-Chair, Gulf Health and Resilience Board

Moderator: Ms. Halle Parker, New Orleans Times-Picayune and New Orleans Advocate